Note: Some spoilers within for previous issues in this series.

Saga tells the continuing story of the little family of (the late) Marko and his wife Alana - a mixed-race couple - and their daughter Hazel. The family struggled to stay together in spite of a war between their two races.

Alana is from the planet Landfall, where inhabitants have wings on their backs, and Marko was from its moon, Wreath, where all people have horns on their heads. The two defied all convention (and propaganda, viz: those people have horns on their heads!) and fell in love. Hazel was born with both horns and wings, and it is Hazel who narrates the story.

Marko and Alana just wanted to find a way to be safe and happy and live in peace, but it wasn’t possible. The three of them were pursued throughout the galaxy by a number of beings trying to exploit them or kill them (or first one, then the other).

In Volume 9, however, both Marko and Sir Robert - once an enemy but eventually an ally - were murdered. It is now three years later, and Hazel and Sir Robert’s son Squire are being raised by Hazel’s mother and a male named Bombazine, or “Bomba” for short. Squire hasn’t spoken a word since his father’s death, but they all get along fine.

Currently, they are all on a pirate ship where Alana has been asked by the Skipper to visit an exotic world to make a drug delivery for him. She bonds with the local dealer; they both lost their spouses. He tells Alana: “I mean, I get lonely and all, but being with someone who’s not her…it just feels more lonely, you know?” That’s why he wants the drug “Fadeaway,” to help kill some of the pain.

Alana tells the drug customer that Marco was a writer - “A pretty great one. At least, he would have been. If he’d been able to finish this book he’d just started.” The customer asks, “You ever think about wrapping it up for him?” She claims she doesn’t have what it takes, but he disagrees.

Back on the pirate ship, Hazel is trying to learn to play the guitar. Squire meanwhile is playing the drums.

Meanwhile, the Skipper asks Bombazine to have “a little chat.” He tells Bomba he knows he is really “La Bucisto.” He threatens to out him if any harm ever befalls him or his crew. Bomba asks him not to tell Alana. The Skipper says “You have absolutely nothing to worry about. All I ask is one small favor.”

Back on the Landfall, the Director is still concerned with locating the half-breed girl, i.e., Hazel. When an agent named Gale asks “why the hell does anybody still care?,” she responds angrily, “Because she’s not a girl, you insufferable prick. She is an idea, one that can still undo the fabric of our entire way of life.”

Gale suggests they “force another expendable royal from the Robot Kingdom to hunt down what Private First Class Alana should have had the dignity to flush down the toilet.” But the Director tells him, “The Coalition Security Council has decided this can no longer be outsourced. So we’ve given the job to you.”

Not only is he charged with killing Hazel, but with killing everyone she has ever met, and to that end, he has been given a folder with all of their pictures.

As always, to be contined...!

Evaluation: This is an outstanding “saga” whether you like graphic novels or not. This is not by any means a series for kids but it is nevertheless a story strongly supportive of families - both the kind you are born with, and the kind you make as you go through life.

Note: If you are new to the series, be sure to read the books in order! ( )