Saga Vol. 9 (2018)
Saga Vol. 9 Review
Saga is an epic space opera fantasy comic book series written by Brian K. Vaughan and illustrated by Fiona Staples. The ninth volume covering issues 49 to 54 was published in 2018.
This volume centers around the ongoing dynamics between the family and their allied companions, which is complicated by the presence of their pursuers and building up to a shocking finale that sees the deaths of several major characters. Yes, this is the volume that upped the violence and death count significantly, which was even more shocking as it came after a couple of smaller and calmer volumes where nothing too horrible happened.
The Will finally caught up with our crew of heroes and what he did here is inexcusable and it will be difficult for readers to forgive him afterward. He was a truly effective villain here. The confrontation between the villains and the heroes was unexpectedly brisk, realistic and brutal. These panels where they fought channeled superheroics, but in an effective and suspenseful instead of goofy way.
Prince Robot IV is no more and his death was surprisingly emotional for me. This character became better as the story progressed and just as he’s become more positive, he got killed off in a very disturbing way. Doff was also murdered here, but we did not get to see how his boyfriend reacted, which was an odd choice.
But of course the biggest shock was the death of Marko. He has been pretty much the staple of the series and how Alana will handle this will most definitely be difficult to read. This death seems poised to change many things for this series as it seems truly monumental. This is a very well drawn comic that is rushed at times and a bit too chaotic, but that messiness worked in the context of the narrative, which has never been darker.
