Saga Vol. 1 (2012)

Saga Vol. 1 Review

Saga is an epic space opera fantasy comic book series written by Brian K. Vaughan and illustrated by Fiona Staples. The first volume covering the first six issues was published in 2012.

Saga depicts a husband and wife, Alana and Marko, from long-warring extraterrestrial races, fleeing authorities from both sides of a galactic war as they struggle to care for their daughter, Hazel, who is born in the beginning of the series, and who occasionally narrates the series as an unseen adult. Right from the get-go, I was hooked. This series of comics is so wonderfully written and so epic that it needs to be read by all genre fans, especially fans of fantasy and SF.

This first volume is rich with world building as it has to set up the entire story for readers. This led to a sometimes overbearing narrative in the sheer number of details thrown at the reader, but ultimately I respected Vaughan for actually delving deeper into the world that he made and being so meticulous in his writing. The world building is truly brilliant here and how the story mixes traditional elements from Shakespeare and the Bible with the newer franchise elements such as Star Wars is quite admirable.

This first volume doesn’t quite develop its supporting characters just yet. For instance, the villain of the piece Prince Robot IV is very intriguing, but he still is a blank space in terms of characterization. But the comic book benefits from a bunch of memorable creatures included with the highlights being that spider woman that was very creepy and dangerous and of course the ghost children that lent a spiritual, ethereal quality to this first book. This is such an adventurous, fantastical story that is richly detailed and truly rousing in its epic fantasy qualities.

Alana and Marko are the protagonists. Their romance clearly hints to Romeo and Juliet as they come from species that are currently at war with each other. This lent a familiar, but certainly classical and emotional core to their arcs. And I just love the characters as both are tough and cool while also being funny and flawed human beings. Their relationship was instantly well developed and their personalities are a lot of fun. Hazel as the narrator was also effective.

Saga’s illustrations are simply gorgeous too. Fiona Staples’ work on it is truly incredible. The settings are all uniformly well realized due to her meticulous details, beautiful landscapes and stunning backgrounds. The characters looked great and the same goes for the weapons, ships and clothing. The colors are vibrant and exciting too.

The first volume of Saga is at the end of the day a phenomenal beginning to this, pun intended, incredible saga. The main characters are so well developed here while the illustration work is gorgeous, the world building incredible and the storytelling intricate and intriguing.

My Rating – 4.6