Saga Vol. 7 (2017)
Saga Vol. 7 Review
Saga is an epic space opera fantasy comic book series written by Brian K. Vaughan and illustrated by Fiona Staples. The seventh volume covering issues 37 to 42 was published in 2017.
In this grim and consequential volume, Hazel and her family travel to Phang, a comet world where they await Alana’s pregnancy and befriend a group of creatures that resemble prairie dogs. Eventually, in that brutal ending we witness Alana having a miscarriage as well as a death of Hazel’s friend that she befriended during her time on this world. It’s a very eventful and dark novel that really worked in spite of its excessive nihilism.
Let’s talk about that ending. This poor child creature dying while repeating the words “I believe” made for a truly striking, heartbreaking imagery. It was clearly meant to be this anti-religion, brutally honest and nihilistic take on humanity and the fickleness of all our lives. It was a bit too much, but it ultimately worked because it was so horrifying and it will stick with me long after reading this book.
There is also one big death in this comic that I didn’t see coming and that was quite touching. Alana having a miscarriage was also tragic, but it felt somewhat unrealistic that she would have it due to a minor fall. Still, this will lead to a lot of heartbreak for the family. Alana and Marko got some wonderful moments in this volume, but it is Hazel who shines the most as she gets to grow bigger in front of our eyes. How she sees and experiences the world is so endearingly explored here.
Prince Robot IV also got a couple of very creepy, but fun and memorable sex scenes and the series continues to be provocative in the area of sexuality. His dynamic with the family is quite interesting. Petrichor is added to the family in this volume and I like her, but I found her dialogue about her transgender experience for the most part overly activist. This is not how regular people talk in real life.
The group of creatures was so endearing, but they ultimately signified not just the loss of life and the horrors of war, but also the necessity of growing up and learning harsh life lessons for Hazel. This comic is per usual superbly drawn, very well written in dialogue and particularly epic in its tone while still being somewhat self-contained, which I really appreciated. I just wished that The Will and other characters got more to do as they were seriously sidelined and forgettable in this volume. Our gay journalists are also suddenly nowhere to be found.
