Saga
written by Brian K. Vaughan
illustrated by Fiona Staples
I recently attended a summer graduate certificate program, and that meant that I was thrust back into dorm life for one last hurrah. One of my first days there, I took note of how my roomate decorated her side of the room, and that's when I first saw Saga. Featured facing-out on her desk's shelving was this exact cover you see to the left. First I noticed that it was a couple, then that the woman was breastfeeding, next the woman's wings, then the man's horns, and lastly their weapons and the baby's horns. Everything about this image was striking, and I had to know more. And that's the thing about Saga. Over it's nine volumes it has never ceased to be striking.
Saga, at it's rocketship-tree-roots, is a story of a family, and an ill-fated one at that. Alana (on the left) is from the planet Landfall, and Marko (on the right) is from Landfall's only moon, Wreath. The planet and it's moon are locked in a vicious war that has been going on for generations and spread throughout the galaxy until every planet has taken a side. Alana and Marko, opposing soldiers, should never have fallen in love, but they did, they married, and now they have Hazel. Hazel, their child, is the omniscient narrator throughout the series. Alana and Marko's new family, disgusts both species, and each sends people to exterminate them before anyone else finds out. So Alana, Marko, Hazel, and allies must brave the cosmos on their rocketship tree, evading those that want to destroy them and nurturing their big-hearted family.
The combination of sci-fi on a massive scale and the intimacies of family, create one of the most compelling narratives I had yet to see now. Imagination explodes off of the pages with a Robot Kingdom, teenage ghost babysitters, lying cats, assassins, sex planets, and all kinds of aliens, but this little family is what keeps me coming back. These two are devoted to each other and the comics take extra care to have them be the most real, grounding element in the series. Their relationship with each other isn't always perfect, as is the case with all the other characters, and that's what makes it even better.
Each volume brings with it tales of war, grief, intimacy, and compassion, and you can't count on anything to stay the same except for your desire to read the next one. If you appreciate imaginative sci-fi, diverse characters, the more-than-occasional sexy panel, and a universe of adventure, then climb aboard the rocketship tree (can you tell yet that this is one of my favorite things?).
