You know how, sometimes, you find a book that is so delightful, so compelling that it simply must be read, like right now? Saga is one of these books.
After hearing Tansy talk about the book on the Galactic Suburbia Podcast, I could not resist picking it up (New parents, warriors, warring alien races - Come on!). I say "pick it up" to mean "I put aside everything else I am reading to go through ten issues of the graphic novel in one night.
There is so much that I absolutely *love* about this book.
Fiona Staples' illustrations are brilliant. They're bold and engaging without being over the top.
The cover of the first issue (below), whatever the Dave Dorman story, is brilliant. I'm both surprised and appalled that breastfeeding would be construed as vulgar and / or unnecessary. The cover beautifully captures the Epic nature of Saga (how cool is it that we can say that and not be entirely circular!).
The other art in the book that completely swept me off my feet is from Issue #7 - a 'memories of the soil' sequence. Woo! Spectacular!
Best of all, though, Staples' work and BKV's speak to each other so perfectly (seriously, get to #8).
And starting the readers out in the middle of the war, at a childbirth - well played, Vaughan. The rest of the series, so far, has followed through on this compelling opening issue. The characters are delightful -
I love that all the women so far as smart, competent, and awe-inspiring. They're real and their equal footing (so far) is not at all forced or self-conscious. And Best of all, they're not infallible.
For me, the realness of these characters along with the meta fiction at work (the D. Oswald Heist novel-in-a-novel) refresh even themes (war without purpose, star-crossed pairs) that have been hashed to shreds by now. It helps, I think, that the graphic novel itself is self-referentially sardonic with these ideas.
For now, the thing that I don't like about Saga is that it is a new graphic novel.
Let me rephrase that. It is an ongoing graphic novel which means I have to wait patiently for the next issue to be out.
And while I do that, I insist that you wait with me. So go, go read this. Now!
After hearing Tansy talk about the book on the Galactic Suburbia Podcast, I could not resist picking it up (New parents, warriors, warring alien races - Come on!). I say "pick it up" to mean "I put aside everything else I am reading to go through ten issues of the graphic novel in one night.
There is so much that I absolutely *love* about this book.
Fiona Staples' illustrations are brilliant. They're bold and engaging without being over the top.
The cover of the first issue (below), whatever the Dave Dorman story, is brilliant. I'm both surprised and appalled that breastfeeding would be construed as vulgar and / or unnecessary. The cover beautifully captures the Epic nature of Saga (how cool is it that we can say that and not be entirely circular!).
The other art in the book that completely swept me off my feet is from Issue #7 - a 'memories of the soil' sequence. Woo! Spectacular!
Best of all, though, Staples' work and BKV's speak to each other so perfectly (seriously, get to #8).
And starting the readers out in the middle of the war, at a childbirth - well played, Vaughan. The rest of the series, so far, has followed through on this compelling opening issue. The characters are delightful -
I love that all the women so far as smart, competent, and awe-inspiring. They're real and their equal footing (so far) is not at all forced or self-conscious. And Best of all, they're not infallible.
For me, the realness of these characters along with the meta fiction at work (the D. Oswald Heist novel-in-a-novel) refresh even themes (war without purpose, star-crossed pairs) that have been hashed to shreds by now. It helps, I think, that the graphic novel itself is self-referentially sardonic with these ideas.
For now, the thing that I don't like about Saga is that it is a new graphic novel.
Let me rephrase that. It is an ongoing graphic novel which means I have to wait patiently for the next issue to be out.
And while I do that, I insist that you wait with me. So go, go read this. Now!
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