“Saga” is back, “Saga” is back, I am so excited that “Saga” is back! From its first issue almost ten years ago, “Saga” has felt like an “important” comic. This is a comic series read by people who otherwise don’t read any comics. It’s just as often a series that serves as someone’s on-road to comics, helping them appreciate things like lettering and panel layouts. It is also is such a product of everything that was weird and wonderful about 2012. Coming back after a three-ear hiatus, can “Saga” still be the book that is was when it left off. (The answer is yes.)
Written by Brian K VaughanCover by Fiona Staples
Illustrated and colored by Fiona Staples
Lettered by FonografiksAt long last, Hazel and her star-crossed family are finally back and here to kick off a NEW STORY ARC! So, where the hell have they been? As thanks for fans’ endless patience, the SAGA team is proud to return with a double-length issue—44 pages of story for the regular $2.99 price point—without variant covers or gimmicky renumbering. Just more pulse-pounding adventure, heart-wrenching character drama, and gloriously graphic sex and violence, as SAGA begins the second half the series and the most epic chapter yet.
So, welcome back. “Saga” #55 picks up a week after Hazel’s 10th birthday. We get a single scene of tone-setting before bouncing across the galaxy to check in with Alana, Gwendolyn, The Will, Lying Cat, all our old friends. There’s almost no learning curve- even if you read “Saga” when it came out, the time jump allows the issue to re-establish what everyone is about. By the end of it I got crazy excited to try and keep up with “Saga” month-by-month (even if in my heart I know I will eventually go back to reading it in trade).
So what’s changed? Very little! There is still the same phenomenally lettered narration that acts as part of the art. There’s still a weirdly graphic sex scene. There are still little political asides about things like the socioeconomic causes of piracy. There are still moments of innocent childhood bliss. All of this is written and drawn with that odd mix of whimsy and cynicism that makes up the core of “Saga.” All of this is to say: the creative team has not missed a step.
“Saga” is a masterclass in comic book layouts. Pages largely follow a 6-panel grid, and big splash pages arrive at regular intervals to land a particular big moment. This relative uniformity makes small deviations to the format, like panel borders moving on a diagonal, have that much more impact. Part of the reason “Saga” works so well is that it chooses a limited pallete of comic book storytelling techniques, so when it does something unusual, like that pretty narrative text, you as a reader, notice it. It’s not subtle or subversive craft. But it does have a big heart. “Saga” is like the Stephen Spielberg of comics, helping readers think more critically about the artistic medium.
The other wonderful qualities of series artist Fiona Staples are a little hard to quantify. Staples was one of the artists who set a new standard with digital art when the series started, and now she’s so good it almost seems effortless. Her characters have such distinct faces. They are such good actors. Their body language tells you all about them. All of that would be remarkable if it was just a cast of humans, but her background cast is made up of weirdo monsters who look like they were masterminded by a five year old. The fact that these sometimes cute, sometimes horrifying muppets are so recognizable as people, is a testament to her tremendous talent.
In the back of my copy of the issue, there was a letter from series writer Brian K. Vaughan. This letter almost captured his writerly sensibilities as well as any of the story in the issue. First BKV thanks fans for their patience. Then he thanks fans for their impatience, which he attributes as motivating him to get back to work. He checks in with his readership with big family announcements from him and Fiona Staples. He credits his son with coming up with the character Bombazine (who is a chill koala dude with a robot arm; Bombazine rules), and alludes to his tween child taking him to court for the creative credit.
Reading that letter, I realized it matched the tone of the issue. It was sweet and specific, and also sarcastic, and maybe a little bit panicked. That’s “Saga.” The technique is incredible, restrained, but what you walk away with are strong feelings. It’s been a long running joke that when I pick my best comics of the year, there’s always an asterisk noting that “Saga” is the real winner, because “Saga” is the best. Today that flippant ubiquity misses the point. “Saga” is the best, and now it’s back, and we should all be really excited about that.
Final Verdict: 9.5 – “Saga” effortlessly reminds everyone why it’s one of the biggest titles on the stands.
