Written by Brian K. Vaughn
Art by Fiona Staples
Published by Image Comics
Saga is back and is as good as ever! Just two issues into volume 4 this already-classic story has boldly adopted an entirely different tone to the volumes before it. Dubbed “this is how my parents split up” in the previous issue, we see a totally different Marko and Alana in this chapter of Staples and Vaughn’s Saga. Marko is busy playing daddy daycare. He takes Hazel around to all of her lessons and is essentially a stay at home father. Alana on the other hand is busy living her dream. She’s an actress on the deep-space equivalent of the day-time soap opera. The seeds have definitely been planted towards a big blow up between those two, but the real intrigue of this issue is the Game of Thrones-ian twist that comes at the end…
Brian K. Vaughn flies relatively under the radar for a guy that’s writing one of the most popular comics on the shelves. While you don’t see his name in headlines like some other writers he’s definitely on top of his game and has Saga poised to do considerably more damage at the Eisner’s again this year. It was a bold move for him to switch up the tone of the book by planting the seeds for our modern day Romeo and Juliet’s separation, but it adds a whole new layer of intrigue to this series that I already loved. When will it happen? What will cause it? Will they get their happily ever after? Only time will tell but you’d better believe I’ll be along for the ride every step of the way!
I admittedly wasn’t a fan of the art in Saga when I picked up the first trade well over a year ago. Since then, Fiona Staples has become one of my favorite artists solely because of her work in this book. This is one of the more colorful issues that has come out in the entire series and it’s absolutely beautiful. Without giving too much away, one of our favorite characters goes on a psychedelic trip and Staples makes that panel in particular literally jump off the page.
Saga is a book that demands the attention of our entire medium. Even if you don’t enjoy the modern day epic Vaughn and Staples are giving us you can’t help but appreciate what it’s done for the independent comic book market. This series has a bit of everything. Comedy, romance, heartbreak, politics, war, action, and it has it all while making each and every one of the characters grounded and relatable. This is something that you can give to your non-comic reading friends if you’re trying to pull them into the medium and I can speak 100% from experience that they’ll get hooked.
4.5 out of 5 nerds
Irwin Fletcher
I'm an LA journalist who really lives for his profession. I have also published work as Jane Doe in various mags and newspapers across the globe. I normally write articles that can cause trouble but now I write for FTN because Nerds are never angry, so I feel safe.
Nerd Comments