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Saga by Brian K. Vaughan & Fiona Staples: Review/summary
Book cover for Saga

Saga

By Brian K. Vaughan & Fiona Staples

Length: 176 pages

Rating: 9/10

First Published: 2012

Get it: UK 🇬🇧 | US 🇺🇸

Last read: 2020

I had heard of Saga and Brian K. Vaughan before, and was intrigued by the hype. I had put it off because all the reviews were about parenting and the similarities with Romeo & Juliet.

That changed when I saw this cover:

Cover of Saga issue 34, featuring a seal fishing from the belly of a walrus

Review

The comic provided a much-needed escape from our planet in 2020. I tore through it. If you don’t mind sometimes gory and graphic art (which needlessly tarnishes it, in my opinion) I would recommend it.

I hated volume 9 so much. I would only read volumes 1-8 and consider it the end of the story. The last volume finishes with an issue that doesn’t feel thought-through.

My problems with Volume 9, contains spoilers

The Will: Completely illogical psychology here. His abductor put him through unimaginable physical and mental pain, killed his dog, and tortured him for days. Yet he lets him walk free because “now they’re square”. What an honourable, compassionate, pacific guy.

Then he kill Marko in cold-blood. Literally behind his back too, even if he actually didn’t do anything to him. Where is that honour then ? The Will gets his freedom thanks to the photographer who sacrificed himself for him. What a great way to thank him by killing his lover. Again, very logical code of honour there.

Also mercilessly tears off Sir Robot’s head knowing that he’s leaving an orphan who’s roughly the same age that Sophie was when he risked everything to save her.

It feels like they wanted to end with a ridiculous number of dead characters like Game of Thrones. But Saga never needed that to be interesting. As you can tell, I’m disappointed.


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