Review: Saga #7
Published by Image Comics
Written by Brian K. Vaughan
Art by Fiona Staples
The Plot
The story flashes back to Marko’s childhood, which introduced him to the conflict between Landfall and Wreath. Back to the present, Marko is introducing Alana to his parents. He is also still upset that Izabel (the floating dismembered corpse ghost babysitter) has been zapped by his parents. They reveal their intentions and Marko rushes off to save her (or it). Barr and Alana have some philosophical discussions about the war, which eventually results in her forcibly detaining him by utilizing the ship. Kiara (the mother) and Marko have butt heads over his decisions with his family and what his parents had to do to find him. However, their discussion is cut short by…something. I’m not trying to be vague in order to build anticipation. I just really don’t know that thing is. There are some brief appearances by the Robot Prince and The Will (whom are both on the hunt) with the latter reminiscing about his relationship with The Stalk. Barr then reveals a startling secret about himself in order to escape from Alana’s trap. He casts a spell and encounters Hazel.
The Breakdown
First off, it was great to see this book again as it took a brief hiatus after the sixth issue. In addition, this is a great jumping on point, especially because the first volume is available at such an affordable price ($9.99). We usually hear about the war, but rarely do we see the war. At the beginning of the issue, we get some solid visuals of what occurred and how vicious it was. Marko’s personality and character seems to be constructed better than Alana’s sometimes. His immediate concern is to rescue Izabel and honour his debt to her. He could’ve made it easier on himself and just left her, but he chose to try and track her down. I know I’ll get a better feel for Alana down the road, but for the time being, Marko is the more endearing character. He’s been honourable during such a tumultuous time. The Will’s romantic relationship will obviously play a large role in what his next play is and I’m interested to see where his story goes. As for his relationship with The Stalk though? Yuck! The first page of the book faked me out as I thought we were seeing Hazel in the future. So far I’m more interested in the people from Wreath as I enjoy seeing how far their abilities extend. I’m not usually a mystical enchantment type of fan so I’m finding it interesting because I usually don’t read stories with it too often. Also, it’s a small detail, but I like how people from Wreath have different types of horns. It’s these types of details that help to create a whole new universe. Once again the art is solid as hell. The facial expressions are well-drawn, the design of the ship’s interior is unique, the layouts provide some great storytelling, and so on. I still enjoy the handwritten narration from Hazel’s perspective as it continues to give the book a unique look. Indeed, this was another solid edition of Saga.
BUT…
So it seems that Alana’s actions towards Barr were mostly due to them “killing” Izabel. Their reason and reaction to the spell seemed perfectly…well, reasonable. Alana’s reaction seemed to be a bit extreme towards Barr, especially at the end. He didn’t show any signs of malice towards Hazel nor did he give Alana any real reason to be so worried about what he would do (he actually seemed pretty rational). I know that they’re respective peoples are at war, but it still seemed irrational when keeping that in mind. Marko saw past her affiliation and procreated with her so what’s saying that his parents wouldn’t have that capacity. The creature that attacked Marko and Kiara made me groan a little bit. It was kind of gross and it reminded me of something a friend told me about an earlier issue. He had a fairly good criticism of the design of Prince Robot IV and when I saw this character I had a similar thought. I didn’t really care for it, but who knows, I could be in the minority. I do hope that they go into more detail about the Proxy Wars soon and from the perspective of an outsider. I keep wondering what the currency is to be large enough to get people from across the galaxy to get involved and pick a side. As a whole, the characters seem real, but the conflict does not…yet. A pet peeve of mine is when a cover does not accurately depict anything going on inside the comic. It makes me anticipate something that never happens. Barr’s statement at the end was almost a negative (more of an eye roller), but I’m waiting to see more of his character fleshed out because it could be a typical “Barr thing” with him down the road.
Buy It, Borrow It, Shelf Read It, or Ignore It?
Buy it…if you’re a mature reader. I wouldn’t recommend this comic to younger audiences. Sometimes it’s hard to determine what’s appropriate for readers with Image because they don’t rate their comics on the cover (but usually it’s safe to assume that it’s ‘M’ for mature with most Image comics). There is action, science fiction, fantasy, and strong characterizations in this series. The heart of this story continues to be Marko and Alana struggling to protect their family. It continues to be a good read and I’m looking forward to seeing where some of the subplots are going. Also, this book is another example of a strong female artist. There are more and more quality female artists, which is a positive trend and hopefully it will lead to more.
Most importantly, on a non-comic related note, I hope that everyone took a moment to remember their veterans on November 11. They went through horrors that we only read about in fiction stories and were willing to literally sacrifice everything. Indeed, they were braver people than me and many others that I know. Enjoying fiction is a lot of fun, but it’s also important to remember the real experiences that happened as well.
