Saturday, January 31, 2015

Saturday Revue January 31: Saga

Pssst, hey you. Wanna see a Strip Show?


Ready to see some strips? Heh heh heh wink wink nudge nudge....well, then I'm here at your service. Here you'll see a weekly revue of graphic novels, webcomics, and strips of all shapes and sizes, indie and big budget alike. Come one, come all!.From the weekend artist to the likes of Marvel, all art shall have its day! Be you little or be you great, you'll see something that will catch your eye!

Revue of the Week: Saga


A universe locked in endless war. A passion between two people from enemy camps. A child born into peril. What more could you need?
Try a smart, sharp wit, characters that feel like they're going to walk off the page, a fast paced adventure that never lets up and yet manages to make you feel as if you're listening to a story told by an old friend. Saga has it all.

written by Brian K. Vaughan and illustrated by Fiona Staples, Saga is published monthly by Image Comics, though I'd advise getting the trades because getting the story in snippets will drive you mad for the next one. You could call Saga a space opera, but that has come to be an insult in modern parlace. Call it a world-spanning...well, saga!

Narrated from a retrospective point of view by a character with a real knack for wisecracks, this is the story of two worlds and two people in love. Alana
was born on a planet called Landfall, born into a bitter war being fought with Wreath, her planet's moon. Which is where Marko was born.
This is the story of how they became first soldiers,then fugitive lovers,

then-whoops!-parents.









BUT WAIT!
If you dismiss this as a love story, you'll be missing out on a real treat. This story revolves around the themes of war, diversity, personal responsibility, and the ability (or in some cases, inability) to choose a different way to be. But it mixes its deep messages with technomancy, magic, kickass weaponry, talking cats, rocket ships that grow out of the earth, wisecracking ghosts, and a hell of a lot of ACTION.

THE RATING



On the scale of 1 to 10, Saga hits a glorious 10

THE RAVES

Saga's beautiful art, its spot on grasp of interpersonal relations and the conflicts inside a person's soul are what wins your mind, but its wisecracks, black humor and realistic love story will win your heart. Fiona Staples' art captures in graceful strokes and a deep, rich palette of colors a world where beauty and beastliness walk hand in hand and people have gotten so used to war that it's blase'. The writing is gorgeous, and true. There are no perfect heroes here. There's no justice. There's just us; people, good and bad and mostly trying to be better than they were. And you believe in them. You ache for them. You yearn with them. And in your heart, you're running with them from whatever you're trying to get away from.

THE RAZZES

If Saga has a failing, it's in beating you over the head with the point. Every once in a while, I found myself thinking 'I get it, it's a war, but was that guy getting his head blown off reeeally necessary?" Very (only very) occasionally in the first and second volumes, the story degrades to 'find the maguffin because reasons!' but like a great dancer it turns falters into steps of the dance. My biggest complaint is that I have to wait so long to read the next installment!

THE REVUE

READ.IT.