Saga

I don’t read graphic novels. Correction, I didn’t think I could read graphic novels. As dumb as it sounds, I find the mix of pictures and words confusing and always found myself only concentrating on one which meant that I lost the storyline or glossed over the artist’s work. What I realized, however, was that I was reading the wrong graphic novels. Sorry Alan Moore, I salute your genius but none of your books have made me cancel plans like Brian K. Vaughn’s and Fiona Staples’ Saga did.

There are currently eight volumes in this glorious series. I can’t recommend enough that you get as many of them as you can before you begin. They should really have a vibrant “ridiculously addictive” sticker placed on the cover of each and every one of them.

Saga is an epic space romp in which a mixed-race couple, she with wings and he with horns and a thirst for violence, find themselves being chased throughout the universe due to having an interracial child. Their people are at war and a relationship (and especially a child) upsets the status quo and so they must be stopped.

Their dash through space brings them in contact with some brilliant characters. Lying Cat is a particular favorite of mine. There are Robot-men, bounty hunters and some of the raciest (I’m looking at you, Sextillion) illustrations that had me smiling to myself as I realized people on the train were definitely looking at what I was reading.

I thought I couldn’t read graphic novels but this series showed me that I can and, better yet, that I love doing so. Saga has everything I could ever want in a series: love, family, blood, sex, robots who have way too many erotic thoughts, sarcasm, fast-paced action, laughs and just the most brilliant array of diverse characters a graphic novel series has ever seen. Saga has definitely got it all.