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Monday 24 February 2014

Saga, Vol. I by Brian K. Vaughan



I was never really grabbed by Y: The Last Man. I read several of the collected editions, and it was really a resounding "meh." Didn't hate it, didn't love it. Thought the writing was not that great, the dialogue not that sparkling. (My husband and I refer to this as needing some value of X more "milliwhedons.")

I like Saga quite a lot more. The dialogue has come a long way, and the world is freaking nuts, but in a good way. A Romeo and Juliet story set in a war, two soldiers from opposing factions (one has wings, the other horns) fall in love, marry, and have a baby. Their superiors are outraged. The horned guys seem to be the indentured race of a nobility composed of guys with televisions as heads.

They are chased by both sides through a strange planet, a little out-of-the-way place of little obvious strategic value to either side. (I'm not sure anyone really knows why they're fighting anymore anyway.) They pick up half a ghost along the way, who offers to help them find their way to the rocketship cemetery if they get her the hell of this planet. She's the ghost of a civilian casualty.

They are pursued by bounty hunters. One of them has a truthcat, who I love beyond all reason. The other is a fairly freaky-looking spider lady. The bounty hunter with the cat seems to have a sense of honour. We'll see if that lasts.

Hazel, the baby, narrates.

It's a weird comic, but it works. I am looking forward to reading the next collected volume, which fortunately we have waiting for me downstairs. The art is very good, but it is the dialogue that has really caught my attention this time.

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