Saga #1
Written by Brian K. Vaughan
Art by Fiona Staples
Letters & Design by Fonografiks
Coordinated by Eric Stephenson
Cover by Fiona Staples
Image Comics
Release Date: March 14, 2012
Cover Price: $2.99

Saga #1 is the kind of comic that comes along once in a great while. What comes with it is that the feeling that your “on to something.” Remember what it felt like reading that first issue of Y:The Last Man? That first issue of Batman: The Long Halloween? That first issue of Spider-Man: Chapter One (am I alone here?)? What Saga #1 DID NOT feel like, is the “Star Wars meets Game of Thrones” experience that the solicitation copy had led me to believe that I was in for.

Brian K. Vaughan, writer of comics like Y: The Last Man and Marvel’s Runaways, comes back to comics with…. Star Wars meets Game of Thrones? I’m sure he didn’t write the solicitation copy, but I strongly dislike that sales tactic. This book is NOT like Star Wars. This book is NOT like Game of Thrones. What it IS, is a fantastic story that combines many standard genres into one great comic!

There’s many different genres in this comic. In fact, I’d say they’re ALL there, except for straight-up superheroes. The story is told from a VERY interesting point of view, one that you wouldn’t at all expect. A snippet from the official description explains that the comic, which is for mature readers, has “new parents Marko and Alana risk everything to raise their child amidst a never-ending galactic war.” I don’t want to say anymore about the story, as I don’t want to spoil it, and you should definitely go fresh learning about this new world.

What I liked about Saga #1 was that it comes in during the middle of a story, yet you’re never confused about what happened before and you never get the “should I know something I don’t?” feeling. Action-wise, it hits the ground running and never really stops. There’s fantastic characters on each page, from Goat People to Robots to Unicorn Woman. It’s truly a page-turner right up until the end. I can see this new on-going series being just as much of a classic as some of Vaughan’s other works like Y:The Last Man or Ex Machina.

Artist Fiona Staples is, simply put, amazing. From the gorgeous painted cover all the way through the last page, she delivers in every way that’s artistically possible. It’s got to be tough to be handed a script like this one and try and figure out what to do, but she handles it beautifully. Everything looks like it belongs in the universe. Her backgrounds are elaborate, yet never distracting or too busy and they never take focus off the main characters. She’s allowed to play with some great toys in this book, and the fun she must’ve had really comes through in her work.

If you want Star Wars, watch Star Wars. If you want Game of Thrones, watch Game of thrones. If you want to read a great comic, then pick up Saga #1. It’s a hell of a great time, it’s not too light and not to dark. It’s a welcome breath of fresh air, and I have to hand it to not only the creative team, but also to Image Comics for stepping up their game and putting out something so original and new.

You can check out a 4-page preview of the issue, which is 44 pages and ad-free.