Saga Vol. 1

By Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

From New York Times bestselling writer BRIAN K.VAUGHAN (Y: THE LAST MAN, EX MACHINA) and critically acclaimed artist FIONA STAPLES (MYSTERY SOCIETY, NORTH 40), SAGA is the sweeping tale of one young family fighting to find their place in the worlds. When two soldiers from opposite sides of a never-ending galactic war fall in love, they risk everything to bring a fragile new life into a dangerous old universe. Fantasy and science fiction are wed like never before in a sexy, subversive drama for adults. This specially priced volume collects the first arc of the smash hit series The Onion A.V. Club calls "the emotional epic Hollywood wishes it could make. Collects SAGA #1-6

• Language: English
• Publisher: Image Comics, Inc.
• Release date: Oct 10, 2012
• ISBN: 9781607067238

Book preview

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Reviews for Saga Vol. 1

[Małgorzata Jałowiecka · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Fresh. Clever. Wise. Plus a snappy narrativ = a joy to read.

I NEED more!

[Bethany Hanna · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Do yourself a favor and read it. Just read it.

[ragwaine · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Borrowed this from a friend and loved it. I've read the first 7 -Y: The Last Man- books and Vaughan definitely has a talent for writing entertaining dialogue and keeping a story moving. This one was more fun than "Y" much more of a visual spectacle. It seemed like he really just let his imagination run wild. I thought some of the names were kind of silly (especially the robot ones) but I can definitely understand why this series is a hit. I look forward to reading the next installment.

[juva_3 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A pair of star-crossed lovers give birth to their child as they flee from the many many groups that are hunting them. They are from opposite sides of a racial war and are seeking to escape the endless battle. However, each side is being pursued by the armies that they deserted as well as several other interested parties. In this volume, their goal is to escape the planet of Cleave alive. A strange map, given to them by a dying man leads them into unknown danger.

[ladyars · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Made me care for all characters, even the "villains". Amazing world building. Exquisite art. I'm glad I had volume 2 next to me when I finished it.

[regularguy5mb · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I've been meaning to check out Saga for a while. Brian K. Vaughan being one of my favorite modern comic writers, I'll give anything with his name on it a shot. This has been on my list for some time, and I picked up this used copy of the first collected volume while talking about it with Jake, owner of my favorite local comic shop. We were on the topic of Saga when he remembered the store had just gotten this copy in, so I grabbed it.The world is a beautiful blend of sci-fi and fantasy; two different alien factions at war with one another, one led by robotic royalty, the other a group of horn-headed magic users. In this long and bloodied war, two members of the opposing forces fall in love and have a child. This is where the story opens, quite literally with the child's birth.The story is told through narration. The narrator, we soon learn, is the newborn. Her parents, a former prison guard and a soldier-turned pacifist, are on the run from their respective peoples who don't want word of a union between the two races reaching the "rank and file." I mean, that could spoil the war. The first volume deals with this new family's escape from the planet they are currently on as they set out to make a new life for themselves.I love everything about this first book. The character designs are amazing, the world-building is unique and beautifully handled, Fiona Staples' art is fantastic, and the dialogue and characterization are on point. Seriously, this is one I would recommend to anyone, as long as you're okay with a bit of language and some graphic violence. Can't wait to pick up the next volume!

[deweyever · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Alana and Marko are semi-human people whose worlds have been at war since time immemorial. So the fact that they just had a baby together makes them very dangerous to both of their leaders. The story concerns their desperate flight from Landfall, fighting against bounty hunters, robot princes with TVs for heads, and ghosts known as Horrors. The story is ultimately about family--what makes it, and the lengths that people will go to in order to protect it.This is kind of shockingly adult. Brian K. Vaughn wrote Runaways! That's teen appropriate, right? How much different can this be? The answer is a lot. A lot different. Saga is an intriguing story, and the characters are well-fleshed-out (often literally) and sympathetic. But the nudity, sexual content, and general Body Horror of some of the scenes puts this clearly in an adult category. Not recommended if you flinched at Doctor Manhattan's blue nudity in Watchmen.

[edgeworth_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is the first collected edition of Brian K. Vaughan’s space opera comic Saga, gathering issues 1-6. The story begins as star-crossed lovers Marko and Alana, both deserters from opposite sides of an interstellar war, are holed up in a garage on a planet called Cleave, with Alana heavily pregnant and about to give birth. Volume One covers the misadventures of the couple and their baby as they attempt to escape the planet, pursued by military forces and bounty hunters.Saga is heavily inspired by Star Wars; this is space opera as fantasy rather than science fiction, and Vaughan goes a step further than Lucas by openly involving magic. It’s also a heavily weird comic, in a weird why-the-hell-not way rather than the more mythic, deadly serious weirdness of something like Brandom Graham’s Prophet. Within the pages of Saga you’ll find a forest that grows rocket ships, a sort of deadly women/spider centaur, the ghost of a girl who dresses and speaks like a ‘90s SoCal teenager, a seahorse-like alien who acts as a Hollywood-style “agent” for various violent bounty hunters, soldiers who ride pegasuses (pegasi?) for some reason, and sex scenes between robots with TV monitors for heads (characters who are, I hope, inspired by Evan Dahm’s The One Electronic in Rice Boy). Whether or not you like Saga depends largely on how happy you are to embrace this sort of madcap, tongue-in-cheek creativity, and whether you think it strikes the right balance between playfulness and gravitas. Personally I was okay with it, but we’ll see how future volumes go.The pacing is solid. You can tell that this is the beginning of what Vaughan hopes will be a long story, and Saga is an apt title for a work like this. The story has an omniscient narration by the couple’s infant daughter Hazel, who looks back on their struggles from a future vantage point, Wonder Days style, which I think works well. Opening the story with Hazel’s birth was absolutely the right moment to do so, throwing the reader into a family’s life-or-death struggle against a hostile universe from the exact moment they properly became a family, and I like the idea that Saga could chart a character’s entire life in this crazy universe from birth to death.Saga is not precisely the kind of epic science fiction story I’d like to read – I’d probably prefer something a little more serious – but I still liked it quite a bit, and I’ll keep reading it. Volume One is a solid opening to what I hope develops further and becomes a classic sprawling space opera.

[darushawehm-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I found this to be a slow start, and I wasn't convinced I'd like it. People with wings or horns are usually a big turn-off and stories about parenting don't grab me either. I'm glad I gave it a chance, though, because I might be hooked. Clever writing, beautiful art.

[aarow-2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Would rate it lower because I don't like the profanity, but the story and the characters are so great. A really inventive universe. Hope to see more stories in this same "universe".

[sebastianmiha-196615 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Meh. May be for others who get nuts for all this, but this one here didn’t get me at all.

[rickklaw · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Saga marks the triumphant return of writer Vaughn to creator-owned work after years of toiling in television scripting and helming several superhero titles. Much like his previous endeavors including the lauded series Y: The Last Man On Earth and Ex-Machina, Vaughn smartly relies on interpersonal interactions as the crux to his larger-than-life tale. Two opposing soldiers of a never-ending galactic war fall in love, have a child, and even as agents from both sides attempt to destroy the new family, valiantly challenge the status quo. Vaughn, abetted by the lush Staples art, delivers a new twist on the classic Romeo and Juliet trope with exotic aliens, unbridled sexuality, complex political structures, family squabbles, and even a Guess Who's Coming to Dinner moment. Staples, who handles all the aspects of the art including inking and coloring, has created a gorgeous alien vista. The vibrant colors, deftly handled, and the delicate brush strokes breathe life into this complex vision. Saga, Volume One promises a unique and powerful science fiction experience.

[kristymk18-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

With snarky dialogue, detailed drawings, and an intense plot, Saga brought me into the world of graphic novels that I previously thought reserved for superheroes. I pride myself in reading across all genres, but will admit I play it safe with a lot of them. My science-fiction and fantasy is always lite and the only graphic novels I've read were tame. Saga is none of these things. There was a bit of shock and awe for me as I read this; it is so different from anything I've read before, yet at the same time, many of its concepts can be seen as universal. War torn planets where soldiers blindly follow orders; parents willing to do anything to protect their child; beliefs being tested and challenged; and, of course, perfectly placed humor to counter the seriousness of it all.My favorite thing was the fierceness of Alana. She is so bold and strong. I loved seeing this in a female protagonist. In contrast, Marco is more of a pacifist, having qualms about violence (and is even a vegetarian), but willing to do whatever it takes to keep his family safe. The entire story is entertaining and complex and I am itching to get my hands on Vol.2.

[dgrachel · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I’ve only recently started reading any comics/graphic novels. I’ve seen a lot of love for Saga on Litsy and while the art isn’t really my style, it’s rendered with skill. The story is interesting and I’m completely sucked in. I can’t wait to start the next volume.

[5eva5 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The story of two soldiers from opposite sides of a never-ending galactic war who fall in love, told from the point of view of their newborn daughter. I've heard this described as "Romeo and Juliet" in space and it's not far off - although I am surprised at how much I liked it seeing as the "in space" part isn't something I usually am too fond of. It took me a few pages to get into the story, but once I cared about the characters, I cared a lot - the family (and the "bonus-child") are so endearing that I feel I need to find out what happens to them. And this one ends on a quirky cliff-hanger, so I'll be picking up the next volume as soon as I possibly can. I recently finished the author's [Y: The Last Man] and found that series to have more to say, but this one to be a lot more fun (I like fun!).

[merrymeerkat · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Amazing!!!! It's going to be a long wait, waiting for the next volume coming out in July.

[count_zero-837732 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Really fun and interesting mix of science fiction and fantasy... and it also has a lot of smutty content, so this definitely isn't for the prudish. The narrative moves really fast, the characters are very fleshed out, and in particular the relationship between the two leads feels very real. Some of the designs of the other characters (particularly the TV-headed) robots, feels odd for aliens which are technically from a Science Fiction world, yet design wise they scientifically shouldn't work. This isn't a big problem (I was able to roll with FLCL), but it made the tone a little weird. Not bad weird, just weird.

[leesalogic · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a really great, disturbing, imaginative story with fantastic, weird, disturbing art and concepts. We've got one world with animalistic, magic-using beings. We've got another world, more technologically minded, with royalty that have CRT monitors for heads, and everyone else with wings. There's mercenaries ("freelancers"), ghosts, cats that detect lies, wooden rocketships.Vaughn and Staples don't hide anything in their story. Some of it is disturbing. Some of it is beautiful. Some of it is disturbingly beautiful: that spider-lady freelancer; the Sphynx lying cat; the ghost girl with her entrails hanging down from her upper body). There's sex, nudity, toilet sitting (by a royal, no less), child slavery, wholesale slaughter and destruction of planets/moons, and right there on the cover, we have the baddest woman of all, breastfeeding her baby and holding a gun. YEAH!The lettering is fantastic. I love when the fonts and colors change depending on who is speaking. The narrator is the baby and her story is scrawled freely on the panels--unrestrained by text boxes. The royal monitorheads speak in that computery type font like Console or Symbol (I am not a typographer, don't mock me). When Marko speaks in his native language (Spanish?), the font color is blue. Ghost girl speaks in red.Really great story.I find reading comics to be confusing sometimes, especially superhero comics. The scene changes aren't always obvious, there's not really a lot of exposition or dialog to make things clear, and I'm left looking at a lot of colorful action shots but not always knowing what's really going on other than a lot of fighting. Saga is definitely NOT one of those kind of comics. Everything is explained, and any surprises are shared by the characters, so I don't feel like I'm the only one missing part of the conversation. And the baby in the last few panels is ADORABLE. Can't wait to see her grow up.

[benjaminhahn · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I absolutely love this series so far. This probably has something to do with me recently becoming a dad, but regardless I love the art style, the setting, the writing, the humor. I plan on sharing this with all my friends who enjoy space fantasy and/or have children.

[unkletom_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Very unusual. Also original and entertaining.

[weaselofdoom · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I read "Saga" because Calico Reaction recommended it as one of her favorite comics, and she has not lead me astray comic-wise, yet :)I am so glad I did. Saga is soo awesome! Alana was kick-ass, and so was Marko (and not only when he forgot that he was a pacifist) :)The story was engrossing, and the art was awesome. Can't wait to read vol. 2 when it comes out in July!

[therapite · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

How did I not pick this up sooner? Fantastic. Hits all the right points. Can't wait to read the rest.

[jjbooklvr · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I bought and read the first two issues when they first came out and somehow never got back to this series. I did buy the trade though and am so happy I finally read it!

[tobinelliott · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I keep hearing how great this is, so I had to give it a shot. To be perfectly honest, I had no idea what I was diving into.

Not sure I understand much more after having read the first volume, but it's filled with enough fun stuff and foreshadowing that I'll definitely continue to read.

For me, at least for now, it's best described as Romeo & Juliet meets Star Wars with a dash of Lord of the Rings tossed in for seasoning.

It's the first volume, so it's still establishing its theme, so I think the three star rating is appropriate, but hot damn, Fiona Staples' art? A full five.

[nosajeel · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Saga is a new monthly comic book, with this collection containing the first six issues (or "chapters" as they are labelled). The Saga continues, so to speak, so one cannot make a final judgment. But the beginning is promising, creating a science fiction world where two soldiers from opposing sides in an epic war fall in love, have a child, and then are on the run from the various nefarious forces from both sides trying to capture and kill them. The war is between a winged people resident on a plant and a horned people resident on its moon and is carried out by proxy throughout the galaxy. A various cast of royal robots, bounty hunters, ghosts, and the like creatively populate it. It is well drawn, each chapter ends on a cliffhanger, and the creative ideas keep coming. And it is very fast reading. I look forward to seeing where it is going in future volumes.

[calabrom2 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Controversial comic. Very interesting comic and beautiful illustrations.

[berly_4 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Marco and Alana are from separate worlds, their people locked in an ancient war, yet they have fallen in love and have a newborn named Hazel. They are trying to escape to safety, but independent contractors The Will and Stalk are out to get them. And to complicate matters, Marco and Alana have picked up teenage Izabel along the way; she's willing to help them leave the planet for a price. Fast-paced, sexy and funny with gorgeous artwork. Can't wait for Vol. 2!

[aurorapaigem-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Very graphic! I made the mistake of reading a few pages at work and had to close it really quick because of some of the content. Whoops...

Besides that, this is a very interesting story. I'm getting a Romeo and Juliet meets Star Wars vibe. I will continue to read on in the series.

[jennybeast · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Excellent story -- like the art, like the arc, like the characters. An imaginative universe, but what is up with the Robots? Man, they are weird.

[angelina0justice · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This graphic novel is very graphic, and it works. The graphic content is less about titillation and more about honesty. It makes the story resonate and keeps the reader just a little on edge.