“From forth the fatal loins of these two foes, a pair of star-cross’d lovers” have a baby in a war zone. Alana (wings) and Marko (horns) are soldiers fighting on opposite sides of a never-ending galaxy-spanning war. When they secretly fall in love and accidentally have a baby, they upset both governments and go on the run to escape assassination by two bounty hunters, The Will (with sidekick Lying Cat) and The Stalk (ex-girlfriend of The Will, a topless, armless woman with spider legs), and Prince Robot IV (of the Robot Empire, an anatomically correct Robot with a TV for a head).
Saga is a perfect union of scifi and fantasy, full of spaceships and lasers, as well as monsters and magic. I’ve heard Saga likened to Star Wars, but there’s no evil Empire, and our heroes aren’t trying to stop the war — they just want out. It’s a subversive, unexpected, action plot that will make you slightly uncomfortable. It’s unique in a way that’s perfect for the comic genre, from the ghost babysitter who doesn’t have a legs, to the tree spaceship that can’t be controlled and goes where it wants, to the weird sex creatures on Sextillion (a planet devoted entirely to your sexual fantasy).
Despite the fact that Alana and Marko are our traditional heroes, I don’t have much reason to root for them at this point besides their newborn. The relationship between the two leads feels less important than the establishment of the other characters. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, because 1) I’m already rooting for The Will and Lying Cat and 2) I fully expect more characterization in subsequent issues.
Highly recommended for new parents, vegetarians, and pacifists who like to watch violence, but really for anyone who enjoys fantastical scifi narratives in space. I love this story!
