Saga Vol 1 Review and Discussion

A month ago I announced Saga Vol. 1 as the first pick in my comic book of the month club. I chose this book because Saga was a story I had a lot about and it was by Brian K. Vaughan, who wrote Y: The Last Man. Saga is a much different story than Y: The Last Man. Anyways, on to the review!

Saga starts off with two characters Alana, from Landfall, and Marko, from Wreath. They were on opposite sides of war. Marko was a prisoner and Alana was his guard. Turns out they fell in love. This is very similar to Romeo and Juliet in space but a lot better.

The first thing we see is the birth of their daughter Hazel. We find out they are both now fugitives wanted by the armies once fought for.  After the birth of Hazel they are found by both Wreath and Landfall forces. They were sold out by the person who let them in to give birth to Hazel. This person is shot by the Landfall forces, lead by Prince Robot Iv, and in a last attempt to be a good person he gives Marko and Alana a map to the Rocket Ship Forest. This is a mythical place where rocket ships grow like trees. This map is the key to the adventure in this volume.

Alana and Marko go on a journey to find this forest. While they are doing that they run into the Horrors, which are ghosts on the planet and they are charged with protecting the planet. One of the Horrors, Izabel strikes a deal to help Marko and Alana as log as they take her with them. In order for her to go with them, she must bond her soul to Hazel. It took some convincing but Marko and Alana agree.

Also, they must battle mercenaries as well. They are The Stalk, a spider like creature, and The Will. The Will is the first and only mercenary to actually interact with Marko and Alana in this volume, The Stalk is at first scared away by the horrors and then, apparently, killed by Prince Robot IV as she is trying to capture them Marko and Alana again. Prince Robot the IV had tracked them down  again and was attempting to capture them as well. The will is seen passing a test to get the assignment of hunting them down. He is also seen rescuing a child sex slave. It appears the mercenaries will have a big role going forward.

Eventually, Izabel leads them to Rocket Ship Forest and they get the last ship that was grown there. They finally get the ship to launch and they get an unexpected visit. Alana immediately goes on the defensive, but Marko  stops her because they are his parents

I really enjoyed this book. Even though the story is such a familiar conch, space aspect adds so much. The horrors were a great example of the devastation caused by the war. The help to show traditions as well because they are guarding the planet as spirits because that is tradition. Also, the characters are great because you  can easily relate to them. I would give this story a 4.5 out of 5.

Let me know what you thought of this story!

Book Club Pick #1

 As I mentioned when I started Whoosh!, I really want to start a comic book of the month club. This will mainly be Trade paperbacks and graphic novels that have been released. Part of my growth as a comic reader was expanding beyond superhero comics. I have had the chance to read more than few great stories that did not involve superheroes. As such some of my picks for this section may venture outside the superhero realm as well. I hope this expands both my reading and yours as well.

Without further ado, my pick for the first book of the month is Saga Vol. 1.  This is a story I am very unfamiliar with. It is written by Brian K. Vaughan. Vaughan wrote Y the Last Man which was a story I greatly enjoyed. Saga is a space fantasy story about a husband and wife that come from warring alien races and how they are trying to raise their daughter while running from both sides of the war. This story has received a lot of praise and been on my list to read for a while. 

I'll have my review of the book posted here on November 24th! I look forward to seeing why you guys thought of this story.