Wednesday, March 14, 2012

NB of the Week

Saga #1
Brian K Vaughan returns to a monthly book since Ex Machina finished two years ago and I was far from disappointed.
Saga is the tale of Marko and Alana and their quest for a peaceful life now that they have a child. Only problem is that they are both deserters from their armies, one from each side of the war. As they run, they find that running faster than the war may be impossible to do.
Vaughan in on his game with this issue. It's pretty fast-paced for being a strait 44 pages and involving many alien races and creatures. Story still flows smoothly and I felt like you got the basics and knowings of all the "main" characters introduced even though there were quite a few of them. In soliciting it, they tried to use Star Wars as a comparison (and why not? That's a great way to get people's attention) but I actually felt like it was more Romeo and Juliet mixed into the Heavy Metal "universe" (not the crappy, second movie though). Horned man having a baby with a winged lady. Things with human bodies but tv sets as heads getting it on (may be the most memorable shot). Monkey's holding in their intestines while trying to live just a bit longer. Unicorn ladies who get caught lying by a Lying Cat (actually what it's called too). All the while, the narration is from the newborn child, Hazel (though it is from a future Hazel, not the newborn Hazel).
This first issue was mostly set-up but what set-up it turned out to be. Vaughan is amazing as usual. Fiona Staples' art is a perfect fit (never knew her stuff before but I'm definitely adding her to my radar now). This issue shows how great Vaughan can be and I doubt this series will be a disappointment.

1 comment: