The space opera you didn’t know you were waiting for

Realistically, most people have heard of, read about or enjoyed Saga already. All those raves you already heard about are absolutely merited – this is one of best graphic novel series I have ever read, and I am including Neil Gaiman’s Sandman series in my assessment.

Brian K. Vaughn, who wrote the excellent Y: The Last Man Standing series, and artist Fiona Staples, have created a pretty much perfect series. It is a space opera, in the best sense of the phrase, filled with intergalactic adventure, danger, romance. Vaughn and Staples are doing remarkable world-building here, with beautiful detailed art and species that are distinctly different (ie. not all bipedal, etc).

For those unaware, the story begins really with a relationship between two soldiers from opposing armies, fighting battles with galactic implications. Their love, and the child that results, endangers the decades long battle in which there is too much invested by too many worlds. They go on the run, and it just gets better from there. By the fourth volume, Marko and Alana have picked up a few companions, and are finding making a life on the run challenging, from both internal pressures as well as hiding from trained assassins and the might of the Robot Kingdom. Things just get complicated, and I would hate to spoil anyone possibly reading.

Over the course of the four trade paperbacks I have read, Vaughn has expanded his world and the various plot points, and hasn’t let any of them drop, and indeed keeping each relevant to the other. Staples has a really beautiful and creative drawing style, all elegance and deft colouring. It’s just wonderful, and I have enticed more non-GN readers with this series than I have with any other series I have tried to share. I cannot wait for volume 5.