The Return of the Saga Comic Series

Last week, Saga returned.

For comic fans, it’s likely to be one of the biggest events of the year. The acclaimed series returned last Wednesday after a nearly four year hiatus.

For those that aren’t familiar: Saga is an immensely popular space opera series written by Brian K. Vaughn with art by Fiona Staples. The series follows Alana and Mako, a pair of lovers on opposite sides of an interstellar war who desert their respective armies to start a family together.

The cast spirals out far beyond them, though, with storylines following a dozen other characters either pursuing or assisting the pair as Alana and Mako struggle to stay one step ahead of the authorities. Some side characters, like bounty hunter The Will and his truth-sensing feline companion Lying Cat, have long-running and compelling arcs despite only occasionally interacting with Alana and Mako. 

The series revels in bizarre locales and exotic character designs, but is anchored by Alana and Mako as grounded characters with real relationship struggles; like conflicts between career-goals and family obligations, difficult relations with in-laws, and poor communication rooted in insecurities. Like most great sci-fi, Vaughn and Staples use the outlandish trappings as background for a very human story.

Vaughn had a pretty significant pedigree before the launch of Saga. His series Y: The Last Man ran for six years and won three Eisner awards and Vaughn’s Runaways is one of the most beloved Marvel series. Staples had previously worked comics at DC Comics, IDW and others before Saga, but the series helped propel her into being a household name in comics.

It’s been a long wait for fans of the series. The series left off on a cliffhanger in July 2018 with issue #54. Like Game of Thrones, Saga’s built a reputation as a series more than willing to kill central characters and take the story in shocking and unexpected directions. But even with that expectation, the end of issue #54 still managed to leave readers stunned.

Saga #55 hit stands last week. Vaughn and Staples have said the series is broken into two 54 issue halves, with the latest issue marking the start of the second half of the series.

For those looking to catch up, the series is available in trade paperback volumes (volume 1 is $9.99), but the entire first half of the series is available in a larger compendium for $41.