Saga volume 3 review

It’s pretty clear that Saga is a unique comic in the current publishing landscape of the medium. It feels fresh and unique and the creators are having a noticeably good time working on this book. The third volume presents a lot of the same of what we’ve seen so far. If you liked the first two volumes, you’ll certainly like this one. Likewise if you didn’t like it, you won’t enjoy the latest volume. Eighteen issues in, I think it’s pretty clear that the series has found its long term identity. By that I mean that it’s found its footing, both narratively and visually.

Fiona Staples art continues to impress. She appears to work exclusively with computer software and it shows the most in her backgrounds. Some of them are picturesque and do a great job establishing the various settings and locations in which the action takes place. Some of her other backgrounds present a different style. Things are blurry, muddy, and undefined. It distracts from the action and the characters stand off and stick out, as if they do not belong. For the most part, her backgrounds have improved in these issues. I don’t know what her approach to drawing an issue is but I can’t shake the feeling that she works on the backgrounds and characters separately. The art style being used is just too different and it surely requires her to be in a different frame of mind. All that said, she gets it right more often than not. When the backgrounds and characters work well together it’s superb. When it comes to her characters, she has a way of making them look real. Her work on body language is impressive and her facial expressions do the job, even on non-traditional (read: alien) faces. Horns, single-eyed or with multiple eyes, the facial expression get the message across. I also think Staples is very good at making fashionable and memorable clothing designs. It helps to ground the series by giving the reader something real to focus on amidst all the various other space opera visuals.

If you look at the writing, Brian K. Vaughan’s plotting, his dialogue and the comic’s themes also retain the same overall feeling and style of the previous volumes. In this case, more of the same is good because there hasn’t been any loss of quality since the first issue, much the opposite, the series has gotten a bit better. I didn’t feel it as strongly in any of Vaughan’s previous comics, but the dialogue in Saga sometimes panders to the reader. While it’s not surprising, since he had discussed his identity as a father and its influences on this particular comic, he also uses Saga to comment on the current opinions of non-traditional families or to provide parenting tips and tricks. It works more often than not, but every once in a while it pulls me out of the story a little. Likewise, the narrations from Hazel were more metatextual this time around. She provides the reader with information regarding certain aspects of writing. Unfortunately, off the top of my head, I can only think of an example from the second volume in which Vaughan and Staples, through Hazel, tell the story of the main characters’ “meet-cute”.

One example of muddy backgrounds to be found in volume 3. To give credit where it's due
Staples backgrounds were better than in the previous volumes.

In most of his previous comics, Vaughan would use a lot of pop culture references in his dialogue. Since Saga doesn’t take place in our universe (well, at least not our galaxy), references to the nature of something real in our universe such as “meet-cute” just doesn’t fit. It makes the characters too self-aware. I can’t quite figure out what it is about their dialogue but something about it feels off. It doesn’t stop it from being entertaining as characters regularly say things that I enjoy.

When it comes to plot, Vaughan focuses a lot on providing readers with an interesting cliffhanger at the end of each issue. It’s another staple from his writing bag of tricks. You can also expect a more meaningful or more shocking cliffhanger at the end of each six-issue arc. This volume is no different and it shows the reader that the story has jumped ahead in time. It’s exciting and it makes me anxious for the release of the next volume. I really like the cliffhangers but sometimes the structure of a particular issue reads as though it’s geared entirely towards producing that final page. You would think that three volumes into the series Vaughan wouldn’t need to put as much effort into baiting the reader to come back for more and that he could trust his story to do that job for him. At the very least, Vaughan’s focus on providing end-of-issue shockers helps to move the story along at a brisk pace which keeps things exciting for the reader.

                                

As for the themes, they’re old as hell. Saga is about love, war and family. Despite being well-trodden themes, Vaughan makes good use of them here, particularly family. He’s updated it for modern audiences it and family means more than just blood, it’s also about choices, dependability and trust. Family is also a group in which love and war can, and do, take place. It’s like the universe but in smaller doses, many individual elements all coming together and forming a whole. I don’t have a whole lot to say on this subject but, like most of the items I brought up in this review: it’s more of the same. That’s a good thing though as it’s familiar yet different and that’s contributing to the comic’s success.

An example of one of the better backgrounds. The city skyline is better suited to Staples's
 digital art. It doesn't work as well for more organic or natural backgrounds as above.

Three volumes in and the creators have clearly established their tone, style and direction for the comic. The same goes for you and any other readers. If you’ve enjoyed the comic so far you’re likely along for the whole trip. Readers who didn’t like it or who were still sitting on the fence have likely taken their leave. I know that I’m here for the long haul and I’m sure I’ll continue to enjoy Saga as Vaughan and Staples are at the top of their game. My only concern is whether or not the creators can maintain this high level of craftsmanship to the story’s conclusion. It’s a small concern though since Vaughan and Staples make a good team.

Saga volume 2 review

This is one of Staples's best covers so far.

I enjoyed the first volume of Saga much more on my second read. My expectations and preconceived notions were too disruptive to my enjoyment the first time I read it. Once I had a clear idea of what Saga was, I was able to better enjoy it the second time around. I was able to look at it for what it was. I paid attention to its multiple components as well as the final result without having to worry whether or not Brian K. Vaughan was still able to create good comics after leaving the medium for a few short years (his absence felt longer than what it really was because he stopped creating new comics years before he ever stopped writing them; Ex Machina was his only title for a while).

Expectations can be a funny thing and they regularly play a make it or break it role when it comes to our appreciation of entertainment. Because I have read and reread the first volume of Saga, I had pretty clear expectations for the second volume. Because I’ve read most of BKV’s comics, I was excited, much more than I was for the first volume, but I was still a little worried. One of them had to do with Fiona Staples’s art. Will it improve of diminish in quality? Already in the first volume there were a number of backgrounds that seemed rushed or unfinished. I know that Saga doesn’t have a strict monthly schedule. The creators are seemingly producing the comic on a daily basis but the issues are released six at a time at a one per month frequency and then there is a break of a few months before the next batch of six issues comes out. Canadian artist, Staples, has a lot to do on these issues. She takes care of the art from start to finish, including but not necessarily limited to pencils, inks, colours and cover art (on which she uses a more complex and most likely more time consuming colouring technique).

I had other concerns, too. Will BKV give the reader a sense of what the overarching story will be? So far, the main protagonists are simply running away from the intergalactic conflict between the people of their respective planets (or moons). The sub-plots are so far limited to other characters undergoing their own little quests which are related to the fate of Alana and Marko. At the end of the first volume, things still seem to happen seemingly without reason other than this is what must happen for the writer to set up his story. To BKV’s credit, it’s interesting but he can’t keep that pace for long and expect readers to stay interested. There needs to be more story and more character development. Get me hooked on this comic.

My last big concern had to do with the world building. Will BKV and Staples be able to make the world building into something that resembles a cohesive whole with a strong internal logic? So far we’ve had talking monkey, tv-headed robots mixing in with wooden spaceships, magic swords, ghosts, laser guns and more. They’re all interesting, if not from a storytelling or originality perspective, then at least from and visual perspective but it all seems too loose and chaotic at this point. I wanted them to tighten up the world building to help me truly believe in the setting in which the story is taking place so that I can let myself be immersed in Alana and Marko’s lives. In short, Saga volume 1 was a good introduction but the second volume really had to kick things into high great because the series at six issues wasn’t strong enough to support itself as the type of Vertigo style maxi-series it’s trying to be. I understand it’s sometimes difficult to see how a series will progress, even vaguely, on six issues but that’s the problem. When the main characters are simply running away, it doesn’t leave us with much to hang on to storytelling wise. The characters are pretty reactive in the first six issues and I need them to be proactive in order to provide me with a story and not just snippets of event that are happening concurrently between different characters.

It's unfortunate that Alana gestures right a the crappy background. 

I’ve glad to say, for the most part, Saga volume 2 did not disappoint. It was a distinct improvement on the first volume. All of the concerns I had going in were addressed. BKV provides us some history between Alana and Marko, how they met and how they ended up in their current predicament. BKV did this using a technique that will feel very familiar to his long time readers. What’s good about his writing is that he doesn’t tell things linealy from one issue to the next. There is always a current “present” story going on that intercut with flashbacks often taking place in the beginning of an issue that provides snippets from the past adding characterisation and sometimes setting up future storylines or, at the very least, adding context to the current storyline. It’s a technique BKV’s often used but he does well so I don’t mind seeing it here again.

Saga does feel like BKV is telling a new story using old tried and tested methods. There aren’t any significant differences in how BKV is telling his story compared to some of his larger works such as Ex Machina and Y: The Last Man. Part of me wishes he would try something new but the other part of me I knows that his tried and true techniques will make for a good comic.

This relates to one of the problems I have with Saga. If you read comic reviewing website, a lot of people are really losing it for this comic. You read some reviews and people are saying Saga is the best thing to hit the comic scene in years. Yes, it’s good. The second volume is very good but I wouldn’t call it the best. Saga despite trying to be edgy is a “safe” comic. It tries to be edgy. This book has more adult content than previous BKV comics but it’s portrayed in a juvenile way that takes away the bite out of the adult content. This comic is posing as an edgy work but it’s really just Star Wars in comic form with more jokes, more magic, more boobs, penis and butts and less mythos. That last part sound like a critique but it isn’t really. It just want to make it clear I think this is a safe comic for adult readers who are really only looking for a good space adventure story to read without being judged for it. At the end of the day, this is a fun comic is good twists and turns and a relatively fast pace. The fact there is a Mature Readers tag on the back cover simply serves as a defense against non-comic enthusiasm who might give a condescending look to adults reading a space adventure comic.

I went off on a bit of a tangent there but Saga provides so many topic for discussions and I still have a lot of things I want to say about it. I want to talk about Staples art some more. It hasn’t really grown on me. I like it about the same I did while reading the first volume. I think he character work and designs are great but, her backgrounds continue to be hit or miss with me. Some work very well, so well in fact I get pretty disappointed when I turn to the next page and look at a background that just fails to deliver. Her covers on the other hand remain top notch. I’ve been impressed with almost every cover she’s done for Saga so far.

The colouring is just great on this cover.
I've noticed that Staples doesn't really draw
backgrounds on her covers. Solid colours
seem to be her preference.

The absolute best thing about the second volume is the relationships that start to form. One of my favourite was the bonding between Alana and Barr while on the wooden spaceship. Their time on the ship together is primarily composed of talking, taking care of Mabel and giving parenting tips. It’s great and it shows just how good BKV is at writing seemingly everyday conversations that create depth of character. It's pretty impressive but more importantly, it was so enjoyable while also advancing the story and adding depth to the comic which is something it was missing up until this point.

Volume 2 improves on the first in part due to its development of the themes to be found in Saga. Themes of war and pacifisms which were apparent in the first issue are further developed but that's not the real focus. Neither is love the main theme, though there is quite a bit of material available to support that. I think family is the predominant theme. Monarchical families, adoptive families, broken families, inter species families; they all exist in Saga. I don’t want to be to descriptive but I’ve outline four distinct families in  the series so far they each bring forth interesting ideas of the notion of family. What’s a family? Is it something you’re born into or is it something you make for yourself? BKV seems to be arguing the latter but I’m certain he’s only beginning to talk about the families. Take a second look at Saga, it’s all over the place from Mabel’s narration to the parenting tips to the conflicting (and sometimes complimentary) roles existing within the same individual.

I’ve had a lot to say about the second volume of Saga and I’m very happy about it. I’m not worried about whether or not it will be a good comic. I know now that it is. I hope it continues to be and I also hope Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples continue to impress and surprise. One thing is clear; I have very few concerns left over the quality of Saga. Instead, I’m starting to build a list of expectations and I’ve got a feeling the creators at play will rise to and maybe exceed them.

  

Saga volume 1 review

I wanted to like Saga way more than I did. I wanted to love it like I love other Brian K. Vaughan comics. This was supposed to be his great return to the medium and, depending who you’re talking to, it is. I agree with them that Saga is a very good comic and that BKV and Staples are doing something important with their comic but I don't love it. I think it's important that they're doing a vertigo style maxi-series at Image. I also think it’s very important they're creating something new because comics, like any other medium, is always in need of new creative energies. 

The first few pages of the first issue are groan worthy. Really, this is how BKV decides to return to comics? An interspecies hipster couple who are experiencing the birth of their first child in a random garage the whole scene peppered with trite dialogue? You're better than that. The scene continues with Marko telling us about his vow to never take his sword out of his scabbard again. He kept it in for four issues.

The comic isn’t all bad though. To be fair, it’s mostly good. Fiona Staples has a large role to play in that. She’s a very talented artist. I like that her colour is an inseparable part of her art. The colouring embellishes her line work to such a degree I'm convinced that seeing her work in black and white juxtaposed with her colour pages would make it seem like the work of two different artists. Look at a page to see how much detail she adds to a law without the use of lines, using colouring alone.

This is one example where Staples's background
is very well done. I like how mysterious and strange
the ice cave looks.

I've never seen Staples’s art until I heard about this project and I really like it. The problem is I don't think she's the best artist for this story. Her backgrounds leave much to be desired. Often times they're not even really there. Fantasy and science fiction as genres are dependent on visuals. That's primarily what defines them and it contributes greatly to what separates them from other genres. A big part of these visuals are the surroundings. Her backgrounds look likes scenes taking place on a holodeck. Some of her character designs are excellent, I really like them. But her locations, her vistas, they're practically non-existent. I really like her art but the jury is still out on whether she's a good fit for this story.

When taking a look at the story and plot of the book, I’m also a little disappointed. It’s essentially Shakespeare in space with a heavy dose of Star Wars. The Shakespeare part makes me hopeful because despite it’s simple beginnings, it can easily grow into a story filled with interesting conflict between characters. The Star Wars influences will undoubtedly ensure it’s filled with science fiction and fantasy action. The combination of both those genres is a very difficult thing to do and that’s also something Vaughan is struggling with in these early issues. The balance isn’t quite there yet and both the magic and the technology are being used as storytelling devices to increase conflict and add melodrama. It’s not always done to the best effect.

Fiona Staples really knocks it out
of the park with her covers. This is where
her colouring is the most interesting. 

One of the things that Vaughan does well is play with the dialogue and the narration. They both play off of each other and it regularly has nice effects. They support each other. Hazel doing the narration makes for some humorous panels but it also adds some nice weight to the events taking place in the future. It’s not a new technique to have a narrator in the future telling a story in the pass without letting the reader know who or when the narrator is talking, but Vaughan uses it well here and it helps to keep me interested in the story. I like Hazel more than I like her parents based on her narrations alone.

I know I sound like I didn’t like the comic at all, but really, I did. There is a lot to enjoy here, including Fiona Staples’s artwork or Brian K. Vaughan giving his readers nice parenting advice and baby raising factoids. It’s refreshing to read a comic by BKV that isn’t shock full of pop culture references. There aren’t any because the story takes place in an entirely fictional universe. Sure, he’s replaced the pop culture with parenting tips and tricks, but maybe he just needs to have his characters referecence something. Either way, I’m enjoying it and I’m actually learning things too! Educational comics with spaceships, freelance bounty hunters, Shakespearian family conflicts, dismembered ghost babysitters and magic. There’s something here for the whole family!

Below is a good example of how well Staples uses her colouring. Look at how she enhances the texture of Marko's horns. Look at the baby, look at the background even. It's a pretty good splash page. (Click on the image to make it bigger.) 

Below are two more examples of Staples's backgrounds. I find that first the first six issues her backgrounds are either hit or miss. Sometimes it has to do with what she's drawing as the back ground. Certain scenes taking place in the forest at night beneath a starry sky at well done, but they're also simple and the colours being used work to Staples advantage. When the backgrounds are good though, they're undeniably good. It's just unfortunate that the same can be said when the backgrounds are bad because they're muddy, undefined or seemingly rushed. (Click on the images to make them bigger.)

 

Doctor Strange: The Oath Review

I wanted to review one if Brian K. Vaughan's longer series but my other commitments on Shared Universe Reviews, mainly working on my larger projects and regular comic reviews, are keeping me pretty busy. Thankfully, Brian K. Vaughan has also penned a few shorter comic projects. I chose to read Doctor Strange: The Oath because I remembered really liking it but more specifically because Vaughan and Marcos Martin have published the first two issues of their new series: Private Eye .I quite like Martin art and I felt like reading a BKV story, The Oath seemed like a good fit.

BKV is one of the comic book writers that really encouraged me to read more comics. Not just superhero comics either. By following him I discovered other publishers, characters, and genres that exist in the comics medium. Because of Runaways I developed an interest in the B and C-list heroes of Marvel. Because of Y: The Last man I read such Vertigo series as Sandman, Transmetropolitan and Preacher. It's all BKV's fault that I discovered some of my favourite comics creators either because other series were compared to Vaughan's series or because he had a blurb on the cover of a new series or collection. 

Occasionally I feel a little bad for BKV. I would not list him as one of my all-time favourite comics writers but i do think he's better than most. Don't get me wrong, he's very good and he definitively cares more about the quality of comics he writes than the quantity. Still, I've always enjoyed a comic written by BKV, some more than others of course. I'm certain I will always continue to admire his desire to create new characters and series of his own as opposed to focusing all of his attention on the serialized adventures of the Big Two's superhero of the month.

What about The Oath? Where is it situated in Vaughan's body of work? It doesn't compare to his larger series, Ex Machina or Runaways or Y: The Last Man, but I think it might be his best mini-series. What makes this potentially Vaughan's best mini-series? For starters, having Marcos Martin on art duties does help out a lot. The creative team establishes the Night Nurse in the Marvel Universe, gives us a bit of her origin, offers us a short revamp of Doctor Strange's origin and also establishes his relationship with Wong. There’s also plenty of snappy dialogue and an establishing conflict as well as a few other nice moments where Vaughan uses the shared universe of Marvel to his advantage – and that’s all in the first issue! None of it feels dense though. Vaughan gives Martin the room to let his art breathe and the whole thing stays pretty balanced throughout all five issues.

Stephen Strange's origin story is about him putting aside his arrogant ways and learning to be compassionate and helpful towards his fellow man. Vaughan thinks up a story in which we get to see that he's really taken his lesson to heart and actually has changed for the better. It wasn't easy and Strange has moments if doubt but it’s his willingness to help his friends and his ability to overcome his fears that make him the hero he is. It doesn't have a whole lot to do with his powers as Sorcerer Supreme. Many other characters also have the abilities to wield magic and it doesn't mean they're all heroes. Mordo is a prime example of this. The guy is a villain, plain and simple. His power doesn’t instil in him the desire to help others. In fact, being powerful makes him want to take advantage of others and take actions that benefit himself. Vaughan does a good job of humanizing Strange while allowing him to have a dangerous edge. He's the Sorcery Supreme, after all. He is not to be underestimated.

One of the difficulties with writing a Doctor Strange story is the unpredictability of magic. Certain readers could find it difficult to enjoy reading a story in which a veritable deus ex machine exist as a primary story telling element. How do you write interesting conflict when your protagonist can just magic it all away? A lack of rules or an overabundance of rules to link the usage I magic in a story is an important and commonly dealt with element of the fantasy genre but it’s been a constant problem for Doctor Strange. Vaughan takes the time to address this problem directly without making it the focus of the story. It’s a little tough I appreciated and by defining how the magic works, Vaughan slips in with an emotional sneak attack near the end of the story. The guy had it planned all along!

Vaughan and Martin’s Doctor Strange comic effortlessly balances magical battles in other dimensions, philosophical debates on the use of power, and a sneakily emotional story. Doctor Strange: The Oath is a quick burst of superhero comics that actually has an interesting story to tell and doesn’t hinge on the fisticuffs of the title’s hero. It’s something we don't see often enough. BKV packs a nice amount of story and character development in five issues and gives it all a weight that is appropriate for a mini-series. The reader is neither overwhelmed and the story doesn't feel breezy or light. By focusing on telling an interesting and balanced story, BKV doesn't have to justify the existence of one more sock ‘em superhero comic on the stands. BKV knows he had one good Stephen Strange story and he told it, and stopped. He never even considered overstaying his welcome and instead leaves us wanting more once the last page is turned. I wish there was more of a demand for shorter superhero stories with some actually depths to the story than the endless parade of variant covers and summer crossovers that plague the market on a monthly basis.

Because I liked the art so much, here are more sample pages: