I am going to talk about a comic book series that completely weird. A series that made me stop after finishing an issue, stare at the wall, and say “yepp… what did I just read?” The comic is Saga, written by Brian K. Vaughan and published by Image Comics.

First of all, let me say this clearly: Saga is not a normal comic book. Not even close. If you are looking for superheroes saving the world, cool costumes or simple good vs evil stuff, this is not that book. And I think that’s exactly why Saga feels so special. It doesn’t try to be anything else. It just tells its story in its own weird, brutal, funny way.

Saga started back in 2012, and yeah from the very first issue you already know this is going to be something different. There is a war going on between two races, from two different worlds. One side uses magic, the other uses technology. And in the middle of this endless war, two soldiers from opposite sides fall in love and have a baby. That baby, Hazel, is actually the narrator of the whole series.

Yepp, a baby narrating a space fantasy comic… sounds strange, but somehow it works perfectly.

The thing about Saga is, well… everything happens very naturally but also very suddenly. One moment you are laughing because of some absurd joke or weird character, and the next moment… boom. Someone dies. Someone you actually cared about. And that’s where Saga hits the hardest. Brian K. Vaughan is not afraid to hurt the reader. At all. No one feels safe. Ever. You just turn the page and hope your favorite character is still alive.

I’m not going to say the art is amazing or groundbreaking or anything like that, because honestly, that would be underselling it. Fiona Staples’ art is just perfect for this world. The characters feel alive, the aliens are strange but not stupid-looking, and the emotional moments really hit because of her expressions. But again, I don’t want to sound like I’m forcing compliments. It just works. That’s it.

If there is one “problem” with Saga, it’s kind of the opposite of DCeased (which you can read my review for DCeased too! click to link) . Saga is long. And sometimes it feels like the story takes a breath, slows down, and just lives in its world for a bit. Some readers might not like that. But personally, I loved it. I wanted to stay there longer. I wanted to see these characters grow, fail, make stupid choices (and they do, a lot).

Also, Saga is dark. Not just violent dark, but emotionally dark. It talks about family, trauma, war, racism, love, and growing up in a broken world. And it does all that without feeling like a lecture. It just shows you things and lets you decide how you feel about them.

I think Saga is one of those comic book series that you either really love or you just don’t get into at all. But if you give it a real chance, like a few volumes, not just one issue, there’s a big chance it will stay with you for a long time.

All I’m saying is this: if you ever wanted to read a comic book that feels human, messy, funny, cruel, and beautiful at the same time, dude, Saga should be on your list. Maybe not number one for everyone, but definitely somewhere at the top.