Saga #22

By Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

Saga is by all means one of the darlings of the comic book universe. It’s a great book that crafted it’s characters so well that they are all likable, even the villains. This arc has taken a step back from the hunt for Alana and Marco and began focusing on the internal problems that are occurring in their relationship. There are drugs and possible infidelity involved, but surprisingly very few guns…yet.

One of the best things about Saga, aside from the great character work, is the humor Vaughan injects into every script. This issue we start off with Izabell trying to teach Hazel how the universe was created, which is of course crazy and off the wall. Brian has also been handling Alana’s addiction issues well and things come to a head this issue as her and Marko have a run in. Where Vaughan really succeeds in this series is his realism of his characters. Alana and Marko’s argument feels very real, which is sometimes hard to accomplish in a sci-fi epic, but Vaughan has been fantastic on this series.

Fiona Staples continues her streak of awesome art in this issue. We get our first glimpse of King Robot this issue, and his look is pretty hilarious. It would make sense for him to have a gigantic tv for a head, but it’s something you wouldn’t think about, but Staples does. As Marko and Alana fight, their emotions and facial expressions look great. Staples has always excelled at showing the emotions of the characters and this issue was especially dramatic, but she covered it well. One little thing that was cool and may not be noticed by many is when Prince Robot has been ridiculed by his father, his screen has rain drops that drip down, which signifies him crying. These are the things that Staples does that make her one of the best in the business.

While this was a bit of a tamer issue, Vaughan and Staples always make the issue worth the read. Vaughan continually gives us an issue that throw us curve balls and exceeds expectations, while Fiona Staples just wows on the art. Saga will continue to be great as long as these two are attached to it.