A Comic Book Saga That Harkens A History In The Making On The Wednesday Run – March 14, 2012

I’ve been waiting on this particular Wednesday for nearly a year. Apparently, so have a lot – and I mean a lot – of other people.

Originally announced at the San Diego Comic Con last summer, Brian K. Vaughan, he of the highly rated comic book series’ Y The Last Man, Ex Machina and writer/producer credits on everyone’s favourite castaway television drama, Lost, the new monthly series Saga takes comics back…to the future.

Let me quickly explain.

Saga #1
Written by: Brian K. Vaughan
Illustrated by: Fiona Staples
Published by: Image Comics

I remember the sheer joy, as an adolescent, of discovering comic books back in the early-to-mid nineteen eighties. There were so many great genres to read back then, apart from the staple superhero books. There were science fiction tales, fantasy tales, tales of adventure on the high seas and graphic novels – those visual stories that were more complex in the telling – that were just starting to come to the fore. ROM was a favourite of mine at the time. As was Dreadstar. I even squirreled away a few issues of Atari Force back in the day, alongside some Star Wars, Warlord and Epic Illustrated.

Comic books were different in those days. It was a time where sword and sorcery comics and science fiction and fantasy monthlies sold in numbers equivalent to Superman and Captain America. It didn’t really last. I don’t know if I outgrew those genres or if the industry did.

And that’s why I’m so excited for this Wednesday. Saga brings all of that back, all of those old emotions and interests, contemporizing it for our modern day culture.

Saga tells the story of the love between Marko and Alana and the birth of their baby as they are caught amidst a long-standing war between races. If you haven’t already noticed by the image above, the two protagonists couldn’t look dissimilar: Marko has horns protruding from his head while Alana has fairy wings sprouting from the back of her shoulders. Yes! It’s the age-old conceit: Sharks! Jets! Capulets! Montagues! But this time, the story is set in outer space where magic and technology mingle; where political manoeuvrings and war mongering take centre stage. In a universe such as this, how can love survive?

The one main admiration I have for Brian K. Vaughan’s writing is that, at its essence, his stories are always character-driven. They’re always stories of humanity. I trust him implicitly. On Saga, Vaughan is joined by the amazingly talented Canadian artist, Fiona Staples. Believe me when I say that she’s knocking it out of the park panel after panel in this book.

So, Saga is nearly a year in the wait. It’s arguably the most eagerly anticipated new series this year. And it’s already sold out. That’s right, a second printing is already on the way and, as of this writing, the first issue hasn’t even been put on the comic book shelves yet!

Make the run to your local shop today, you eager beaver comic book readers – and make it double fast. At $2.99 and double-sized with no ads, you can’t possibly go wrong.

Saga will either embrace you as a new reader to the art form that is comic books or welcome you back, reminding you why you enjoy reading them so much.

Every Wednesday, JP makes the after-work run to his local downtown comic book shop. Comics arrive on Wednesdays you see and JP, fearful that the latest issue will sell out, rushes out to purchase his copy. This regular, weekly column will highlight a particularly interesting release, written in short order, of course, because JP has to get his – before someone else does!