Comic Book Review – Saga #17
Saga #17
Written by: Brian K. Vaughan
Art by: Fiona Staples
I almost feel like reviewing Saga is a bit pointless. What I always want to say is “Just go buy this book and read it. Buy all of them, your life will be better for it. You’re welcome.”
Alas, if that’s all I said then this wouldn’t be much of a review. And that’s what you’re here for isn’t it? Well, you’re really here for the studs of The Comic Anvil, but I’ll take what I can get.
Chapter seventeen continues with Hazel narrating the rocky start to her young life. Marco, Alana, Klara and Izabel are still holed up in Hiest’s home, hiding while Prince Robot IV attempts to torture their whereabouts out of Heist. The Will is knocking on death’s door after taking a shiv to the neck and things aren’t looking too great for my favorite bounty hunter. Gwendolyn is also on the hunt for her ex-boyfriend Marko, convinced she can persuade him to cast a “healthy spell” and fix The Will right up. We get a few incredible cliffhangers this issue while all parties converge on Hiest’s home with baby Hazel once again as the epicenter.
I think the thing I like the most about this book are the undercurrents. Sure, we have multiple story threads every issue and on the surface all the player’s motivations are perfectly clear. But the genius of this book is that Vaughan tells another story within the story, using Hazel to highlight the greater message overriding the crazy events of her early life. This time around, his message that war and peace are not opposite entities, but rather just a persistent state of being with peace only existing as pauses in the action is brilliant. As is every shocking reveal as all points start to fall around Hazel at the Hiest home. The build up is delicious.
As usual, Staples’ art is clean and spot on. Her expressions and world building tell just as much of the story as Vaughan’s script does. Her colors are deceptively subtle and you never really notice she’s showing you a completely new world even as she’s drawing space-faring trees or romance writing cyclops.
I try to recommend Saga to anyone that’s new to comics and is mature enough to appreciate a sexy, edgy title that takes some dedication to the long story format. This isn’t a book you can really pick up in the middle of the run, you need to start from #1 and take the entire journey with Hazel. It’s worth it, I promise you. And any book that can make a character like Lying Cat likable and hilarious is well worth your $3.
Score: 7 (out of 7) Prince Robot IV might be less of a dick if he upgraded that CRT monitor to a flat screen.
What did you think about Saga? Let me know in the comments or shoot me a Tweet (@lanzajr26)
