Saga #10 Review

Writer Brian K. Vaughan and artist Fiona Staples hit another one out of the park with Saga #10, a comic that seamlessly blends emotional impact with heady sci-fi action set pieces. As the focus shifts back to Alana and Marko's little family, we're given insight into how the two unlikely star-crossed lovers found themselves on the lam, baby in tow and the weight of two worlds on their shoulders.

It might be strange to say so about a comic about dueling alien races, but Vaughan's greatest strength is how well he humanizes the inhuman. Just as he did in his 2006 graphic novel, Pride of Baghdad, Vaughan imbues his nonhuman characters with lives and spirits of their own and the emotional resonance is strong enough that the final page will be sure to leave more than a few fans wailing in agony.

What makes Saga special is that it defies categorization. Issue #10 offers up glimpses into a fledgling love story, compelling family dynamics, fantastically designed creatures, and enough dramatic explosions and situational badassery to feed your hunger for cartoon violence. Particularly strong is the flashback sequence of the pivotal moment that set events in motion -- Alana rescuing Marko from a short, brutal life of fatal servitude.

Staples' art is as lovely as ever and her strategy of less is more means that the issue's visuals have a sort of uncluttered elegance to them that is minimal without being too simplistic. Staples' artfully restrained palette, coupled with clean lines and crisp inks, adds as much to the world-building of Saga as Vaughan's script. It's rare for the textual and visual elements of a book to come together without one outshining the other, but Vaughan and Staples find a way to make it look deceptively easy.

Melissa Grey is a lover of all things cats, comics, and outer space. She can be found on MyIGN at MelissaGrey or lurking on Twitter @meligrey.

Source : ign[dot]com