Saga Volume 6

…anyone who thinks one book has all the answers hasn’t read enough books.

Saga Volume 6 (Issues #31-#36)

By Brian K. Vaughan, Illustrations by Fiona Staples
2016
152 Pages

After a dramatic time jump, the three-time Eisner Award winner for Best Continuing Series continues to evolve, as Hazel begins the most exciting adventure of her life: kindergarten. Meanwhile, her starcrossed family learns hard lessons of their own.

 

Saga is one of those comics that I recommend to everyone. Well, everyone over 18 at least, since it has quite a few adult scenes, but you get my meaning. Anyway, it is fantastic. More than fantastic. Exceptional.

Saga is, at its core, the story of a misfit family embroiled in an intergalactic war. And what a galaxy it is. To call it creatively unique would be a gross understatement- just look at this picture:

That is a tiny Seal man, his rideable Walrus, and two humanoids who have television screens for faces. This is the world of Saga. It is bizarre to the extreme, but it is also incredibly real. The family at its center- a mother, father, their young daughter, her nanny, and her grandmother- interact in a very natural way, and go through problems and trials shared by so many real life families. They just also happen to have wings and horns. It’s fantastical science fiction, but it’s also grounded and relatable.

This volume, which collects issues #31-#36, picks up several years after the previous collection. The time jump ended up being an effective narrative mechanism. Hazel, the young daughter, was born in the early issues of the book, and though she narrates the events from a presumed later date, there is only so much a baby can do. Now she’s in kindergarten and a full-fledged actor in her own right, not just a Wonder Years-style voice from the future.

Hazel aside, the jump also moves the greater meta plot in new directions. The war will never end, but the players in it have changed, as have their mental states. We are reintroduced to old friends and make a few new ones, but through it all the central theme resonates – war is hell, and family is all you have.

Should You Read This?

Saga keeps getting better and better. If you’ve read up to this point and have enjoyed the story thus far, keep going! The time jump allows for so many more possibilities with our child narrator, and the revelations in the book just prove that the story has so much more to tell.

If you are new to the story there are now 6 volumes of collected issues, or a deluxe edition that covers #1-#18. I cannot recommend these books enough.
Summary from Goodreads