Saga, Volume 1

Most of the time when a book is categorised as both sci-fi and fantasy, I roll my eyes because I'm tired of the two getting lumped together. But this really has elements of both, which is interesting. Unlike many readers coming to this series, I'm not familiar with Vaughan's work; I'm not yet sure how I feel about some of the elements in these first issues, but I like the story enough to keep reading. There were some moments that made me laugh out loud, which is always a promising start.

And, even if I didn't, I would probably still keep reading, because Staples's artwork is beautiful. In fact, visually, there's just so much to like about her art and Fonografiks's lettering:
- The expressions aren't overly exaggerated, they're exaggerated just the right amount. Which shouldn't make sense, but it does.
- Lines and colouring are brilliant in both senses of the word, practically leaping off the page (screen) so my eyes can devour them.
- Speech bubble placement is great, but what I like even better is the bubbles themselves. I love that the speech bubble belonging to the person you can't see is drawn differently from the one belonging to the person you can see.
- The lettering might just be one of my favourite things.

* All-caps lettering in comics has always irritated me. In Saga, all-caps lettering is used when people are actually, y'know, shouting. WHICH IS GREAT BECAUSE READING AN ENTIRE SERIES SHOUTING AT MYSELF MAKES MY BRAIN-EARS SORE AND IS VERY TIRING.
* The practice of randomly bolding words in comics has always irritated me. In Saga, words are bolded when they are meant to be, y'know, emphasised. Which is great, because now I don't have to read the whole series in the voice of Daria's Mr. DeMartino.
* Different fonts and colours, as appropriate. Not one per character, that'd be a bit much. But like one per race(ish). Luuuuurve.

I'm just getting out of a long-term rel—er, I mean, I've just finished reading a series I started reading in 2010, so I'm still a little bit steeped in that world. It amuses me when the universe creates connections between completely unrelated things. That series also had a being that could detect lies, of whom The Will's lying cat reminded me, and that series also had a precocious, cheeky teenager, of whom Izabel reminds me. I didn't have to read Saga right after I finished Fever, that's just the way it worked out. ¯_(ツ)_/¯

It's interesting that Freelancers have their own honorific: “The”.

I love Izabel.

Hmm. I think this an example of the Law of Diminishing Returns. Whisper it, however I think this series may finally be getting a bit boring. I think it had reached the point where it is obvious that the story is being dragged out as long as possible, without any obvious end in sight. Plus the stunt deaths are getting a little predictable (in the sense that you can expect at least one key character to die in each new volume). I'm think I will wait until the story is concluded before reading more...