The artwork, however, might have somehow gotten even stronger.

So yes, the ideas and scripting in this comic are as strong as always. It’s a fantastic, entertaining, and meaningful scene to bring the audience right back to the characters, themes, and world of Saga. That scene then ends with a deadly and graphic explosion, pivoting to the notion that any progress is, in fact, unlikely. And it talks like us.” There’s a lot in there: the dehumanization of the enemy by using it, right alongside a hint that Hazel’s very existence still has the potential to change minds, to show that cooperation between the two warring species isn’t inherently impossible. Within this sequence - one of the book’s rare depictions of the actual forever war that shapes it - we get a guard seeing Hazel (her wings restrained), and noting, “It’s a moony. Yet, within the action in this book, the story does an organic and effective job of reminding readers of Saga’s themes, of jogging memories that may have not engaged with this story since Saga #54 was published way back in July 2018. For comparisons sake, the aforementioned Saga #1 spent a dozen pages on actual childbirth before an explosion delivered us into a more familiar genre comics opening.

It’s a more traditional opening than Saga usually delivers. Saga #55 quickly launches into kinetic and heavy action, a relative standard comic book opening that reminds us Vaughan and Saga co-creator artist Fiona Staples are heavyweights in the medium.

Saga brian vaughan