Saga Volume 1 (Saga, #1)

by Brian K. Vaughan

[nannah]

Well, I wish I liked this more. It came to me highly recommended, and it's obviously well loved here.

I was drawn to it because of its awesome art style, but its sexism and just plain odd dialogue didn't appeal to me at all.

So Volume 1 introduces us to the very complicated plot (that at times moves a bit too fast): the inhabitants of a planet and its moon (the races distinguished by having wings or horns, respectively) are at war. Because both the planet or the moon need each other to keep in orbit, the war was outsourced to other planets in the galaxy.

The main characters, Alana and Marko, are two deserters from the opposing sides who've fallen in love. Both sides want Alana and Marko dead, and their baby captured alive.

Sounds pretty good! The execution of it is what falls flat. And yeah, so I haven't read many graphic novels, but I'd still like to think that a comic can still be successful without gratuitous sex and sexism. I mean, aliens with cultures completely different from our own, and yet sexism is still a cultural norm? It kind of shows a lack of creativity, at least, besides reflecting poorly on Brian Vaughan, who thinks a "strong woman" is someone who shits on other women and talks like a teenage boy.

Then again, everyone had the same teenage voice, and it made the witty banter stale very quickly.

I might read the other two volumes my friend let me borrow, but I probably won't go looking for more.