Is It Good? Saga #26 Review

What was life like before Saga because I can’t remember. Wait, scratch that, I don’t want to know, but dang, is the latest issue good?

Saga #26 (Image Comics)

This is the second issue since the hiatus was lifted last month and the dynamics of all the characters have shifted. Marko is teamed up with Prince Robot, Yuma and a cute baby seal to find his wife and daughter who have been kidnapped by a TV headed rebel named Dengo. Meanwhile Alana and her mother are being held against their will and Dengo’s offering them up to a team of terrorist rebels for their mission to stop the war. At the same time Lying Cat and the Will’s sister are trying to acquire some dragon sperm to revive him. Yipes.

Intergalactic 7-11 is very average looking.

Writer Brian K. Vaughn has himself an issue that starts to turn the ship that is these multiple plots. As far as Alana’s story the plot thickens, whereas with Marko the character takes a major plunge, and the Lying Cat storyline delivers the adventure portion of the series. Unfortunately there’s a lot of characters talking about what they want to do, what they are doing or even worse self wallowing. It amounts to an issue that feels like we, along with the characters, are waiting for something to happen. Vaughn throws in a shock moment to keep us on our toes, but overall it’s a bridging issue to get us closer to the big moments in these character lives. Overall it’s going in the right direction as each story offers a different type of story, but this issue won’t knock your socks off.

Fiona Staples’ art continues to keep the characters interesting and empathetic. The first four pages open on a robbery that is frankly a bit boring and average, which is unfortunate when these hiatuses make every issue that much more valuable. The color choices of red splashing behind Marko don’t do much for me either and actually bring the focus on the blankness of them rather than Marko’s violence. Her design of the rebels is nice though as they are very unique from each other and a perfect blend of welcoming yet something to be wary of.

Temper temper…

Is It Good?

This issue does a good job thickening the plot and it’s obvious Vaughn is building towards three distinct storylines that will come to a head eventually, but the issue on its own doesn’t serve up enough shock and awe.