Saga #11 Review

If you thought Saga #10 was an emotional punch in the face, then batten down the hatches on your heart because writer Brian K. Vaughan and artist Fiona Staples are determined to reduce his readers to blubbering puddles of goo with issue #11. The term roller coaster of emotion is perhaps more than a little overused but there is no other phrase that more adequately describes the journey Vaughan takes us on in the course of a single issue, as he expertly manipulates us into laughing with his characters and then, in just a handful of pages, crying for them.

Saga #11 opens with a rather risqué full page sex scene in which we learn that Marko's horns have certain -- ahem -- practical uses. The back and forth between Alana and Marko, with their omniscient daughter narrating it all, continues to be one of the title's great delights and few relationships in comics feel as genuine and as heartfelt as theirs. It's a testament to Vaughan's abilities as a writer that Hazel, who appears only in voiceover narration, is as real to the reader as any of the characters on the page.

Fans will be glad to know that the previous issue's devastating last page finds a happy ending in Saga #11 but their joy will be short-lived as Vaughan exchanges one life for another, outdoing himself in terms of in-your-face emotional impact. At the heart of Saga is the idea that the bonds of family are the most important thing we share as individuals and that love can triumph in the face of overwhelming odds. It's a lovely thought but Vaughan also reminds us that love can also be the catalyst for the most heart-wrenching sacrifices. To tell you more would spoil the emotional resonance of the issue so I'll leave you with that, but if you haven't done so already, I heartily suggest you make a bee-line for your local comic shop, with a stop along the way to pick up a box of tissues. You're going to need it.

Melissa Grey prefers pirates to ninjas but can't abide the thought of living on a boat. She can be found on MyIGN at MelissaGrey or lurking on Twitter @meligrey.

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