Sometimes I dance around spoilers with this article, but not this week. If you haven’t read Saga #57 (I shouldn’t have to tell you this), go read that now. Then come back. Don’t scroll until then.
Image Comics
Written by: Brian K. Vaughan
Art by: Fiona Staples
Letters by: Fonografiks
All right. So, we all know Saga is once again one of the best comic month-to-month now that it’s back. Every week it comes out, it’s instantly in the conversation for comic of the week. Doesn’t mean it will always win, but this week, it did handily.
And it all came down to one panel.
Yes, the stuff with Alana and Endwife is heavy. There’s some really cool stuff going on with Bombazine now, too. But something that happened with The Will really hit hard.
Marko has been gone for a while now. He might’ve been my favorite character in the story until he was taken out, as much as Saga is a story in which it’s hard to peg just one favorite character.
So, seeing Marko’s skull presented in a cage as if it were a trophy or he was some sort of animal struck a chord in a way I’ve never experienced in literature. In general, when a character we care about dies in a story, a lot can go through our heads. Sadness. Disappointment. Desire for vengeance. All of it.
When I saw Marko’s skull, though, it was deeper than that. I’m not amped up for the idea of Alana and company getting back at The Will. I need it. He has to pay in the worst way — for what he did to Marko and for what he’s doing now.
I’m still boiling as I write all this. So thanks, Brian and Fiona.
All that said, the fact I’m experiencing a new feeling is wild. Just further proof that Saga is the absolute best.
Honorable Mention: Hotell Vol. 2 #4, Killadelphia #20
Looking for more comic book content? Go check out the latest episode of Geeks WorldWide Radio‘s TLDR podcast, where Joseph Gilmore and Nick Friar discuss comics weekly and talk to creators from the industry — available on SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts and Spotify!