Saga Volume 3, Brian K. Vaughan, Fiona Staples

The third volume of Saga feels like it slows down a bit — and not at all in a bad way. Most of the characters get some development here, and one of the major themes about Marko and Alana’s transgressive cross-species relationship gets explored a bit more. Marko’s mother, Klara, takes a pretty active role too, while at the same time the Will, Gwendolyn and Slave Girl (Sophie) get to know each other more while stranded on a seemingly idyllic planet. (Classic storyline there, too, executed with wit and humour — that’s a thing I especially love about Saga; while the storylines aren’t necessarily unique, the approach makes everything fresh.)

My favourite scene of all, though, is a small and quiet one. Slave Girl is talking to the Lying Cat about herself, and says that she did bad things because of what happened to her as a sex slave. She speaks as if the moral responsibility for that is on her, as if it was something she did — and Lying Cat says, “Lying.”

It just says so much, so perfectly contained in one panel.

The art, of course, continues spectacular, and my only complaint is that the volumes never seem to last long enough.

Rating: 5/5