After nearly another year away, Saga returns with a self-aware first page today in which an alien ringmaster announces, “And now, the moment you’ve been waiting for.” It’s a feeling familiar to nearly every Saga reader, especially those who began the series 12 years ago when Hazel was was born in Saga #1. It is a series that thrives in serialization with every issue and arc designed to offer new surprises, unforgettable moments, and consistent cliffhangers – the work of creators who grasp the unique pleasures of long-running comic book series. Although recent hiatuses in Saga‘s publication have led to some feelings of frustration, it’s impossible for me to look at Saga #67 and think it was not worth the wait. It is still the same wondrous, exciting, and often-heartbreaking series that’s kept readers returning to watch its heroine Hazel grow, year-by-year, toward adulthood.
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Saga #67 is the reintroduction, a storytelling model that has been deployed 10 times thus far at the start of each new story arc. Although the model is familiar, what it accomplishes in the span of a mere 22 pages shows why it persists. Hazel’s narration guides readers through the updated status quo of the main cast, introducing new characters, roles, and conflicts that have evolved in the time jump between stories. And it allows readers to intuit much of this change by joining each character’s story in media res.
Readers will be initially delighted to find Hazel’s world at peace, if not rest. The issue opens with her working in the circus alongside Sploot, one of Fiona Staples’ many instantly-adorable animal designs for Saga. Alana is engaged in show business again, Squire is safe and loved, and even the series’ longest-running antagonists seem to have taken a step back. The overall vision reminds readers that life continues and not every day is a battle, emphasizing how each of these characters have developed outside of crises.
Yet the function of these return issues is rarely to throw readers into the fire, it’s to sow the seeds of further discontent and that is something Saga #67 also does exceedingly well. Beyond the foreshadowing found in Hazel’s narration, there are cues in dialogue (both verbal and visual) suggesting problems that must be confronted soon. Squire and The Will both reveal big problems to come, even as they devote themselves to solitude and inaction. The irony surrounding so many pleasant moments upon re-read is palpable as the end of this circus-bound period already looms.
That’s what makes the seemingly leisurely pacing and low-key stakes of this reintroduction work so well. Readers already know how quickly things can go awry in Saga, so the investment in this new status quo establishes the foundations for future tragedy. Friends, family, and colleagues are instantaneously imbued with life in Staples’ work. Expressions, outfits, and body language fill even minor characters, including foreman Whist and a pack of clowns, with more than two dimensions. There’s a vitality to these people and their work that suggests a six-issue arc following Sploot’s exploits with Hazel would be worth reading. But the only thing that’s certain for this series is that peace is never permanent.
That’s all of what I expect from the start of a new arc in Saga: reestablishing relevant story threads by showcasing growth in characters, while introducing alarming new threats and wondrous new designs. It’s a model that doesn’t feel formulaic as the elements involved are constantly changing, but the reading experience is consistently excellent. It’s enough to remind readers why Saga is still setting the standard for serialized dramas in comics 12 years after it began.
Published by Image Comics
On July 31, 2024
Written by Brian K. Vaughan
Art by Fiona Staples
Colors by Fiona Staples
Letters by Fonografiks
Cover by Fiona Staples
