Tag: Graphic Novel

Paper Girls Volume 3 – Brian K. Vaughan

Illustrations – Cliff Chiang

Colours – Matt Wilson

Spoilers Ahead!

A note about spoilers: Once again I don’t know how to talk about this Volume without recapping Volume 2 or telling you about this one. I’m hiding anything I consider a potentially significant spoiler but please proceed with caution if you haven’t read this series. I’m excited about what happens and need to tell someone.

When we last saw Tiffany, Mac and Erin, they had just been reunited with KJ, who was MIA throughout Volume 2. The trio had spent some time in 2016, where they met a future Erin who was all grown up and still working for the same newspaper. They also met future future Erin, or Erin III, as I called her. She had a red backpack, was from way into the future and, yep, she was a clone. The old-timers followed our trio to 2016, travelling in style, and we met some huge creepy crawlies.

So, our four Paper Girls have finally been reunited but they’re not in 2016 anymore and they haven’t returned to 1988 either. Here’s the biggest clue that they’re, um, in another time entirely. ➡️

In the middle of the night Mac is contemplating her last cigarette when she encounters Wari, a warrior girl with face paint and interesting taste in jewellery, and her baby, Jahpo, who is very huggable. Fortunately Erin swiped the translator from Erin III in 2016 so the girls can communicate with the people in this time.

But warrior girl isn’t even the most dangerous encounter of the night. There’s also Claws to deal with and I doubt I’m the only one thinking the whole poking its tongue out routine isn’t a cheeky gesture.

Okay, I have enough information now so I’m calling it. Our girls are in the past. Way, way back in time. We’ve also seen what appears to be a shooting star, but in this series we don’t wish on them because they’re usually not shooting stars at all. Usually it means our girls have company. Company comes in the form of Doctor Qanta Braunstein, Project Leader at AppleX.

Something tells me she’s not from this time, which apparently is 11,706 BCE (just a teensy bit further into the past than I thought). Doc thinks that maybe she invented time travel, so this entire thing could be her fault. Also it turns out she’s from 2055. Although the Doc is not the girls’ only company.

When I was almost positive there weren’t any more surprises left, Mac and KJ came across this.

This fourth dimensional object allows you to see the future when you touch it, which results in KJ seeing, amongst other things, this.

Woohoo! I can’t wait!

I love that a bag of newspapers have made their way across time with the girls. Apparently, in addition to containing comics, they also make a good pillow. I really enjoy the humour in this series. It appears that no matter what time you’re in or from, your software will always require an update at the most inconvenient time possible.

I wasn’t sure about this series originally but I’m so glad I kept reading. It’s really beginning to come together for me and I’m figuring out bits and pieces I wondered about previously, like the origin of the hockey stick with the warning carved into it. Erin sent that through one of the folding (floating time hole) thingamajigs while the girls were in 11,706 BCE. It’s always fun when you feel rewarded for sticking with a series.

Then right near the end of the Volume this happened

and now Tiffany is in an alternate 2000 where Y2K happened, and who knows where the rest of the Paper Girls are!

I loved the cliffhanger at the end of this Volume and am so glad I don’t have to wait to begin Volume 4.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

The multiple Eisner and Harvey Award-winning series from Brian K. Vaughan and Cliff Chiang continues, as newspaper deliverers Erin, Mac and Tiffany finally reunite with their long-lost friend KJ in an unexpected new era, where the girls must uncover the secret origins of time travel … or risk never returning home to 1988. 

Collects Paper Girls 11-15.

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On a Sunbeam – Tillie Walden

On a Sunbeam is a 2019 Hugo Awards finalist in the Best Graphic Story category.

Mia is the new kid. The lady introducing Mia to everyone is Alma. Elliot (Ell) is the mechanical genius with the blond hair; they’re non-binary and don’t talk. Jules is the one with ice skates on her shirt; she’s loud and a lot of fun. Charlotte, the ship’s captain, is wearing the white jacket. She’s shy but opens up once you get to know her. Charlotte and Alma are partners.

This awesomeness is their ship.

Their team restores old buildings. Like this one, which has hidden rooms and staircases that lead to nowhere. I need to go there immediately!

Five years earlier, Mia met Grace. It was the first day of school and their paths crossed in the principal’s office while they waited their turns to get into trouble.

I liked Grace immediately and I adored Mia and Grace as a couple. Even this romantiphobe can see that these girls are capable of breaking the cute-meter. I can’t get enough of them.

See? Aren’t they just the sweetest couple ever?? Why did no one ever escort me to a school dance on a hoverboard?!

I absolutely love this story! I’m a sucker for found families so this was right up my alley. I usually don’t like anything that hints at including a love story and this has two, but they were gorgeous. All of the main characters were wonderful. Each had a distinct personality and their various backgrounds were interesting.

The world building was surprisingly easy to pick up, given there wasn’t as much text as I’m used to. I guess pictures really do paint a thousand words if they’re done well. Whether there were words or not I didn’t have to work to figure out how anyone was feeling or what the overall mood was in a specific situation. I did have trouble deciphering a couple of words here and there, but that may be due to reading it on an iPad.

The artwork is stunning. The colour palette is so subdued that each additional colour pops. This is one of the prettiest graphic novels I’ve ever seen and I don’t want it to be over. I need to know what happens to everyone next!

You can view all 20 chapters online at https://www.onasunbeam.com. Please check it out! It’s so good.

Special Feature: If you’re like me and you greedily devour movie and TV series’ special features to glean information about all of the behind the scenes stuff you didn’t know you needed to know, then you’ll be interested to know that the title of this story comes from the Belle & Sebastian song ‘Asleep on a Sunbeam’. You can listen to it here.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

Throughout the deepest reaches of space, a crew rebuilds beautiful and broken-down structures, painstakingly putting the past together. As new member Mia gets to know her team, the story flashes back to her pivotal year in boarding school, where she fell in love with a mysterious new student. Soon, though, Mia reveals her true purpose for joining their ship – to track down her long-lost love.

An inventive world, a breathtaking love story, and stunning art come together in this new work by award-winning artist Tillie Walden.

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Abbott – Saladin Ahmed

Illustrations – Sami Kivelä

Colours – Jason Wordie

Spoilers Ahead!

Abbott is a 2019 Hugo Awards finalist in the Best Graphic Story category.

I’m not sure how to talk about this graphic novel without providing some information about the plot, so … Warning: potential spoilers ahead!

This is Elena Abbott.

She’s a reporter for the Detroit Daily and as a black woman in 1972, she’s practically surrounded by racist and misogynistic white men. The newspaper board members and most of the police force aren’t exactly thrilled about her reporting the truth, particularly when it involves police brutality.

Having barely begun her new investigation into some eerily similar and grisly murders, Abbott discovers the perpetrators aren’t the usual suspects (hint: the police force’s usual suspects aren’t white). Instead, Abbott is soon face to face with a supernatural blast from the past.

Abbott tries to tell James, both a police sergeant and her ex-husband, about the shadows she sees on the second body.

They’re the same shadows that she saw on her husband, Samir, when he died. He called them the Umbra. Abbott seeks help from Sebastian, who tells her to stop running from her calling.

“Whether you accept it or not, Elena Abbott, you were born to wield the light. But there are those born to wield the shadow. Where your paths cross, blood will spill.”

Abbott is a chain smoker who enjoys her daily two glasses of brandy and drives a 1966 V8 Mustang. I got the feeling she’s not typically a huge believer in the whole ‘calling’ thing.

Later, Abbott has a conversation with Amelia, who has a message of her own. One that involves a gun. Amelia also happens to be romantically involved with Abbott but Abbott’s keeping this under wraps right now.

I was hit with so much information in the beginning of this graphic novel. I didn’t know how it would all fit together and I wasn’t sure I would care when it did. Then I met my first shadow monster and it was all over for me from that moment on; I needed to keep reading.

Much like Saga, which I’ve recently binged for my Hugo readathon, it seems like it’s not a good idea to become emotionally involved with any of the characters in Abbott. My two favourite characters didn’t survive this graphic novel but, although I’m preparing to harden my heart as we speak, I hadn’t grown to love them yet.

I’m giving this graphic novel ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ instead of ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for two reasons: it took a while for the story to get its hooks into me and I don’t desperately need a sequel, even though I’m left with some unanswered questions and loose ends. Overall though, this was a very entertaining read.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

While investigating police brutality and corruption in 1970s Detroit, journalist Elena Abbott uncovers supernatural forces being controlled by a secret society of the city’s elite.

In the uncertain social and political climate of 1972 Detroit, hard-nosed, chain-smoking tabloid reporter Elena Abbott investigates a series of grisly crimes that the police have ignored. Crimes she knows to be the work of dark occult forces. Forces that took her husband from her. Forces she has sworn to destroy.

Hugo Award-nominated novelist Saladin Ahmed (Star Wars: Canto Bight, Black Bolt) and artist Sami Kivelä (Beautiful Canvas) present one woman’s search for the truth that destroyed her family amidst an exploration of the systemic societal constructs that haunt our country to this day.

Collects Abbott 1-5.

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Sweet Valley High #1: Academic All-Star? – Katy Rex

Illustrations – Devaki Neogi

After spending much time, effort and money going through an ‘if I could turn back time’ phase several years ago collecting The Baby-Sitters Club books, I turned my attention to another set of childhood memories, those involving Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield. After more time, effort, money and an entire box full of Sweet Valley High books later I realised how impossibly large the task I’d set for myself really was.

It turns out Sweet Valley High series not only contained over 150 books, but it also had multiple Super Editions, Super Thrillers, Super Stars, Magna Editions and TV Editions. Then there were the plethora of spinoffs, which themselves oftentimes had their own special editions:

  • Sweet Valley Kids with Super Snoopers, Hair Raiser Super Special and Super Specials
  • Sweet Valley Twins with Super Editions, Super Chillers, Magna Editions, The Unicorn Club and Team Sweet Valley
  • Sweet Valley Junior High
  • Sweet Valley High Senior Year
  • Sweet Valley University with Super Thrillers
  • Elizabeth
  • Sweet Valley Confidential: Ten Years Later
  • The Sweet Life.

Eek! When I encountered these apparently never ending lists I reluctantly admitted defeat. I had to consider my sanity, budget and let’s not forget the need for magical, never ending bookcases. Then there was the fact that I hadn’t read a single SVH book since the 90’s so who knew if I’d even enjoy them as an adult!

So here we are, several years later and I still haven’t picked up my second hand copy of Double Love yet. Stumbling upon this graphic novel feels like cheating in a way but what a fun way to figure out if a SVH readathon will be in my near future or not.

I remember feeling so grown up reading the early books in the series on the beach as a pre-teen and having in depth conversations with friends about whether we were Jessica’s or Elizabeth’s. I always aspired to be like Elizabeth because she was the smart yet still gorgeous twin, the one who liked reading (what a surprise!) and I also aspired to find my own Todd. What was I thinking?! I don’t remember him being so vapid, whingey and clingy.

Ugh! Run, Elizabeth, run! Run as fast as you can!

Meanwhile, Jessica is being typical Jessica. She missed too many English classes so she has to take a class at Sweet Valley University, where the boys are older and much more mature than high school boys. Naturally the one she’s interested in is a T.A. Never one to shy away from manipulating a situation for her own benefit, Jessica decides she needs to dress more like Elizabeth so she can appear smarter and get her man!

As usual, Jessica is in love with the idea of being in love but there’s more to this crush than meets the eye. I seem to recall boy trouble and twin swaps being fairly consistent plot points in the original series and they’re front and centre here as well.

Jessica and her friends mention the Boosters several times, which is weird as this is Sweet Valley High. As far as I knew the Boosters were the Sweet Valley Middle School cheerleading squad from Sweet Valley Twins, not the high school one, whose name (if they had one) escapes me.

I wasn’t entirely sure about the introduction of modern technology in Sweet Valley but I didn’t mind after I got used to it. I even liked Jessica’s Instagram name: DEVILINABLUEJESS.

It may be due to the nature of the format or perhaps time has dampened my recollections but all of the characters’ personalities seem amplified in this graphic novel and it makes for a fun, dramatic read. When I was about halfway through the story I wasn’t sure I’d want to continue but with the introduction of a new boy (of course he’s cute! Isn’t that one of the prerequisites for living in Sweet Valley?) and some deviously unanswered questions dangling in the air I think I’ve accidentally gotten hooked. I’ll be there for the next installment and I expect to have as much nostalgic fun as I did during this one.

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Dynamite Entertainment and Diamond Book Distributors for the opportunity to read this graphic novel.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

When Jessica falls in love with her Shakespeare teacher, she begins to act like her studious twin sister Elizabeth to impress him. Now it’s up to Elizabeth to make sure that all’s well that end well – but with Jessica playing her role, will anyone be able to tell which twin is which?

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Rainbow Brite Volume 1 – Jeremy Whitley

Illustrations – Brittney Williams

While I know for sure that I watched Rainbow Brite while I was growing up in the 80’s, the memory that stayed with me all of these years has been the merchandise, not the cartoon. I have fond memories of playing with this as a kid and can even remember the way the shiny part of her dress felt. I suspect this cartoon was also responsible for me rocking some pretty impressive rainbow shoelaces at the time.

Yet when I found the theme song and searched it for sparks of recognition I came away with barely a flicker.

I was still interested in taking a trip down memory lane, even though my memory appears foggy at best where Rainbow Brite and her friends from the colour wheel are concerned.

Wisp and Willow have had a fun day role playing as warrior and wizard. That night Wisp hears something outside.

Or maybe that’s three somethings. Minions of the King of Shadows, to be more specific. These guys are leeching all of the colour from Wisp and Willow’s world, starting with blue, which Wisp’s mother’s car was pre-minion. Twinkle the sprite appears and isn’t quite as cute or cuddly looking as I remember.

They also seemed a tad too focused on educating Wisp about etiquette and grammar while she was being chased by the massive minions and their glowing eyes. Anyway, Twinkle magics Wisp off to Rainbow Land, which doesn’t appear to be living up to its name right now.

During their time in Rainbow Land Twinkle and Wisp encounter a shadow hound, Murky Dismal, an evil scientist who cannot be all bad in my books because he has a jet pack fuelled by colour,

and Lurky, Murky’s monster/bodyguard. We also meet Red Flare, a colour guard who is definitely cuter than I expected them to be. They got lost in the 80’s (dude! rad!), appropriate given Rainbow Brite was created that decade. We’re even introduced to Starlite, a talking horse that doesn’t have any problems whatsoever with their self esteem, and some other sprites and colour guards.

I found the language disparate at times. Shortly after Wisp was calling the shadow hound a “doggy” Twinkle was spouting words like “disinclination” and giving lessons on prisms and wavelengths, making me wonder what age the target audience was supposed to be.

Incorporating issues 1 through 5, Volume 1 begins Rainbow Brite’s origin story and naturally ends with a cliffhanger. I was reintroduced to a lot of characters I haven’t thought about in decades and enjoyed the action. While I could leave the story at this point, even with so much up in the air, I expect I will read Volume 2 when it becomes available at the library.

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Dynamite Entertainment and Diamond Book Distributors for the opportunity to read this graphic novel.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

Wisp and Willow are best friends who live in a small town. They are inseparable, until one night Wisp discovers something is stealing the colour from the world! To escape their grasp, Wisp must use her wits and the help of a new friend … from somewhere else! Then the adventure begins!

Follow along with writer Jeremy Whitley (My Little Pony, Unstoppable Wasp) and artist Brittney Williams (Patsy Walker, A.K.A. Hellcat!, Goldie Vance) as we find out how this seemingly normal girl becomes Rainbow Brite and how it changes Wisp, Willow, and their world!

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Paper Girls Volume 2 – Brian K. Vaughan

Illustrations – Cliff Chiang

Colours – Matt Wilson

Spoilers Ahead!

A note about spoilers: I don’t know how to review this Volume without including them, especially since I’m using this review to remind myself of what I already know when I make it to Volume 3. Please proceed with caution if you haven’t already read this Volume.

Tiffany, Mac and Erin had a really weird All Saints morning in 1988 and now their friend KJ is missing. Or maybe they are because here they are, standing in front of Erin (same Erin, but all grown up) in 2016. Cue The Twilight Zone theme right about now.

Meanwhile, the old-timers in 1988 seem to think they know what happened. Our girls have been “timelined”, same place, different time. Except they could be “anywhere in time” so that doesn’t exactly narrow things down for the old-timers.

The Cardinal is the lady in the stormtrooper cosplay, the guy with the white beard is Grand Father, whose mother was born in 2016, and the one on the left? Yeah, that’s a pterodactyl!

Then, as if two Erins weren’t enough, a third one shows up.

This one actually seems to know what’s going on and I’m guessing this is probably not all that unusual of a conversation for a Uber driver and their passenger to be having.

This creature shows up. He’s a gigantic tardigrade.

Then there’s this maggot.

Okay, so the massive creepy crawlies aren’t the prettiest. But at least this happens.

Yes, please Erin III. Please give me all the answers.

We learn the Erin I’m calling Erin III (red backpack Erin) is actually a clone and she knows Naldo and Uncle (?) Heck, the teenagers from another time that helped our four original paper girls in the first Volume. Although when both of the new Erins are telling our paper girls different things, who are they supposed to trust?

We may not know much about the old-timers (or anyone, really) yet but we now know that old-timers travel in some serious style. Check this awesomeness out!

We even get a glimpse of the future in this Volume and while it looks pretty interesting, it appears global warming has followed through on at least one of its promises.

While I’d much rather read a book than keep up with what’s happening in the world of politics I did appreciate the not so subtle political jabs included in this Volume.

Raising all sorts of fun Back to the Future-ish quandaries and space-time continuum conundrums, including what to do if you find out you don’t exist in the future, I found this second Volume a lot easier to follow than the first. I’m now keen to continue the series, despite and maybe even because it raises interesting and potentially scary questions, like what your kid self would think of the adult you became and what you’d want to tell your kid self if you met them now.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

After surviving the strangest night of their lives in the Cleveland suburb of Stony Stream, intrepid young newspaper deliverers Erin, Mac, and Tiffany find themselves launched from 1988 to a distant and terrifying future … the year 2016.

What would you do if you were suddenly confronted by your 12-year-old self? 40-year-old newspaper reporter Erin Tieng is about to find out in this action-packed story about identity, mortality, and growing older in the 21st century.

Collects Paper Girls 6-10.

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Saga Volume 9 – Brian K. Vaughan

Illustrations – Fiona Staples

Saga Volume 9 is a 2019 Hugo Awards finalist in the Best Graphic Story category and my (slow but steady) Hugo readathon is the reason why I started binge reading the series last week.

In the process I’ve met new friends, lost a lot of new friends and fallen in love with a galaxy I didn’t even know existed until recently.

Huh. Well, that sounds ominous.

The Will and Ianthe [hiss!] have arrived on the planet where we last saw Alana, Marko, Hazel, Friendo, Petrichor, Ghüs, Sir Robot, Squire, Upsher and Doff, who are all together aboard the treehouse rocketship. Hazel and Squire now act like they’re siblings, Petrichor and Sir Robot now act like … something else, Upsher and Doff are still trying to secure the story of their lives, and Ghüs is playing babysitter, remaining cute no matter what he does.

See? What did I tell you?! Cutie pie!

The treehouse rocketship lands on Jetsam, home of our tenacious tabloid reporter and photographer. Upsher and Doff have offered our favourite family a deal that seems too good to be true but they’re not the only ones who may be considering it.

Sir Robot reminded me why I don’t completely trust him and elsewhere, Agent Gale resurfaces; both men have their own agendas. So many competing agendas in this series! Most of which aim to harm my our favourite family!

The past catches up with a few of the characters and it’s Saga, so not everyone is going to come out of it alive and those that are left to pick up the pieces are changed. So am I.

Anyone can kill you, but it takes someone you know to really HURT you. It takes someone you love to break your heart.

The details in the illustrations keep delighting me. Squire’s ducky baby sling has now been converted into a backpack! It was a nice thing to notice in between all of the times my heart was shattered.

Anticipation and dread aren’t opposites, just different versions of the same game.

This is the first cliffhanger I’ve been involved in where I don’t have the luxury of immediately picking up the next Volume and I chose one hell of a time to be stuck on this damn cliff wanting to curl up in the foetal position.

Seriously, I think the author and illustrator of this series are going to need to start paying my therapy bills! I know we’re at war here but you’re only allowed to kill off people I don’t like from now on, okay?

So, until I get the opportunity to continue this series I’m going to pretend I wasn’t traumatised by this Volume. Instead I’m going to remember this brief respite from danger, when fun existed and even those in whatever galaxy this is knew how to reference Jaws.

Maybe in the next Volume Gwendolyn, Sophie and Lying Cat (who were physically absent during this Volume) will find a way to make everything miraculously okay again? Hey, a girl can hope!

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Rating: 5 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

The multiple Eisner Award-winning series returns with a spacefaring adventure about fake news and genuine terror. Get ready for the most shocking, most impactful Saga storyline yet.

Collects Saga #49-54.

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Saga Volume 8 – Brian K. Vaughan

Illustrations – Fiona Staples

Spoilers Ahead!

Hazel’s mother, Alana, is from Landfall, a “sci-fi wonderland”, and her father, Marko, is from Wreath, Landfall’s moon, a “magical fantasy realm”, but nothing’s feeling overly magical or wonderful right now because my heart was unceremoniously sliced open (multiple times) by the author and illustrator during the last Volume. Not satisfied with their previous attempts to destroy my emotional integrity, they commenced with the agony as soon as this Volume began.

It’s been two months since we’ve last seen our favourite family and I cannot even imagine the hell they’ve been through in the meantime, or the hell that they’re about to endure. I really can’t. This series is definitely not one to shy away from the really big issues.

So, we’re on a planet called Pervious travelling to the Badlands and although we’re here for more heartache, at least they have pretty multicoloured zebras there to remind us there’s good in the world too. After all, we need this reminder when we discover Dung People are also found here. So, without further ado, meet Button.

Petrichor and Hazel have the discussion about their bodies in this Volume that I’ve been waiting for and it was handled so well. I love that the diversity of this series includes a transgender woman. Petrichor has intrigued me since I met her and she’s finally given a chance to really shine in this Volume. No matter what she does from this point forward I’ll have her back.

A Volume of Saga is not complete unless we get to meet some new people. In this Volume Petrichor and Sir Robot meet up with a family – Kidd, Paw and Maw,

while Alana, Marko and Hazel meet Endwife.

Given the sensitive nature of why we’re on Pervious in the first place I didn’t expect to see Hazel’s younger brother, Kurti, who died in utero at the end of the last Volume. However, due to some amazing and apparently quite dangerous magic called Forecasting, Alana, Marko and Hazel all get to interact with who he could have been. It’s beautiful but it’s also heartbreaking. This scene pretty much broke me.

In a flashback of The Will’s childhood we meet his Uncle Steve, A.K.A. The Letter, and his chameleon sidekick. It’s also pretty clear now why The Will and his sister became Freelancers.

Speaking of The Will, he initially met the person I now love to hate more than anyone else right now during the previous Volume. I now know this woman as Ianthe and while I despise her, I will say this for her; this woman travels in style!

After not seeing any of them in the previous Volume we learn that Upsher and Doff have met up with Ghüs, Squire and Friendo. They’re in the vicinity of a Dread Naught, which could potentially help nourish them and keep Friendo off the menu. If only Dread Naughts weren’t invisible until the day they die. Except, robots can see their insides regardless because … robot, I guess.

I love that D. Oswald Heist’s books and quotes keep popping up in this series. Between those and The Will’s drug induced hallucinations I get to see characters I thought I’d never see again. It reminds me of Chris Carter saying that no one ever really dies on The X-Files and gives me hope that I may be fortunate enough to get a glimpse of some of my favourite departed Saga characters. That means you, Izabel and the original Kurti.

The illustrations are extraordinary in this series. They manage to go from breathtakingly beautiful to carnage and back again seamlessly. One of the main reasons I’m so chained emotionally, for better or worse, to so many of Saga’s characters is because I’ve seen their strengths, vulnerabilities and traumas written all over their faces or whatever they have instead.

I love the small details that allude to previous Volumes; at the end of this Volume Hazel is wearing the bracelet that Jabarah gave to Alana in Volume 7 and I couldn’t decide if I needed to smile, cry or both when I noticed this. Jabarah gave this to Alana during her pregnancy with Hazel’s brother. In Jabarah’s culture it’s worn until the day the child is born. 😢

Despite all of the trauma I’ve witnessed while reading this series I always find moments of hope in the darkest times

and when even hope feels like a dream, at least there’s plenty of cute smooshed in between the pain.

And when I think I’ve seen every creature this galaxy has to offer I turn the page to find this!

I adore this series!!!

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

After the traumatic events of the War for Phang, Hazel, her parents, and their surviving companions embark on a life-changing adventure at the westernmost edge of the universe.

Collects Saga 43-48.

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Saga Volume 7 – Brian K. Vaughan

Illustrations – Fiona Staples

Spoilers Ahead!

After the cliffhanger at the end of Volume 6 I couldn’t wait to start Volume 7. At this point in the series I don’t think I can say much without accidentally spoiling previous Volumes so if you haven’t read them yet you may want to avert your eyes now.

So, Hazel is five years old now and has finally been reunited with both of her parents. I don’t care what she says; she’s still adorable to me, even when she drools in her sleep.

This kid is even adorable when she’s delivering bad news.

Anyway, joining Hazel on board the treehouse rocketship at the beginning of this Volume are Alana, Marko, Izabel, Prince Robot IV Sir Robot and Petrichor, who we met in Volume 6. Hazel and Petrichor have both lived with keeping the truth of their bodies a secret so I’m interested to see how this plays out in the future.

Due to technical difficulties with the rocketship this motley crew wind up on Phang. Remember Phang? Where Sophie was born and lived (briefly) before she was sold into sex slavery?

Of course the war between Landfall and Wreath has even made it to a comet, useful to both sides because of its resources. Never mind its people, who have suffered immeasurably as a result.

Meanwhile, Sophie (who is her very own brand of adorable in glasses), Lying Cat and Gwendolyn are together on Wreath, Marko’s home moon.

Actually, no, I’m not. P.S. I’ve missed you, Lying Cat! Gwendolyn has a meeting with Gale and his henchmen in an “exotic” location.

Back on Phang, we meet Kurti, another cutie whose name means “sunshine!”, and his extended family. How can there be so much cute in a series that has so much bloodshed?!

Also on Phang is a cute little boar called Bootstraps and The March (who aren’t as cute). Petrichor meets a bluecap, who “are planted in places of conflict to remember tales of battle”

and we learn what a Timesuck is. Big picture spoiler ahead!

The Will and Sweet Boy briefly meet Velour, Gwendolyn’s wife in their search for Gwendolyn, Sophie and Lying Cat.

There is so much going on in this Volume and I have no idea how anyone who hasn’t read the series from the beginning could hope to catch up at this point. On a personal note, we lost my favourite character of the entire series so far in this Volume

but they were certainly not the only ones in the running for my Top 10 favourites who didn’t make it. Falling in love with allegedly fictional characters and then watching on helplessly as the author and illustrator unceremoniously slaughter them is not cool. Not cool at all.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

From the worldwide bestselling team of Fiona Staples and Brian K. Vaughan, “The War for Phang” is an epic, self-contained Saga event! Finally reunited with her ever-expanding family, Hazel travels to a war-torn comet that Wreath and Landfall have been battling over for ages. New friendships are forged and others are lost forever in this action-packed volume about families, combat and the refugee experience. 

Collects Saga 37-42.

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Saga Volume 6 – Brian K. Vaughan

Illustrations – Fiona Staples

When we last saw Hazel she’d just begun kindergarten, which would have been much cuter if either of her parents could have been there to walk her to school.

Despite their absence she still manages to nails her art project, even though it wasn’t exactly what her teacher, Noreen, asked her to draw.

Previously, Lexis and Zizz of the Last Revolution, along with a reluctant Hazel and Klara, had hopscotched their way away from, well, everyone else and managed to cross paths with a whole ship of TV heads. The TV heads Royal Guard had been searching the galaxy for the missing monarch, Prince Robot IV, whose baby had been stolen by Dengo.

If you haven’t read Volumes 1 to 5, then please read them before venturing into Volume 6 or you’ll likely fling this graphic novel across the room in confusion. This is not the kind of story where you can just waltz right into the middle of and think you’re going to know who’s who in the galactic zoo. If you’ve already read 1 through 5, you’re fine. Continue enjoying the twists and turns.

Anyway, as usual, grandmother Klara is on hand to figure things out. She’s one of the best badass grannies I’ve ever met.

They wind up in a detainee centre … somewhere where they meet Doctor Blaize, who may not be feeling so crash hot at the moment …

Oh, and my main girl Izabel reappears in this Volume so I guess one of the suns somewhere finally set. I’ve missed her so much! Her reappearance naturally results in my heart melting, yet again. Mini family reunion!

Hazel meets Petrichor, who intrigues me. I’m interested in getting to know them better. Meanwhile Marko and Alana have been reunited. With each other, not their daughter.

I’ll pretend you didn’t just say “years”. Also, they are reunited with their brilliant treehouse rocketship.

Ghüs, Friendo (Hazel’s pet walrus – I don’t think I’ve mentioned her before), the TV head formerly known as Prince Robot IV and his son Squire, who is definitely not a newborn TV head anymore, are together.

The Will has recovered and looks slightly different than he did the last time I saw him. Sweet Boy accompanies him.

Upsher and Doff returned and while I still don’t like tabloid reporters, no matter which part of the galaxy they’re from, this duo are growing on me. They still don’t rank anywhere on my favourite character list, which is frightfully long at this point, but I’m no longer looking forward to someone dispatching them either. Speaking of blasts from the past, Ginny, Hazel’s former dance teacher, also pops up briefly.

My favourite panels were book related. What a surprise! I love Noreen!

I have the tendency to wander into popular series fashionably late. A good portion of the time I’m not entirely sure what all the fuss is about but where Saga is concerned I definitely get it. Part of me is rueing the fact that I’ve only just discovered it. The other part of me is ecstatic because this means I get to binge read it and not concern myself (yet) with cliffhangers. But, what a cliffhanger!!

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

After a dramatic time jump, the three-time Eisner Award winner for Best Continuing Series continues to evolve, as Hazel begins the most exciting adventure of her life: kindergarten. Meanwhile, her starcrossed family learns hard lessons of their own.

Collects Saga 31-36.

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