Holy Hangover, Batman

Warren Ellis reviewed the first issue of SAGA and holy balls you guys I am psyched. It’s so unfair that I have to wait six weeks to read this issue. Here’s what he said:

First things first: this opening issue of SAGA is the first chapter of what will clearly be a verylongform sf serial about war and politics, magic and science and love and sex. The clue is kind of in the title. Brian, an extremely gifted author, has written a clever and charming script, and Fiona Staples, whom I’ve previously seen very little by, is demonstrably a very intelligent artist who creates warm and characterful performances for her actors while spinning out perfectly weighted storytelling that puts me in mind of experts like Steve Dillon. It’s a little like listening to an orchestra tuning up and running through the early phrases of a big symphony, sounding the main themes and hinting at the complex beauty to come.

Romeo and Juliet up there are Marko and Alana, from either side of a war that has no good side. And what they did – having her umbilical gnawed off there – was something that apparently never should have happened. And it’s her story (or will be):

Because, you see, the book is shot through with panels like this, and lettering like this, as if from a children’s book. And that’s the baby’s narrative.