Saga

[Colin YNWA]

Now I promise I'm not being snarky here but I am genuinely curious. I know Brian K Vaughan and Fiona Staples' Saga has some big fans on the board and I'm curious to find out why people think its so damned good.

Now don't get me wrong I enjoy it, I've just read the third collection and enjoyed it as much as I have the other two, which is to say quite a bit BUT not a load. I'll keep getting the trades while they offer such a good deal. For the life of me though I can't think why people hail it the best thing out there. Not saying people here do, just people who have very good taste seem to think its pretty damned smashing and I struggle with why that is.

To me while the designs of the characters is pretty damned fine and otherworldly. There interactions and aren't and seem pretty grounded, at times the leads are a little irritatingly sassy and or hipster. That might be the point. These fantastic looking creatures, but at heart we're all just folk and we know there's nowt as quire as folk. Maybe trying to juxtapose those two things is what its getting at? To me I just find it a little jarring. It doesn't quite fit. The world could be wonderful and imaginative but it doesn't feel that way. The characters are solid but not mind blowing. They don't really give me great insight, or reflection.

Many of the beasties, characters and aliens seem to be built on a thought 'Oh wouldn't it be cool if.' and not really get to much beyond that. Lying Cat, mah, robot telly fella, mah, jadded cool bounty hunter type, wooden spaceship...not so much for me... etc etc.

Its an engaging action romance romp but its not, to me at least, powerful or profound. Maybe its not meant to be and I'm over looking for things.

So yeah as I say I see why people like it, I do. I'm just curious as to why people LOOOOVVVEEEEE it, which I miss.

[Batman's Superior Cousin]

To me, it's just so emotionally engrossing.

[bluemeanie]

Well I love it and.... um.... I dont know really.

It just feels really different from anything else I'm reading. I actually give a shit about most of the characters which is a big deal as I have pretty much zero empathy (unless things on the internet offend you of course then I FEEL your immediately tweeted pain). The art is fucking stunning. And possibly it's because I really don't know where it's going but desperately want to find out month to month.

[Banners]

Do you have to be over 50 to read it?

[radiator]

I don't get it at all, to be honest I'm utterly mystified at the near-universal praise it gets.

Found the tone thoroughly juvenile, the characters irritating and the dialogue excruciatingly bad.

I've thought the same of everything I've read by Brian K Vaughn tbh, and consider him a vastly overrated writer.

The art is lovely though.

[dweezil2]

I'd echo Bluemeanie's remarks.
I really enjoy the naturalistic dialogue and relatable situations transplanted to such a fantastical setting.
It's also better than 90% of the dross that serves as comics these days.

[radiator]

No offence dweezil, but I am completely baffled how anyone who has ever heard a real human conversation could describe the dialogue in Saga as 'naturalistic'.

It seems to be striving for heavily stylised cod-Whedonesque snark/witty banter rather than realism, but falls totally flat for me.

As a writer, Vaughn just seems to me like a more pretentious Mark Millar.

[Hawkmumbler]

You'd be amazed. Me and my current other half? We bloody ARE Marco and Alana.

I think thats why I enjoy the series actually. It's relatable, in a really, really weird kind of way. I dunno, the series really has something that I feel I can latch on to.

[dweezil2]

No offence dweezil, but I am completely baffled how anyone who has ever heard a real human conversation could describe the dialogue in Saga as 'naturalistic'.

It seems to be striving for heavily stylised cod-Whedonesque snark/witty banter rather than realism, but falls totally flat for me.

As a writer, Vaughn just seems to me like a more pretentious Mark Millar.

No offence taken radiator. 
I must say, I've never thought of Millar when reading Saga.
And Hawkmonger,  I'm glad I'm not the only one! 

[bluemeanie]

Actually yeah, the dialogue is what really works for me. Makes the fantastical stuff feel real.

Same way Bendis does, tho I know a lot of people disagree, and Jonathan Hickman doesn't which is why I've gone from being mainly an Avengers fan Marvel-wise to an X-Men one with the change in writers on the main titles. Tho Al Ewings Avengers stuff kick arse.

And as has been said the couple feel like a real couple. I actually give a monkeys about them

[I, Cosh]

Lying.

[Fungus]

Love it too.
I can't honestly say I can't wait for the next issue 'cos I'm 3 issues behind at the moment (I think). Too many comics, etc.

At heart, it reads like a dream, I race through it. Being thick and wanting to drink in the art of comics, I find they take a bit of time. Saga is read in quick time. I just put that down to the craft of the writing and aptness of the art. For once, the story is the thing, I don't find jarring anatomy or over-exposition or funting (and funting) and other common occurrences getting in the way. The little twists that Vaughn puts in there keep it fresh, I don't think I've read an issue that felt "bland".

While we're on Image, I started The Fuse tonight, issues 1 & 2. Again, healthy doses of soap opera in there, and the reason I liked it is that it didn't (so far) topple into head-scratching plot elements, it doesn't try to show off its cleverness. It's pitched squarely at the level that works for me. And others will dislike it, of course.

Colin, I suppose if you think the various characters are contrivances then it's just not pressing your buttons and that's that. Since everything made up is full of fictions that's not really a criticism that holds up... Take Lying Cat, this felt perverse and silly at first. 5 mins later, it felt "right". Used sparingly, it's just one of the elements that make the book work for me.
Oh, and your feelings about Saga sound like my impressions of Indigo Prime. A series which is odd for odd's sake, but everyone LOVES. The penultimate part last week which I enjoyed turns out to be a blip (!)

Cool that people like different things...

[Fungus]

[can't edit last post, so...]

As Colin's at pains to say he likes Saga fine, I'm not sure there's  quick answer to why other people LOVE it. Maybe people just always chase the Next Big Thing and Saga does everything so damned well that it feels like the one? The adolescent lycra books it shares shelf space with can only help this (but that seems to be changing).

If it was easy to pinpoint why, we'd all do it. And give up the day job 

[Fontwell Magma]

My second post on here.. probably won't add much to the mix.. but I love Saga. I am one of those people telling everyone I know to get involved. Like everyone has said, it's difficult to pinpoint why, but I'll give it a go:

1. The art is stunning. Staples is possibly my favourite artist at the moment.
2. The characters are awesome, as well as looking awesome - I find the dialogue witty, fast-paced, emotive etc. etc. I care about Marco and Alana and I want to know what happens to them.
3. Not wanting to give spoilers, but whenever virtually anyone on the "good" side dies, I feel emotion for them and the characters around them. Very rarely have comics actually done this for me.
4. The world Vaughan has created is fantastical, yet believable at the same time, though the seemingly down to earth characters and their familiar traits.
5. Lying cat is a don.

I just love it. And yeah I probably got into it because of all the hype. But I don't care because for me it lives up to the hype.

For similar reasons, I went out yesterday specifically to get the 1st issue of Kirkman's Outcast. It's been massively hyped as well - here's hoping it's just as good (not that they are particularly comparable).

[The Adventurer]

To me while the designs of the characters is pretty damned fine and otherworldly. There interactions and aren't and seem pretty grounded, at times the leads are a little irritatingly sassy and or hipster. That might be the point. These fantastic looking creatures, but at heart we're all just folk and we know there's nowt as quire as folk. Maybe trying to juxtapose those two things is what its getting at?

Pretty much.

Here's the weird thing, I didn't care for Y the Last Man. And I grew tired of Ex Machina.

But I freaking LOVE Saga. I love it for its Juxtaposition It actually makes its crazy universe make sense and grounds it in a way that 'weird for weirdness sake' comics sometimes miss.