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Saga

Started by Colin YNWA, 25 June, 2014, 09:15:27 PM

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Colin YNWA

Quote from: Fungus on 26 June, 2014, 01:19:39 AM

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...

Cool that people like different things...

Yeah I get the point that everything in fiction is fiction but I do think how engaged you are with them is open to criticism, they shouldn't feel like contrivances and devices, that should be happening subtly under the bonnet, so to speak.

Its really interesting  to hear what people get from it and I'm not sure its any different from what I do, just as with all fiction people bring different needs to it and while Saga is good (stress, stress, stress that point Taylor) it meets other people needs more than mine.

Or to put it more succinctly

QuoteCool that people like different things...

Still really glad I started the discussion, aside from the fact something as 'big' as Saga probably deserves its own thread, as I find it fascinating what gets into the zeitgeist (comics specific one in this case), especially when I don't get on board, or at least not as fully. Must get me some of that there Hawkeye and see how I get on with that...

Recrewt

I am also a big fan of Saga. 

I love the setting and the artwork is really top notch.  But, like others have said, there is something 'real' about these characters which means that I actually care when someone gets shot or such.  Personally, I also like humour in comics and whilst I can see that some might be annoyed by them, things like the following just make me laugh:

 

Professor Bear

I find it merely "all right" and bear it no malice, but if someone other than Vaughan had written it, I don't think it would be the darling it currently is.  His reputation is as enduring as it is baffling.

El Chivo

Just started it, really cool so far

Chi

Fungus

I have a comics backlog that is as worryingly-high as it is pleasing. Spurred on by this thread I read Saga 17 and 18 earlier and while the story was wonderful, the letters pages were more moving than any comic I have ever read. I include Citizen Snork. I read back-page filler through gritted teeth (I genuinely don't read Sex Criminals letters, life is too short), but in Saga, I recommend you do.

Judge Brian

I'm in the camp that likes it, but doesn't love it.

My guess it that a lot of the vocal people who love it are women. There aren't many series aimed at women. I also thing that the closer you are to 20 the more you'll like it.

It is basically a romance comic.

The Adventurer

If 'Romeo & Juliet plus Star Wars' doesn't sound interest you, you'll probably not dig Saga.

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Hawkmumbler

While reading through the fourth volume again it finally dawned on me why Saga get's such a good rep and resonates so well with me. Because it features a racial, sexually orientated and gender equal cast of characters. Alana, Gwendolyne, Heist, and Sophie are all POC. Izabel is a lesbian, Upsher and Doph a (sadly) closet couple, and Gwen is a canon bisexual. And adding up the primary and secondary cast, it turns out to be 10 female characters (inc. Lying Cat) to 11 male characters. A FAR more equal number than most comics on the stands, and far surpassing the average big two book. Representation, it's important guys.

The Adventurer

Its very diverse cast is a huge plus, yes.

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Professor Bear

It does pander a bit to the PC checklist, but I would have thought that would be as much a barrier as a boon these days.  Judges in the Dredd strips have been seen in the past worshipping rubber ducks and going out clubbing, but one of them being a Muslim (in 2014) is apparently too far or something - you never really know with diversity how your audience is going to take it.

Hawkmumbler

I think it's sales and rave reviews are a good enough indication that the kind of people you WANT in the comic community are liking it.

The Adventurer

What you call 'pandering' I call, 'a healthy representation of REALITY'.

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Tombo

Marko is also none-white (I rather loathe the term POC).  The creators have stated he's based on several Japanese actors.

Professor Bear

Diversity in and of itself does not automatically make something "representative" except by the shallowest of readings.  Not everyone has a social circle composed of the full spectrum of human diversity.

Hawkmumbler

No. But a planet does. And a universe certainly.