If you haven’t had to jump into SAGA , an intergalactic adventure captured beautifully in a comic book series, Image Comics is making it easy for you. To celebrate the publisher’s 25-year anniversary, issue 43 of SAGA will cost only 25 cents. After a six-month hiatus, writer Brian K. Vaughan and artist Fiona Staples want new readers to be able to jump into the crazy story of Hazel and her parents without feeling left behind.
If starting a comic on issue 43 seems a little daunting, let me try and give you some backstory. Alana, a green-winged lady, and Marko, a horned man, come from two races of people who are at constant war with each other. They have a kid, named Hazel, which the whole galaxy doesn’t want to exist. The family then goes on space adventures with television-faced robots, giant black-hole babies and interplanetary vessels made of wood. There’s also a ton of nudity, graphic violence and actual character development which I couldn’t even begin to summarize.
“I am so proud of this issue, and excited for our craziest storyline yet!” said Vaughan in a press release. “Fiona and I wanted to thank our incredible readers for five years of loyalty with this special $0.25 issue, but we also hoped to encourage anyone who hasn’t yet read SAGA to finally dip their toes in our water (eww).”
SAGA is my favorite comic book to come out in the last decade. Back when it first came out in 2012, I dismissed it as another desperate Game Of Thrones copycat with a space element. After a few issues, I was immediately hooked and cared about parents Alana and Marko, who are just trying to make a better world for Hazel. It’s the only comic that’s managed to keep my attention for half a decade; I often head into my local comic book shop just to buy the damn book and nothing else.
You can buy the newest issue of SAGA on May 1 at your local comic book shop or digitally on Comixology.
