Book Review: Saga Vol. 3 by Brian K.Vaughan and Fiona Staples

Saga Volume 3 by Brian K.Vaughan and Fiona Staples

Fugitives Marko and Alana continue their adventures trying to stay ahead of their pursuers. Actually, they are holed up in the cosmic lighthouse of author Heist, whose book inspired their star-crossed love affair. Marko's recently widowed mom takes a liking to the author, who reciprocates her feelings. Their relationship feels forced but I guess in this universe every adult needs a significant other.

Back on Alana's home world of Landfall, two tabloid reporters are trying to chase down the story of a Landfall soldier falling for one of their sworn enemies. They find a lot of people who don't want the story to get out but are willing to hint to the reporters all about it. The reporters are meant to be sympathetic because they are searching for the truth AND they are a gay couple from a world that frowns on that sort of thing. Their relationship seems superfluous to the story but I guess in this universe every adult needs a significant other.

Meanwhile the Freelancer assassin called The Will is trying to get his ship repaired so he can continue pursuing the couple. He and Marko's ex, Gwendolyn, are shipwrecked on an idyllic planet where they strike up feelings for each other while dealing with hallucinations of a sexual nature caused by eating local plants. Their relationship is sort of credible but I guess in this universe every adult needs a significant other.

After a lot of excellent world-building in previous issues, this issue wanders off in all these other directions while slowly winding its way back to the fugitive storyline. Maybe it's all building to some thematic payoff in a future issue but I've rapidly lost interest in the main story and all the side stories.

On the plus side, the author living in the lighthouse has some interesting discussions about writing, as do the reporters. Humor is dosed throughout the book at a nice pace and the art is good. The non-romantic character development is interesting but there isn't enough of it. For me there aren't enough pluses to outweigh the minuses, so I'm done with Saga even though another volume just came out recently.