Saga: Compendium One by Brian K. Vaughan (Author), Fiona Staples (Artist)

Published August 27th 2019 by Image Comics

Goodreads Synopsis

THE ULTIMATE BINGE-READ

Collecting the first nine volumes of the critically acclaimed, New York Times bestselling series into one massive paperback, this compendium tells the entire story (so far!) of a girl named Hazel and her star-crossed parents. Features over 1,300 pages of gorgeously graphic full-color artwork, including a new cover from Eisner Award-winning SAGA co-creator FIONA STAPLES.

Collects SAGA #1-54

My Review

“Once upon a time, each of us was somebody's kid.

Everyone had a father, even if he never provided anything more than his seed.

Everyone had a mother, even if she had to leave us on a stranger's doorstep.

No matter how we're eventually raised, all of our stories begin the exact same way.

They all end the same, too.”

Oh. My. God.

I don't know where to begin. I don't know what to say. So I'll try to keep it short or I'll end up gushing.

You know those books that reduce you to a blubbering mess and leave you empty because you can't believe it's over (or in this case on a hiatus) and you love the characters so much that it's a little insane and the withdrawal after the book ends is so bad that you're driven to the dark recesses of the internet in search of fanfiction?

Yes, Saga was one of those books.

First of all, I think this compendium is the best way to read this series because:
1. It's way cheaper than buying individual volumes.
2. You can read it one go (which is pretty much the only way you should read it).

At >1200 pages, it's bulky and can possibly be used as a weapon to inflict some serious injury and it's impossible to lug around. But these are minor inconveniences.

Okay, now let me begin by talking about the story. It's unlike any other that I've ever read. Brian K. Vaughn just understands fantasy. It's the kind of fantasy that at the first glance is absolutely ridiculous in its absurdity. There are trees that are basically sentient rocket ships, there are inter-species romances, there are giant eggs in space that hatch to give birth to blackhole like creatures...the list is endless. But everything, absolutely everything, fits together so beautifully. All these crazy things become the new normal as you read on. You see giant sex workers with just heads attached to mile long legs without a torso and you're like, okay, this makes sense.

Secondly, the narration style was sooo captivating. Everything that happens in the book has deep psychological undertones and is totally relatable to our real world at large. The characters were so finely fleshed out that you grow to love them and hate them and root for them.

Last but not the least, the ART! Oh my Merlin, the art! Such breathtaking, beautiful images. Yes, the number of penises and dead bodies is pretty high throughout the series, but then again this is an adult graphic novel. But hats off to Fiona Staples for making me appreciate the guy who has a tv for a face. Not kidding, he has a literal television screen instead of a face. And somehow, as I read on I swear I could see expressions on his blank tv face. Also, Marko is such a hottie! And just when I thought he couldn't get hotter, Fiona Staples gave him a beard.

There are so many things I can gush about but I think the best way to go into this series is to go in blind and be very pleasantly surprised. And this series needs to get out of hiatus asap, because that cliffhanger is EVIL.

Highly recommended for everyone!

Review: Stardust by Neil Gaiman

Published February 19th 2019 by Vertigo (first published October 1st 1998)

Goodreads Synopsis

Half a crusading epic, half based in Tolkien-esque mythology, Neil Gaiman's award-winning graphic novel fantasy is now back in a brand-new edition!

Life moves at a leisurely pace in the tiny town of Wall—named after the imposing stone barrier which separates the town from a grassy meadow. Here, young Tristran Thorn has lost his heart to the beautiful Victoria Forester and for the coveted prize of her hand, Tristran vows to retrieve a fallen star and deliver it to his beloved. It is an oath that sends him over the ancient wall and into a world that is dangerous and strange beyond imagining...

Neil Gaiman's Stardust features the New York Times best-selling author (The Sandman) and one of the industry's best illustrators at the height of their creative powers. 

My Review

“A philosopher once asked, "Are we human because we gaze at the stars, or do we gaze at them because we are human?" Pointless, really..."Do the stars gaze back?" Now, that's a question.”

I'd been wanting to try out graphic novels for a very long time. It was just one of those things that I told myself that I would do and I kept procrastinating due to sheer lack of enthusiasm for it. So when I received an illustrated copy of Neil Gaiman's Stardust for my birthday, it was the perfect happenstance. I started reading it with no small amount of reluctance though, because I believed graphic novels were for children. I didn't need nor want pretty pictures in my books to make them more readable.

But I was in for a pleasant surprise. I've always been a big fan of fairy tales: beginning from the sweet, innocent stories of Rapunzel and Cinderella when I was a little girl, to the magnificence of the Arabian Nights, to the the still darker versions of these tales in the original Grimm Brother's stories. There's a certain magical charm to these stories that is timeless.

In Stardust, Gaiman channels the same charm and tells the story of young Tristan Thorne who sets out on a quest to win his one true love. On the first look, the premise is nothing new or special. There are evil witches, castles on cliffs, royal politics and backstabbing, face off with monsters, and of course, romance that ends in a happily-ever-after. All the ingredients that would make up a good old fairy tale! But Gaiman manages to take these ingredients and weave it into a fantastic story of adventure and intrigue. His writing style is quite unique, unlike anything that I've read before. He writes like he is one of the bards in a Royal Court who is narrating a saga. The beautiful drawings by Charles Vess just accentuates the mystical quality of it all. I realized that having pretty pictures accompanying the splendid text isn't an irritating add on but an intelligent one.

This book isn't for children. There is gore and sex and violence. It can be safely classified as young adult though. I would recommend this book for everyone who loves fairy tales and like their fantasies peppered with romance and drama.

Rating: 4/5 stars!