If you're not reading 'Saga' yet, you should be!
Saga is the story about two super star-crossed lovers named Marko and Alana. The two are soldiers from a planet and its moon who have been at war with each other for a very long time. When the pair gives birth to their daughter Hazel, both sides kick it into hyperdrive to eliminate them.
So why is a comic about a straight couple being recommended on PRIDE? Well...
1.) It’s queer af
Just like real life, the characters in Saga dance all over the Kinsey scale. The cast is full of queer characters from a range of different sexualities and gender identities, such at Petrichor (picture above), a trans woman who joins the family on their adventure. As a space opera, sexuality could easily be side stepped, but instead, the comics embrace it, exploring issues like how intergalactic war can effect trans prisoners of war, the lingering heartache of your first lesbian girlfriend, or the way cultural homophobia can be used to control the narrative by those in power.
In addition, even the straight characters don't fall into your categories of "normal," with everyone on the outside in some way or another.
2.) It's a great place to start if you want to start exploring the world of comics
Look, comics can be complicated. Going from the latest Marvel movie into the comic shop and you can find yourself in front of a whole shelf splashed with your favorite character's name and no real, clear place to dive in. Saga is one story, gathered up in trade papersbacks, making it easy to find and consume! It’s written by some of the industry’s best, and is not only easy to access if you aren’t use to comic format, but uses the format better than many of its peers.
3.) It’s just damn well-written
This isn’t just an opinion. Saga has won tons of awards, including the most prestigious comics award, The Eisner. And not just one of them. Eight, including Best New Series, Best Writer, Best inker/Penciller....you know, the important things. It’s also won a Hugo, some Harvey’s, and a whole bunch of positive buzz since it started.
Saga is a whole lot of things. A space opera, a fantasy epic, a comedy, an amazing look into people and fantasy...pretty much if you like nerdy stuff, you’re gonna find something you like.
4.) The art is BEAUTIFUL
Fiona Staples is an amazing artist. The characters are expressive and unique, the world is beautiful, the creatures are a perfect mix of familiar and strange. Her art doesn’t just tie everything together, it pulls you in and doesn’t let you go.
5.) Sexuality isn't the only diverse aspect of the series
Sexuality isn’t the only diversity in Saga. Alongside alien creatures are every sort of skin color, body type, age range, and look you can imagine. The story follows multiple people's storylines, beliefs, and lifestyles, and explores them all.
6.) It’s sexy, but not in that way
Sex plays an important part in the series, for all characters, and while it isn’t all serious, it also isn’t played for titillations. In Saga, just like in real life, sex and the identities we build around it are complicated, layered things.
In fact, the serise has come under fire for showing sex too bluntly. The panel above, where an injured robot prince flashes gay pornography across his screen as he fritzes out, caused a scandal when it debuted with certain venues refusing to publish it.
7.) It’s really about finding family
Saga, at its heart, is about finding your family. Some of them are related, but many of them aren’t. They are the oddballs that slipped throguh the cracks, banding together to try to make it through the night. Family is made by bonds built through the struggles they face together. (This family’s story just so happens to involve robots, ghosts, and aliens starships.)
The ways and means may be different, but the sense of finding your family is so very familiar to the queer community.
