Saga #43 review: Alana becomes a Space Cowgirl
By Alex Widen
After a long four-month break, Saga is back! Once again, Alana is going through something harrowing. Yet will she thrive this time?
Saga #43
Writer: Brian K. Vaughan
Artist: Fiona Staples
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Just in time for Image Comics’ 25th anniversary comes the return of its second bestseller! Exactly four months ago, Saga‘s esteemed creators ended an arc with a cliffhanger Marvel and DC Comics would die for. Each hiatus is planned for two reasons. First of all, to give Fiona Staples enough lead in time to draw the next four to eight issues without being late. In addition, to give fans reading the series in trade collection a chance to catch up to the monthly series to make the jump.
Image by Image Comics
It’s a winning strategy, as paired with its incredible quality, Saga has reached sales thresholds at Image that only The Walking Dead has outdone. This is incredibly impressive when you consider that Walking Dead needed at least 2–3 additional years and a hit cable TV show to reach such heights. The fact that Image’s anniversary promotion means this issue is a mere quarter is the extra icing on the cake! At this price point, there’s no excuse to not give this series a try!
Image by Image Comics
Seems Like Even in Space, Maternity Care Sucks!
This issue plays with the time periods a little bit, but takes place months after #42. Alana and Sir Robot IV are on planet Pervious, trying to arrange for an abortion. While Alana was pregnant with her second half-breed child with her lover Marko, a recent disaster caused her injury, and her unborn son is believed dead. As such, Vaughan is using this opportunity to once again use space as a metaphor for current politics. It’s time to venture into a wild west town!
Image by Image Comics
While Vaughan often tries to be subtle and creative when he uses his space opera as a metaphor for political theory, this issue’s pretty blunt. I mean, it’s hard to get more blunt than “Abortion Town” and have a cowboy owl man named “Doctor Sheriff.” Yet it works because the state of abortion rights in America currently often seems even more blunt and crude. And much like there, despite having a stillborn child and her health being at risk, a late term abortion for Alana is illegal.
Image by Image Comics
As Alana is forced to go to a “back alley option,” the rest of the wayward family is coping. Marko is taking the loss of his second child hard, yet tries to show a stoic demeanor. This leaves more time for Hazel and Petrichor to bond. Petrichor burned her hands aiding in their escape in the last issue, and Hazel’s helping tend to her wounds. Without Izabel or her grandma, the transgender ex-con is as close to a babysitter as Hazel has now. It makes for quite a few awkward moments!
Image by Image Comics
Tumblr Should Probably Love This Issue! As Should Everyone Else!
What follows is another timely discussion about what it means to be transgender. It works in space or here on Earth. Yet, thankfully, this issue offers more than political commentary. There is still plenty of space weirdness to deal with. It seems on some planets, strange bacteria can shape feces into crude copies of whatever excreted them. Facing a horde of “Dung People,” it seems like the gang are hopelessly outmatched. Yet having a stillborn Wreath child may give Alana an edge.
Image by Image Comics
From cover to cover, Vaughan and Staples produce another great “season premiere” of an issue. It not only recaps the previous issue, it recaps the premise of the series. Aware that the low price point will attract some casual buyers, Saga is eager to make some of them stick. It would be terrific if it succeeded! Yet all of it works since Hazel serves as the series’ narrator and she always frames her flashbacks into the context of the current event she is recounting.
Image by Image Comics
As mentioned earlier, the commentary on abortion rights was especially biting. In the tradition of Star Trek and most great science fiction, the aliens and space characters serve as metaphors or examples of real life affairs. Fortunately, it isn’t all soapbox stuff. Vaughan never forgets about providing drama for his cast and even some laughs as well. The subplot revolving around Robot’s unrequited feelings for Alana seem to conclude here. He’s made a mess of things and is exiled.
Image by Image Comics
Imagine What Puberty Will Be Like for Hazel!
Hazel has a voice all her own as a precocious little kid. She and Petrichor make an odd pair; a curious kid with a bitter cynic. Yet that is why many of their interactions remain profound. Hazel’s questions about transgender body parts seem crude at first, but she’s just a kid confused by her own body. The pair relate on that level here. In addition, Marko is once again going on with his lamentation regarding being a failed pacifist. As much as he wants peace, violence is easy for him.
Image by Image Comics
Much as with her arc with the “open circuit”, this looks to focus heavily on Alana. Miscarriages are a sensitive subject to tangle in a mainstream comic book. Alana goes through a lot of the emotions revolving grief here. She wants to abort her lost child, and considers herself “a coffin.” Yet this is still a space opera with magic being a key component to the series. According to some Wreath religions that Petrichor believes in, a woman suffering from a miscarriage gains mystical powers!
Image by Image Comics
Alana Has Probably Won the Internet Today!
As always, Fiona Staples provides another masterwork of art here. Vaughan has so many layers and genres mixed into Saga that no two arcs or lands ever look the same. This time it’s a wild west world, so Alana gets to be a real space cowgirl. I especially like the rainbow zebras as horses. Doctor Sheriff is also a hoot of a design, pun intended. The action sequences look great, and Staples always excels at emotion. This continues to be one of the best looking books out there.
Image by Image Comics
Next: Remind yourself of what they fled in #42!
Saga is everything good comics should be about. There are no price hikes, relaunches, crossovers, or marketing scams. It’s core is founded upon two creators at the top of their game with a clear story to tell with characters they love dearly. Yet not so dearly as to let any become stagnant or stale. The cast of Saga see both success and suffering, and because the work has been put in, we feel for them all the more. I’m sure this is only the start of Alana’s latest wild ride.