“SAGA returns! New planet, new adversaries, and a very new direction, all from the same old Hugo Award-winning team.“

The Story

Last time on Saga, the issue began where the last issue left off, with Mr. Heist killed by Gwendolyn. Lying Cat thought she had subdued Klara, but she was wrong. With a lot of help from Izabel, Klara managed to force Lying Cat to retreat. A malfunctioning Prince Robot IV helped Izabel remove Klara from the burning home of Mr. Heist, before wandering off muttering nonsense. Meanwhile, Gwendolyn confronted Marko and Alana at the top of Mr. Heist’s house. Gwen attempted to murder Alana and Hazel, but Marko saved them by shoving them off the ledge. Marko believed that Alana could fly, even though she didn’t, and he was correct. Not only did Alana survive the fall, she flew right back up to save Marko by shooting Gwen. The Fugitives would then quickly flee the planet Quietus. Elsewhere, Upsher continued to look into Marko and Alana’s story, and search for a way to break the curse put on him and Doff. Doff disagreed with Upsher and wished that he would give up the investigation. On Landfall, The Brand visited her comatose brother, The Will, in the hospital where Gwen left him at. It was revealed that The Will’s real name is Billy and The Brand’s real name is Sophie. The issue and story arc ended with the spaceship tree landing on a new planet, with Alana and a slightly older Hazel stepping out onto it.

This time on Saga, the new issue and new story arc began with some new information about the Robot Kingdom, and a new robot named Dengo was introduced. Hazel is now a toddler and is living with her family on a planet called Gardenia. Marko, with his face slightly masked, takes Hazel to the playground. Elsewhere, Alana (more heavily disguised) stars in a show on the Open Circuit.

Just when I thought that Saga couldn’t shock me more than it already had, I looked at the first page of this issue. It took me a second to realize what I was looking at, but when I did, my jaw dropped. I’m not going to say what it was that shocked me, because then you’d lose the surprise. Let’s just say that it’s a whole new level of weird and shock for this series.

I found the first part of the comic to be very interesting. I had been very curious about the Robot Kingdom and so I was glad to find out more about them. I’m guessing that as this story arc goes on, we’ll continue to learn more about them at the beginning of each issue. They’re definitely one of the weirdest parts of this series and so you’ll get no complaints from me about more of the Robots.

Toddler Hazel is really cute in this issue. She’s already talking and playing on the playground and I have to wonder how often the time jumps will occur. With Hazel being the narrator of the series, I wouldn’t be surprised if the jumps forward will continue fairly often, until we’re caught up to the point in time where she’s narrating the story from. Or maybe it’ll be drawn out and end that way. I have no idea. I’m just guessing.

I enjoyed the look into Alana’s acting career in the Open Circuit. It’s hard to imagine her character being an actor and believably, she has some issues with her new career. It was a fun diversion after all of the intense sequences in the last story arc. I’m sure things will intensify again soon, but it’s nice to see the characters get somewhat of a break in the action.

The first panel was shocking and the last panel was shocking in it’s own way too. I’d definitely call it a cliffhanger and it’s quite a good one. Or a bad one, depending on how you look at it. It’s good as a cliffhanger, but potentially upsetting. I hope that they’re just trying to fool us and hook us in for the next issue!

The Bottom Line

Saga #19 is a strong start to a new story arc and a really good issue. There are some interesting moments, some fun moments, and some alarming dialogue with a cliffhanger at the end of the issue. I almost gave the issue less than a 100, but I realized that I would be doing that just because I’m afraid to give another 100. That’s not a good reason. This is another 100 for Saga. The bottom line is that Saga #19 is another sensational issue for the series and was well worth the wait!