Saga Volume Three by Brian K Vaughan and illustrated by Fiona Staples

Saga Volume Three, written by Brian K Vaughan and illustrated by Fiona Staples, is (obviously) the third volume of collected comic issues, comprising of issues 13 to 18.

Saga is the sweeping tale of one young family fighting to find their place in the universe. Searching for their literary hero, new parents Marko and Alana travel to a cosmic lighthouse on the planet Quietus, while the couple's multiple pursuers finally close in on their targets.

When I read the first two volumes (my reviews of Volume One and Volume Two), I was a little weary of the number of female characters. But as the story has progressed, it seems to have accreted more of them, which I appreciated. The cover art of this volume is a good example; neither of those two characters were proper characters when the story started.

Gwendolyn, the woman on the cover, while not wearing what I would call sensible clothes (but they could be worse), proves herself to be an interesting character. We first learn of her only through Marko, who was engaged to her before he went to war. She initially sounds relatively insignificant but when she shows up in person, we find out that, just as Marko changed when he went to war, so to did Gwendolyn when she stayed back.

One of my favourite characters, who's been around since Volume One but who I haven't mentioned, is Izabel. She's the ghost of a teenage girl who died stepping on a landmine. More accurately, the ghost of half a teenage girl. She's pretty great and not the kind of character I would have expected to see. (Even if we can see her intestines.) Also, she provides a counterpoint to everyone being wrapped up in the war. Although her parents were freedom fighters and despite the way she died, she's not invested at all.

We also get to know two new characters with their own story line: two reporters who have caught the trail of the story of Alana, Marko and their child. They run around trying to chase down leads and, in the process, we learn about their home world. Really, I think it's fair to say that the more we learn about each character, the more interesting they become.

I've been enjoying Saga and I'm sad that I now have to wait for an indeterminate time for the next volume. I also recommend starting from the start if this is the first review that you're reading.

4 / 5 stars

First published: March 2014, Image Comics
Series: Saga, Volume 3 of ongoing
Format read: Paper! Glossiness!
Source: Purchased from the Science Fiction Bookshop