Saga volume 1

Today's review comes to you courtesy of Phil May - AHA @ReadItDaddy.  Phil is a technical wizard mashing coder by day, drawing fantastic characters and creatures by night and also reviewing children's books with his daughter over at http://readitdaddy.blogspot.com and grown up stuff at http://daddyafterdark.blogspot.com. 

Writer: Brian K Vaughan
Art: Fiona Staples
Publisher: Image Comics

What's it about?

Space operas don’t come any weirder than Saga, and just when you feel that you’re comfortable that science fiction comics are mined out and the mighty reign of the superhero comic is unshakeable, Saga spins your head around and embroils you in a graphic universe that is sprawling, chaotic and (sometimes) darkly funny.

Saga kicks off slap bang in the middle of its narrator’s birth, setting the tone for the series stock-in-trade method of shock followed by quick explanation. This is set against a background of a huge intergalactic plot involving space war, marginalization, bounty hunting and sheer unadulterated bizarreness.

Ex Machina: The First Hundred Days

Writer: Brian K. Vaughan
Artist: Tony Harris
Inks: Tom Feister

Colors: JD Mettler
Publisher: Wildstorm Comics

What’s it about?
Have you ever wondered how the life of a superhero would look in real life?
What would he try to accomplish? Would fighting crime with super powers be actually enough?
What kind of repercussions would such a man have?
If we can consider the sort of popularity they'd gain, like a movie star, what if they were to use this fame to try to enter politics where such men could actually end up making a difference on a larger scale?

That is probably what Brian K. Vaughan had in mind when he decided to work on Ex Machina.  Ex Machina is the tale of Mitchell Hundred, the superhero known as The Great Machine in a world where only this man became a superhero...during the turn of the century in the early 2000s. It features a very political background over which Mitchell's story is told via flashbacks and even some flashforwards, alongside the present day events following his establishment as Mayor of New York City.

A dramatic story with a political aspect, mixed with some of what you would expect from superheroics, some shenanigans with villains and a mysterious origin story.  It may take place in a sort of alternate reality, but it feels that more real because of it.

Pride of Baghdad

Writer: Brian K Vaughan
Artist: Nico Henrichon
Letters: Todd Klein
Publisher: Vertigo

What's it about?
In Spring 2003, a pride of lions escaped from the Baghdad zoo during an American bombing raid.  This book tells their story, from the perspective of the animals involved.

There are four lions in the pride.  Zill, the patriarch, Safa, an old lioness who relishes the safety and care provided within the zoo, Noor, a younger lioness with dreams of freedom to be found outside the confines of the zoo, and Ali, Noor's cub.  He is young, eager and enthusiastic about the world.  During the bombing raid the zoo is hit and the lions are forced to leave their home and venture out into the city.  Once out, they discover more about humans, the war and the difficulties surrounding life on their own.

The animals symbolise the innocents involved in this war, and other wars.  The only humans we see are two Iraqi zookeepers, featured briefly at the start of the book, and the American soldiers, again appearing briefly, at the end of the book.

Runaways: Pride and Joy (Vol 1)

Writer: Brian K Vaughan
Pencils: Adrian Alphona
Colours: Brian Reber
Inks: David Newbold and Craig Yeung
Letters: Virtual Calligraphy
Publisher: Marvel

What’s it about?
Runaways is set in the Marvel Universe and is about a group of 6 teenaged kids who find out that their parents are supervillains.  The kids range in age from 11 year old Molly Hayes to 17 year old Chase Stein.  Upon finding out the truth about their parents they decide to run away and try and make up for their parents mistakes.

Along the way the kids discover if they powers, learn to work together and are forced to mature and become independent far quicker than they’d anticipated.