Review: Saga #3

Finding My Way
  I love the raw sound and the power of Rush's debut. I know, I know, poor old John Rutsey can't buy a ride when it comes to Neil Peart, and the lyrics are about as deep as a puddle, but man, does Alex Lifeson shred on that record or what. Few songs sound good loud. Working Man sounds at its most pure when the volume is turned all the way to the right and if you can break that fucker off, do it.

  An editor (pictures not words) by trade, I'm inclined to making small adjustments, fractions of fractions of seconds. Editing is storytelling because editing is pacing. My approach to writing is similar, I consider myself less of a writer and more of a rewriter. I've shared a few, what I consider 'early versions,' of these posts with some of my fellow bloggers-in-arms and each has preferred the raw to the wrought. Clearly there is no accounting for taste. At least I wasn't told that what I wrote was underdone.

  So, I'm trying to let things go a little more ragged, more Rush less Moving Pictures so to speak. I'm not quite ready to go full-on '72 Keith Richards, but I want to get there, someday, maybe. Then again, who wouldn't? As Bobby Keyes said about living in France while recording Exile on Main St., 'that's shitting in high cotton.' And, no, I don't know what that means either.

  Saga, now that I think of it, does have a ragged polish to it, maybe that's why it's so damn good. Bit of a spoiler, I take Brian K. Vaughn to task in this review. Yes, he's a titan, but that doesn't mean a critique of his work shouldn't push back a bit. Here's the thing I'm learning as write about comics: sycophants don't surf. Nobody wants to read a blogger give a writer or artist a tongue-bath. Same goes for the formulaic approach that includes a paragraph towards the end to 'discuss' the art. I'll grant that writing about comic book art isn't easy, get over it. Saga squares words and pictures like few series nowadays. Vaughn without Staples or the other way round wouldn't be as good; and it wouldn't be Saga.

  Thanks as always to inestimable talents of Mr. Djeljosevic and a special thanks to Jason Sacks at Comics Bulletin. Sir, it's always nice to be wanted. And a shout out to my soon to be collaborator and wheel man Daniel Elkin who has generously allowed me to ride shotgun on an upcoming series review for the very same Comics Bulletin. Here's a sample of the raw and the cooked -- a FYC ref., really? where the hell did that come from!?! -- on Saga #3, hit the ellipse for the link:

     Artist Fiona Staples fashions a design for Izabel that is without question, ingenious. Beyond Izabel's free-floating jejunum, Staples also adds little details like star-shaped earrings, bulky bracelets and a t-shirt emblazoned with a heat aflame, all of which flesh out Izabel and make her live. Izabel is the latest exemplar of the idiosyncrasy of Saga. Staples distinctive style complements Vaughn's writing and vice versa to create something that could only be Saga …