Reviews tagging 'Gore'

Saga, Vol. 1 by Brian K. Vaughan

73 reviews

seraphimgt's review against another edition

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adventurous dark fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

I liked it, but sometimes it felt like it was being edgy just for the sake of being edgy.

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halfbloodprincess_hogwarts's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad tense

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Saga begins withs with the birth of our narrator (literally). Her parents, Marko and Alana comes from opposite sides of an ongoing war.

The fact they conceived the impossible has put a mark on their backs. So we follow them, half a ghost child and their pursuers (Prince Robot IV, Freelance Assassins and others). One of the Freelance Assassins by the name The Will has a giant Lying Cat that follows him around and it's so comical when it blurts out "LYING" when someone is talking.

Graphic illustrations are incredible and Saga is quite a page-turner. From the looks of it this is volume 1 of 12 and I cannot wait to read the next one.

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coolfijiwater's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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meecespieces's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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nightmarebees's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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mamareadstuff's review against another edition

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adventurous dark fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

rhi_'s review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Content Warnings

beccabookworm's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I think the mark of a favorite book is wanting to immediately reread it. Granted, this would be an easy reread because it’s a graphic novel but it just love these crazy kids. I’m a sucker for a found family story. For hot badass people in love.

I really enjoy following the different characters so far and am excited to see when and how they all intersect with one another. The multiple POV really gets into the different facets and perspectives of an ongoing war. So many questions left open beyond just how Hazel and her parents make it out alive.

Like, wtf is going on with Prince Robot IV and what seem to be outburst glitches on his screen/face? Will The Will keep his promise to kill the Prince? Will he be able to save the little girl and how? Will Brian K. Vaughan really make me sympathize and root for a mass murderer in The Will? How will Marko’s parents react to their granddaughter, especially considering it seems they didn’t know Marko was alive? Does Izabel survive the blast from Marko’s parents (God, I hope so)?

This is how you get hooked on a series. I want so bad to know the answers to all these questions and just continue this journey with this family.

Also the gradual world-building made this much easier to digest. I’ve never been a big sci-fi or fantasy reader, but I think I’ve been more attracted to those genres if they’re grounded in some way to the real world (magical characters that exist peripheral to our real world, advanced nonexistent technology used in present day or a future Earth). While there are otherworldly creatures and magic in Saga, they’re really just aliens from presumably far off celestial bodies. I can believe that our Earth might exist far away from this galaxy.There’s also a familiarity to the relationships and characters that come through more for me because they’re not competing with the requisite long explanation of how this world works (something that’s necessary in a high fantasy story). I think that makes it easier for me to follow along with and enjoy.

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morganish's review against another edition

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adventurous dark sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

Let's see if I can type out one more review quickly tonight. Two down, 200 still to go. (I'm being sarcastic. But only a little.) This is the first installment in a science fantasy space opera about two people from two different... races?... at war with one another. Who somehow got together, had a child, and are on the run. The premise sounds promising. The execution was a mixed bag for me.

What Worked For Me

The Core Concept: It really is compelling. Had not some of the things I didn't like stood out so starkly, I probably would have kept reading. The plot moves quickly, the stakes are high. The worldbuilding is super unique, while also being simple enough to easily understand. And lately I've found myself very fond of science fantasy which doesn't feel the need to over-complicate or over-explain itself, but just focuses on what's relevant to the story. This definitely delivers.

The Art: I have no visual art skills, so I'm looking at this purely from a consumer's eye. But I really liked it; not too stylized, which I appreciate and generally find more aesthetically pleasing. Also, I'm not sure I have the tools to explain exactly what I mean and why, but the page layouts and framing weren't overwhelming, and were always easy to follow along with. That's been a big struggle for me with most of the graphic novels I've read in the past several years. With this one, I almost always could tell quickly what I was looking at. I was usually able to get a vague impression of the important info each frame was trying to convey after a single glance. Which feels rare for me, especially with art involving action scenes.

What Wasn't My Thing

The Misogyny: I've never had much patience for visual media which portrays women's bodies the way this comic does, and I've only gotten more exhausted and frustrated by this approach the older I get. Do we get a ton of imagery of conventionally-attractive naked female bodies (like, 17 times more than naked male bodies)? Yes. Is female nudity played with in a way that makes it both attractive and monstrous, for like the 17,894,094 time in fiction? Like someone thinks they're doing something subversive and edgy, while ultimately saying nothing at all about the commodification of female bodies? Yes. Do we sometimes get female bodies and terrible violence done upon them at the same time, displayed for ultimate shock and titillation value? Yup. And are those bodies fridged for the sake of male storylines? Also, yes. So... yeah. Gender and gender politics are not handled well here, to say the least. Oh, and don't forget the subplot involving trafficked sex workers, including small children!

All the Other Kinds of Edginess You Tend to Get in Male-Dominated Adult Specfic, Too: All done in the kind of way that is most distasteful to me personally. Just... cruel and dehumanizing, lacking any complicated understanding of revolution or oppression or the horror of violence. Trying to prove the story is Definitely For Grownups! While lacking actual mature care, context, and complexity. A lot of the greatest hits in this one: Oversimplification of bigotry dynamics, specifically war and racial/ethnic tensions; a lot of violence that can't tell if it wants to be horrifying or just look really, REALLY cool; tropey, overdone depictions of passive nonviolence. There's always the chance that this all gets better, or is subverted later in the series. But volume one doesn't inspire much in the way of confidence for me.

Who This Is For

While this is very much a generalization, I'd say on average this is going to be a lot more for men than for women, and a lot more for younger people than older people. And probably more for white people than for anyone BIPOC, but I can't speak to that authentically. Regardless of identities, this is going to be a pretty good bet for anyone looking for a graphic novel with a compelling hook. Provided you have a high tolerance for dark sci-fi/fantasy staples, like graphic nudity/sex/violence.

Content Warnings

*Points up at the rest of the review* Like it says on the tin.

Warnings for:

Very graphic violence, like all the time. A lot of graphic nudity and sex, and the combination of violence and gratuitous nudity together, perpetuated onto mostly female bodies. Fridging a female character. Graphic depictions of exploitative sex work and trafficking, including of a very young minor. Heroic depictions of a POV character who's okay having sex with trafficked sex workers, provided they are not children. Graphic depictions of the ghosts of dead children killed in war. Probably a lot more stuff actually, that's just all I can recall at the moment.

Content Warnings

bumblemee's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This ist the third time I started reading this - the first two times I didn't make it past the first chapter. I didn't immediately connect with the characters and mixed with the violence, sexual content and a lot of swearing it just was too much for me (I knew these things would be included, but I have to be in the right mood to read something like this, which I wasn't apparently). This time around I made it past the first chapter and started really liking it. The conflicts have a lot of potential in the longrun, the characters started growing on me and the art it really stunning. I am very interested to see how the story evolves because I think it can explore the consequences of violence and war in a meaningful way.

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