I know he’s sort of a total bastard, but I am 100% here for it. But my lowkey favourite is Prince Robot IV. I also really love Gwendolyn, Sophie, The Brand, and (obviously) Lying Cat. Their dynamic as a couple is really, really great. I love Alana and Marko, and I love seeing how their relationship develops over the course of the series. Every character feels fully developed and very real. So while the story has wide scope, it also has focus, because even when the story isn’t about their family, it indirectly is, because it’s often the only reason the other characters are even interacting. Easily one of my favourite things in this series is that all of the characters are connected. In this case, they’re all connected through Alana, Marko, and Hazel, whether they’re allied with them or pursuing them. There are five volumes so far, and both the plot and the universe have expanded in every single one. The plot is fast-paced and continually evolving. I especially love the final pages to each chapter, because they are consistently fantastic. I love the colours, the variety of the alien races, the attention to detail in every panel, the expressions on characters’ faces – so all of it, really. While I’m no expert on either art or comics, it’s what drew me into the series in the first place. Having Hazel narrate adds a suspense, even foreboding, to the series that’s easier to connect with than if it were done by an unknown, omniscient narrator: Hazel knows what’s going to happen because it’s already happened to her. The series is occasionally narrated by Hazel, a technique that I’m a huge fan of.

Vaughan and illustrated by Fiona Staples, is a space-opera/fantasy series that follows two lovers, Alana and Marko, from warring planets trying to take care of their newborn daughter, Hazel, while on the run from various authorities. For me, at least, there hasn’t been a bad issue yet. I think it’s fair to say that I wouldn’t have gotten so far into this if I didn’t think it was brilliant.

Really, I don’t know what else you need to hear to convince you to read this series.

For instance, Saga contains the following: a race of humanoids that have TV sets for heads, a bipedal talking seal, and a cyclopean novelist who writes pro-peace subtext into his smutty books. Although, even if I wanted to explain the specifics to you, everything I say would sound mad anyway. It’s hard to write a review of Saga without either repeating what’s already been said, or spoiling everything.

Fiona staples books