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SECOND LOOK: Saga – Vol. 3

Published on March 25th, 2014, we pick up the third volume of Brian K. Vaughn’s SAGA a few weeks after Marco’s grandfather passes away. We see Marco for the first time with some scruff on his face. Gwendolyn, Lying Cat, The Will and Slave girl are stranded on a nearby planet after their ferocious space battle. Whilst they look for a way to get off the dreaded planet and get back in the game of finding Marco and Alana, our heroes land on the planet of Quietus (the first planet that Hazel informs us that her family ever laid down roots). Izabel warns her friends to be careful as they step out of the treeship since the ground is covered in bones. They seem to have landed inside of a massive grave! The bones form into a ginormous rock monster and attacks Alana. As she still cradles Hazel in one arm, she picks up a bone with a balled spike at the end and goes toe-to-toe with the boned beast! A sudden blast crashes into the monster causing it to splatter in pieces. The heroes turn to see a man wearing a robe, slippers and a pair of white underwear with a gun and bottle.

Back on their stranded planet, The Will is looking at a picture of him and The Stalk. It is here we are shown that he begins to hallucinate. He keeps having visions of The Stalk and confronts her over the jealousy of Gwendolyn. She informs The Will that the ruckus he caused has awoken Slave Girl. The Will informs her that from that point on, her new name is Sophie.

Mister Heist, the man who saved Alana from the bone beast, escorts the family to his lighthouse. Once settled in they make their way to his library where in chats with them about his first wife and how she was a part of a historic event known as Cartwright. As they continue to talk, we are brought back to up to speed with The Will and Gwendolyn. An informant of The Will’s contacts him with a lead. The Will automatically assumes that it’s where Marco and Alana are, but this is where the story becomes really interesting! The lead is on a ship that used to belong to The Stalk…and is now owned by Prince Robot IV! We are now getting a taste that a three-way-war is beginning to be stirred up which makes the story all the more exciting!

Back on The Will’s ship, Sophie becomes what looks to be possessed by The Will’s hallucination of The Stalk and stabs him in the neck. Lying Cat notices and attacks Sophie in defense. Gwendolyn knows that Sophie must live, so she stops Lying Cat from causing permanent damage to Sophie. There is only one way that Gwendolyn knows how to save The Will. It is revealed here that her ex-boyfriend is Marco and that his magic is the only thing that can save The Will’s life. Prince Robot IV soon finds Mister Heist’s lighthouse and confronts him. As one word leads to another, a struggle begins and Mister Heist is eventually shot in the leg. Prince Robot IV gives him one last chance to declare where Marco and Alana are hiding. Marco’s mother suddenly comes to Mister Heist’s rescue. Prince Robot IV blasts her into the wall and in retaliation; Mister Heist shoots Prince Robot IV in the chest. Gwendolyn soon approaches the lighthouse with Lying Cat and breaks the front door down. Within split seconds of each other, Mister Heist and Gwendolyn lock eyes. He raises his gun. She raises her whip-chain.

Before being able to fire off a shot, Gwendolyn’s whip-chain shoots out and darts right through Mister Heist’s face and out through the back of his head. His lifeless body falls to the floor as Marco’s mother watches. She becomes enraged and fires a blue bolt of lightning towards Gwendolyn. Lying Cat sprints into action and attacks Marco’s mother. As all this is happening, we see Prince Robot IV’s monitor exclaim the words “Restarting. This may take a few minutes…” Marco’s mother begs Lying Cat to rip her throat out. As she becomes more desperate, she quickly sprints into action and gauges out Lying Cat’s left eye. Marco and Alana race upstairs and reach the top of the lighthouse, making their way out to the balcony. Gwendolyn soon catches up and begins her showdown with Marco and Alana. After many pages of tense dialogue, Marco pushes Alana (with Hazel in her arms) off the balcony to show Gwendolyn that he has taken her side. Catching Gwendolyn off guard, Alana flies back up with her wings and shoots Gwendolyn in the back of the head.

This for me was the best volume of SAGA thus far. We now have a good understanding of our characters and have seen them battle gloriously. What makes this better than the first two volumes however is the cliffhangers we are given at the very end. How will Marco and Alana continue to go on with their lives? Do The Will and Prince Robot IV live? We’ll have to stay tuned up until December 17th for the release of the long awaited fourth volume!

Have you read Saga – Vol. 3? What did you make of it? Let us know in the comments section below or send us your thoughts on Twitter!

About the author

Rob Saladino