Warning: Spoilers ahead for Saga #60
Universally acclaimed as one of the best comics of the past decade, Saga's latest arc just concluded with its most heartbreaking moment yet. Saga and its creators are well known for killing off beloved characters, but long-time readers know it's not death that gets the tears flowing. In fact, it's the aftermath of character deaths in this universe that are just as brutal as the deaths themselves, and that's never been more true than in Saga #60.
Saga, created by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples, is a long-running science-fiction/fantasy comic of epic proportions. The first issue one came out in 2012 and introduced readers to the essential characters of this space opera: baby Hazel, just born, and her parents Alana and Marko. The couple, much like Romeo and Juliet, are from opposing sides in an intergalactic war. The series follows Alana and Marko as they protect Hazel—the first interspecies child of her kind—from assassins, journalists, and all who would bring her harm. Though Hazel continues to survive—and here is one last major spoiler warning for Saga #54 in particular—her family and friends aren't always so lucky. The first half of this epic fantasy series ended in 2018 with Marko's tragic death.
Returning from its long hiatus, returned in January 2022 with a new arc and new characters to boot. The series continues three years after Marko's death, now following Alana and Hazel's misadventures as they cope with his loss. Because of the time skip, readers don't see much of their grief—but that changes in Saga #60, by Vaughan, Staples, and Fonografiks. After celebrating recent successes, the issue concludes with Alana, Hazel, and their friends watching as the family's wooden rocket ship—their family home since Hazel was a baby—burned to the ground. Readers are treated to a series of close-ups of Hazel interspersed with flashbacks of her with Marko on the ship. Hazel's face crumples, she starts crying, and she calls, again and again: "Daddy!"
Despite the time jump at the beginning of this arc, this issue reveals just how impactful Marko's loss has been on Hazel. Hazel is shown as a tough, confident kid, but the war and her family's intense lifestyle—always on the run—has clearly shaped her perspective of the world. As she watches one of the few constants in her life burn, of course she breaks her normally tough exterior to show just how much she's grieving. Fiona Staples' art really shines, rendering Hazel's grief in heartbreaking detail. Hazel's grief breaks the forward-moving narrative, and readers are shown glimpses of the past, allowing readers to take a moment to grieve one of Saga's central protagonists: Marko.
Saga #60 is the long-running epic's most brutal issue yet, and it's not even because of the series' usual level of violence. The flashback sequence in this issue—and, of course, Hazel's grief—is an essential moment in this arc and is most definitely its emotional climax. Between Staples' tear-jerking art and Vaughan's consistent character-driven writing, Saga continues to prove itself as one of the best-made (and emotional) comics of all time.
Saga #60 is available now from Image Comics.
