Saga #9 Comic Recap

Issue: Saga #9
Release Date: January 2013
Writer: Brian K. Vaughan
Art: Fiona Staples
Letters and Design: Fonografiks
Coordinator: Eric Stephenson
Publisher: Image Comics

This month we got to focus on The Will the entire time and we got a bit more insight into the man. He is burdened with his past, burdened with his mission, and you can’t help but feel for the guy. Too bad rooting for him would mean the end of Marko and Alana. It’s certainly a weird situation to put the reader in, but with fine writing like this, I don’t mind it at all.

Note: This recap may contain spoilers!

The Will is still trying to get the slave girl to safety. One would think he’d just give up on this seemingly impossible task, especially considering he’s got other things he needs to be focusing on, but The Will is determined to save the slave girl in whatever way he can manage. However, Mama Sun is not about to let fine property get taken away from her, not without a fight. Throw in a resurrected The Stalk and you have all the makings of a bloody showdown. Too bad it was all a dream. The Stalk’s still dead, the slave girl’s still under Mama Sun’s control, and The Will’s life still sucks. If only the poor guy could catch a break!

The other major character in this issue is Gwendolyn. Admittedly, when we first saw her, I did not quite put the pieces together and realize who she truly was. Now I get it. She’s Marko’s ex-fiancée and it seems like they’ve got a bit of unfinished business to take care of. That means she’s got just as much stake in finding Marko as The Will has. It would only make sense for them to team up, right? That’s her rationale anyway, but The Will isn’t going to just cozy up to her out of the goodness of his heart. He wants more cash, more reason to finish the job he was assigned, but Gwendolyn can give him something much more valuable than money. She will rescue the slave girl for him if he agrees to finish the job of tracking down Alana and Marko. Sounds impossible, but The Will and readers alike need to learn to never underestimate Gwendolyn’s abilities. She calls Mama Sun and pretends to be a detective, insinuating that the girl had her horns surgically removed to be sold on the black market, thus making her undesirable. If Mama Sun doesn’t agree to the girl’s release, the word will get around that she’s been pimping out a tarnished piece of property. It would be in her best interest to comply. Mama Sun agrees to drop her off at a location, thus getting what The Will wanted.

Mama Sun is no fool, though. She sees through Gwendolyn’s fast talk and figures she’s being set up. When the drop-off happens, her goons put pressure on The Will and Gwendolyn to pay up. Thirty million dollars and the girl goes free, no cash and the deal is off. You had to foresee how this battle would turn out, right? Of course they take down the goons, quite aggressively at that, and the girl is now in their possession. What can they do with her, though? The Will wants to just send her back to her family, the same ones who sold her into slavery in the first place, or perhaps try to find somewhere else where she could go. That is, before he realizes her true value. The girl can hear Gwendolyn’s necklace calling out for its missing pieces, the matching jewelry that Gwendolyn no longer has. What would that be? None other than the two engagement rings she gave Marko, the ones that he and Alana currently have with them, creating a beacon for The Will and Gwendolyn to follow as they cross the galaxy and track them down. Will Marko’s love of his ex-fiancée’s rings prove his undoing? We’ll have to wait to find out. I’m looking forward to next issue already!

Rating: 4 / 5 Stars