I won't spoil the twist after this, but it's fantastic and quite a cliffhanger. Forget any of the nonsense over the overblown controversy over this issue of Saga and just pick it up. Vaughan and Staples really put together a spectacular chapter that makes Saga possibly the best comic being published. Read Full Review

Like I said, ignore the controversy with this issue because the last thing you should focus on is two small pictures on two different panels. It's not the focus of the issue and ultimately, it doesn't matter. This series stands out, on its own, every month as one of the best books in the business. BKV and Fiona Staples continue to build on the SAGA world here and we get to see a little more into Prince Robot's history as well as meet the writer of the book Alana was reading in earlier issues. While this issue lacks Marko, Alana, and company, and it may be a tad slow for some readers, it delivers. Every issue of this series is awesome. Overall, I highly recommend this issue. Read Full Review

Brian K. Vaughn is one of the most illustrious writers the comic industry has today. He can make you laugh, he can make you cry, and he can make you think. Let's not forget Fiona Staples. Her aquatic pencil strokes make this sci-fi epic a true original classic. She brings so much life and depth into this story giving it that oh so delicate feminine touch that appeals to both male and female readers. This book has it all. Read Full Review

There's nothing bad that I can say about this issue. This one focuses not on the protagonists but on one of the antagonists. It develops more of his back story making him more relatable. However, I still feel like he shouldn't get his way since he's chasing after the good guys. I guess he can't help it that his race and the people he works for are portrayed as a tyrannical evil militaristic culture. Anyways, trust me when I say that you'll get a kick out of this issue " despite the crazy politically incorrect images in the beginning. Read Full Review

Saga #12 is another masterpiece from Team Saga, almost recommendable as a standalone read due to a narrative so tight and dialogue so sharp it could be a one-act play. But of course, I couldnt in good conscience recommend this without suggesting, nay demanding, you throw yourself into the 11 issues of magnificence that preceded it. Saga ends its first year in style. If the years to come maintain this quality, the series will find itself up there amongst the all-time comics greats by the time it comes to its conclusion. Read Full Review

Sure, Saga #12 depicted two gay sex scenes in the first few pages of the issue, but remember that the series is for mature readers. If this is the first time that a Saga image shocked you, wellIm not touching that. All in all, Saga #12 is fantastic as usual. Read Full Review

Saga is as close to perfect as you can expect from an ongoing series. Month in, month out the team of Vaughan and Staples delivers everything you could possibly want in a comic book. Every new character, landscape, and alien race they introduce each month has been a welcome addition to an every growing universe and there are no signs of slowing down. Read Full Review

If youve read my reviews before, you know this book is the be all end all of my existence, hate it or love it you have to appreciate what BKV and Fiona are doing for not only the genre but for comics in general. Read Full Review

All in all, this is an excellent issue of Saga. I could even argue its good for new readers, as it serves as a good stand-alone sampling. In any case, it offers a fresh look at the Saga universe, and shows plenty more depth and versatility. Read Full Review

The writing in the last third of this issue is superlative. Vaughan quietly builds up a tension which sneaks up on you as you read the dialogue back and forth between Prince Robot and Heist, then becomes palpable as the two characters heated exchange becomes violent. Read Full Review

Fiona Staples is as always breathtakingly amazing. Each page is a work of art that i would gladly hang up on my wall if had the chance. The Cover, First Page, and Last Page are amazing splash pages that had me drooling. Read Full Review

Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples once again create a great new layer on this story, crafting strong dramatic tension and leaving us with a cliffhanger that won't be resolved for a few months, as the book will be going on a short hiatus. Hell of a way to leave us hangin', though. Prince Robot having a TV for a head is the reason I stuck with the series long enough to learn to love it, as it inexplicably took me a while to settle in, but I'm on board now, as well we all should be. Read Full Review

Staples doesn't get to play with as many crazy characters in what is essentially a two-hander, although the little seal creature is incredibly cute. Yet she still manages to infuse this outing with the same grounded insanity that we've come to know and love. Another book that should forever remain on the must-read pile on a monthly basis. Read Full Review

If you aren't reading Saga yet after a dozen issues, then there's no better time than now to start. Issue 12 takes the story into new territory that makes it not hard to jump onto. Plus, issue 13 hasn't been solicited yet, so there's plenty of time to catch up and freshen up on the series. Read Full Review

Look past the controversy, and you'll find a tense, effective issue of Saga that ponders the relationship between author and audience. Read Full Review

While this isn't the best issue of the series to date, "Saga" #12 presents a lot of interesting possibilities for the story's future. It's also a much welcome look at Prince Robot IV, who has been on the back burner in recent issues. While Marko and Alana's story is clearly the center-point of "Saga," Vaughan and Staples have done a fantastic job at making the issues focused on side characters as interesting as, if not more than, the ones featuring the core cast. Read Full Review

Add in Fiona Staples art, which is always beautiful and a treat to look at. It's easy to understand why this series has been a favorite among comic fans and critics. Read Full Review

Keeping in the grand tradition of always surprising me with the end of the issue and making me shake the book to see if anymore story falls out, Saga #12 makes a fine addition to the collection. With a few slight hiccups in the storytelling, which could just be me being dense, the story's good points far outweigh the bad. The story told felt a bit unnecessary at first but Vaughan managed to bring it back on point at the end. Staples's art provides the perfect visual accompaniment and sometimes explanation for Brain K. Vaughan's art. Pick up Saga #12 at a your local comic book shop, Apple certainly can't stop us from enjoying this satisfying read. Read Full Review

An issue that feels like the series taking a deep breath before it plunges into some real drama. Even infected with a bit of controversy, it shrugs, and moves on. Read Full Review

Vaughn and Staples continue to be a powerhouse in the comic world and Saga yet again lives up to its reputation. Delving into the very human issues of PTSD, Vaughn breathes further life into his characters with Staples being more than able to keep up stellar work each and every time. Pushing past the controversy surrounding two very tiny images, this book is yet another beautiful chapter in the Saga saga and should be picked up by anyone who's been tuning in so far. Read Full Review

I would argue that these erotic images, displayed on the unconscious screen of IV come to represent a desperate libidinal cathexis in response to death. In his apparently final moments, Prince IV's unconscious mind craves life, craves sex, and craves the ability to survive. The mechanized body of IV, screams out: life! It doesn't matter that these particular sex are non-reproductive in a biological way, because they are reproductive in a psychic, Saussurean way. The syntax of these images on IV's face-screen all have an inherent slippage. One signified image signifies a host of needs and emotions: fellatio and bukkake (I'm not sure what else to call it) come to represent a desire to survive the pain of death and reveal in erotic life. The la petite mort horn, the baby rattle, fellatio and bukkake images on IV's face-screen reveal a character's unconsciousness that is complex and pulled between poles of eros and thanatos. Read Full Review

Some fans might write off this issue as filler, but the content itself is what the series as a whole is all about. Sure, it doesn't have the same impact others might have had, but the message is still clear: Prince Robot is out for blood. Read Full Review

Overall, "Saga" #12 isn't a misstep as part of the huge story that Vaughn and Staples are telling. The events here are a beginning to understanding the enemy, if Prince Robot IV can be called one. However, as a chapter on its own, it lacks some traction because of the nature of the character it follows and in its unhurried pacing. Read Full Review

Brian K. Vaughn starts to bring his disparate plot threads together and Fiona Staples draws some cute fuzzy otter creatures – and some other, more controversial things – in Saga #12, another solid installment in the lives of Alana, Marko, and baby Hazel. Read Full Review

Side note: I'm aware Comics: The Gathering is a Canadian site, but Canada already lays claim to about 90 percent of the bands I love and Wolverine. Let America (and me) have this one, guys. Read Full Review

Notify me of new posts via email. Read Full Review

Such a happy accident that I picked up two surprisingly good issues to review. Read Full Review

After the series of hard-wrenching issue, Saga #12 lacks some of that emotional resonance by comparison, though it does offer up a few solid world-building moments that flesh out the conflict between warring factions that has left our star-crossed lovers in a pickle of cosmic proportions. Read Full Review

Great comic, but what the fuck with the gay porn in the opening scene? What the fuck? Why there was porn at all...

shit hit the fan

. . $3,22pgs. almost no ADs. drab undead? cover. . . . Another Killer opener, this time diving the digital community wild at Apple. WTF motherfuckers, it only dicks and jizz not the chemical warfare, horrific gore ,blood and violence of the 1st 4 pages. damn. Awesome fun and great dialog had me enjoying the heck out of this issue sans main cast. A great standoff of manners and wits between unknown but well crafted characters. oh and fuckign fantastic art, clors, oh my, form Ms. Staples... have my child. or at least teach them this magic stuff you do. gush.

Saga has been so good for so long that there had to be a snag. I had wondered what happened to Prince Robot IV, but, as other reviews point out, he is just not that interesting a character. The lack of a face, his lack of demeanor and lack of any real personality other than his PTSD just makes it hard to care. He's not a bad character, but he is not yet a compelling one.

As for the controversy, while also admitting that I found it grotesque as the sex scene in the previous issue, it just felt like it added nothing. So Prince Robot IV thinks about gay porn when he sustains life threatening wounds? It's just...strange and kind of needless.

It's still well drawn and overall well written (though it feels like every character talks the same), but this is not the strong issue we were hoping. At least the final page offers promise. more

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Ultimate Goblin - Mar 4, 2023

Needless is the right word. That was just an adult content for the sake of adult content...

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This is still an entertaining issue, in a mildly diverting way. There are two major problems however: it is nothing more than that, it is just diverting filler, and even more significantly it exposes the underlying problem with the series, which is that Vaughan is making it all up as he goes along. He does this in an entertaining way, but there is no great plan behind it. The arrogance of this is quite breathtaking, as he writes a meta-narrative about a writer who says of his book that he just wrote himself in circles until he hit the required word count. That is exactly what Vaughan is doing and then having the gall to glory in it and stick two fingers up at the reader by highlighting it to them.


The gay porn panels are ridiculous and there simply to shock and titilate, just as the sex scene was in the previous issue (or rather the post-coital discussion, which was vulgar for the sake of being vulgar). One professional reviewer - Brett Mobley from PopMatters, hang your head in shame - has written the most egregiously pretentious pseudo critical analysis of these panels it has ever been my misfortune to read. This is the kind of twaddle that hacks and failing undergraduates write. The scenes are there to shock and titilate and that is all. There is no logic or subtext here because the writer hasn't actually invested time and thought into proper world building. Everything is being made up as he goes along.
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Ultimate Goblin - Mar 4, 2023

I disagree about the "post-coital discussion" from the previous issue. It was okay and that is how people talk, that's believable and feels natural. Plus it really adds something to the story. But I 100% agree on the porn in dying PR IV screen topic. If it was at least explained... It's like they can show anything on that screen whenever they want it. Just to add something edgy to the story.

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