Saga #15 – Review

By: Brian K. Vaughan (story), Fiona Staples (art)

The Story: Alana and Marko are defeated—by the greatest board game ever made.

The Review: Vaughan made an interesting choice at the top of this arc when he opened on Prince Robot catching up to Alana and Co. on Quietus.  He seemed to be setting things up for an imminent confrontation, but the succeeding issues don’t seem to be in any hurry to have one.  Even so, the knowledge that our favorite space family will soon encounter new troubles casts all their doings in a different light than if you just took them on their own.

Basically, we have a ticking time bomb of about a week before Robot arrives.  In this issue, Hazel tells us that we’re on day five.  Her family only has two more days before their “blissful” time with Heist is over—but they don’t know it yet.  That’s the tragic part, as it is with all situations of dramatic irony.  As sweet and fun as it is to see the gang play Nun Tuj Nun, a Wreath board game that crosses Pictionary, arm-wrestling, and psychological warfare all at once, their activities have a certain amount of poignancy, too, because you know it can’t last.