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One particular loss seen years ago in Brian K. Vaughn’s Saga series is still painful and gut-wrenching for may fans of the Image series.
As one of the most successful independent comic books of all time, the return of Saga by Brian K. Vaughan, Fiona Staples and Fonografiks has been eagerly awaited for years. Issue #54 was released July 25, 2018 and in the intervening 1,281 days devoted fans had been wishing that Marko’s death would be immediately retconned or was somehow a piece of blue magic subterfuge or a collective fever dream from which they would all awake when the lengthy hiatus finally came to an end.
It didn’t matter that Hazel had always been a reliable narrator or that Brian K. Vaughan himself penned a very transparent set of insights into the arc he had always planned out, along with the frank emotional toll of carrying it for so long. Hope sprang eternal but Issue #55 laid waste to all those fertile alternate universes where Marko would get to see his daughter grow and his relationship with Alana would continue to thrive in the face of challenges. Stepping back into the world of wings and horns proved to be difficult and the mourning period still lingers.
The grief process has played out in a variety of ways that indirectly addressed worst fears, starting with the cover release back in October. Time jumps are common in Saga so it was no surprise that Hazel had noticeably aged and Alana changed her look on occasion so that also failed to elevate any definitive concerns. However the third character was a mystery, one that summoned a cold pit of dread. The first thought for many was that this person was Alana’s new love interest or perhaps even her newly wed spouse. His presence on the cover clearly indicates that he carries some heft in the pages to come and the positioning was evocative of a family portrait. Despite the intervening years to make peace with Marko’s demise, it all felt rushed. Thoughts of “How could she replace him so quickly?” idled unbidden into vicariously resentful minds across the world.
The book opened however without answering that question immediately. Instead it focused on Hazel in disguise engaged in petty theft on a backwater proxy world that is caught up in the eternal conflict between her people, on both sides of her lineage. While being pursued by a vendor she stumbles into a terrorist incident involving a Wreather suicide bomber and a contingent of soldiers from Landfall. The survivors assume that Hazel was in league with the arcane bomber due to the timing and the set of horns on her brow. As she absconds away on her secreted wings, the mystery man from the cover is revealed.
It is made very clear, very quickly and emphatically that the man in question, Bombazine, is in no way married to Alana. He appears to be a subordinate, since he refers to her as boss, but it seems he has been with them for some time. Three years have also passed within the world of the comic but it is not clear at what point he joined Alana, Hazel and Squire in their life on the run. It allows for a brief moment of relief simply knowing that Marko has not been replaced but it also allows for the events from just a few panels prior to really sink in.
Hazel was stealing and getting herself into real trouble and one can’t help but wonder how much of an affect her father’s death has had on her. She relayed to her audience later that she feels numb and resents Squire somewhat for the depth of his pain. He has not spoken since the day of his father’s death, killed in the moments before Alana’s father by the same freelancer, The Will. The gravity of Robot and Marko’s demise is like a collapsed star at the center of their connected lives, warping the emotional gravity of all the debris they left behind. Alana quickly hides the children as their tree rocket home launches into space and attempts to avoid being boarded by pirates who may loot them of their illegal narcotics. Granted their lives were never idyllically quaint vistas of tranquility and stability but Marko’s absence is keenly felt as Alana cannot pay the babysitter and has to keep her adopted son from mistakenly ingesting the drugs they sell to survive.
Those pangs are dull though, like a neglected ache that throbs in the background. Vaughan slips the knives from his sheath when The Will lands on Wreath to collect the bounty on Marko and brandishes his cleanly stripped skull as evidence. The nonchalant handling of his remains cleaves deeply but it is the first of many cuts. As he refers to him as a sicko, Marko’s former fiancé saunters to meet the bounty hunter and her regard for her ex is even more depraved than The Will’s. Despite their history she is more than joyous at the sight of his naked bones and even felt compelled to mount The Will then and there in appreciation for his efforts. She mentioned that Lying Cat might like to watch as they couple, but Marko’s skull is sitting there forgotten on his homeworld as mute witness to this latest defilement of his memory.
The manner of Marko’s death was so useless and maddening that the treatment of what remained of his corpse felt like salt on a fresh wound. Marko didn’t die defending his family, he was stabbed in the back after deciding that his erratic pacifism was more important than being there for the people he loved. While on some level his commitment to his principles is superficially endearing, his abdication of the responsibility he had to his miraculous, or abominable, halfbreed daughter was unforgivable. He was well aware that his death would more than likely presage her own, or something far worse, not to mention his wife and their other companions. The unresolved issues surrounding what amounted to him giving up flood to the forefront as his unrepentant murderer barebacks his former lover all within steps of all that is left of him.
It is almost certain that the degradation will continue. Though not married it may turn out that Bombazine and Alana are utilitarian lovers heaping a brand new pile of complex emotions upon the grave of Marko’s passing. Gwendolyn may use his skull to power some spell that will lead her and the vengeful government she represents to find his family. The Will’s new assignment could be to acquire Squire, reinforcing how alone and vulnerable they all are without his presence and maybe that will be a salve of its own. Replacing pain with anger as the new dynamics continue to settle into uncomfortable places and time continues to do its healing work.
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