Saga is about to be delayed again, with the book’s co-creator weighing in on this latest delay. It premiered in 2012 and has become one of the biggest comics in the land, with millions of copies. The book follows the family of Alana, Marko, and Hazel as they tried to survive an intergalactic war, one where both sides are trying to kill all three of them. The series by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples connected with readers immediately and it helped make Image Comics into the biggest indie in the land. Fans love Saga; it’s a book that appeals not just to comic fans, but to anyone who reads it. It’s a book that you can hand to anyone and they’ll love it. Unfortunately, delays have plagued the book and series co-creator Fiona Staples has weighed on in the reasons behind what’s been going on behind the scenes.
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Staples took to the Saga Instagram page to talk to readers about this latest hiatus, something that has become depressingly common over the years. Saga‘s <a href="https://comicvibe.com/marvels-next-disney-release-is-just-2-days-away/” title=”Marvel's Next Disney+ Release Is Just 2 Days Away”>release schedule has been a bone of contention for a long time, staring back in 2018 when the book was supposed to go on a year break, but didn’t return until 2022. Since then, it hasn’t been able to stay on schedule, with the hiatuses between storylines stretching out longer and longer. Fans have wondered what was going on with the book for years and this statement from Staples not only explains everything, but gives readers hope for the future.
Saga Co-Creator Explains the Book’s Absence, Reaffirming Her Commitment to Readers
Image books usually go on a monthly schedule, releasing a five to six-issue story arc before going on hiatus. This has allowed creators to work on the books with no fill-ins and gives new readers time to catch up with the affordable trade paperbacks Image puts out. Saga readers have long praised the craft of the book, taking earlier hiatuses in the stride because of how great it was, but the 2018 one stretched on for years with no word from anyone. Saga is the most beloved indie comic right now and the delays have damaged fan esteem in the book.
Staples understands the frustration and explains what’s been going on and, honestly, it’s completely understandable. Staples decided to start a family and took on a project that meant a lot to her (a comic adaptation of The Chronicles of Narnia). She worked as hard as she could to keep up with everything, but she’s only human and burned herself out entirely. She acknowledges that while some people would be able to handle the whole thing, she found herself “overextended and suffering from burnout that I could not recover from.”
However, things sound like they’re starting to get better for the creator. “I’m taking steps to better my mental health and make improvements to my workflow,” she shared with readers, letting them know that she’s currently hard at work on new issues of the book. She has one issue in the can and has several scripts from Vaughan, and has reaffirmed her resolve to get the book back on track for its final third. She promised to share more with readers, letting them know how she’s doing and keeping them appraised on the series as she works on it.
Art delays are a common part of the comic industry. At the Big Two, fill-in artists and writers come on books to give the regular team a break and get some issues done ahead of time, but even then, delays happen. Creators are only human and they have more going on in their life than just their work. Indie books have a much looser schedule, mostly because these creators don’t have access to an entire company of other creators, but hiatuses like the one Saga took in 2018 are the kind that can doom a book. They’ve led to a lot of frustration for the book’s fandom over the years.
The worst part was always not really knowing what was going on and Staples releasing this statement goes a long way towards reassuring fans of the future of the book. Many fans have gotten upset about the delays since 2022 and the Saga fandom has been torn between fans who believe that the creators can take as much time as they need and those who don’t. Some people have stopped reading, frustrated with the lack of progression. This statement finally shines some light on the delays and could go a long way towards getting fans to come back to Saga.
The End of Saga Approaches and Staples Is Ready
Fans have been waiting for more from Hazel and her family since last year, with the creators promising the book would be back by now. This latest delay sparked something of a firestorm in fan spaces, as bitter fans started to complain again about the book. Saga is a beloved book; so many of us have connected with the characters within and that’s why there’s so much anger and frustration about the entire situation.
Staples’ statement goes a long way towards reassuring the fan community, but it’s also humanizing. We all understand what it is to be overextended, and Staples is only human; she wants all of the things things that we all want and she works hard for them. Staples worked as hard as she could to get the book out to readers and promised to work harder in the future, leaving fans with her love and the promise of more Saga to come, which is really all we ever wanted.
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