So wait, did you see Babylon yet or not?
Brian here, and because I’m STILL debating this batshit movie with my friends, now I have to beg you to watch it too, if only so I can have someone else to talk with about it.
For now, a small plug, if you’ll indulge me:
NEXT WEEK, Saga returns to the shelves of your friendly neighborhood comic shop with Chapter Sixty-one!
Lying Cat, am I exaggerating even a little bit when I say that this issue features some of the most gorgeous artwork ever by co-creator Fiona Staples?
See?
See, she ain’t saying nothing.
You know what that means.
And though that panel is silent, the rest of this chapter showcases some truly excellent lettering from Spectators’ own Fonografiks, who also pulled off a few heroic last-minute fixes over the holidays, including reminding me that “Constables” is capitalized in our characters’ universe.
I would be adrift without him.
It’s been over a decade since my collaborators and I began this journey, and the release of this 61st issue is just as Christmas-morning exciting to me as our first. I love this comic, and I’m particularly proud of this new “season,” so thanks so much for continuing to follow Hazel’s story.
Before we get to your exclusive sneak peek at the first page of this upcoming issue, you may have noticed on Fiona’s rocking cover that—after more than a decade of being one of the last comics anywhere still “holding the line at $2.99”—Saga has finally joined the ranks of books costing $3.99.
As I say in next week’s To Be Continued, I’m sorry that various global economic factors that I know everybody’s feeling right now made this a move we couldn’t avoid any longer, but we still promise to always offer more new art and story (and more dopey letter columns) than any other similarly priced book on the stands.
And for what it’s worth, if you ever feel like you didn’t get your money’s worth out of any issue of Saga, you can always send your copy to the To Be Continued offices at the address below for a full refund.
(I can’t promise I won’t flip it for a profit on eBay though.)
Speaking of price changes, these bonus posts are usually just for our paid subscribers in The Tower, but because Exploding Giraffe will be offering our much lower subscription rates starting January 31, 2023 (we’ll send out a reminder that Tuesday), I thought I’d make this post available to everyone, cool?
With that… how would you like to read the first page of that new Saga before anyone else?
If you hate spoilers and/or you’re just here hoping to win a signed copy, feel free to scroll down to the bottom of this dispatch for a link to our chat.
And if you still haven’t tried Saga, welcome! In one lost weekend, you can probably binge what it’s taken me roughly a fourth of my life to write, and be all caught up in time for next week’s new chapter:
Okay, enough stalling, Vaughan! Get to that first page!
SPOILER SPACE!!!!!
SERIOUSLY, BIG SPOILER BELOW!!!!
ARE YOU READY?
ALL RIGHT, HERE WE GO:
Oh, shit, wait, that’s just the first comic to parody Fiona’s iconic Saga #1 cover, Dicks, from the criminally deranged minds of Garth Ennis and John McCrea (disturbing original artwork gifted to me by the artist).
SORRY ABOUT THAT.
FOR REAL THIS TIME, THE FIRST PAGE OF NEXT WEEK’S SAGA #61 IS BELOW.
IF YOU’D RATHER WAIT TO READ IT IN THE CONTEXT OF THE COMPLETE ISSUE, I’D UNDERSTAND.
EITHER WAY, THANKS FOR NOT POSTING OR OTHERWISE SHARING…
What the fuck is going on there?
Stay tuned, True Believer, but here’s my other favorite page of this issue, created by Fonografiks over the work of the great Niko Henrichon:
Thanks to the unbeatable Image Comics for always being cool with its creators promoting projects we do with other companies. I hope it helps bring a few new Spectators readers our way.
END OF SPOILERS!!!
So, who wants a copy?
To be automatically entered in a drawing to win that new Saga issue scribbled on by me, please just answer this one question that I stole from someone off Instagram (and which has apparently been floating around the internet for ages):
If you were an action figure, what two accessories would come included with you?
In the future, these lively discussion threads will only be open to you generous Tower members, but for one last time, we’ll leave these comments open to EVERYONE, so if it’s your first time stopping by, please introduce yourself.
Everybody else, have a great weekend, and I’ll see you back here on Monday for a particularly sexy installment of Spectators.
Still wondering where Hazel’s horns went,
BKV
A gyro skewer with a carving knife
Pet panther and a Staff of Improbability (does not float). And yes, I would like a signed copy of Saga!!!