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No one has mastered playing with readers' expectations like Brian K. Vaughan. Which he once again proves quite brilliantly with Saga #66, the last part of this arc and the last issue of the series in 2023.
Actually, with every turn of the page, we get another "Well, now - now someone beloved's going to die again!" moment.
After all, that's how Vaughan raised us. That we suspect a new loss of a beloved character around every corner.
Or that we no longer even dare to let our eyes blink just a little to the right, the next page, so as not to spoil the WTF moment for ourselves.
The surprise, the big game-changer, the cliffhanger of death is one of the expectations, belongs to the basic needs of the faithful saga reader.
And so Saga #66 is in no way inferior to its 65 predecessors and is bursting with suspense.
And so we wait with the tension, this pleasantly gripped feeling, for the grand finale, the big bang, the cliffhanger to end all things.
[Caution: spoiler ahead!]
Do we want it?
Yeah!
Do we get it?
NO!
[Warned ya!]
Actually, with every turn of the page, we get another "Well, now - now someone beloved's going to die again!" moment.
After all, that's how Vaughan raised us. That we suspect a new loss of a beloved character around every corner.
Or that we no longer even dare to let our eyes blink just a little to the right, the next page, so as not to spoil the WTF moment for ourselves.
The surprise, the big game-changer, the cliffhanger of death is one of the expectations, belongs to the basic needs of the faithful saga reader.
And so Saga #66 is in no way inferior to its 65 predecessors and is bursting with suspense.
And so we wait with the tension, this pleasantly gripped feeling, for the grand finale, the big bang, the cliffhanger to end all things.
[Caution: spoiler ahead!]
Do we want it?
Yeah!
Do we get it?
NO!
[Warned ya!]
And so then actually yes.
We get our desired surprise by not getting it.
If we think about it in more detail and look back at the last few issues, it's only logical.
After all, each of the last issues felt like the big bang, the cliffhanger to end all things.
Brian K. Vaughan, however, doesn't just keep writing the stuff he's writing just because it's working well at the moment.
If the system is running, then change it. Because if there's one thing Vaughan probably hates most is to bore himself writing.
And that's what we love him for.
Especially when Fiona Staples is by his side, giving us, as always, the best illustrations a story writer could ask for.
We get our desired surprise by not getting it.
If we think about it in more detail and look back at the last few issues, it's only logical.
After all, each of the last issues felt like the big bang, the cliffhanger to end all things.
Brian K. Vaughan, however, doesn't just keep writing the stuff he's writing just because it's working well at the moment.
If the system is running, then change it. Because if there's one thing Vaughan probably hates most is to bore himself writing.
And that's what we love him for.
Especially when Fiona Staples is by his side, giving us, as always, the best illustrations a story writer could ask for.
What a brilliant way to go out…
