The Good
Family life isn't going as well as it seems. Alana, focused on her work more than her family, has been taking drugs, and finds out Marko may have a thing for Hazel's dance teacher. Across the galaxy, Prince Robot is on the hunt for his wife's killer and looking for his son.
First and foremost, the design for King Robot is insane/hilarious/brilliant. We get to see the weird "evolutionary" scope of these television-head characters. King Robot is a large guy with a ridiculously over-sized flat-screen tv for a head, with a waterfall to convey his sadness for his daughter-in-law's death. It says a lot about culture and classicism with this race of alien. It's an eye opening experience to understand who Prince Robot is and where he comes from.
Brian K Vaughan is moving this series along quite nicely. The characters are well-developed and the dialogue is wonderful. The scene between Alana and Marko moves forward the idea that they are moving apart. Everything just works organically and while the scene is heart wrenching, it's done so well and with a great purpose.
As always, Fiona Staples visually tells a story flawlessly. Her style is fantastic and she does some great work with facial expressions here, especially during the Marko/Alana argument. In addition, here color work throughout the whole issue is a great contrast to the more depressing tone of this issue.
The final scenes of this issue are pretty thrilling, and without spoiling anything, lots of things are all coming to a head that have been set up since issue one because of one man's choices. Seriously, this is some brilliant story telling and pacing.
The Bad
The events of this issue, for long term fans, will break your heart.
The Verdict
SAGA is still amazing, who would have thought? BKV and Staples are really moving forward with a great story that really grabs the heart-strings of the reader. Frankly, I can't think of another comic I'm this emotionally invested in. Overall, I highly recommend this issue and picking up the rest of the series as well.