Dr. Seuss, a crafty writer of many types of literature and children’s books, once said: “Words and pictures are yin and yang. Married, they produce a progeny more interesting than either parent.” (Dr. Seuss). This quote shows the importance that a picture gives to the story. Dr. Seuss says that the pictures help evoke emotions that reading text can not evoke alone. In comics, the author uses various writing techniques to produce a piece of literature that portrays a message in a better way than can be told by a picture or text alone. The comic Saga is a graphic novel that is both textually and visually appealing. It is able to paint a story about a couple’s journey through their war ridden world. Although people believe the “pictures speak a thousand words” tells more of a story than plain text would; however, comics and graphic novels paint a better story because they use visual symbols, imagery aspects, and textual evidence to tell the story. 

The use of symbols is an important element to a story because they can reveal meaning throughout the piece. In the story, Marko, the main male character, rips the umbilical cord of his child off with his teeth. Rather than the sword he owns because he vowed to never use his sword as a soldier again. This is a symbol of strength for Marko because it means that he knows his people are fighting a futile war, and he wants no part in. Marko and Alana ran away from the war and became fugitives to their armies, but with Marko carrying the sword, it gives the reader a chance to figure out the history between the couple. Similarly, there are symbols throughout the comic like the cyborg having flashbacks of his time in the war. These cyborgs have televisions for faces but human body parts. This is important because the cyborg has post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), making it hard for him to mate with a girl. The cyborg’s PTSD is a symbol of depression because his mind is tired and he is depressed about fighting the war. His people were contracted by the main government to fight the war, but he is realizing that his brain can not handle so much stress for so long. This image evokes emotions of sorrow and depression because we see the image on his face then his face goes blank, where the scene then pans out to him with his head down apologetically. Symbols in this comic are prominent factors to revealing important details and emotions throughout the story.

Imagery and visual representation of the pictures in a graphic novel help to evoke emotions and reveal symbols. In regards to the story, Fiona Staples, the graphic artist for Saga, uses these images to show the emotions of the characters. Accordingly, the fight scene between the contracted cyborg warriors and the warriors of Wreath, is an important scene for the story because it lets the reader know how much the two groups of people hate one another. The scene is an important one to the plot of the story because Marko and Alana get caught in the cross fire between the two groups of people, yet they make it out without a scratch on them. The artist of the comic uses techniques and different angles to depict the scenes. The way the reader observes an event will change the types of emotions they feel. When the artist shows a close up of Marko and Alana in between the cross fire of the two groups of people, the reader visualizes the agony of the first minutes of the baby’s life. The art work helps to display the emotion and feelings of the characters based off of the angle and coloring of the picture. Similarly, there is another scene about the war depicting a huge turtle like animal fighting space ships and people. The picture uses a fancy color scheme like tan and orange to make the reader think about the destruction this war is having on both societies. The large view of the picture lets the reader see the effect the destruction of the war has on the world, this is an important factor because the reader feels empathy towards Marko and Alana. Imagery and picture formatting are key factors in a comic because they help to portray the emotions of a scene.

Saga uses text to show important meaning in various situations that occur throughout story. Text gives the reader meaning to the pictures behind it, and helps explain various problems within the plot of the comic. Brian Vaughan, the author of Saga, says, “Its not fair. The front line was on the other side of the planet last year. How are both our armies fighting here?” (Vaughan 44). This is an important line in the story because it shows how uniformed the people are about the war. It shows that the people are fighting in places that Marko and Alana would have never imagined were battle grounds. It also shows where ever Alana and Marko go, there will people people from the war looking for them. The text coordinates with the picture of distress and sadness because they show Marko and Alana in distress due to them being on the wrong side of the battle field. In addition, the word “here” is bolded in the text to put emphasis on how drastic the war has changed the planet in which Alana is from. The textual evidence makes people understand what Marko and Alana are thinking as they are going through their adventure of outrunning the war. The text in the story is an important part of the comic because it helps move the plot along and give meaning to the pictures its apart of.

Saga paints a story about a dystopia society that is constantly at war, where its literary aspects help to tell the story through the symbols used, imagery and visual aspects, and the textual evidence used. Dr. Seuss’s quote ties into Saga well because Saga uses pictures and text that that are visually appealing and work together. It is important that the pictures and text do not contradict one another because that will confuse the reader and will not make sense. The text has to jive with the mood and emotion of the picture or else the meaning will be lost of the the scene. 
