Out of Context Saga Panels

This is by far one of my favourite pages from Saga.

The following is writer Brian K. Vaughan’s verbose script for artist Fiona Staples.

Issue One, Page Four

Page Four, SPLASH Pull out to what should be an unforgettable SPLASH, as a suddenly hopeful Marko holds aloft a VISCERALLY GRAPHIC NEWBORN BABY.

I know fiction usually portrays childbirth as pulling out a perfectly formed baby doll into an antiseptic environment, but let me assure you that the real process can be a lot more disgusting (and, admittedly, magical). This splash should try to capture some of that wonder and horror.

With his filthy hands, Marko holds aloft ten pounds of writhing flesh. His baby girl is COVERED in bright red arterial BLOOD, as well as smears of greenish-black BILE. Her entire body is angry and swollen, and her head is still squished and a little misshapen from its hasty exit. We can see that the naked newborn clearly doesn’t have boy parts between her legs, but she does have a thick, white, knotted UMBILICAL CORD dangling from her inflated belly.

Despite how gross this all sounds, there’s also something primal and amazing about seeing something so small and new survive something so old and violent. That’s what Marko is feeling as he shows us this new life.

Oh, and if ordinary babies don’t sound strange-looking enough, our little girl has two small BUMPS on her forehead, just below her thin patch of dark hair. These will eventually sprout into horns. (She also has some new wings starting to grow out of her back, but we don’t have to see those just yet.)

If you’re not about to sit down to lunch and you think you have the stomach for it, here are some not-too-awful photographs of other newborns I found online that might help if you need reference: http://www.bigstockphoto.com/image-5415454/stock-photo-new-born-baby http://womenshealthnews.files.wordpress.com/2007/12/dsc02507.jpg

1) Marko: It’s a girl.

Written by Brian K. Vaughan