By Zack Quaintance — Earlier today I wrote a blog entitled When Is Saga Coming Back: Not in 2020. The title kind of speaks for itself there, sadly. In the process of putting it together, however, I started to think about doing a new reading list, one aimed for more casual comics fans who might be left wondering during these fallow times — what other comics are like Saga? 

I scratched my head for a really long time (I think I might need to switch shampoos? idk…), and I came up with this list. Now, before we get into it, I should point out that most of these are not thematically or even surface level similar to Saga. They are, however, books that I think folks who aren’t super well-versed with monthly comics might enjoy the same way they do Saga.

Let’s check it out!

5 Other Comics Like Saga  

1. The Wicked + The Divine
Writer: Kieron Gillen
Artist: Jamie McKelvie
Colorist: Matt Wilson
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Publisher: Image Comics
Every ninety years, twelve gods incarnate as humans. They are loved. They are hated. In two years, they are dead. The team behind critically thermonuclear floor-fillers Young Avengers and PHONOGRAM reunite to start a new ongoing superhero fantasy with a beautiful oversized issue. Welcome to THE WICKED + THE DIVINE, where gods are the ultimate pop stars. But remember: just because you're immortal, doesn't mean you're going to live forever.
Buy It Digitally: Wicked + Divine on comiXology
Why It’s Cool: So, I wanted to start the list with Wic + Div, which I think is the ideal comic for someone who has maybe not read too many other comics other than Saga, or who maybe read comics as a kid but does so sporadically as an adult. Basically, I think if you’re getting a Saga trade paperback every so often from your local independent bookshop, you will absolutely love Wic + Div, too.

The reason being because this is another story that takes concepts and trappings that are totally fantastical (a set of reincarnating gods) and grounds them within themes that are common in relatable coming-of-age stories, especially for those of us who spent our teens and even our early 20s on the peripheries of music, yearning to just somehow become a part of it. On top of that, like Saga this book features some of the cleanest and clearest artwork in any series of the past 10 years. It all makes it a really easy comic to pickup if you’re tired of waiting for Saga.

Read This: The Wicked + The Divine, Vol. 1

2. Wasted Space
Writer: Michael Moreci
Artist: Hayden Sherman
Colorist: Jason Wordie
Letterer: Jim Campbell
Publisher: Vault Comics
"Billy Bane is a prophet who got it all wrong, and the galaxy has been burning ever since. All he wants is to waste away in the darkest corner of space with his best pal Dust, a supercharged Fuq bot. But when a new prophet comes calling, Billy is summoned to save the galaxy he's at least partially responsible for destroying. Too bad he couldn't care less.”
Buy It Digitally: Wasted Space on comiXology
Why It’s Cool: The next book on our list does share quite a bit in common with Saga, or at least its definitely of the same genre. In fact, I think Wasted Space and Saga share the top-tier of ongoing comics space operas today. This is a book that like Saga feels like an update spin on Star Wars, except instead of leaning into domestic drama, it leans into...well, all kinds of things.

See, Wasted Space is a rip-roaring sci-fi adventure comic that has built a story that is among the most versatile being told in any medium. Do you want a scene in which the main character and his best friend (a kill and sex bot) go deep into the philosophical underpinnings of society? Wasted Space has you set. Do you want action between zealots and imperialists? Got you again. Do you want to follow a flawed-yet-endearing hero as he strives to get better. Once again. Simply put, this is one of the smartest comics on the shelves, and if you’re looking for another space adventure epic, Wasted Space in my opinion is the only other option up there with Saga.

Read This Comic: Wasted Space, Vol. 1

3. Monstress
Writer: Marjorie Liu
Artist: Sana Takeda
Letterer: Rus Wooton
Publisher: Image Comics
Astonishing X-Men and Black Widow writer MARJORIE LIU returns to comics with artist SANA TAKEDA (X-23) for an all-new ONGOING SERIES! Steampunk meets Kaiju in this original fantasy epic for mature readers, as young Maika risks everything to control her psychic link with a monster of tremendous power, placing her in the center of a devastating war between human and otherworldly forces. The adventure begins in a spectacular TRIPLE-SIZED FIRST ISSUE, with SIXTY-SIX pages of story and no ads.
Buy It Digitally: Monstress on comiXology
Why It’s Cool: Monstress makes our list for a couple of reasons. It too is available in indie booksellers, and it has also amassed a similar following to Saga with folks that don’t read monthly books but love this one. It’s also of the same epic scope as Saga, except it is a fantasy tale of the highest order, rather than sci-fi.

Monstress I think will also appeal to some fans of Saga in stronger ways, namely those looking for stories about female empowerment or the subjugation of the other, both of which are present in Saga but often take a backseat to a main story about a family. Anyway, I recommend Monstress to folks constantly, and I’m always thrilled to learn what they like most about it: be it the stunning artwork, the fury of the opening chapter, or just the sense that the world this story takes place in is infinite. It’s all very good.

Read This Comic: Monstress, Vol. 1

4. Ice Cream Man
Writer: W. Maxwell Prince
Artist: Martin Morazzo
Colorist: Chris O’Halloran
Letterer: Good Old Neon
Publisher: Image Comics
OVERSIZED FIRST ISSUE! Chocolate, vanilla, existential horror, drug addiction, musical fantasy...there's a flavor for everyone's misery. ICE CREAM MAN is a genre-defying comic book series featuring disparate "one-shot" tales of sorrow, wonder, and redemption. Each installment features its own cast of strange characters, dealing with their own special sundae of suffering. And on the periphery of all of them, like the twinkly music of his colorful truck, is the Ice Cream Man—a weaver of stories, a purveyor of sweet treats. Friend. Foe. God. Demon. The man who, with a snap of his fingers—lickety split!—can change the course of your life forever.
Buy It Digitally: Ice Cream Man on comiXology
Why It’s Cool: With Saga on the shelf, Ice Cream Man is my favorite monthly comic currently on the market, and I think it too will appeal to folks who maybe don’t read every last issue of Batman (not that there’s anything wrong with that). What makes Ice Cream Man fairly singular among today’s offerings, is that it’s an anthology series, meaning stories begin and end in each individual issue, before resetting to new characters the following month. Every now and again threads endure, but most issues you can pick up, read, and enjoy entirely on their own merits.

Another reason I put this book on our list today is that I think like Saga it transcends genre. Ice Cream Man is branded as horror, but that’s mostly just a neat box for comics folks to put it in. While there are plenty of horror trappings in this book, there’s an almost literary quality to how the subject matter unfolds, often confronting the main characters with manifestations of the things they worry most about. I love it, and I can’t recommend it enough.

Read This Comic: Ice Cream Man, Vol. 1

5. Y: The Last Man
Writer: Brian K. Vaughan
Artist: Pia Guerra
Inker: Jose Marzan, Jr.
Colorist: Pamela Rambo
Letterer: Clem Robins
Publisher: DC Comics - Vertigo
Written by Brian K. Vaughan (Lost, EX MACHINA), this is the saga of Yorick Brown--the only human survivor of a planet-wide plague that instantly kills every mammal with a Y chromosome. Accompanied by his pet monkey, Yorick searches for his lost love...and the answer to why he's the last man on earth.
Buy It Digitally: Y The Last Man on comiXology
Why It’s Cool: There are a lot of other great comics written by Brian K. Vaughan, but none feels like a direct predecessor as much as this one. Whereas Saga is pretty clearly drawn from Vaughan’s experiences in a marriage and raising a family, this book feels like an honest product of his dating life and of figuring out in a broader sense his relationship with the opposite sex. In many (many!) male writer’s hands, this could have been a condescending disaster of a comic, but like in Saga, Vaughan is unflinching and honest here, taking responsibility for his shortcomings and mistakes.

It makes a great comic that is a bit rougher than Saga, while maintaining the same intensely honest feel that powers that book.

Read This Comic: Y The Last Man, Vol. 1

Checkout How to Read Saga in the Best Format!

Zack Quaintance is a tech reporter by day and freelance writer by night/weekend. He Tweets compulsively about storytelling and comics as Comics Bookcase.