I successfully read three graphic novels this year (Persepolis and the two volume memoir by Alison Bechdel), so I decided it was time to try out a real, legit comic.  NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast is my normal source for comic/graphic novel recommendations-- it helps that co-host Glen Wheldon is a comics expert, while the other hosts are mostly novices. The Saga series has been recommended on the show no fewer than three times, including a ringing endorsement from friend-of-the-show Maggie Thompson, a former librarian and co-author of the Comics Buyer's Guide. She mentioned Saga specifically in regard to a ComicCon panel on strong female characters and feminism in comic books, so it seemed like as good a place as any to start. I'd also like to mention, I'm hardly of the opinion that everyone should be reading comics and graphic novels -- plenty of people don't find them appealing and that's fine. My approach in blogging about them is that of curiosity; I'm a novice to the genre, but I'm interested enough to at least read a few and get a better sense of what it's all about. I'm hopeful that by doing some of the heavy-lifting myself, I can recommend comics and graphic novels that my usual blog-readers will find appealing, even if they are comic novices as well.