Since before the publication of its first issue, Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples’ Saga has delivered an experience like no other comic book on the stands.

Saga is a sprawling sci-fi epic about a group of misfits on the run from a galactic war, every panel packed with eye-popping landscapes and bizarre aliens, but at its heart, it’s a story about a family—star-cross’d lovers Marko and Alana, from opposite sides of an endless, senseless conflict, and their impossible daughter Hazel, whose mere existence makes her parents the most wanted people in the galaxy.

And though the battles, bloodletting, and multi-eyed, sexy spider assassins soon come fast and furious, the book’s mission statement is right there on the cover of the first issue: Alana is breastfeeding Hazel; Marko’s arm is slung around both of them in a protective embrace. It was an image that got people talking before anyone had read a panel of the book—some retailers initially refused to carry a book with such an “obscene” cover. They soon came around, once they realized the book’s treatment of parenting was anything but exploitative. And also, of yeah, the issues were also flying off the shelves. (Fiona Staples got the last, er, word: the cover of the first hardcover omnibus editions features an extreme close-up of baby Hazel having her dinner).

In the six-and-a-half years since that iconic first issue arrived, Saga has courted more controversies (like the time a robot sex scene got it pulled from an online ebook retailer) and criticism (some readers take issue with Brian K. Vaughan’s penchant for killing off major characters just when it hurts the most) on its way to becoming the biggest thing in comics since Rick Grimes woke up in that hospital. And after 54 issues, the story is nowhere near finished—though it is over… for a while, anyway.

In August, the creators announced that Saga is going on hiatus. They’ve long built three-four month breaks into the book’s production cycle, allowing them a chance to pause between story arcs, but after the climactic moments that ended issue #54, the duo is taking some extra time to regroup and reassess, and prepare to launch the next part of the story. They haven’t said how long it will be, but it’s going to be at least a year. And while that’s undoubtedly great news for the pair’s exhausted creative coffers, it’s going to be a very long wait for their legion of fans.

To give Saga a proper sendoff as it heads into the off-season, we asked Fiona and Brian to share with us their 10 favorite moments from those first 54 issues.

Warning: Major spoilers below for the events depicted in Saga, Vol. 9 (in stores October 2), including the stunning, game-changing ending.

Brian K. Vaughan: I’ll start with the very first page of our first issue. I love Fiona’s handwriting! Hazel’s “voice” would have felt all wrong in an austere caption box, but this narration playfully bouncing over that green hair is just perfect. And the handoff to Fonografik’s profane dialogue balloons for Alana still feels seamless. The whole creative team has obviously evolved a lot over the last 54 issues, but I like to think much of what’s worked about our collaboration has been there since birth.

Fiona Staples: As I was working on issue #54, I was also reflecting on what’s changed since the first issue —and what’s stayed the same. One of my favorite moments is the last couple pages of #1, where Hazel sums up her existence and thanks her parents in a few lines of powerful narration—the narration that’s echoed at the end of #54. Gives me shivers!

Brian: I’ll jump ahead to #22 for one of our rare double-page spreads, the introduction of King Robot. This is easily one of the dumbest ideas I’ve ever had, but thanks to Fiona’s brilliant execution, the moment ended up being delightfully, surprisingly majestic.

Fiona: I love getting to do a spread or splash page! And happily, most of our issues begin and end with them. One of the most exciting ones for me was the end of #24, when Marko and Prince Robot appear to Ghüs and enlist him in the search for their kids. Two bitter enemies teaming up? And taking the seal boy along?? Sometimes I feel like I’m being personally catered to.

Brian: That said, I also love when we occasionally break format, like with Fiona’s heartbreaking and hilarious four-panel first page to #31. Plus, Tooty Stinkfoot was created by my children, and I can really feel their influence on my writing expanding with this issue.

Fiona: Imitating kid drawings is so fun- they have awesome ideas and terrible fine motor skills. My method is to hold the stylus in my left hand (I’m a righty) and then do the best I can. My favorite bad drawing in the series, though, is Klara’s effort during the game of Nun Tuj Nun in #15.

Brian: As comic creators, it’s humbling to learn that one of our most effective scenes contained neither words nor pictures, but I’ll agree with readers that the black pages that closed out #42 represented probably our strongest ending to a storyline.

Fiona: The mostly wordless scene of The Will strolling the streets of Sextillion was one I drew with great glee, reveling in the lack of editorial oversight like an unsupervised child.

Brian: Lastly for me (and huge epic spoilers if you haven’t read up to #54), I think a lot of readers were expecting a shocking death for our 50th issue, but that was a relatively quiet one—though it contains what we now know will be the last time our star-crossed weirdos Marko and Alana ever had sex. Beautiful, fearless storytelling from Fiona, and a perfect single sound effect from Fonografiks. [Editor’s note: Sorry, we couldn’t show you that panel on a family website.]

Fiona: And for me, #54’s beautiful little scene of father and daughter building a sandcastle, discussing what they’d like to create with their time in this world, was the perfect milestone for this point in our story.

There you have it: 10 standout moments from the first 54 issues of Saga, straight from the creators themselves. Share your own in the comments.