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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Never Stop Reading, July 19, 2006
The very existence of this collection is amazing. During the initial 18-issue run of Brian K. Vaughan's Runaways, which told the story of 6 Los Angeles teenagers who ran away from home after learning that their parents were supervillains, the book was cancelled before Vaughan could finish the story. However, due to intense fan outcry, Marvel decided to bring the book back. When the 18th issue came out, the folks at Marvel realized that they had a great new property on their hands that was well-written, funny, and had many loyal fans, including none other than Joss Whedon of Buffy, Angel, and Firefly/Serenity. A few months later, the series started again with a new issue number 1, starting the story up a few months after the climactic battle between the Runaways and their parents.
In the months between the Runaways battling their parents, being broken up by the Avengers, reforming, and the present, the group has found a new base under the La Brea Tar Pits and have made it their mission to keep LA free of crime. They quickly learned that while their parents were evil and were trying to destroy the world, they did have a positive effect on LA; they were powerful enough to keep supervillains out of the city. With them gone, a power vaccuum has been created with numerous villains trying to get a foothold in LA.
Nico Minoru is the new leader after Alex proved to be a traitor. The daughter of two dark wizards, she controls the mystical Staff of One which can cast powerful spells... but only once. The other Runaways include Karolina Dean, an alien who can manipulate solar energy, Gertrude Yorkes, whose time traveling parents supplied her with a genetically created dinosaur, Molly Hayes, the youngest member of the team whose mutant ability makes her the strongest person on the West Coast, and Chase Stein, the team's only remaining male and the pilot of their new ship. Early on, they learn of Victor Mancha, a young man living in Los Angeles who is destined to not only join the Avengers, but kill every hero in New York one day. And how do they find this out? As it turns out, one of the Runaways is destined to lead the Avengers someday, and she travels through time to warn the Runaways that they must stop Victor, who is the son of one of the Marvel Universe's greatest villains.
The first story arc, True Believers, is about Victor and the Runaways' first encounter with him. The story is a great reintroduction to the team as well as to Victor, who proves that he is more than meets the eye. As for the identity of his father, let's just say that Vaughan's choice was very well-selected. Other great things about this arc include the introduction of Excelsior, a group of ex-teen heroes trying to help the Runaways by getting them out of harm's way (note: Excelsior is getting their own book soon, which will be called Loners; who would have thought that Runaways would ever get their own spin-off series?!), as well as references to Joss Whedon's Astonishing X-Men (look for it in the future sequence) and to Allen Heinberg's Young Avengers. Star Crossed is a great 2-issue story that causes another big change for the team when a Super-Skrull-in-training appears to make life difficult for one of the Runaways. And East Coast/West Coast is a great excuse to take the Runaways to New York City, home of most of the characters in the Marvel Universe. While Runaways works isolated from most of the action in the Marvel U, every now and then, it's fun to see some big name guest stars. Picking up from a loose end from the original run, the Runaways come to NY to help clear Cloak (of Cloak and Dagger) of charges that he beat Dagger. Along the way, they encounter the New Avengers, allowing Victor and Molly to meet some of their heroes (Spider-Man and Wolverine, respectively), with some interesting results.
Also included is the 11-page one-shot released on Free Comic Book Day, which is about how the Runaways meet the X-Men. After Wolverine's encounter with Molly in New York, the rest of the X-Men decide that Molly should come to Xavier's School, but the Runaways aren't ready to lose another teammate so quickly. Featuring a unique style of art by Scottie Young, the one-shot is a brief but entertaining story.
It's sad how many people write off Runaways as a silly teen book, as it is so much more than that. Though it may appear that the characters are mere stereotypes, Vaughan has breathed life into each and every one of them, giving them each their own distinct voice and character. Nico is much more than just "the goth" while Chase, who initially comes off as a dumb frat-boy type person, shows that he can offer the team certain things that very few others could. As for Molly, she is sweet and innocent, yet can throw down like no other in a fight. Furthermore, the art by Adrian Alphona is superb. Star Crossed is drawn by Takeshi Miyazawa, whose art I enjoy, but isn't as good as Alphona.
Runaways is without a doubt one of the best comics being published despite the lack of sales numbers to back that claim up. It is witty, exciting, subversive, and all-together fun. Do yourself a favor and read this series.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Runaways get another shot at life, atoning for the sins of their 'rents, June 1, 2007
My attention was drawn to "Runaways" when I learned the Joss Whedon would be scripting the title this summer. With three volumes of reprints providing all of the pre-Whedon issues of "Runaway" I decided to keep the current issues on the shelf while I went back and started from the beginning. This was not only because I am inclined to read everything that Whedon writes, but also because in checking out "Runaways" I learned the title won the 2006 Harvey Award for Best Continuing or Limited Series (meanwhile, over at the Eisner Awards, it as Whedon and artist John Cassady whose "Astonishing X-Men" was named Best Continuing Series for that same year). "Runaways, Volume 2" collects "Runaways" #1-12 plus "Free Comic Book Day 2006," and much more so that the original run of the title in Volume 1, I understand why many fans see this title, written by Brian K. Vaughan and penciled by Adrian Alphona, as something different.
The first six issues make up the "True Believers" story-arc, which begins with the kids trying to kids trying to do something about the supervillains who are starting to show up in L.A. to take advantage of the power vacuum created by the defeat of the Pryde. Meanwhile, a teenage superhero support group named Excelsior gets an offer of $1 million to track down the Runaways. That is before the kids get a new mission when a future version of Gert pops up and warns that in the future a man named Victorius is going to betray and kill not only the Avengers, but the Fantastic Fourteen and every other superhero. Before she dies, future-Gert tells them to find Victor Mancha, the boy who will grow up to become Victorius, and kill him now, before he becomes too powerful. So basically this is the old quandary about killing Hitler when he was a baby, with the added question of exactly who is Victor's daddy. Of course when the Runaways find Victor, the Excelsiors find them and the fun begins.
"Star-Crossed" is a two-part story (issues #7-8, drawn by Takeshi Miyazawa) where Karolina learns that another important thing her parents neglected to tell her, besides the fact she is an alien, is that they arranged a marriage for her. But when a space ship lands and her fiance shows up, which is the first of several interesting twists. My only complaint is that these interesting things end up on the back burner by the end of the story (good thing I have everything that follows, so I do not have to wait months to see where this is going).
Finally, there is what Molly calls the "Field trip" that is "East Coast/West Coast" (issues #9-12). If the superheroes will not come from New York City, then the Runaways will cross the continent courtesy of Cloak. It seems Dagger is at death's door and the Avengers think that Cloak was her assailant, so Cloak turns to the Runaways for help. I think there are some economic considerations in having the kids go to the right coast because that means the kids run into not only Captain America but also Spider-Man and Wolverine (a.k.a. "a hairy little Canadian guy"). I wanted the kids to stay in L.A., but the scenes between Molly and Wolverine tip the scale the other way. The "Free Comic Book" issue also teams up the X-Men and Runaways, featuring art by Skottie Young, as the mutants show up to try and persuade Molly to be one of them. Also included are the full script for (new) issue #1 and an Adrian Alphona Sketchbook.
On the one hand the Runaways exist on the superhero continuum between Power Pack and the New Mutants, but on the other hand the series reminds me a lot of Marvel's "New Universe" titles (1986-89), which took place in a more realistic world, totally divorced from the Marvel Universe and operated more or less in real time. Not that "Runaways" takes place in a world devoid of aliens, magic, supertechnology, etc., but rather that it is off the beaten path. New York City has always been the center of the superhero world in the Marvel Universe, but with the Pryde there is an explanation for why Los Angeles has been relatively devoid of supertypes. Of course, in the aftermath of the Civil War each state gets its own roster of superheroes, which will probably have an effect on a series that is dealing with, as Iron Man calls, them "more super-kids," which will be Whedon's headache.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Don't Buy Those Little Digest Books; Get The Big Honkin' Hardcover, October 17, 2007
I said it before and I'll say it again. This is THE way to read Runaways. Under the attractive dust jacket, the cover is made up of a soft black vinyl material that is extremely durable. The book itself is huge, letting you appreciate the art in a way that it may not have been able to be appreciated in the original comics and the infinitely smaller digest trade paperbacks. Plus, the book is loaded with extras.
This time around, we get twelve issues. One six issue arc, one two issue mini-arc, and one four issue arc. The cherry that tops off this Comic Sundae is a twelve page Runaways/X-Men crossover story that was given out on Free Comic Book Day. Other than the original comic, you can't find this story anywhere else. But, that being said, there's no reason why you'd want to. The story is inconsequential and the art is horrific. It's cool as an extra, but don't look forward to it as an epic super-team crossover issue.
Now, about the actual story: I reviewed the individual arcs here Runaways Vol. 4: True Believers and here Runaways Vol. 5: Escape to New York, but I'll reiterate. The stories are great and the dialogue is snappy as always. This is Brian K. Vaughan here. Its elementary knowledge that he'll always deliver a story that'll make you laugh and nod appreciatively at the talent of his writing. The art ranges from okay to great; Alphona isn't great at drawing the major marvel superheroes, but he excels at drawing the major "Runaways" characters. Speaking of those good ol' kids, I'm sure you returning readers are wondering how they've been. Their lives are no less tumultuous than they were in Runaways, Vol. 1, but the situation(s) they're in are nowhere near as epic as that of the first eighteen issues. In fact, this entire volume feels like set-up for a big story to come. That's both exciting and disheartening. This book could've been bigger and included more plot development than hinting at what is going to come, but even so; the more-or-less standalone arcs of this series are always entertaining, funny, and often poignant and, as an aspiring writer, I can safely say that Vaughan's writing is inspiring.
8/10
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