This deluxe hardcover collects Runaways Volume 6: Parental Guidance and Runaways Volume 7: Live Fast, plus extras. In Parental Guidance, the secret super-villain society is back, but this all-new group isn't made up of the Runaways' evil parents. Who are these shadowy players, and what do they want with the Marvel Universe's next generation of heroes? Plus: When the youngest member of the Runaways is separated from her teammates, Molly Hayes must survive a night alone on the mean streets of Los Angeles The 11-year-old mutant girl soon hooks up with a new group of runaways, but is their mysterious leader a hero or a villain? And in Live Fast, the Runaways say good-bye to the past, and make hard decisions about their future. Plus: Still reeling from the events of Young Avengers/Runaways, the teenage heroes must now confront a horrific enemy who threatens to tear the team apart. Collects Runaways (Vol.2) #13-24.
Brian K. Vaughan is the writer and co-creator of comic-book series including SAGA, PAPER GIRLS, Y THE LAST MAN, RUNAWAYS, and most recently, BARRIER, a digital comic with artist Marcos Martin about immigration, available from their pay-what-you-want site www.PanelSyndicate.com
BKV's work has been recognized at the Eisner, Harvey, Hugo, Shuster, Eagle, and British Fantasy Awards. He sometimes writes for film and television in Los Angeles, where he lives with his family and their dogs Hamburger and Milkshake.
Still not up to snuff with Vol. 1--is it just me, or did Molly all of a sudden become IMPOSSIBLY 9-YEARS-OLD? I'm sorry, but if she was 11 in the first volume, why is she suffering from Dawn Summers Syndrome?
Since there doesn't seem to be a Vol. 4 to collect all the stuff happening in issues after this, I have to say how disappointed I was in the dip in quality, not just in the storylines, but in the art, too. I wanted to like this so much, but what began as a really compelling psychological coming-of-age drama has now devolved into another Teen X-Men Fights Crime (Oh And Also There's Time Travel). The characters get to be so flat and instead of getting the nuanced artistic renderings of the first volume, we get Beefcake Chase, which I can't even take seriously at all.
Upon re-reading, I still love the first half, which is the rest of Brian K Vaughan's run, and the Civil War event. It's really obvious when Whedon's run starts, which isn't a bad thing necessarily, but I feel like it's a lot of his voice in there, rather than the characters. I didn't love the second half quite as much.
Original Review: Love this! Awesome crossovers, I absolutely need to read some Young Avengers now, and I'm pumped for Civil War. Loads of fun, lots of characters from the Marvel Universe dropping in to hang out. Very cool.
Vaughan seems burned out or uninterested in writing this series. Joss Whedon jumps in, but not to a great affect. The magic is gone, it's just not interesting any more. If Vaughan isn't interested in his own creation, why should the reader? Just stick with volume 1.
A much better, more cohesive storyline than in the previous volume. That's good. I didn't like that had to happen, but it was handled fairly well. The way the characters responded felt true to their personalities, which is about all I can ask for. That said, I really wish that Vaughan would stop infantilizing Molly. She just doesn't act like an eleven year old. She never has. Sure, it's consistent, but it still feels off. I suspect that Vaughan just didn't have much experience with kids her age when he wrote the book. I did like that Karolina returned, but she was gone for such a short period of time that I have to wonder what the point was in removing her from the book at all.
When I was first getting into comics, one of the first Marvel comics I collected was Brian K. Vaughan and Adrian Alphona's Runaways, in particular the initial two deluxe hardcover editions. Of course, being me, I buy more than I read more and thus Runaways remained on my shelves for several years. Although Marvel is no longer about the deluxe hardcovers, but after spending a lot on Ebay, I finally got that last volume, continuing my loving fandom towards all things BKV (well, except for Paper Girls).
At the start of volume 3, the series takes a detour from the main narrative and does an issue solely about Molly Hayes, who finds herself being captive by an evil magician who lives and controls runaway children by making them steal the riches from above the surface. No doubt we've seen this story before as there was even a bad episode of Batman: The Animated Series that had a similar premise. What makes this single issue alone worth reading is the childish nature of Molly, who throughout this volume steals the show as she can so naive and adorable whilst showing off her superhuman strength, especially when battling a giant monster that occurs later on.
Going back to the main narrative, the dynamic of the Runaways isn't what it use to be with the departure of one and the inclusion of two new members, as well as the fact that some of the members are still remembering the betrayal of their late leader Alex Wilder. However, the past is not entirely gone as a group of young adults are unintentionally continuing the legacy of the Pride. Without going into spoilers, Vaughan is terrific at shifting motivations from one character to another, with a returning villain and even one hero who seems to take a really dark turn, but no matter how dark things are, the Runaways themselves can still keep things light, with a few touching moments along the way.
Over the course of his co-creation, Adrian Alphona's art has improved as he puts a lot of detail in his characters and environments with such large panels. For something that feels unusually intimate within the grandeur of the Marvel Universe, Alphona can deliver the big spectacle with the occasional appearances from some of Marvel's known heroes, even if some are depicted as avatars in a role-playing game. Also, a shout-out to Christina Strain whose vibrant colours throughout makes a visually stunning read.
Although the storytelling is very loose as it's pulling in different directions as well as some issues are more filler than have a purpose to the main narrative, but the characterisation is spot-on as the contrasting nature between adults and children remains a compelling idea that shines throughout Runaways. Although the adventures of these kids are still ongoing, nothing will top this great run by Brian K. Vaughan and Adrian Alphona.
I can't seem to come up with anything to say about Brian K. Vaughan's work that hasn't already been said by me or someone else: It's engaging, suspenseful, and heartbreaking all at once. These later arcs from the series are darker than ever, and Vaughan doesn't flinch from showing the hell that is growing up, especially when it means betraying your friends. Runaways works because it deals with shades of gray, but also because even in the midst of their trials, the kids never give up the hope that they can triumph over the evil generation that preceded them.
Also, I didn't see the twist coming. It hit me like a freight train.
Fun, but not as fast paced as the original. Some of the plotlines seemed reused from past installments. Also, the ending of the story arc left some things confusing, ex. in the previous Deluxe Volume Some things got wrapped up a bit conveniently. But the new storyline involving Xavin and also Chase's dark turn kept things interesting.
I loved the first two volumes of Runaways and I am generally very fond of crossovers and guest writers & artists. But this volume was a big miss for me.
The first few "chapters" were fine, a nice, fairly contained story with lots of good character development as they work through Gert's death in various ways. Then things started going a bit sideways as the characters started becoming more strident and two dimensional. The female characters became useless and helpless, making pointlessly stupid choices, and turning on each other. Nico in particular pissed me off as I watched her turn from an abrasive, smart leader to a insecure mess, waiting for a guy to tell her what to do. The two male characters suddenly got so much more "screentime", or whole pages were devoted to other superteams, which were primarily male, so that the female Runaways had less and less dialog.
Then they go back in time and Manic Pixie Dreamgirl appears and suddenly the really cool genderfluid character is suddenly forced to "pick a gender" (why should Xavin suddenly have to be a human female when BKV was doing so well in working the group toward understanding that maybe gender didn't dictate a person's entire identity? Oh was the writer uncomfortable with this idea maybe?), and Molly becomes a 6 year-old who just punches things, and a sexually abused young girl is introduced and yet it's just a way to set up a victim to save, and not a way to talk about consent, domestic violence, and slavery like BKV did in Saga. UGH. I was getting so upset that I flipped to the front of the book and looked up who the writers for the sections were and then it was all made clear to me.
The first few chapters were BKV. Then some guest writers. And then the section back in time that pissed me off the most? Writer: Joss Whedon. Oh. Well that explains a lot.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Brian K Vaughan is a master. If you've read any of my other reviews for his work, you'll know I am fully aboard the Vaughan train. I thought he could do no wrong until I read Ex Machina, which is probably a victim of being read 10+ years after being written. It didn't age well.
Well, this was written in that same stretch, and yet it ages quite well, like a fine wine. A gender fluid character in 2006? Yes please. Suffice it to say, I liked this quite a bit, but I also recognize that Vaughan is at his best when he's free from restrictions. Runaways is a very good superhero graphic novel, but it's also restrained by that as well. It is only JUST a superhero graphic novel, if at least a very good one. I enjoyed Volume 1 the most, that one feeling least like a superhero narrative, and I enjoyed this one the least, feeling most like a superhero narrative.
Ultimately, if you like superhero graphic novels, this is a MUST read. If you like Brian K Vaughan, I would say it's probably a MUST read as well. If you are meh on either of those two things (though, how can you be meh on Brian K Vaughan), this won't do much to sway you, I don't think.
It was worth reading through the end of Vaughan's run with the series. And as the next writer, they could have done much worse than Joss Whedon. While I could have done without the time travel schtick, it was still a pretty entertaining read. I do appreciate the continuity shifts with the crossover events too, though reading it as a collected volume doesn't quite convey the passage of time as well.
From what I can see, the "final" collection is written by two other writers so I will most likely forego it, particularly since it apparently ends in a major cliffhanger that will never be resolved.
I never thought I would love a dinosaur so much. Old Lace is the best. These three volumes were the BEST POSSIBLE use of my fourth of July holiday. Note to self: Basically read everything Brian K. Vaughan has ever written. Pretty sure I'm not going to read the next volume by Joss Whedon. I want to go from the BKV to the Rainbow Rowell incarnation without him messing up all the feels I have going on right now.
Still solid stories when the action stays with the core group of runaways. But tie-ins with the Punisher, the Young Avengers, and invading Skrulls take too much attention from that core group and, worse, totally shift the tone. "Runaways" is most compelling when focused on the angst and drama of the group we know and love, not when they're fighting Frank Castle.
3.5 stars Well, I am happy to wrap up this series. It was fun and definitely light-YA. The drawings were good, the story was interesting, and the ties to the greater Marvel world were fun. It is a little dated since it was written over 15 years ago, but that’s ok. Either way, the overall ending was a little weird, but I guess, how else do you end a series like that.
This volume concludes Vaughn's run on the comic. Some of the reviews here reference Whedon and the Civil War event, but the volume I have just contains issues 13-24. It's really good, not as good as the first volume, but a slight improvement on the second. This is largely about the death of another Runaway and the characters dealing with their absence. It's a shame that Vaughn left the book here.
Love this comic book series! So excited to be able to read the new series that will start in September!! The comics were fantastic but as always ended with a cliff hanger. I'm excited to see what they will do in the upcoming reboot of the series.
This might be heresy, but I like this series better than Saga. Kind of weird, but I found the weakest material in this collection was the stuff from the big hyped events from Civil War and the Young Avengers crossover with Secret Invasion.
I really like this series and characters, there are just a few plot lines that I think are weird/boring or just unnecessary. They don't detract from how great this series is though.
4.5 stars but I rounded up. I like this more the second deluxe volume but a little less than the first which I think is still my favorite so far. Still volume 3 is a solid read.
This volume had a much more cohesive sense as to what this group was about, and what they are doing. Although it left certain ties to be unresolved. As with comic books, this may happen, never to be resolved. Unfortunate because I would have liked the story to be resolved, although we are seeing a point here in which this series has become part of the comic book machine, always to have revelation after revelation with character after character being yanked around, killed or twisted around without any real change. The characters are aware of some of this, and yet still defined by the haunted past of the parents. In this volume, I see how the characters fade into the relief of the normal comic book super hero with shady past, to forever be held in immanence between where they would like to be and where they are running away from.
I think this will be the last I read of this series, as by the end of this volume we see that they have gained a sense of place. The necessity of comic book series is to be lodged in that place, forever unable to move from that point of non-place. It does get tiresome to be stuck in transition, although there have been some long standing series that have comfortably crafted a sense for themselves; such as Spiderman, Batman and Superman. I suppose that kind of placement takes some time though.
I must say that I'm a huge Runaways fan, but this book disappointed me. Of course, I love the story and everything, but most of the characters didn't seem right. One, Chase (for a reason) was really emotional, and had a lot of mood swings. Victor was, suddenly, really awkward, and about 10 times more dorky. Yeah, he lies Nico, but he didn't seem right. And Nico was really self conscious, and even more depressed. Only Molly and Karolina seemed right.
Plus, the story was more about their personal lives than the last two arcs were. At many points in the story, important events were missing, and I got a bit confused. It didn't seem complete. All the skipping around with time periods and stuff annoyed me also, but maybe it was just me.
And of course, I hated Gert's death, but someone was going to die, eventually.
I thought it was a bit of a disappointment, but as always, Adrian's art was spectacular, and Brian was funny. So I would recommend it, but I would prepare you to be a bit let down.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
They were able to bring Whedon on as a writer (or perhaps he asked? I heard he was a huge fan of Vol 1 & was worried that the story had ended there). I don't know which issues in this volume he wrote, but overall, this book was a lot darker. Events in other Marvel books are having an effect in this one, specifically that all mutants are required to register w/ the government. The kids have to deal with the repercussions, both with the authorities and with heroes on either side of the debate.
Overall, the writers do a good job of giving you recaps of both the previous volumes & the events in other Marvel books. I never feel like I'm lost, story-wise, simply from not having read other series. This series is definitely enjoyable even for those who are new to comics & might not know all the backstories & characters from other novels.