Runaways: Dead End Kids Premiere HC (Runaways (Marvel)) | Joss Whedon

Runaways: Dead End Kids Premiere HC (Runaways (Marvel)) | Joss Whedon | Joss Whedon Takes the Reigns

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Runaways: Dead End...

	Runaways: Dead End Kids Premiere HC (Runaways (Marvel)) Joss Whedon Marvel Comics, 2008 - 152 pages average customer review:based on 4 reviews view larger image
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The kids start running in a different direction. Superstar Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Astonishing X-Men) and rising star Michael Ryan (New Excalibur, New X-Men) take the Runaways to the Big Apple. While there, they make surprising allies and even more surprising enemies. Collects Runaways #25-30

A marvelous continuation of Brian K. Vaughan's wonderful creation

If you've been following comics lately it is pretty clear that Joss Whedon and Brian K. Vaughan have formed a mutual admiration society. Although THE RUNAWAYS was created in the post-House of M Marvel universe, it clearly owed its inspiration more to BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER than to anything other source. It is almost impossible to read the adventures of the Runaways and not think of the Scoobies. And Molly, my favorite Runaway, is an utterly Whedonesque creation. Furthermore, it was hardly a surprise when Whedon invited Vaughan to take on the second major arc in BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER Season 8, the story dealing with Faith's attempt to rein in a rogue slayer. And at the party celebrating the final issue of Vaughan's great comic epic Y: THE LAST MAN, Vaughan was introduced by none other than Whedon. So, it just seems natural that Whedon would be the first person to continue Vaughan's baby (excepting a Runaways/Young Avengers team up in the Civil War cycle).

I won't go into great detail into the plot. Suffice it to say that the kids spend most of the tale at a point in the past. Though the story has many Whedonesque touches, it remains very much in the spirit of the three volumes of stories written by Vaughan. The issues are filled with many wonderful moments, including what is unquestionably my favorite moment in all of the stories (well, possibly tied with the moment when Molly flips over a monster the size of Godzilla when Nico hits her with the spell "Caffeine" -- or is it caffeinate? [I'm moving in three days and all my books are packed up so I am afraid that I can't verify the precise name of the spell] in Vaughan final volume of issues). The kids are pulling off a heist in order to get the protection of the Kingpin. Both because of the registration of the super empowered within the Civil War universe and their fear of being split up and placed in to foster homes (with Molly unquestionably going to the Xavier Institute, as one of the world's last surviving mutants) they seek his aid. But as a quid pro quo they have to retrieve an artifact for him.

During the break in the kids are discovered by the Punisher. Molly, who in a previous adventure had (much to his surprise) pretty badly beaten up Wolverine, turned and hit him in the stomach. Upon learning that while he wore a uniform he was not in any way superempowered, Molly felt horribly apologetic. Throughout the rest of the story the Punisher remains in a position of extreme agony, attempting to remain as stoically immobile as possible despite his great pain. It is a great moment. The cover depicted here is based on the cover in which Molly hits him. In the original cover Molly is standing in the cover pose, only with the torso of the Punisher clearly visible behind her.

The overall story is a sad one, with the kids gaining a new member, though not the one we might have expected. There are some nice twists including the parents of one of the Runaways (I won't say which one, but anyone familiar with the series would easily be able to guess).

I have to say that while I absolutely love Joss Whedon, I'm not sure the publishers needed to help him break the record for the largest font size every used to print the name of the author. Does "Joss Whedon" really need to be 6 or 7 times larger than "The Runaways"?

The great news is that The Runaways will continue under a new writer (I heard who is was, but I must confess that I don't recall at the moment). My understanding is that the new series will reset to issue No. 1. I can't wait. They remain my favorite series in the Marvel Universe at the moment. They are unique in a way that none of the other Marvel entries are. The others all seem to be variations on the "men in tights" theme. The kids absolutely refuse to wear uniforms, though Molly occasionally insists on attempting a makeshift one, and always manages to sport a hat with an animal theme. I will say that if you are a Joss Whedon fan and are picking this up because he wrote it, I suggest that you go back and start at the beginning. All three of Brian K. Vaughan's original Runaways collections are available at a very reasonable price. They all are, like the current volume, definitely worth owning.

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Joss Whedon Takes the Reigns

Joss Whedon is my favorite writer of all time. So when I say that I was wary about him taking over this series for an arc, understand that isn't because I was worried about where he'd take the story, because I know he'd do it justice. It was simply because the story came from Brian K. Vaughan's mind, and the mere fact of seeing anyone else carry it on was scary, because BKV did such a fantastic job. "Runaways" has always been one of my favorite comics, and I wanted to make sure it didn't just become one of those Marvel stories that they pass from writer to writer until it loses its feel. So basically, I was worried that my favorite writer wouldn't be a good fit for "Runaways."

THE STORY: Thankfully, I was wrong. The story itself is pretty perfect, in that it really picks up from the point where Brian K. Vaughan left them, while not just continuing the same story but giving us a new plot to get invested in. It also fits nicely into current Marvel continuity, which BKV tended to stray away from--however, Joss makes it work because you don't have to understand or know about what has been going on in the Marvel world to get it. Also, there are some nice call back to old events. The plot involves time-travel, though it ends up being more action-adventure than science fiction. I feel that Joss kind of lost the feel of the story in the middle by bloating it up, filling it with way too many new characters (the Adjudicator, a parallel to the Punisher who is also featured here, was beyond unnecessary), but he gets his footing back in the last issues. Most of the notable amount of plot threads Joss created get paid off nicely, and the arc and theme of the story come together in the end with high, very Whedonesque emotional payoff. I should have trusted Joss more, because he really gave us a great story.

THE CHARACTERS: More than once, Joss has said how much he loves these characters, and it really shows in his writing. The dialogue is great and quirky and true to BKV's characters, and for the most part I like where Joss took them. The only thing I hated was what he did with Nico. Making her gain so much power (Willow-izing her, really) was such a staggeringly huge mistake, because the most interesting thing about her is the limits of her power and how she manipulates her little power to do huge things. The rest of the story pretty much makes up for it, especially the new characters, which I thought I would dislike. But they were great and had some great emotional moments in the little page time they were given.

THE ART: Though I really mourned losing Adrian Alphona as the regular artist for this series, I did love Michael Ryan's take on the characters. His style is a bit different than Alphona's, but it's still supremely atmospheric and filled with detail. The only character I didn't think he handled that well was Chase, but the attention he gives to detail--especially during the climatic battle scene--makes up for it.

8/10

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Joss writing for one of his favorite new Comics

I really enjoyed Joss Whedon's. I am both a fan of his and of Runaways. He really caputred these charaters, and you can tell who is favorites are(I kinda think Molly and Victor). The kids and their struggle and gave them some nice twists to play with. He did however gave the next writer even more loose ends to tie up. Not a bad thing at all, just gives the new writer something to finish up for him. I would suggest picking this up if you are a fan of the writer, or of the Runnaways in general. But if you are a fan you have probably already read it. The art is in the same style, as the books written by Vaughan. This hardcover is a nice book for a collection.

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an OK installment in a wonderful series

what we have here is an OK installment in a series that, up to this point, has been fantastic. runaways is brian k. vaughan's baby, and he and artist adrian alphona made it one of my favorite comics ever; a series marked by strong characterization, sharp dilaogue, and some of my favorite comic art of all time. when vaughan decided to step away from the book, joss whedon seemed like a perfect replacement, and he does the job you should expect. the characterization is still there, along with some nice dialogue bits and a decent adventure to send these kids on. this story has the runaways going back in time, and that's just about it, a relatively standard adventure with some fun moments and not much else. michael ryan handles art chores, and he does a good job. adrian alphona (like vaughan) left some big shoes to fill, and i suppose michael ryan is about as good a replacement as you could want. but adrian alphona is in a class by himself, one of my top ten favorites, and one of the main reasons i loved the first 3 hardcovers in this series so much. he's sorely missed here, more so than vaughan. colorist christina strain is the only remaining member of the creative team, and her colors just don't look quite as good here. they're good, just not as eye-popping as i've grown accustomed to. perhaps she's just better suited to alphona's linework.

whedon does a few things here that leave me a bit torn. firstly, and more significantly, he's not content to write as good a chapter as he can in the saga of the runaways; he wants to leave his thumbprint on the series by adding a member to the cast. now i understand it's his prerogative to do so, and no editor is going to tell him otherwise, but i don't like the move. aside from being another female in an already female-dominated cast, the girl's got no discernible personality and an exceptionally creepy backstory to boot. whedon similarly shook up the cast of astonishing x-men at the end of his run, and i disliked it just as much. if he were sticking around to write the modified cast of characters it wouldn't bother me, but i never like it when a writer adds or subtracts a character just for the sake of saying, "i was here." it's unnecessary, bordering on selfish. if the new character (i have no idea what her name is, and i read the thing a few short days ago) had been developed at all i might feel differently, but she feels like tacked-on baggage for the next writer to inherit.

the other issue i had is that in this story chase makes no less than three references to smoking weed, one of which being an explicit endorsement. on one hand, if we're priding ourselves on writing realistic teenagers, this was certainly a realistic portrayal. and it's probably more realistic to have one character out of these six smoke weed than to have all these squeaky-clean teenagers. it's definitely realistic, and as an adult, i thought it was a surprising and almost funny touch. except for the fact that this book is ostensibly one of the more kid-friendly books marvel produces. it was originally released in digest format, aimed at a younger audience (before being collected in wonderful oversized hardcovers), and even though this volume is only out in standard-sized hardcover, i can't help but think some parents would be upset about this. especially considering the fact that marvel's current editor-in-chief (joe quesada) has a mandate that no marvel characters can be depicted smoking cigarettes for fear of influencing children, this was a surprising choice. also the writing gets a bit preachy when it comes to the book's lesbian content, but i've come to expect as much.

all-in-all it's an adequate installment in the story of the runaways, but for my tastes it's a significant step down. but vaughan and alphona made something so special, i suppose whoever followed them had no choice but to disappoint.

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