Runaways absolutely not to be missed

Posted in: Articles, Reviews :: 1 Comment
9
Sep ‘06
Runaways

If you aren’t reading Marvel’s Runaways, you should be shot in the street and lit on fire… that, or you should consider purchasing and reading it.

I’m usually completely turned off by all things Marvel (even though I’m collecting the entire Civil War series, including tie-ins… can you say hypocrite?) thus I refused to buy in to the Runaways hype. However, after being berated by my local comic shop for not keeping up with Runaways, I finally broke down and bought the first volume.

I am a moron. I had become so jaded with Marvel that I let me hatred for their spin doctoring blind me when it came to Runaways… but no more! I read the first volume of Runaways in only a few hours… I simply could not put it down. I went back to the comic shop as soon as I could and purchased volume two and ran with that one as well. Last night I finished off volume 3 and I’m planning on making a trip to the shop to purchase volume 4 today.

The series is about 6 kids who run away from home and fight against their parents whom they discover some deep dark secrets about. In volumes 1 - 3 the kids learn things about themselves (don’t want to give to much away) and try to fight back against their parents.
That’s all I’m saying about plot, it’s really worth reading and discovering on your own.

Runaways really reminds me of Japanese Manga, however it is an American comic. I was biased against this type of fusion art and story telling until this series… it just works so well.

The cool thing about this comic is even though it takes place within the Marvel universe, it does so in a very quiet way. Sure, there are references to Spider-Man and the Avengers and many other super heroes, but they all seem light years away from the events taking place within the pages of the Runaways. This is a good thing, because Runaways wouldn’t fit in to the traditional Marvel mold.

The dialogue is wonderful, the story is cool, and the art is beautifully done. I’m even going to go in an opposite direction of my usual comments and say that the color is well done, even though it has a computer feel (gradients, flares etc.)… but in this case it just works.

If you have missed this series, get on the boat now… but don’t dive in with the latest issue. Go back and buy the graphic novels. Marvel has done a great job here as well, because they release this series in digest format (the traditional size of manga comics) and price each graphic novel at $7.99.

also from freak comics…

Joss Whedon To Take Over Runaways
Last week Brian K Vaughn announced that he and Adrian Alphona would be leaving Runaways, a smash hit series from Marvel Comics that he has been writing for from the beginning. Since then fans have no doubt been waiting on the edge of their seats to find out who would…
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New Runaways Creative Team to Be Revealed at Baltimore Summit!
The Runaways recently lost one of their own when a teammate died in Runaways #18 and now they're about to lose two more members of the family as writer and co-creator Brian K. Vaughan is leaving the title with issue #24 along with co-creator and penciler Adrian Alphona. …
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Dead Means Dead in Runaways #19
After last issue’s death of a Runaway, the team is on the verge of growing closer than ever…or falling apart for good in Runaways #19. With death hitting close to home, how does everyone move on from here? It’s a perfect jumping-on point for new readers as artist Mike Norton…
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  1. Freak Comics » Joss Whedon To Take Over Runaways September 12, 2006 at 10:34 am

    [...] Last week Brian K Vaughn announced that he and Adrian Alphona would be leaving Runaways, a smash hit series from Marvel Comics that he has been writing for from the beginning. Since then fans have no doubt been waiting on the edge of their seats to find out who would be his successor. [...]

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