Runaways #25
The Runaways is a Marvel title with a long pedigree by now, despite its relatively short existence. However, its characters and premise were engaging enough for Joss Whedon of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly fame to want to take a crack at penning their continuing adventures, taking over from co-creator Brian Vaughan.Los Angeles is in shambles, The Runaways are on the run and apparently eager for a sanctuary, but they bargain with the Marvel universe’s equivalent of the devil, Wilson Fisk, a.k.a the Kingpin of crime, in order to get what they need.
Whedon displays expert knowledge of the Marvel universe’s power players when he has Kingpin say that he respected the Pride and the fact they had a mutual understanding not to trample on each other’s territories, but now the kids are in New York, and they are going to play ball with the fat man, morality issues be dammed.
The ambiguous nature of the kids’ allegiances (they don’t know if they are on the side of the angels or if they just want to be taken care of by a villainous sugar daddy) makes for good dialogue from Whedon who takes advantage of the state of the Marvel universe in post-Civil War continuity to explore the gray areas.
This is not exactly uncharted territory for Whedon. Remember when the Mayor, the big bad in Buffy’s third season became a benefactor and a parental figure for Faith, the rogue Slayer? Same kind of thing happens here, except not all of the kids are in agreement to what course of action they should pursue.
Also like in Buffy, there are two lesbian characters in the book, and Whedon is adroit at penning dialogue of an introspective nature and adding some conflict into the mix. He seems to be at his best when relating the interpersonal dealings of his characters, which is why this book is a good fit for him, yet I can’t help but feel that this is all familiar territory. Whedon’s trademark quick wit and his rapid fire pop culture references which were a staple on Buffy are clearly evident here when the kids go on the Kingpin’s mission to steal an ancient artifact. It will make some who are accustomed to his writing style chuckle while it may make others cringe if they find it too cute.
What was cool about this book is you can come into it with a fresh perspective. Having never read any of Vaughan’s prior stories, I didn’t feel lost following the story and some of the references which did puzzle me were quickly referenced online at Wikipedia or at Marvel’s own site. Like I stated earlier, this is a book with a long pedigree and a relatively short existence in comparison to say, X-Men continuity. It always seemed to me that some of the fun was sapped away from reading a title like Uncanny X-Men when you had 30+ years of continuity to contend with. This is not the case with this comic, and this is a perfect jumping on point for new readers. It’s vintage Whedon, right down to the cliffhanger.
Michael Ryan appears to be a good fit for this book on the artistic end of things. He renders the action with fluid adroitness, and there’s some great action sequences here, especially with the young Skrull and the dinosaur who reminds me a lot of Lockheed, the dragon. I have to hand it to the colorist for some vibrant, eye popping scenes, and this adds to the comic’s strengths. Overall, this is a very ambitious offering. Is it Earth shattering? Not really, but it is entertaining.
