Written by Brian K. VaughanIllustrated by Adrian Alphona and Craig Yeung
Marvel
Runaways may be Marvel's best comic, assuming it's still running. I'm so much into reading by trade now that the day-to-day issues are barely noticeable to me anymore...
Collecting the first five issues of the restarted Runways series, this trade starts with our remaining heroes fighting the Wrecking Crew, apparently the latest in a series of villains trying to capitalize on the demise of their parents' hold on the West Coast. This doesn't sit well with some of the D-String heroes who are just a bit older. They form a dysfunctional group in order to try and stop the Runaways but soon find their own problems may be larger than those they hope to help. (Props to Vaughn for the group's name, which I won't spoil here.)
Amidst this problem the Runaways meet one of their own, twenty years removed, who warns them of a great danger to the world--a young hero-to-be will go bad and destroy them all. They track him down, but will they have the nerve to kill him in order to save the future? How much like their parents are these Runaways, and with their own parental ties, can they really condemn someone just because their father is--well, that'd be telling, now wouldn't it?
Great stuff all around, this is one of my favorite Marvel series right now. Alpona really has his Romita Jr. going in this one, especially when you get to a few familiar villains. If I had to recommend a title to a person jaded with comics, I'd lead off with Invincible and make Runaways a close second. Can't wait to read Volume 5!
