Blog From The Bench

At first, this was going to be a list of the top five or top ten comics of the year, but with Runaways in the number one spot, there’s no need to bother with anything else. You’ve got Runaways, which is way up here, and then you’ve got all other comics, which are way down there.

Backing up for a sec, Runaways is about a group of unrelated California teens with nothing in common except that their parents are murderous supervillains working together to overthrow the Earth. Each of the kids has inherited some sort of power, item, or dinosaur handed down to them from mom and dad. The kids run away, swearing to right all the wrongs of their parents, as well as any other evil adults they come across. But, in the world of Runaways, the words “evil adult” are redundant.

There’s Nico, a would-be sorceress whose mystical powers involve shedding her own blood, Karolina, an alien with light-based abilities, Chase, who drives the team’s high-tech getaway vehicle, Gert, who fights crime with the help of a telepathic dinosaur, Molly, an 11-year-old mutant with the strength to bench press a bus, and Alex, the brains of the group. As you get farther into the series, some characters depart, while a few new ones join the team.

Marvel Comics’ Runaways is written by the great Brian K. Vaughn with a rotating team of artists consisting of Adrian Alphona, Takeshi Miyazawa, Mike Norton, Skottie Young, and Stefano Caselli, among others. It’s been collected in some handy digest sized graphic novels and in two gorgeous hardcover collections. If you want to “test the waters,” then I suggest seeking out the digests, which shouldn’t be hard to find. That being said, I heartily recommend the hardcovers, which are well worth the money. Not only has all the art been reproduced with glorious color and detail, but the hardcovers have generous extras, such as scripts and concept sketches.

I recently received the Volume Two hardcover for Christmas and reintroduced myself to the stories therein. In this volume, the Runaways have their first encounter with Victor Mancha, who becomes a member of the team, despite the fact that his father is one of the Marvel universe’s most feared villains. Then, Xavin, an alien, arrives with surprising news for Carolina, leading to heartbreak among the group. Finally, our heroes pay a visit to New York City, where they investigate a drug-related mystery and prove they have what it takes to square off against the Avengers.

It’d take months to list everything that makes Runaways so thoroughly awesome. There are complex, twisty-turny plots, where just when you think you’ve got the story figured out, there’s another surprise waiting for you. There’s witty dialogue -- which we’ve come to expect from Vaughn -- that knows when to make with the sarcastic wisecracks, and when to stay serious. Even though the kids are unconventional superheroes, you’ll find plenty of kickass superhero action along the way. What really makes Runaways stand out way, way ahead of all other comics currently on shelves, though, is the character work. These are a group of characters that readers can instantly relate to and care about. Marvel Comics always gets praised for classic heroes like Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four being great characters in addition to being great heroes. The Runaways fit that description nicely, and -- as long as future creators don’t screw them up -- they should achieve “classic” status of their own in years to come.

If you can’t stand superheroes and you hate all comic books with a poisonous rage, you’ll still enjoy Runaways. It’s just that good.