Title: Runaways Volume 2
Author: Brian K. Vaughan, Adrian Alphona, and Takeshi Miyazawa
Publisher: Marvel
Copyright: 2004
ISBN: 0785114157
Pages: 144
Price: $7.99
Rating: 9
Synopsis:
Still on the run from super-villain parents, this motley crew of superpowered kids find a kindred spirit in a daring young stranger and welcomes him into their fold. But will this dashing young man help the teenagers defeat their villainous parents... or tear them apart? One troubled member finds out, as she leaves the group's hideout with their new recruit, who reveals his startling secret, putting the entire team in jeopardy!
Plus: Who do you send to catch a group of missing, runaway teenage super heroes? Marvel's original teen runaway crimefighters, Cloak and Dagger, making their first major appearance in years!
Collecting "Runaways" #7-12--written by Brian K. Vaughan ("Mystique"), and illustrated by newcomer Adrian Alphona and Takeshi Miyazawa ("Uncanny X-Men").
Review:
Pros:
The art obviously--this is Marvel we're talking about. Can you say "perfect anatomy?" I'm also glad to say that the short-comings that prompted my review of volume one are slowly being remedied (they won't be fully remedied until volume four). Christina Strain's handling of lights, shadows, and atmosphere was far more effective in this volume than in the last. Alphona even adopted one of the "Japanese Remedies" I listed in the last review by using motion lines for a fight scene to emphasize motion.
Issues #11-12 were drawn by Takeshi Miyazawa, whose style is quite distinct from Alphona's. In my pseudo-professional opinion, Miyazawa's style is remniscent of Archie with a few traditionally Japanese touches, such as visible sweat drops on tired person's faces and diagnal lines across the faces of persons who are heated or flushed. Miyazawa skimps out on the anatomical precision typical of Marvel, but it certainly does not affect the art's quality.
The writing is still as good as before: the story concept hasn't become any less great since volume one. I would actually say that this story keeps getting better and better. Kudos to Vaughan.
Something has to be said for Jo Chen as well. She is responsible for the cover art on volume two along with many gorgeously rendered inserts of the characters. Her portrayals of the characters, her style, are by far the most beautiful. They are borderline photographic with rich, textural coloring. If they were aiming towards art no red-blooded book-buyer could resist, they found the perfect chick for the job.
Cons:
Corny jokes. Always with the corny jokes, writers. They're charming most of the time, but at certain points you just have to stop and ask the age-old question, "Who the hell is writing this stuff?" Oh, right. Vaughan is. To be fair, I can see how writing comedy can be difficult. What's funny to one person may not be funny to the next dude. Aside from that, it's pretty much all good.
Runaways Volume II gets a 9 out of ten for all of the above.
