CompleteMartialArts.com - Runaways, Vol. 2
![Runaways, Vol. 2]()
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List Price: $24.99
Our Price: $16.49
Your Save: $ 8.50 ( 34% )
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Manufacturer: Marvel Comics
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 741.5973
EAN: 9780785123583
ISBN: 078512358X
Label: Marvel Comics
Manufacturer: Marvel Comics
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 312
Publication Date: 2006-12-06
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Studio: Marvel Comics
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Editorial Reviews:
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This deluxe hardcover collects Runaways Vols. 5-7, plus extras. In True Believers, it's an all-new beginning for the book that Wizard calls "the best original concept from Marvel in thirty years!" When a group of teenagers discovers that their parents are actually super-villains, they run away from home... but that's only step one! Now that the evil Pride is gone, nearly every bad guy in the Marvel Universe is trying to fill the power vacuum in Los Angeles, and the Runaways are the only heroes who can stop them! Plus: What does a mysterious new team of young heroes want with the Runaways, and which fan-favorite Marvel characters are part of this group? In Escape to New York, the Runaways embark on a coast-to-coast adventure, guest-starring Cloak and Dagger AND the New Avengers! When Cloak is accused of a crime he didn't commit by the heroes of New York City, the vigilante is forced to turn to the teenage Runaways for help. This story will take our teens to a place they've never been: NYC! And in Parental Guidance, the villainous Pride returns, but this all-new group isn't made up of the Runaways' evil parents. Who are these shadowy players, and what do they want with the Marvel Universe's next generation of heroes? Collects Runaways (Vol. 2) #1-18.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating: 
Summary: Not as good as the first hardcover, but a worthy successor
Comment: Runaways Hardcover Vol. 1, which reprints the original mini-series, might collect one of the best runs in comic history. It was such a hit that Marvel brought Runaways back and gave it its own monthly subscription. The talents of writer Brian K. Vaughan and artist Adrian Alphona were also re-enlisted to create new adventures for the teenage misfit superhero team. So the obvious question is did the new series, collected in Volume 2, manage to maintain the same high level? Well, yes and no. Yes, it's still a great read, and will easily tempt you to buy Volume 3, but no, it's not on the level of the first series, which isn't really a bad thing because the first series was THAT good. George Lucas will gladly tell you how hard it is to match the greatness of an original.
The new story spawns not long after the closing events of the mini-series. Resting in their new hideout, the team is shocked to find a time travelling hero appear in the middle of their lair. The woman claims to be an older version of Gertrude, and current leader of the Avengers in her timeline. She warns the Runaways that a boy walks the planet now who will one day betray the Avengers and kill them. With her dying breath, she bemoans them to not trust this boy no matter how innocent he appears. Not knowing if this lady is even the real deal, Nico casts a spell that allows her to see the last moments of this mysterious stranger and she confirms that yes, her doomsday prophecy is true.
This sets the story for the first few issues as the Runaways attempt to seek this future threat and also provides the team with several internal conflicts as they discover that they genuinely like this boy and believe in his good intentions. Meanwhile, another young adult superhero team is forming on the West Coast. Known as Excelsior, it acts as a basement support group for teenagers and young adults who are still dealing with the traumatic memories of being a young superhero. They are determined to ferret out adolescent superhero teams so that young people can live normal functional lives, and set their sights on the Runaways after an anonymous donor offers them $1,000,000 if they can succeed in thwarting this group. In the process of trying to subvert the Runaways, Excelsior works so well together, they accidentally become the very thing they are trying to prevent.
This volume contains the usual intrigue found in a Runaways book by Vaughan. There are hidden forces working against the Runaways with their identities not yet revealed before the end of this book. The original members will eventually lose someone in their roster only to find a new teammate. Best yet, the issue contains several cameos with popular Marvel heroes including an amusing fight with Spider-Man, a return visit to Cloak & Dagger, and a hilarious arse whipping on Wolverine by little Molly.
There is a point where Runaways begins to lose some steam, but as long as you're collecting the TPBs authored by Brian K. Vaughan, you won't reach that point yet. As a bonus, this TPB collects the mini-story in Free Comic Book Day 2006. It's a small tale about a forced meeting with the X-Men who are trying to recruit the super-strong mutant Molly, and is drawn in a looser graffiti-style manner. Best yet, for those of you who are aspiring writers, the original script for Issue #1 is included in this book, and it's always fun to see how much of the panel design was intended, and how many liberties were taken by the artist. If you want a fun, compelling superhero read, in a large hardcover format, this is the book for you. The stories in this are also collected in the smaller paperback digest formats, but I wholeheartedly suggest you skip those and go straight to the hardcover versions.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Wonderful book.
Comment: Amazon says this is issues 1-18, but it isn't. I was worried since vol 3 is 13-20~. I didn't want to buy the 5 whole issues again, but thankfully just amazon was wrong. everywhere else says -12 and 13-. Aside from that, great book, great story, nice hard cover with a simple logo, looks better than a bible. I'm purchasing volume 3 and the Dead End Kids book very soon.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Don't Buy Those Little Digest Books; Get The Big Honkin' Hardcover
Comment: I said it before and I'll say it again. This is THE way to read Runaways. Under the attractive dust jacket, the cover is made up of a soft black vinyl material that is extremely durable. The book itself is huge, letting you appreciate the art in a way that it may not have been able to be appreciated in the original comics and the infinitely smaller digest trade paperbacks. Plus, the book is loaded with extras.
This time around, we get twelve issues. One six issue arc, one two issue mini-arc, and one four issue arc. The cherry that tops off this Comic Sundae is a twelve page Runaways/X-Men crossover story that was given out on Free Comic Book Day. Other than the original comic, you can't find this story anywhere else. But, that being said, there's no reason why you'd want to. The story is inconsequential and the art is horrific. It's cool as an extra, but don't look forward to it as an epic super-team crossover issue.
Now, about the actual story: I reviewed the individual arcs here Runaways Vol. 4: True Believers and here Runaways Vol. 5: Escape to New York, but I'll reiterate. The stories are great and the dialogue is snappy as always. This is Brian K. Vaughan here. Its elementary knowledge that he'll always deliver a story that'll make you laugh and nod appreciatively at the talent of his writing. The art ranges from okay to great; Alphona isn't great at drawing the major marvel superheroes, but he excels at drawing the major "Runaways" characters. Speaking of those good ol' kids, I'm sure you returning readers are wondering how they've been. Their lives are no less tumultuous than they were in Runaways, Vol. 1, but the situation(s) they're in are nowhere near as epic as that of the first eighteen issues. In fact, this entire volume feels like set-up for a big story to come. That's both exciting and disheartening. This book could've been bigger and included more plot development than hinting at what is going to come, but even so; the more-or-less standalone arcs of this series are always entertaining, funny, and often poignant and, as an aspiring writer, I can safely say that Vaughan's writing is inspiring.
8/10
Customer Rating:
Summary: Ran away with my heart
Comment: This second hardcover of the Runaways is as amazingly well-done as the first hardcover.
Included in this trade is Runaways Volume 2 issues #1-12, as well as the X-Men/Runaways Free Comic Book Day crossover from 2006.
The Story Arcs:
True Believers (issues 1-6)
Star-Crossed Lovers (issues 7-8)
East Coast/West Coast (issues 9-12)
The X-Men/Runaways crossover is correctly placed in this trade, after issue 12, where it takes place.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Consult Wikipedia for the hardcover/paperback breaks.
Comment: Superb characterizations extend the simple (yet extremely interesting) original idea that control and authority are two very different things.
These three hardcover volumes rework, refine and re-explore that idea brilliantly. The seven paperback volumes contain the same material.
Wikipedia may help you avoid buying parts of this amazing saga more than once.
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