“True Believers Chapter Two”
Written by Brian K Vaughn
Penciled by Adrian Alphona
Inked by Craig Yeung
Coloring by Christina Strain
Lettering by VC’s Randy Gentile
Cover art by Jo Chen
Assoc Editor Mackenzie Cadenhead
Edited by CB Cebulski
Published by Marvel Comics
When this book came out for the first time about two years ago, I didn’t pay much attention to it. It came out at the same time as about a dozen other Marvel books, and from what I heard, didn’t seem too interesting to me. But a friend of mine loaned me the first issue and I enjoyed it just fine. As the months went on, I continued to get the book, and it grew in popularity. It achieved a cult-like status with many fans and critics hailing it as the best thing in comics.
It’s up there.
Every month, Runaways gives us one of the most enjoyable stories in this medium. It’s packed full of characters that everyone can relate to in some way, and the plots are simple enough to enjoy on a base level but complicated enough to sift through to find more if that’s your thing too.
Everyone talks of how Runaways has brought back the “fun” in comics. I don’t think that’s true. Fun never left, but fun in a super-hero story is something unique. Thing is, fun doesn’t always work in a superhero story. I wouldn’t want to see a whole lot more “fun” in Batman all the time, but in a story about teenagers finding themselves and disobeying their parents, yes, here it works. Vaughn has crafted a pitch perfect tone with his writing, and Alphona’s art captures that tone so well. They are a team that is right for this book.
In this issue we have another time travel story, but that’s just the prelude. The Runaway kids have to go after a kid who doesn’t quite know that he’s going to become a supervillain some day. (Trust me it’s better than my description). At the same time, a lame-superhero support group (better than my description once again) is out for the Runaways.
The story is funny, and it walks that edge between mocking and homage oh so well. Runaways is a book unlike any other because of that.
