Previously with the Runaways, in the wake of Gert's death the team was dealing with an old man who'd transformed into a monster and was rampaging across Los Angeles. All except Chase who'd stolen the Abstract and strongarmed ex-Pride member Lotus into helping him find the Gibborim. He cut a deal with them offering to trade one innocent soul to bring back Gert and with that sent separated from Lotus who he briefly considered killing. He returned to the Hostel and instead captured Nico so he could take the Staff of One and tell her about his plan to offer himself up to the Gibborim, taking the staff so she could live a normal life too. He left but thanks to Old Lace, the group was able to track Chase down and while the Gibborim rejected his soul they were willing to consume Nico. But they were stopped and died for good and when Iron Man came calling, the group decided to run off once more.Today is Runaways #25-30.Previous >>154653500
I think this is the beginning of nobody having any real clue what to do with the Runaways and Whedon immediately screws up. Remember they were just in NYC not that long ago and Chase ragged on Nico for freaking out over seeing She-Hulk? I kind of think the characters should have been retired after BKV left. It's like people who aren't Gerber trying to write Howard.
Oh look, it's a special guest appearance. I am sure his appearance in this story is basically 9/11 for Punisher fans though.
Issue 26
Frank's entire appearance in this story is literally just so Whedon can express how much he hates the character by having him act like a bizarre parody of himself then get humiliated. I don't really give a shit about Punisher but I really hate when writers bring a character for the express purpose of shitting all over them. If you don't like the character just don't use them.
Issue 27
Yep, Yellow Kid canonically exists in the MU.
Issue 28
>>154666308>I am sure his appearance in this story is basically 9/11 for Punisher fans though.Naw the end of that Aaron run when ran the hand THAT was Fankfag 9/11 they're still asshurt by it
>>154667299To be fair they're justified in it because Aaron also hated the Punisher and the run and ending was, like Punisher's appearance here, intended to humiliate him and in that case also remove him from the board. Again, you don't like the character so why bother writing him in the first place? I don't like the Hulk and Iron Man. If I was writing comics, I'm not going to choose to write Hulk or Iron Man comics or have them guest star in my book so I can make fun of how lame I think they are. I'll just avoid them unless forced to.
Issue 29
Issue 30
So ends the second volume of Runaways, next time we see them will be the third volume with Terry Moore and Humberto Ramos on creative duties. Personally, I really don't like this story at all and outside of the kind of neat setting and Ryan's art there's really nothing good about it at all. There's too many characters, too many factions and moving parts, and in the end it's just kind of a confusing clusterfuck and takes forever to go nowhere. Oh well, it's really only going to get worse for the Runaways qualitywise from here.Next time, for real this time, it's Avengers: The Initiative #1-4.
>>154666016>WhedonGrim.
>>154666056Oh. I gave up on the mutie stuff until something new, but if even you don't like this arc, then can't be helped.
>>154668780I figure it's important to at least see the series I'm doing through to completion and there's stuff I've done that I'm kind of meh on. I don't hate this arc exactly but I think it's a giant step down from what BKV was doing and in that respect, like I mentioned at the end of the last issue, is sort of a good indicator of how the Runaways will be used after him.I think what makes BKV's stuff work is that there's very clear direction when he's on the book. First the Runaways vs. the Pride stuff in volume 1 and volume 2 is built entirely around the new Pride and Gert's death and the fallout from all of that. Whedon comes on though and there's not really a clear plan and the same is true for the next volume as well. Runaways is the kind of book where you can't really wing it as you go IMO. I think it's a good example of how, in some cases, thinking like a TV show can be beneficial in that you go in thinking of it like "okay, this is season X and this is what the story is going to be built around" and then you structure everything appropriately while having twists and curveballs. Runaways as a concept requires a lot more structure and longer term plotting to work than other characters.I think the only thing I'm going to be storytiming in all of this that I largely outright dislike will be the X-23 ongoing but she's a major character so I figure I need to. Most of what I'm storytiming are books I generally like and some (like Initiative) are among my favorite comics of the entire era this is covering.
>>154666675>>154666665Oh, these two are out of order.
>>154667042Oh. So that is the gag.
Reading bump.
