Download Runaways: Dead Wrong (v. 1) ePub

This is probably the worst Runaways arc. At the least, it's my least favorite. It doesn't end on a great note, but now with everyone separated, dead, or simply ignored in the marvel universe, I'd take this over watching Nico and Chase die in Avengers Arena any day.

Runaways collects into 3 volumes covering 11 books (or 3 books if you buy the larger volume version) plus two side books. Volume 1 (Books 1-3) and Volume 2 (Books 4-8) were really, really good. Volume 3 (Books 9-1) was mediocre and ends kind of abruptly. The two size stories (Civil War: Young Avengers & Runaways and Secret Invasion: Runaways/Young Avengers) are alright but not really essential. If you want to read Runaways, it is a series to simply read in order since it's not that long. However, I wouldn't fault anyone who stopped reading after finishing Book 8 (Dead End Kids) and didn't bother with the last three books.

Here's the complete reading order for the main series:
Runaways, Vol. 1: Pride & Joy
Runaways, Vol. 2: Teenage Wasteland
Runaways Vol. 3: The Good Die Young
Runaways Volume 4: True Believers (Runaways (Numbered Paperback))
Runaways, Vol. 5: Escape to New York
Runaways Volume 6: Parental Guidance
Runaways, Vol. 8: Dead End Kids
Runaways - Volume 9: Dead Wrong
Runaways: Rock Zombies
Runaways: Homeschooling

(There's apparently a link limit, but the last two are also on Amazon.)

Volume three starts with this book, and isn't nearly as strong as Volumes 1 and 2. Volume 3 also ends in a ways that's rather unsettled, especially sing as Runaways hasn't continued past that point. Maybe this will be a bridge to a Volume 4 that brings the series back, but as it stands, you could probably skip this and the next two books.

You can pretty much tell what your favorite comics are by which ones you read first when you bring all your pulls home. For me any of the Fables comics come first, trumping everything else. Then the Runaways trump everything else. I loved it when creator Brian K. Vaughan did the series and I loved it when Joss Whedon picked it up after Vaughan gave up the reins. I even enjoyed the Runaways/Young Avengers team ups during the Civil War and Secret Invasion events.

So given how much I enjoy the Runaways, I was delighted when STRANGERS IN PARADISE creator Terry Moore was taking over the comics. And I have thoroughly enjoyed his stories. Nonetheless, artist Humberto Ramos completely rubs me the wrong way. His drawings strike me almost like rough drafts and the faces of the kids in his art look almost like grotesques, like caricatures. So, on the one hand I enjoyed the story of aliens coming to earth to take their revenge on Karolina for what they believe is her complicity in the destruction of their world, but on the other hated looking at every frame.

I absolutely do not recommend this as an introduction to The Runaways. I think most newcomers will find Ramos's art too off putting and it is too untypical of the other comics in the series. One should definitely start with Vaughan's three volumes and then move on to Whedon's. If you love those and feel like you need more, then read these. The next volume in this series, the Rock Zombies story, has already concluded. Ramos unfortunately illustrated that one as well. I wouldn't mind more Terry Moore, but I would love to see a new artist. And for the record, I rarely find an artist this unbearable.

One bit of nitpicking. Why in the heck do the kids remain so protective of Molly and Klara? OK, Klara I can understand. The refugee from the early 20th century has the odd superpower of causing plants to grow. But Molly is pretty close to indestructible and strong enough to knock Wolverine a couple of hundred feet through the air. She needs protection why? If I were the kids, I think I'd want her spearheading attacks, instead of trying to get her out of the way.

So I do recommend this book, but only if you have read the other, better volumes first. I'll keep reading Moore/Ramos collaborations, but I yearn for the day when Ramos is no longer a part of the project.