Runaways [2005] Volume 8: Dead End Kids

The further adventures of this misfit gang of superpowered teenagers sees the Runaways try their hand at working for the Kingpin of Crime--with disastrous results. Transported a hundred years in the past, they accidentally set off a war between the superheroes and -villains of turn-of-the-century New York while trying desperately to get home.

A little background on the Runaways: their parents ran a West Coast crime syndicate before being vaporized by the Elder Gods. They are constantly falling in and out of love with each other and Karolina is gay but that's all right because the guy her parents arranged for her to marry is actually a shape-shifter and can turn into a girl at will. As of this volume, Alex and Gert are dead and have been show more replaced by Victor and Klara. Chase is still mourning Gert's death but is comforted by her dying bequest of a psychic, genetically-engineered dinosaur named Old Lace. Angst, drama, and improbable plot twists aside, the Runaways are some of the most realistic and nuanced superheroes in comic books today. If that doesn't get you excited, just keep in mind that this volume is written by Joss Whedon of "Buffy" and "Firefly" fame.

This volume proved a great place to get reacquainted with the characters if you have taken a break from the series as the storyline is entirely self-contained. Whedon's characteristic snarky dialogue, love of dramatic deaths and genre commentary kept me on my toes and the brief return of Gert's time-traveling parents packed a great emotional punch. Due to some mature themes, recommended for grades 10-12. show less

this is a lovely little thing. joss's goes all fanwriter on Brian K Vaughan's Runaways, which is funny in itself. and time travels them all to 1907 London, which also has people with powers, and they aren't treated like teenagers there because teenage is a concept that hasn't been invented yet. so, some new characters, lots of steampunk, and street wars, and extravagant subplots and general mayhem and jossian wordplay ensues. and Michael Ryan's art is just as fabulous as it needs to be to carry the whole thing off.

I have to wonder if Whedon and Vaughan decided to swap books for one run. Here, Joss takes on Runaways, while Vaughan also wrote a run of Buffy Season 8. Was it planned? Who knows.

So, Joss writes our Runaways back to New York and a meeting with the Kingpin. This leads to them stealing something that might have belonged to their parents, the Punisher on their trail, and a horribly scarred flying beast of a man who works for a little old lady. All of this lands the team a hundred years in their past, New York 1907, where things grow tense between street gangs and a group of do-gooders calling themselves the "Upward Path" (think if a bunch of religious zealots and teetotalers became superheroes).

The group makes some new friends along the show more way, but who will make it out of 1907 and back to the present?

This one feels very Joss, which can be off-putting, but I enjoyed it. Nice to see another talented writer take on Vaughan's characters. show less

Summary: The Runaways are in New York, fleeing trouble in L.A. They find themselves working - against their better judgement - for a crime lord known as Kingpin. But when an operation goes badly and they use the a mysterious artifact in order to flee, they wind up in even more trouble - because the artifact turned the Leapfrog into a time machine, and now they're stranded in New York City in 1907.

Review: I have to be honest, this volume was why I started reading the Runaways series in the first place (my local library shelves it with "Whedon" instead of with the rest of the series.) Still, I was a little bit apprehensive about the first volume written by someone other than series creator Brian K. Vaughan, even if that someone was Joss show more Whedon. And, while it didn't go as badly as it might have, that's not to say there weren't a few bumps. Whedon throws in a score of new characters, most of whom appear for only a few panels at a time, and almost all of whom we're never going to see again, which made things a little confusing and more cluttered than they needed to be. The book also starts more or less in media res, without explaining how things got to this point. Still, the writing was as snappy and funny as you'd expect from Whedon, and the story at the core of this volume was solid and touching. 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Recommendation: I suspect that fans of Whedon's comics that pick this one up cold will be thoroughly lost, but while I've more or less enjoyed the series, if it's way out of your comfort zone then I don't know that this installment is worth it. show less

The original Runaways team consisted of the children of The Pride (a team of evil villains in the Marvel universe). When the kids realized that their parents were the bad guys, they did what kids to best - rebelled against their parents. Of course, in this instance, it had to mean becoming a team of superheroes. The kids went up against, and killed, their parents.

Dead End Kids covers issues 25 through 30 of the series - the selection that Joss Whedon had written. In this part of the series, in an attempt to escape Kingpin, the kids accidentally transport themselves to 1907. Unfortunately, the trip has completely depleted the power source of the device that got them there in the first place. In this new time, they meet other kids with show more powers (”Wonders” as they are called), a few new foes, and a couple of members of The Pride - before those two members are killed. (That’s the funny thing with time travel, and all.) And the question on the kids’ minds is, how will they be able to get back to their own time?

I do love Joss’ stuff. I really do. That man is brilliant, and I love the stories he tells. He could tell a story about a slug, and I’m sure I would still find it completely captivating. The illustrator, Michael Ryan, has illustrated series from both DC and Marvel, and his stuff is gorgeous. (Check out some of his illustrations at ComicVine.com.) I have spent so much time the past few days just staring at the pictures in the book, and have no doubt that I will pull it out often in the future just to look at the prettiness!

I hadn’t read any of the Runaways issues before this one. I’m going to have to go back and find them, especially as I’ve heard that they may be adapting the series into a movie. Plus, they are a lot of fun. That said, I wasn’t lost as to what was going on. It explains a little bit at the beginning, but I had also done a bit of research on Wikipedia beforehand.

Overall, this was a fabulous volume and one I will revisit quite often. show less

Runaways + Joss Whedon= massive WIN.

I thoroughly enjoyed the previous entries in this series, and adore Joss Whedon, so it's no surprise that I adored Dead End Kids. The runaways have "taken care of" their evil parents, have battle some grown-up superheroes, and are *tired* of fighting. Unfortunately, they decide to take a job that gets them sent into the past, causing all sorts of trouble (some of the heart-breaking sort), and crack-wise all over the place, which is delightful.

Exciting and funny - recommended!

This volume was the reason I decided to read Runaways (although I started from the beginning, in part because I'm enjoying Vaughan's Saga).

I quite enjoyed reading this story, and my main complaint that it wasn't longer. It would have been nice to have more issues about 1907 and it's characters, and it would've been interesting to see what else Whedon would have done with the Runaways.

The characters felt the same as under Vaughan, and the artwork, while slightly different was similar enough (unlike some guest artists). The time-travel story back to 1907 was delightful, with all the characters it introduced.