Dead End Kids

by Joss Whedon and Michael Ryan

Book Overview

The Runaways travel to the Big Apple. While there, they make surprising allies and even more surprising enemies.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 078512389X
• ISBN13: 9780785123897
• Release Date: June 2009
• Publisher: Marvel Comics Group
• Length: 152 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.1" x 7.7"
• Age Range: 14 to 17 years
• Grade Range: Grades 9 to 12

Customer Reviews

The Runaways go steampunk?

It seems each year the big superhero publishers throw out another group of 'cool' new teen heroes and each year they disappear from the shelves pretty fast. But not the Runaways. The book has been going strong for over 5 years now and remain interesting and innovative. In this volume writer Joss Whedon sends them 100 years back in time to the New York of 1907. There they encounter sweatshops, union riots and several turn-of-the-century superheroes. At first I worried Whedon had bitten off more than he could chew by creating 3 different factions of Steampunk Marvels but he manages to juggle the groups well and make an interesting point. After many intrigues and betrayals the Steampunk teams come together in a massive superhero battle. And the Runaways... walk away. One asks 'what about the war' the answer is 'it will still be there when we get back'. It makes for a nice statement about either violence in America, or at least the repetitive nature of superhero comics. And I would totally read a Joss Whedon superhero book featuring his 1907 'wonders'. So if you're looking for something different in your comic diet Runaways is definitely a good title to pick up.

This book is AWESOME

I love reading Runaways and when I heard that Joss Whedon was leaving the series I was sad and I wondered if the series would continue, but as I read the comics included in this book I realized that this was just the end of a chapter of the Runways' lives and the last comic included in this book was a preclude to bigger and greater adventures for these kids. I cannot wait to continue reading this series. Oh yeah the art work in this book was amazing as always and I loved the fact that the children met up with Gert's parents. Those two were pretty villainous!!!

Joss writing for one of his favorite new Comics

I really enjoyed Joss Whedon's. I am both a fan of his and of Runaways. He really caputred these charaters, and you can tell who is favorites are(I kinda think Molly and Victor). The kids and their struggle and gave them some nice twists to play with. He did however gave the next writer even more loose ends to tie up. Not a bad thing at all, just gives the new writer something to finish up for him. I would suggest picking this up if you are a fan of the writer, or of the Runnaways in general. But if you are a fan you have probably already read it. The art is in the same style, as the books written by Vaughan. This hardcover is a nice book for a collection.

Joss Whedon Takes the Reigns

Joss Whedon is my favorite writer of all time. So when I say that I was wary about him taking over this series for an arc, understand that isn't because I was worried about where he'd take the story, because I know he'd do it justice. It was simply because the story came from Brian K. Vaughan's mind, and the mere fact of seeing anyone else carry it on was scary, because BKV did such a fantastic job. "Runaways" has always been one of my favorite comics, and I wanted to make sure it didn't just become one of those Marvel stories that they pass from writer to writer until it loses its feel. So basically, I was worried that my favorite writer wouldn't be a good fit for "Runaways." THE STORY: Thankfully, I was wrong. The story itself is pretty perfect, in that it really picks up from the point where Brian K. Vaughan left them, while not just continuing the same story but giving us a new plot to get invested in. It also fits nicely into current Marvel continuity, which BKV tended to stray away from--however, Joss makes it work because you don't have to understand or know about what has been going on in the Marvel world to get it. Also, there are some nice call back to old events. The plot involves time-travel, though it ends up being more action-adventure than science fiction. I feel that Joss kind of lost the feel of the story in the middle by bloating it up, filling it with way too many new characters (the Adjudicator, a parallel to the Punisher who is also featured here, was beyond unnecessary), but he gets his footing back in the last issues. Most of the notable amount of plot threads Joss created get paid off nicely, and the arc and theme of the story come together in the end with high, very Whedonesque emotional payoff. I should have trusted Joss more, because he really gave us a great story. THE CHARACTERS: More than once, Joss has said how much he loves these characters, and it really shows in his writing. The dialogue is great and quirky and true to BKV's characters, and for the most part I like where Joss took them. The only thing I hated was what he did with Nico. Making her gain so much power (Willow-izing her, really) was such a staggeringly huge mistake, because the most interesting thing about her is the limits of her power and how she manipulates her little power to do huge things. The rest of the story pretty much makes up for it, especially the new characters, which I thought I would dislike. But they were great and had some great emotional moments in the little page time they were given. THE ART: Though I really mourned losing Adrian Alphona as the regular artist for this series, I did love Michael Ryan's take on the characters. His style is a bit different than Alphona's, but it's still supremely atmospheric and filled with detail. The only character I didn't think he handled that well was Chase, but the attention he gives to detail--especially during the climatic battle scene--makes up for it. 8/10

A marvelous continuation of Brian K. Vaughan's wonderful creation

If you've been following comics lately it is pretty clear that Joss Whedon and Brian K. Vaughan have formed a mutual admiration society. Although THE RUNAWAYS was created in the post-House of M Marvel universe, it clearly owed its inspiration more to BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER than to anything other source. It is almost impossible to read the adventures of the Runaways and not think of the Scoobies. And Molly, my favorite Runaway, is an utterly Whedonesque creation. Furthermore, it was hardly a surprise when Whedon invited Vaughan to take on the second major arc in BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER Season 8, the story dealing with Faith's attempt to rein in a rogue slayer. And at the party celebrating the final issue of Vaughan's great comic epic Y: THE LAST MAN, Vaughan was introduced by none other than Whedon. So, it just seems natural that Whedon would be the first person to continue Vaughan's baby (excepting a Runaways/Young Avengers team up in the Civil War cycle). I won't go into great detail into the plot. Suffice it to say that the kids spend most of the tale at a point in the past. Though the story has many Whedonesque touches, it remains very much in the spirit of the three volumes of stories written by Vaughan. The issues are filled with many wonderful moments, including what is unquestionably my favorite moment in all of the stories (well, possibly tied with the moment when Molly flips over a monster the size of Godzilla when Nico hits her with the spell "Caffeine" -- or is it caffeinate? [I'm moving in three days and all my books are packed up so I am afraid that I can't verify the precise name of the spell] in Vaughan final volume of issues). The kids are pulling off a heist in order to get the protection of the Kingpin. Both because of the registration of the super empowered within the Civil War universe and their fear of being split up and placed in to foster homes (with Molly unquestionably going to the Xavier Institute, as one of the world's last surviving mutants) they seek his aid. But as a quid pro quo they have to retrieve an artifact for him. During the break in the kids are discovered by the Punisher. Molly, who in a previous adventure had (much to his surprise) pretty badly beaten up Wolverine, turned and hit him in the stomach. Upon learning that while he wore a uniform he was not in any way superempowered, Molly felt horribly apologetic. Throughout the rest of the story the Punisher remains in a position of extreme agony, attempting to remain as stoically immobile as possible despite his great pain. It is a great moment. The cover depicted here is based on the cover in which Molly hits him. In the original cover Molly is standing in the cover pose, only with the torso of the Punisher clearly visible behind her. The overall story is a sad one, with the kids gaining a new member, though not the one we might have expected. There are some nice twists including the parents of one of the Runaways (I won't say which