- Terry Moore finishes his stint on Runaways with a day at the beach…and enchanted rock music that turns most of LA into zombies.
- Then Yost and Asmus take over for a pair of short stories in which Molly takes a tour of the X-Men’s San Francisco headquarters as a prospective student and the Runaways play truth or dare—Asmus’s truth or dare game is one of my favorite scenes in the series for how much fun it is to see the kids actually acting like goofy teenagers.
- The series ends with the team mourning a loss and desperately trying to find any kind of stability in an arc written by Kathryn Immonen—unfortunately, the book’s cancellation cut this arc short, and it remains unfinished, ending in the bleakest possible way.
- These last couple of arcs couldn’t be more tonally different: Moore’s is tongue-in-cheek and packed with cultural references while Immonen’s is one of the darkest moments in the team’s history.
- All of the art teams involved turn in solid work: Miyazawa returns for a final arc that is his most stylized, manga-influenced Runaways so far; Pichelli’s art is a strong fit for the book; and Emma Ríos’s half-issue makes me want to see her draw a longer run with the team—and Christina Strain keeps the book looking consistent across its various teams.
If you've made it this far in Runaways, there's no reason to stop—just be prepared for the series's brutal cliffhanger. If you've struggled with other arcs since Vaughan and Alphona's departure from the series, you likely will continue to do so in these last couple of arcs.
Regardless of which group you fall into, if you're looking for more Runaways, you should be reading Rainbow Rowell, Kris Anka, and Matthew Wilson's current ongoing—it's fantastic and nails the cast's voices and relationships.
Collected in
- Runaways, Vol. 10: Rock Zombies (#7-10)
- Runaways, Vol. 11: Homeschooling (#11-14)
- Runaways: The Complete Collection, Vol. 4 (#1-14, What If? The Runaways Became the Young Avengers, material from Mystic Arcana: Sister Grimm and Breaking into Comics the Marvel Way #1)
Credits
Writers: Terry Moore (7-9), Chris Yost (10), James Asmus (10),Kathryn Immonen (11-14) | Artists: Takeshi Miyazawa with Lee, Yeung, and Paris (7-9), Sara Pichelli (10-14), Emma Ríos (10) | Colorist: Christina Strain | Letterers: Joe Caramagna (7-10, 13-14), VC’s Audra Eliopoulos (11), VC’s Joe Sabino (12) | Assistant Editor: Daniel Ketchum | Editor: Nick Lowe