Reviews 

“Runaways” #7

By | March 23rd, 2018
Posted in Reviews | % Comments

After the first arc was spent getting the team back together, the members of the Runaways now have to deal with some serious problems. Things like having to find jobs or heading back to school. With “Runaways” #7, Rainbow Rowell and Kris Anka bring the book into its second arc, a review and some spoiler’s follow.

Written by Rainbow Rowell
Illustrated by Kris Anka
Colored by Matthew Wilson
Lettered by VC’s Joe Caramagna

BEST FRIENDS FOREVER STARTS NOW! The Runaways are a family again! But a family needs a guardian, and the only Runaway who’s got her life together is in middle school…Which, even for a kid like Molly who likes school, can be fraught with peril!

I could very easily see someone being bored by this volume of “Runaways.” The pacing of the first arc was slow and meandering, and even when everything tied together by the end, not much of substance had actually happened. The first six issue arc seemed like it had about enough plot for maybe three issues. I could see the pacing, and the actual substance of the plot of the series so far turning off many readers.

And yet, none of that has really mattered to me. In fact, I’d go as far as to say that the pacing of “Runaways” has been less a bug and more of a feature. The slow pacing of the plot has allowed plenty of time to just be with these characters. To see them interact, to see them try to reconnect. It gives the entire series a very personal feeling. That these are just a group of young adults and children, trying to reconnect to each other and figure out a way to make it through the world around them.

Rainbow Rowell has done a fantastic job capturing the character of the Runways in this series so far. While “Runaways” #7 continues the trend of the series slow pacing (the issue is almost entirely conversations between characters) Rowell has been able to find the voices of these characters in a way that no other writer has managed since Brian K. Vaughan originally created them. There is a conversation between Nico and Karolina where the two of them really just talk. Nothing crucial to the plot happens. There are no big reveals. But it is just as important to the issue as any other part. We can see these two characters reconnecting and caring about each other, and no forward movement of a story could be as important as that.

Of course, part of what makes that conversation, and every other interaction between characters, work so well is Kris Anka’s art. Anka’s style is poppy and full of energy, with a small amount of manga inspiration in characters faces, and in Molly’s some times over exaggerated body movements. He has a way of even making the smallest moments of a story feel dynamic. And when the story is almost entirely small, character-based moments, it’s importance cannot be overstated.

Anka, along with Mathew Wilson’s colors, are able to make a world that is as full and varied as the characters that embody it. The scene between Nico and Karolina that I wrote about earlier is portrayed in a pretty naturalistic style. The way that the lighting falls on the characters, their body movements and interactions are all pretty down to earth in a way that makes them feel very real. This is in contrast to Molly and her scenes with her best friend at school, where Anka leans into his anime influences a little bit more, giving Molly and her friend over the top facial expressions and movements. These small changes between scenes and between the characters being depicted are what makes a book like this so special. It feels like the entire team, from writer to artist to colorist, understand these characters on a fundamental level.

“Runaways” #7 continues doing what this relaunch of the series has done from the start. While capturing the spirit of these characters, Rowell makes it a pleasure just to spend time with them, even if nothing much happens around them. While the decompression of the series might end up being a bit too much for some, it works for me. In fact, it does more than just work, “Runaways” is one of the books that I look forward to reading every single month. This book creates the feeling of getting to hang out with old friends, and really being a part of these character’s found family.

As I said in the beginning, this will not be a book for everyone. If just watching the Runaways be themselves, hanging out and not doing much of anything doesn’t sound appealing, then I don’t know how well the book will end up working for you in the long run. But if it does, I encourage you to pick up this issue, and the six preceding it. Rowell and Anka are doing some really great work here, and “Runaways” #7 is good continuation of that.

Final Verdict: 8.5 – With character interactions front and center, “Runaways” #7 feels like hanging out with old friends in the best way possible.


Reed Hinckley-Barnes

Despite his name and degree in English, Reed never actually figured out how to read. He has been faking it for the better part of twenty years, and is now too embarrassed to ask for help. Find him on Twitter

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