Technically, I’m starting my post on the “Dead End Kids” arc in the middle, but I chose to break it where they Runaways get sent back in time and learn about another contingent of Runaways back in the early 1900s called the “Street Arabs.”
This story is interesting, but largely disposable. After teaming up with Kingpin, the kids get accidently sent back to 1907 where they fight Gertie’s parents (as teens) who lead the afore-mentioned street gang, take on a new member named Klara Prast who can control plants…
…And eventually return to their own era. Once their, Whedon quickly resolves the remaining dangling bits of the Kingpin/Punisher, and the series ends with the kids heading home to L.A.
Don’t fret about this being the end. A new #1 starts soon.
Joss Whedon took over from the original creators of what became one of the most loved books in the history of Marvel, so he had huge shoes to fill. Did he fill them? I think reasonable minds can differ on that, but on the whole I’d say…Kinda.
The story is certainly well-written (and at times laugh out loud funny) and the art is great, but it’s so hard to meet the high bar set by Brian K. Vaughn.