Runaways Vol. 11: Homeschooling

Runaways (2003-2009) (Collected Editions)

by Kathryn Immonen, Sara Pichelli (Illustrator)

Collects Runaways (2008) #11-14. Their homes, their parents, their friends -- ever since first banding together and going out on their own, the Runaways have been no stranger to loss. Now, though they appear to finally be safe, none of them can get their minds off everything they've lost or given up. As they attempt to make merry despite their melancholy, the Runaways are struck by yet another catastrophe. A mysterious aircraft flying over their Malibu home is somehow lured to it, resulting in a fiery crash. As the team frantically digs through the rubble, they find that their home wasn't the only casualty: Yet another member of the team has fallen.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Marvel, Young Adult, Superheroes, Graphic Novels Comics, Fantasy

136 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 1, 2009

Reviews

[Baba · Rating 2 out of 5]

Despite the all-female creative team of writer Kathryn Immonen, artist Sara Pichelli and colourist Christina Strain, they can't save this dying book. Most of the characters are down and depressed in this final volume of season three, just like the readers of this once ground-breaking series! 4.5 out of 12.

[Joana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I liked this one better :) Is it awful if I say that I like seeing the kids exploring their feeling and pain?! It's just really beautifully done
But still feel that Molly is too young in this and the art is still not my favorite - too cartoonish for me...
But yeah, it got better in this one :D

[Des Fox · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well that was terrible. The plot goes absolutely nowhere and the story is barley comprehensible. The dialogue is non-stop gibberish and vague pop-culture references constantly failing to hit their mark. The characters lose any and all sense of individuality, essentially boiling down into the same gibbering voice. No one is recognizable in this book, no one's voice is in tact, the 'big reveals' are meaningless, the collateral damage and character deaths are absurd and vain attempts to maintain interest in the then floundering series. It's not fun, it's not interesting, and I would in no way recommend it for any Runaways fan. The 'What If' story in the back of the book only rubs salt in the wound, with a completely bizarre and poorly conceptualized scenario. Moore's issues paled in comparison to Vaughan's, but they were at least readable.

Despite all of that though, Pichelli's art is really very good. Her character designs are all very faithful and interesting. I probably wouldn't have even finished the book if not for her delightful, eastern inspired pencils.

[Sesana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Now I kind of wish that I hadn't soldiered on after Moore's run. Immonen's take is better, at least with the characters. Hooray for allowing Karolina to actually miss Xavin! But the story is mediocre, and lacks some of the explanations that would be required for it to actually make sense. I suspect that the title's cancellation came as a complete surprise to the creative team, because it ends on a cliffhanger. Chase has been hit by a car, and is in the hospital in apparently really bad shape. And... that's it. That was the end of the series. I'm glad that I wasn't reading the individual issues as they came out, because now I can turn to Wikipedia to tell me what's happened since then. But if I'd been faced with this as the last issue of the series, with no likely way of ever finding out what happened, I would have been pretty angry.

[Meg · Rating 1 out of 5]

Should have just quit after Whedon's run.

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read the first couple of Runaways volumes, felt the series stopped being interesting after the big showdown with their parents. But I picked this volume up because it was on the shelf in the local library. What can I say, teenage superheroes are my mental bubblegum of choice.

I'm sure glad I didn't pay for this book.

So first of all, apparently some stuff has happened with the Runaways since the last volume I read, but who cares? They've met a few other superheroes but so far this band of runaway (and now orphaned) adolescents is still running around Los Angeles without any kind of adult supervision, and neither Captain America nor the rest of the Avengers nor the X-Men cares, apparently...

So they are wangsting about not having a prom or school or parents, then something hits their hideout and kills Old Lace, the velociraptor pet of one of their decease teammates. That's the big dramatic splash the new creative team wanted to make - kill off the team's pet dinosaur?

Storyline was confusing and badly written, art was mediocre at best.

The last part of the volume is a "What If?" storyline putting the Runaways in place of the Young Avengers.

The Big Bad is Kang the Conqueror, one of the Avenger's B-list villains, and some other future conqueror called Victorious. Yes, seriously, Victorious. Even the Runaways make fun of that name. I had to Wikipedia him - he's a ridiculous mish-mash villain made up for this series.

He's a cyborg from the future - why the hell does he wear a mask?

Certainly nothing about this volume enticed me to pick up the series again. The Runaways always seemed rather extraneous to the Marvel Universe, an idea that exhausted its possibilities after the first story arc.

[Lorna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Runaways Vol. 11 (#11-#14) - Homeschooling:

Now this volume here feels like the old runaways!!

#11: ⭐⭐.5 WHAT THE HELL (2.5/5)
#12: ⭐⭐⭐ (3/5)
#13: ⭐⭐⭐ (3/5)
#14: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ WHAT THE HELL (4/5)

[Gabriel · Rating 3 out of 5]

the art style is pretty crummy: the kids have a prom and it's hard to tell the girls from the guys because of all the hair, Chase's uncle shows up (OUT OF NOWHERE) and Chase gets pissy about it for some reason and we have never been informed of it until now: Chase killed me before
We touch base with "What If the Runaways became the young avengers" and they face off against Victorious and beat him. Problem: this cracker beats the entire future Avengers and these nobodys hold their own? Ridiculous. I can see why this series got cut. The writing differences betweens DC and Marvel are very apparent and is one place that Marvel pales compared to DC. Marvel beats DC in movies, DC beats Marvel in graphic novels (namely: Batman)

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sooooo glad I gave this series one last chance. Immonen gets these characters in a way no one has since Vaughan left the book - they're not superheroes, they're not adventurers, they're just a bunch of kids who lost their families and had their world turned upside down and who are struggling to redefine what normal is for themselves.

This volume's not perfect, though - the cliffhanger ending bugged me, and I can understand why the "What If" story was included (to make the point I made above, basically), but it really wasn't necessary.

[A ☾ · Rating 3 out of 5]

You got to be fucking kidding me!!!!! That ending was so shitty.
The entire volume was kind of pointless just like the last one, they just wanted one more volume so they could do the cliffhanger for no reason whatsoever.

[Alex E · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chase's uncle returns seemingly from the dead to try and help the gang, as they are attacked and left very vulnerable.

A new creative team jumps on to try and pick up some steam after Terry Moore's last volume, and while it does get better, there is a sense that the book is on it's last legs. This is confirmed by the sudden cancellation of the series, which causes the creative team to end on a cliffhanger. Ending a series on a cliffhanger, I got to say, sucks bad.

The plot centers around Chase's uncle coming to seemingly offer help and shelter, but Chase doesn't trust or believe him. Reason being, Chase accidentally got him killed years ago. But according to the uncle, he didn't die, just had to be in the hospital for some time. The plot kind of meanders around this notion for a while, ultimately leading nowhere (because of the cancellation). But the thing that really shocked me is that Old Lace dies while defending a member of the team. While this was impactful and I was sad to see her go, I do feel it was a bit of a forced plot point only to up the ante as far as emotional stakes for the story. Because she has been through it all with the gang, and for her to go out the way she did, it just seemed wasteful.

Sarah Pichelli on the art excited me, because I love her art style. But here we have a much younger version of her, where she is still ironing out her rough edges. There are moments where the art looks awesome and amazing, but there's a lot where... let's just say it doesn't. So while I enjoyed the art from the perspective of seeing a young blossoming talent, some people may not find it as aesthetically pleasing.

Not the best volume of the series, and unfortunately the last one for a while, I thought it was a disservice to the creative team to cancel the book in the middle of their run. With no resolution, the book feels incomplete (duh) and uneven unfortunately. Recommended for die hard fans of the team only.

[Katie K · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m kind of missing the old Runaways. Their personalities are shifting and changing so much. Probably due to all they’ve been through, but still. And what’s up with the ever changing relationships?? I guess you can sum it up to teen hormones…

[Tally · Rating 3 out of 5]

That’s the end?

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm knocking off a full star out of sheer spite because they killed off Old Lace. Poor girl.

Dickwads.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars
Bummer that this volume marked the end of the series for a while, since it left so many loose ends. I liked the art, but I wasn’t thrilled with the story. To be fair, there was probably a plan for wrapping it up better, and the series must have gotten canceled without enough notice to carry it out.
The Young Avengers issue at the end of the book didn’t do it for me either. It was pretty over-the-top with villainy.

[Kaethe · Rating 5 out of 5]

From the very beginning, when the runaways learn that their parents are evil, grief has been a recurring motif. The teens have lost their families, their homes, their innocence, and at various times in various ways, one another. This final volume* doesn't resolve everything, it doesn't resolve anything I don't suppose, but it gives over to the grief.

It was moving, and not in a forced, sentimental way. I hated for it to end.

*Please, let this not be the end. Please, please, please, let someone else decide to continue on with the story. It's such a good set-up, and it's so emotionally rewarding to read about young characters who are questioning everything in a very high-stakes setting.

Library copy.

[Maya · Rating 2 out of 5]

What even was going on in this one? I wiki'd after finishing it to see wtf happens next but I guess they just dropped it and all is well? What's the deal with Hunter? Also it was really confusing, one second they were in the house, the next outside, and then back in it again, and then they were somewhere else in the house which was brightly lit? Meh.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

I cannot believe Old Lace died. Not much action in this story. And why introduce Uncle Stein into the story?

[Jana · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5*

[talia · Rating 1 out of 5]

wtf??? was that meant to be an ending??

[Christian · Rating 1 out of 5]

Borderline incomprehensible. The Runaways throw a little prom for themselves! I thought that was cute. Molly and Klara watch TV while cuddling up to Old Lace. Which is also cute! And then a plane crashes into the building killing Old Lace. Then Chase's uncle shows up. Chase runs off and sees someone who might be Gert but probably isn't and gets hit by a car. The end! I don't really understand what Immonen was even going for. It's confusing, the dialogue is hard to follow, and it ultimately leads nowhere. I understand that the book was probably cancelled, but they had enough warning to write "The End... for now!" over Chase's almost dead body, so why end it this way? What was the point.
Also, has there ever been a more pointless addition to a team than Klara? Maybe Whedon had ideas of what to do with her but its pretty apparent that nobody else did. Such a disappointing (temporary) end to this book.

What if the Runaways became the Young Avengers is fun, and it's cool to see the characters in costumes. It is, at the very least, a less bitter note to end the series on.

[Brent Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unfortunately, I found this to be a disappointing installment in the Runaways series. Without any major spoilers, the basic premise here is that our intrepid protagonists have yet another home fall into ruins, here with an aircraft that crashes into their Malibu retreat. Hijinks, drama, and tension ensue.

Despite having a wonderful visit with some of my favorite characters, I fear the whiplash effect of changing writers so many times over the course of the past several volumes led to exponentially greater challenges for each subsequent author as each tried to put the story back on course. That being said, I feel Immonen had a vision for where the series could go, but Marvel ultimately ended cancelling the series only a few issues into her run, and well before her vision could be realized.

But as hope springs eternal, there's always the Rainbow Rowell reboot that could re-establish our Runaways as a tour de force...

[Joshua Bertram · Rating 4 out of 5]

With Kathryn Immonen at the helm, Runaways begins to reclaim some of the former glory that the series had under Brian K Vaughan. It's unfortunate that her short run was too little too late and came just before the series' cancellation. While its ending leaves the heroes in a state of narrative limbo, it's a sad, fitting end (for now), one that does better by Chase Stein and features more emotionally mature moments that some of the previous post-Whedon books. The Runaways are still around after this, just floating through other Marvel titles until getting rebooted in the current Rainbow Rowell series.

The What If? story included at the end is a fun way of making good on a story thread introduced a long time ago, having the team battle Victorious (the future version of team member Victor Mancha).

[nae · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's sad to know that this won't have any continuation, cause even though it wasn't that interesting at the beginning and a little bit boring, I really liked how the last two issues were heading, and yes... It ended in a horrible cliffhanger and I will never know what the hell happened. Still there is the new series so I'll read them so I can see if it's worth it.

I really loved to read this characters, every single one of them has a different personality and makes them interesting to read. Though in the last volumes they were experiencing big changes that come with being young adults and not teenagers anymore. So yeah, I liked that development, I wish I could read more about that but well...

[Nelson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an enjoyable arc. Not as good as BKV or Whedon, but probably about as good as Terry Moore's stuff. I appreciate the fact that Kathryn Immomen attempted to up the stakes a bit instead of just writing another inconsequential adventure. Along with the big thing that happens (not gonna spoil it), she also introduces a new supporting character. It's a shame the series got canceled because I liked the direction she was taking it in. Hopefully, the new series (Rainbow Rowell's) picks up some of these story threads, so they don't end up forgotten (even if it has been like 8 years).

[Martin Kurniadi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now this is more like it: the episodes are getting good.

It shifted back to the old Pride memories, where one character have blood connection with the mains. There are sad parts in it (yes, I feel sad), and then felt like it can be more dramatized - the characters can be more concerned about it.

Any other than that, I think this was a good volume with a cliffhanger on the end.

I just hope the new issue comes quickly.

[Felipe · Rating 1 out of 5]

no me da ni lata el cliffhanger, porque siento que esto ya ni era canon. matan a Old Lace sólo porque ya no saben qué hacer. Los personajes tienen cambios de personalidad de una página a otra. La historia no tiene coherencia y es aburrida. Tenía la esperanza de ver más de los poderes de Klara, se ven pero no tiene ningún sentido. Ojalá que la versión de Rainbow Rowell le haga justicia a los personajes.

[Freya Jadormio · Rating 1 out of 5]

I regret reading this volume. The plot was terrible. Some parts are like leftovers recycled from previous volumes. I like the art but in some windows, the drawings seemed to have been drawn in a rush. The entire story itself seemed to have been written in a rush. I don't recognize the characters' personalities at all especially with Nico. They made her look dumb throughout the story. I must say I'm disappointed with how the story turned out.

[Emily · Rating 1 out of 5]

Probably the only Runaways comic I didn't like at all. I know none of the authors post-Vaughn have really been able to capture the runaways personalities, but this just completely ignores all character development for everyone.

Like, that Victor and Chase scene calling girls "easy?" I mean, Victor would never.

Anyways, now that I'm caught up, I can finally start the Rainbow Rowell series. Yay! Deanoru forever.

[Steven Shinder · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm unhappy with the death of a certain someone. And I did not realize that this would end on a cliffhanger that apparently doesn't get resolved. I guess Marvel canceled the series after this? The dialogue and art were fine, but this was such a bummer. The zenith of Runaways was really when Brian K. Vaughan was running the title. I'm curious about whether Rainbow Rowell's take on the series is any good, but it may be a while before I get to it.