Runaways, Vol. 7: Live Fast

Runaways (2003-2009) (Collected Editions)

by Brian K. Vaughan, Adrian Alphona (Illustrator), Mike Norton (Illustrator)

The Runaways say good-bye to the past, and make hard decisions about their future. Plus: Still reeling from the events of Civil War: Young Avengers/Runaways, the teenage heroes must now confront a horrific enemy who threatens to tear the team apart!

Collects Runaways #19-24.

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

144 pages, Paperback

First published May 9, 2007

About the author

Brian K. Vaughan is the writer and co-creator of comic-book series including SAGA, PAPER GIRLS, Y THE LAST MAN, RUNAWAYS, and most recently, BARRIER, a digital comic with artist Marcos Martin about immigration, available from their pay-what-you-want site www.PanelSyndicate.com

BKV's work has been recognized at the Eisner, Harvey, Hugo, Shuster, Eagle, and British Fantasy Awards. He sometimes writes for film and television in Los Angeles, where he lives with his family and their dogs Hamburger and Milkshake.

Reviews

[Baba · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first story 'Dead Means Dead' sees Chase not dealing well with death, as his team mates fight a very big, supersized huge monster. Then Adrian Alphona's art's (it's great) back for the second half of this volume in 'Live Fast, where Chase goes for broke. Fabulously interesting storytelling from a gender fluid Xavin with his/her identity crisis through to the youngsters trying to deal with death. 8 out of 12.

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brian K. Vaughan leaves the book on a high note. The Runaways learn how to process the loss of their teammate and move on with their lives. The humor is still there, but so is some sadness too.
Christina Strain's coloring makes this book look consistently good across Mike Norton and Adrian Alphona's art. I think she's the unsung hero of this creative team.

[Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fitting end for the Vaughan run.

Growing up, indeed. I'm kinda sad about parts of it, but it's all bittersweet in the end.

Decent. Quite decent. I'm glad I read these. :)

[Scarlet Cameo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This volumen is sad, sooo sad. Let's see...over the years we saw a lot of superheroes die, but there's just few moments when we could see how it affects their friends. I know that must exists, but here they meet each other since they born, all of them are completely broken, not as a team but as a human, and that's something new. We see a really different face of all of them, especially Chase.

Again, they have to make choices, but not as easy as going to fight against someone but choose between accept the things you can't chance or be stupid if you find a dessesperate way to change it.

This decision was absolutely stressful, i wanna hit somebody to make the madness stop and, at the same, i need to know how they will going to fix it.

I don't know if i'm going to continue with the volumes that weren't write by BKV but, with thisone, i know i'm going to miss theses guys. Even more, the end make me wish to see what's going to happen Nextel but...i know who is the next writer and i can partly figure out where this going to go and...probably gonna be really different, not bad, just different. So...idk.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

And so Brian K. Vaughan departs the book he created and somebody better call me a whaambulance! At least he leaves us with another great volume of Runaways.

I suppose if he’d not left Runaways we might never have got Saga, so I can live with that...

[sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm so sad that this is where Brian K Vaughn's run ends! He's done such an amazing job with this series and i wish it was longer! I know another team takes over and it goes up to volume 11 however i haven't heard great things about those volumes so I'm going to finish up here, but I'm content with that as this was an epic 7 volumes!

Seriously this series is so good! I was surprised at first by how much i enjoyed it and genuinely liked all the characters. There's so much action, humour and heart. I was never bored and the story never felt like it dragged, all the volumes were action packed and interesting.

The character development from volume one to now has been so good all the characters have matured so much and are all so unique.

In this volume in particular i loved the dark turn that Chase took and how we got to see a different side to him that was really interesting. The death in volume 6 broke my heart but i did enjoy seeing all the characters ways of dealing with their grief in this volume.

I highly recommend picking up this series! It's such a fun, action packed adventure that will make you fall hopelessly in love with all the runaways and their crazy story!

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh that snappy Vaughan dialogue! It's refreshing to come back to his take on the Marvel-verse from a decade or so ago. Love the offhand references to Civil War, etc.

I still think the Gibborim are the silliest looking Marvel villains ever, though- and that takes some doing!

[RG · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great conclusion to Vaughans run. I probably wont continue with Whedons or further from here, as I have heard it becomes a little hit and miss.

[Marc *Dark Reader with a Thousand Young! Iä!* · Rating 3 out of 5]

Now the series shows some quality? In volume 7??? Better late than never, for a touch of Vaughan's usual quality writing to appear. The characters finally get some genuine emotional beats, as they grieve over a lost comrade, marking the first time in the series that there is anything approaching an authentic reaction to past events. There is a welcome lack of C-list guest characters. The artwork is improved over previous volumes as well, and there is a nice cliffhanger that actually makes me want to read the final volume.

[Cisz Geverink - Strasters · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can't get enough!!!

[Nea Poulain · Rating 4 out of 5]

It broke my heart, but then again, I like when stories do that.

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well I’m not sure I’m continuing this?!
I’m here for Brian K., peeps.
If he didn’t author it, I’m ambivalent about reading the rest

[Wing Kee · Rating 3 out of 5]

A reaction to the events of the last arc, good and fine.

World: The art is good in the sense that the characters are wonderful, the color scheme is a bit bland but I know this is to ground the book in realism so I'm okay with that. The world building here is good, it adds to what happened last arc and plays on the natural progression of the world after it. The stage is set for the drama to play out.

Story: The story is expected as we deal with the fallout of the last arc. The pacing is good but the story is expected. Chase reacting the way he would and the outcome were also expected. It is a very fast read and enjoyable aftermath book to give the series a new direction after what happened. The Gibborum end was kinda meh but it does leave us with something to look forward to in the next arc. It was a fitting end for the Vaughan run.

Characters: Fun little character interactions with well written banter. The team is pretty much fully formed and characters are set in their place. There are still pieces here and there of development but yeah they are familiar to readers now so no surprises. I like the Xavin because he represents opportunity for new stories and drama, but I do find him a bit bland.

A good end to Vaughan's run.

Onward to the next book!

[Caitlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Volume 7, the Runaways deal with the repercussions of losing a teammate and how to kve on and feel normal again. I enjoyed seeing how they each dealt with their grief and the ending was interesting, I'll be curious to see if the Gibborim show up again.

[harper swan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I hate nico and robot guy dating he's literally like a computer I HATE it. All so I liked nico and chase as friends so why did the story have to ruin it by them kissing cause now she doesn't really like him (even though its HER fault because she kisses HIM while he was dating her BEST FRIEND so obviously he was mad.) and tells robot guy that if chase does anything dumb like that again "we'll rip his heart out" which chase had said about the robot guy in the 4th book and its just sad it ended between them that way. Even though the robot guy didn't end up killing gertrude he was going to and gertrude was nicos best friend so why would they EVER date??
Anyways it was really sad that he couldnt resurrect gert but it was for the best i guess.
I wish there was one more book in the series of them
Anyways I didn't really get the ending it felt rushed and it ended when a ton of hero's find their hide out and then it ends, and then I didn't really get the last page with the gibborium and Alex

The ending was missing closure
2.9/5 stars

[Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

Pretty good follow up to the last volume Runaways, Vol. 6: Parental Guidance. It's obviously a very emotional one about loving someone who has passed and hurting from that loss.
I love the lead-up to Chase going back to the Gibborim -it's very cheeky and obviously leading. Goodness, I loved Chase and Gert. :(
I still think Vaughan likes to kill off his mains (especially ones who are romantic partners) for his plot. It's very much a cheap plot device I don't like.

Victor gets tossed (lol Wolverine's fastball special), Xavian's identity gets questioned & we get a surprise cameo at the end from limbo Alex chilling with the Gibborim for all eternity, heyo! Sad it wasn't Gert whispering to Molly, but pretty cool none the less.

[Alex Sarll]

Ahead of trying the TV series, I finished off Vaughan’s original run with the teen superheroes who discovered their parents really were evil - and it’s hard not to feel that he was a little less enthusiastic by this point. There’s a certain amount of retreading old ground, which could be taken as bringing the story full circle, but none of it feels as urgent anymore. It’s not terrible – to use the sort of pop culture terms the protagonists might, we’re talking last season Buffy rather than last season Roseanne. But certainly one ends it feeling glad that he didn’t try to push on any further, even if nobody’s seemed quite sure what to do with these characters since.

[Tiffany Lynn Kramer · Rating 4 out of 5]

The change in art style at the beginning through me but aside from that this was a perfect volume, touching on how everyone handles grief differently. I think a lot of people who lose someone unexpectedly can sympathize with Chase.

[Joana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm sad this is the last volume from Brian K Vaughan and also from Alphona...
And this one was definitely heartbreaking, but it dealt very well with the consequences of the the end of the last volume - very interesting choices and so much pain...
Also really LIKE that Karolina is back - I LOVE her!! And I also like that we're getting to know Xavin - I hope they're gonna explore Xavin's relationship with gender a bit more - is that even a thing/concept that exists where Xavin comes from?
Really GREAT volume and exciting end!!!

[Elinor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ah là là cette série, cette série... avec le petit récap de Runaways Saga je me rends bien compte à quel point tous les arcs auront été géniaux du début à la fin. Petite préférence pour l'arc de Victor et l'arc de Xavin, je les aime tous les deux.

[Tom Malinowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

The team deals with the death of their own from the previous volume. Victor is well liked now that there's a new person on the team, Xavin. Chase contacts the Gibborum and they give him a possible answer to a deadly question he poses. Good stuff!

[Natalie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't like the art for this one and it was quite sad because Gert and Chase's spiral.

[Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as strong as the beginning of the series but it as still really enjoyable. The artwork is still Alphona which I really like. It's fast paced with witty dialogue. Molly has really grown on me because she's grown as a character. Same as Xavin.

[Corey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I need to stop being adhd when reading books

[Liz (Quirky Cat) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m continuing onward in my journey to read all of the Runaways comics before September. Having read volume 7, I’m not officially only a decade behind! That’s worth celebrating, right? Live Fast takes place after the events of Civil War, which explains some of the tension as well as some of the references made (Nico stating that they’re all unregistered super heroes and thus at risk of being arrested, for example. Or you know, the ending).



Chase isn’t handling Gert’s death all that well, which shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. When he had first heard about how Gert would die in the future, he didn’t take that too well either, and swore he’d do everything in his power to event that from ever happening; including killing the boy that supposedly directly caused her death – even if that meant killing him before he became a supervillian. It gives you a good perspective for just how poorly chase is taking this turn of events.
So desperate to get Gert back, Chase is even willing to bargain with the Giborim in order to get them to bring her back to life (credit to Chase: he asked for the fine print before he agreed to this bargain). Ultimately he doesn’t end up doing what they asked of him, but the temptation was real and very strong for the poor guy.
Alongside all of these events, Karoline and her betrothed, Xavin, appear to be back on earth for good. They’re adjusting to life on earth, as it is a whole new experience for Xavin (who is more used to a war torn universe). The team are likewise having trouble adjusting to Xavin, as they are male in their natural form, but prefer to be in a female form (at least in part for Karolina’s sake). The rapid transitions back and forth are jarring to a bunch of kids unused to seeing that much shapeshifting. Seeing them come to terms with Xavin was really endearing however, as was Molly’s revelation that Xavin (a Super-Skrull) puts everybody else’s comfort and safety above their own. It shows that you don’t have to be human to act humane.
As mentioned above; the Runaways are now fighting as unregistered super heroes, which makes them actively hunted targets (more so than when they were just Runaways and truant cases). This means that literally every fight they choose to have risks bringing the attention of the Avengers or another team. A relevant point – considering Iron Man (the leader of the registration act) tracks them down in the end. I’m curious to see where that one goes!
On the whole, this volume was more focused on character interaction and development than anything else, and I’m ok with that. We sort of needed them to take a step back and figure out what was going on inside their heads before watching them move on. I can’t wait to see what happens in volume 8!


For more reviews, check out Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks

[Blythe Penland · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this graphic novel was crazy and great, but ultimately ended with me confusedly crying. I guess I was supposed to read the Civil War novel after this one, but the order doesn't seem to matter all that much for crossovers. Sheesh, man, there was a crap-ton of stuff in these issues that I probably won't even get to it all in this review. I missed Gert more than I thought humanly possible. Her passing messed up Chase so badly and it took quite a toll on the rest of the Runaways as well. Nico was kind of right to shame herself for getting with Victor. I like Victor and all, and there's no possible way for him to become Victorious now that Gert's dead, but this just makes Nico look bad. She's been with Alex, Topher, Chase (attempted), and now Victor. She really has got a problem. Although, I think I might ship it. I don't know if I can trust my shipping skills, though, because the last time I shipped Nico with someone was Alex and we all know how that went. I almost wonder if Nico, even though she's the leader and everything, is the most unstable of them all. Her emotions seem to run all over the place, landing her in the arms of the nearest boy. But I guess we all grieve in our own ways. I didn't realize that they had buried Gert behind the Hollywood sign. That's kind of cool, but I kind of wonder what Gert would think about it. Would she be upset that her body's final resting place was right next to a symbol of a lot of things that's wrong with America and the patriarchy and girls' body images or would she be content to know that as a sort of 'FU' to the movie and TV industry? I find it interesting that the Leapfrog told Molly that Gert was in heaven to make her feel better. The Leapfrog was a bit useless without Chase, which made me sad 'cause I missed Chase. I still hold a grudge against Xavin. I don't know, he/she is like an obligation for Karolina that never needed to happen and proves the Deans' control over their daughter from beyond the grave. He was also insensitive to Gert's death, which was way uncool. I felt bad for that old guy that owned the antique shop and lost his wife. Somehow the Gibborim make their way into every complied novel of the Runaways. I didn't appreciate being tricked by the writer into thinking that Chase had turned dark. He never intended to kill Lotus, that homeless kid, or Nico. But it seemed like he did, and that's what scared me. He was obsessed with bringing Gert back, which might have been admirable had it not been so damaging to his character and the lengths he was willing to go to in order to...what? Give up his existence just so Gert could live in the world again? What kind of life is that? I don't think I'd ever thought about what would happen when the Pride's kids started growing older. They're honestly pretty ageist, so seeing Chase as 18 years old and them still accepting him was somewhat surprising. Xavin needs to start getting over his/her problem with robots. His blatant discrimination is getting old and Victor deserves more respect than that after everything he has done for this team. When Chase gave Lotus the Abstract and told her to burn it, I was a little shocked, but I was proud, too, until I found out that Chase had kept some of the pages. And who even knows if Lotus burnt the book? She may have been duped into being a villain, but I'm sure she still has the capacity to use the Abstract for something bad. The Silver Bullet Gang was just a tad pathetic and they kind of resembled the daemon security system from under the La Brea Tar Pits. Speaking of which, I thought it was interesting that that translates to The The Tar Tar Pits. (;D) Nico and Victor's conversation about kids was extremely intriguing. It's amusing to think that Victor wants kids and Nico thinks that if she were to have a baby daddy, she could do a lot worse than Victor. Of course, that raises the question of how a witch and a robot could procreate, but maybe I don't want to know the answer to that one. The second time that Chase went to visit the Gibborim, I thought it was pretty convient that they only had 12 hours before they would waste away from their pocket realm. I appreciate the fact that Molly is a mastermind at board games. She's actually good at a lot of things and she deserves more credit for that. I get Molly's confusion over Xavin's consistently changing sex, but in a world like the one we live in today, there are too many shades of gray to care about the constant switching that Xavin goes through. He/she is also a shapeshifter, so that makes things more complicated as well. Molly's revelation about when the Runaways accept new recruits was saddening. It does only happen when someone dies. Victor came on board after Alex and Xavin after Gert. Kind of crazy when you think about it. Nico's dream was awful, but at least it established that she's still figuring stuff out and she has the right to do that. I didn't realize that Molly's insinuation about Xavin making everyone uncomfortable was going to lead Xavin to shapeshift into Nico. And then to go and hit on Karolina without first announcing yourself as Xavin-what madness! I guess they're all trying to figure out who they are and what they want on this team. Molly's reference to when Blue's Clues changed main actors was absolutely amazing. I mean, that reference was my childhood. But then Molly started hearing a voice and I was over the moon to be under the impression that it was Gert from who knows where. I knew that Chase had probably been abused by his father growing up, but I don't think I realized the full extent of it. That could explain how he's so screwed up. I'll admit it; I was glad to hear Victor call Nico his girlfriend. I was also happy to see that Old Lace could feel that what Chase was doing was wrong and left the Runaways a trail to follow. I never knew that the sacrifice for the Gibborim had to be unwilling. That's pretty sad when you think about it. Nico's finally accepted her relationship with Victor and I at least half-way ship it. I don't think it'll ever get so far as to where the Runaways have to fight Chase again, but I have a problem with Nico and Victor planning to rip his heart out. In fact, I'm pretty certain those were the exact words of Chase after older Gert died in his arms. And he was talking about Victor. Yeah, my love for my OTP of Gert and Chase will surpass anything and everything else. I'm concerned for what Iron Man plans to do about the Runaways. I think the Civil War is still going on, so maybe he won't try to put them in foster homes like Captain America did, but what will he do? I could not believe that Alex ended up in the same afterlife location as the Gibborim and that he was the one advising Molly. I could have sworn that it would be Gert. But here's another plot twist I didn't really want. You know, I like Pat Benatar, too, so I started playing some of her songs while writing this review and it played Hell is For Children. Great song, by the way. In the end, I loved the book, but there are, just bunch of unanswered questions. I recommend this book to fans of Runaways.

[Paul Grubb · Rating 2 out of 5]

This review contains no spoilers.

I figured volume 7 in this series would be hard-pressed to remain on par with the previous volume, which was exceptional. I did not expect it to fall so short of expectations, however. While I still enjoyed reuniting with the characters, I had several issues with this entry in the series:
- uninspired plot lines that sometimes crossed the border into Tropeville.
- forced character shifts that didn't feel organic in any way.
- a heavier hand with the "snappy" dialog than in previous issues (though this series always dances a little on the edge of "cutesy" for me in that regard).
- worst of all, I found the conclusion of the volume to be exceptionally confusing. I studied the key panels and went over them repeatedly in an effort to understand what had happened to resolve the critical conflict, and I have a general theory in my head, but I don't think it's clear at all. I even thought maybe somebody had ripped out a page or two from the book I'd checked out from the library (they hadn't). There's a subtlety and an artistry around clearly telling a story in just a few panels, and this series has typically been great at doing that. Not this time.

I didn't hate it, but it failed to live up to the high standards it has set for itself throughout this series. Looking forward to volume 8, all the same.

[Shera (Book Whispers) · Rating 5 out of 5]

OK, I know why I didn't see, or honestly want, the tragic loss of Gert to happen because I always thought she was the token girl and that she was there to eventually die. Which is sad because she actually ended being a really great character. However, despite that I was hoping that Chase would get offed Gert's death and the affect it's having on Chase is awesome. It's going into dark and scary places and that . . . I love. With "vol 2 issue 23's" ending I was scared witless. Totally witless!

Volume 7 brings up some dark things about Chase's parents and how he coped with things. Glad the "big guys" have officially been laid to rest with Alex, hopefully. That ending . . . and you know comics. Plus, what the gang comes home to!

That being said clearly I loved this volume and I'm really digging Karolina and Xavins. It's a cute coupling that I want to watch bloom.

[Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not going to lie, this volume of Runaways is definitely stressful and sad, but it's more than worth reading and will probably intensify your love for some characters, or get you to like them in the first place if you didn't before.

Members of the group who weren't previously given the time to really explain their emotional and personal mindsets finally got their hour in the sun, amounting to some of the most important and powerful moments in the series.

These issues are probably the one with the most growth and depth so far, and also contains a plot that held my attention the entire way through. If the comics only go downhill from here I won't even be mad.

[Lorna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Runaways Vol.7 (#19-#24): Live fast : ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐(5/5)

Ahora con Xavin en el team y Old Lace a cargo de Chase, los runaways tienen que enfrentarse a la pérdida de uno de sus miembros y a las decisiones que se toman a causa de eso.
Honestamente me pareció un vol. extremadamente triste💔 pero fue excelente.

rating por Issue:
#19: ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5 (4.5/5)
#20: ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5 (4.5/5)
#21: ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5 (4.5/5)
#22: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5/5)
#23: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5/5)
#24: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5/5)