Runaways stands out from the other Tsunami books as the only title to feature a completely new set of characters.  It's also a tricky book to review, since the main plot twist of this issue involves revealing the concept of the series.  So if you haven't read the series yet, and you don't already know what the idea is, I strongly suggest just reading the damn thing and coming back to this review later.

Still here?  Okay.  Runaways is about a group of kids from Malibu who are brought together (and, presumably, go on the run) after learning that their parents have a rather odd secret.  Vaughan and Alphona set themselves a tricky task, since the basic conceit is to set up everything as basically normal and then throw this idea in from nowhere.

They pull it off, largely by playing it as absurd at the same time as they play the kids' reactions seriously.  The real-world idea is teenagers realising that they don't know their parents as well as they thought, which gives it all some psychological credibility to hang onto.

Obviously, the first issue is a set-up piece.  Since the concept calls for the introduction of six main characters and all of their parents, that means that eighteen characters have to be brought in, to some extent, in the course of one issue.  That's a tough sell, and Vaughan's way round it is to focus mainly on Alex and Nico so that we get to know them, while dropping in enough information about the rest of the cast that we'll want to know them better.

The art style seems to have been chosen to appeal to that sought-after manga audience without actually being outright manga itself.  It's based on nice clean linework, with the characters only slightly exaggerated - but just enough to carry off the roundtable scene at the end without a noticeable shift of style.

A solid first issue with an interesting premise, which'll do me fine.

Rating: A-

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