Brian K. Vaughan Archives

Saga-Vol05 Happy unofficial end to summer that is really just an end to wearing white pants, because really no one wanted to see you in white pants.

Okay, you probably either already know about that or don’t care, so I’ll stick to the topic. This post covers all of the collected comics and graphic novels out this week. It is more than just a list because I’ve researched each book to give you the context. It’s a guide to what each collection is about and what you might want to pick up to get there.

This is an odd week for comic collections – one obvious blockbuster, a few interesting entries, and a lot of things I’m not so familiar with. I suppose it’s not the best idea to ship a big bounty right after a holiday and with schools and colleges back in session? As a reminder, Amazon is sometimes 1-2wks behind the direct market on these releases.

Let’s go!

Crush of the Week: Saga, Vol. 5 – Collecting #25-30.

If you’ve never read Saga before, it’s an unusual series that can’t be entirely summed up. It’s worth it to try the first bargain-priced trade, which introduces this ragtag group of regular people, bounty hunters, and robotic royalty. Plus a truth-diving cat.

Truth be told, I found the last trade of Saga to be a bit flat – high on acrimonious domesticity and everyone was awful to each other. Space-faring was grounded and terrible choices took center stage, as did Alana as she starred in a popular interplanetary soap opera. Yes, really. I know that’s the story Vaughan is telling, but I don’t like stories with no one to root for. While that still might be the case in this trade, now everyone is coming together (Gwendolyn! Lying Cat! Prince Robot!) and I think we’ll get a hint of the broader plot in store for us. In Vaughan’s other landmark series we’d be at about the halfway point, but he’s said he intends for this to run longer than Y The Last Man and Ex Machina (both highly-recommended!), so who knows where we might wind up from here?

Interesting Unknown: Steven Universe, Vol. 1 TP – Collecting #1-4.

I’ve heard nothing but effusive praise from my adult friends on this cartoon about adventures, identity, and consent. After turning their My Little Pony license into a machine and watching BOOM! have a breakout hit with Adventure Time, I think IDW knows how to make this a success. The interesting thing is that I get the feeling is still slightly under the radar – it’s not an Adventure Time sized hit already, nor does it have as much content and fandom amassed as when that comic began.

Now let’s take a look at what Marvel, Dark Horse, DC, IDW, Image, Valiant, and other publishes have in store for us this week! [Read more…] about Newly Released Graphic Novels & Collected Comics – Sept. 8, 2015 Edition

The definitive, chronological, and up-to-date guide on collecting Runaways comic books via omnibuses, hardcovers, and trade paperback graphic novels. A part of Crushing Krisis’s Crushing Comics. Last updated November 2024 with titles scheduled for release through January 2025.

The Runaways are a unique gift to the Marvel Universe from author Brian K. Vaughan, who would later write such modern classics of the medium as Y: The Last Man, Ex Machina, and Saga.

The Runaways are are a team that are not a team and a heroes that don’t mean to be heroes. They’re just kids – regular, average kids. They aren’t even friends with each other.

Instead, they are thrust together by the insane circumstance of their parent’s plotting. Some of them discover inherent powers they were never aware of, while others inherit special artifacts or technology, but they are kids first and super-powered teens second.

Over time that initial direction has faded, new cast members have been added, and the Runaways have begun to make more connections across the Marvel Universe.

Yet, part of the continuing gift of the Runaways – and part of why their new connections are so interesting – is that they never needed to be in the Marvel Universe in order to exist. Vaughan could have just as easily penned them as a creator-owned title. It’s surprising he did not, as Marvel was long since out of the game of creating new teams of characters wholesale without attaching them to another franchise.

As a result, the Runaways cast offers something magical every time they do bump up against a Marvel stalwart. Those characters seem more fantastical to the Runaways than they do to us as readers, which in turn helps us to see them with new eyes.

Over time, these random characters thrust together and forced to be friends and occasional heroes have transformed into Marvel’s most-modern family – a family of that chose each other, and will support each other until the end.