Bringing small-time Marvel heroes Cloak and Dagger into Runaways is a clever bit of guest casting, certainly more interesting than yet another appearance in a new comic by Wolverine or Spider-Man. Given that these two heroes were runaways themselves, they make an interesting adversary for the team, and Vaughan does a nice job setting up believable circumstances for these two teams to clash. He's joined on this story by Takeshi Miyazawa, whose youthful characters and manga-influenced cute style turns out to be a pretty good match for the book and an ideal match for characters like Dagger and the young Molly. In fact, this issue's cliffhanger might not have the punch of most Runaways issue, but it could get an award for cutest cliffhanger ever.
One thing that Runaways had going for it early on was a certain unpredictability, because it was difficult to guess where Vaughan was going with this unusual premise. To some extent, the status quo has settled in on the book, and having one of the characters comment that the superhero misunderstanding is a cliche doesn't really save it from being a cliche, but Vaughan does still manage to keep the reader guessing. The inclusion of the Pride as a running set of characters, as opposed to just a nebulous background villain, is a good choice that keeps the mystery of whether or not the Runaways will in fact be reunited with their parents going.
However, while the Pride and its conspiracy supervillain schemes are interesting, what really makes the book is the look at teenage heroes. Or, more specifically, teenagers with powers who want to be heroes. While Vaughan isn't even pretending to be writing a book set in the "real world," his take on superhero tropes like codenames, secret bases and patrolling the streets is more of a realistic take, erring on the side of the somewhat funny. I love that the team goes cruising for trouble and only happens to find a couple of graffiti artists, and I got a big kick out of Molly's costume comments. Not to mention, as I mentioned earlier, her role in the cutest cliffhanger ever. Vaughan also has a fun take on Cloak and Dagger, ignoring a lot of the later (and lamer) continuity and getting them back to their role of early teen heroes. I particularly enjoyed Cloak being concerned more about their image than he lets on.
I've enjoyed Adrian Alphona's work and hope that he'll return to the book, but Takeshi Miyazawa and David Newbold do some terrific work in this issue. There's a playful, cute appearance on the face of Dagger that I really like, and he does an equally impressive job of making Cloak look mysterious and writhed in shadow while keeping enough of a human face to make him expressive. Miyazawa doesn't get a chance to show off his action skills all that much, but he does get a couple of key moments with Dagger, including an acrobatic leap, that really says a lot about the character.
Runaways has a light, fun style that is lacking in a lot of superhero books, and that's very clear throughout this issue. Playful digs at the origin of Cloak and Dagger or their B-grade status (which is probably overestimating them, if anything) mix with a story that plays them as competent if easily duped, and the interaction between the Runaways, though fraught with believable tension, is also a lot of fun.
