Everything that is really cool about Runaways has showed up in this two-parter co-starring Cloak & Dagger, including subtle characterization, interesting secrets and fun dialogue. I was willing to give Vaughan and Miyazawa full points just for making the potentially interesting but rarely actually interesting Cloak & Dagger cool again, but I'm all the more impressed that they managed to use these guest stars as a pretty good spark for development in the characters, including a scene to remind us how nasty the Runaways' parents can be and a reminder about a nasty little secret that I had sort of let drift to the back of my mind. Runaways is an example of the kind of Marvel comic we could all use more of, having fun with superhero cliches without being embarrassed by them, featuring wholly new characters and concepts without losing touch with the coolness of a cohesive shared universe and always featuring a solid blend of action and that talky stuff that the kids like nowadays.
What I loved about the fights between Cloak & Dagger and the regular cast was that they weren't what you called predictable. The guest stars, C-list heroes at best, just whomped up on these rookie heroes in their own book, something of a rarity in comics. Then the guest stars got taken down by two of the weaker members of the team, which might be something a little more familiar to comic readers, but which comes with such weird touches of originality (like the use of a dinosaur against Dagger, or Molly's surprising method of defeating Cloak) that make it unusual and fun.
Actually, Vaughan is doing a really good job of balancing the fun and the serious aspects of the book. Molly's attitude about the whole thing, like she's on a grand adventure, is just adorable, and that makes it all the more harsh when Vaughan has a character remind her of the reality when she's offering up her parent's help to a temporarily depowered Cloak. The absolute joy that the characters have when they realize that Cloak & Dagger can hook them up with some superpowered backup lets the characters leave on something of a high note, even when we as readers find out that the backup probably isn't coming. And I loved that finale, where the team enjoys a celebration typical of teens, unaware that they face pretty significant non-team problems from inside their own group.
Vaughan throws a couple major clues about the identity of the mole in this issue (Alex's non-starter talk with Nico might have indicated something, but then again, Chase suggested they stop and gave the mole time to check in), but it's still almost anybody's game, and I love that. In addition, while one could complain that the mystery is being dragged out, given that it's been several issues since we found out about the mole, as a subplot it's devloping nicely and with just the right amount of time, and there's plenty happening in the main plot of the book at any rate. Vaughan has actually done a pretty good job of subtly doling out the characterization there, too, with Caroline's relief at the lack of powers saying a lot about her character, and Chase's fear inside the Dark Dimension giving us a glimpse at his more vulnerable side.
Takeshi Miyazawa, best known for his work on Oni's Sidekicks, did a terrific job on this two-parter, and I hope we see him on these pages the next time Alphona needs a fill-in. His Cloak & Dagger had the perfect iconic cool of those characters while still maintaining a sort of teenaged innocence at the right moments (such as Dagger's hurt realization that the kids don't even know her name, or her defensive reaction to criticism about her costume), and while we could have used a little more distinction between Molly, Dagger and Caroline, in general the characters are well-defined and the work by colorist Brian Reber takes care of any potential confusion.
