After the last long, drawn-out, and over-serious story arc, Runaways needed some fresh blood and they definitely needed to get back to California. (They were totally losing their tan base. Ba-da-dum!) On paper the team of Moore and Ramos sounds fantastic, and they delivered in a lot of ways. So how come I’m left disappointed?

Well, let’s start with the art. I’ve been a fan of Ramos since his run on Wolverine 2 years ago, and I would gladly gobble up anything he draws. Something that Ramos definitely likes to do is put his own signature on characters. It is kind of a stylized approach and it can lead to some really inspired interpretations that capture the core of a character in a new way. But it can be a bit jarring at times. Xavin doesn’t really have the look or feel of what I’m used to. In fact, the first thing I thought was “Alex Wilder is back again?” Another distraction to the art is the coloring. There are some really odd color choices and weird tones here that make the art go flat, especially in the middle act. I just saw some preview pages online, and they looked a bit better, so I wonder if maybe I got a dark print run or something. But overall, the art is dynamic and fun, and this is totally a good look for the team going forward.

Now as for the writing, I’m not the biggest Terry Moore fan but strangely I was excited about his debut on this book. And I think he really got the team dynamic right and brought back the fun in a big way. But there are some Moore-isms, some departures from the world’s basic logic principles, that irritated me. Like when everyone agreed that Chase was the one who should get a job because he was 18. What? In the world I live in, 16-year-olds can get a job. Can’t they? I don’t remember any of my employers asking me for anything other than my social. This is a nitpick. And I admit the conceit led to a good part of the story. But it’s nagging little details like these that took me out of SIP and I hope they don’t turn into a distraction on this book.

Okay, so I said I was disappointed, but I talked myself out of it. This is a promising start, if I have my reservations.