Full discretion up front. I love Joss Whedon. I love Brian K. Vaughan. I love Runaways. I've loved the book from Vaughan's very first issue. But how do I feel about this highly controversial, much maligned six issue run?

Short version? I freakin loved this arc.

First off, real quick, Michael Ryan's art. I like it. I know it's simplistic, but it's also very cartoony while realistic, the same sorta feel that Adrian Alphona sorta went for during his tenure with Vaughan. It does the job and it's expressive and emotional and detailed without being overly wrought. Stylized and unique, I find it's a bonus to the story, not a detractor.

And now, some background and then my little discussion/review thing...

One of the main people who got me into Runaways was Joss Whedon. I remember I went out and blindly bought the first hardcover and the first eighteen issues of the second all at once, sight unseen, and read it in about three nights because it was just so good. Then I heard Joss, himself, was going to take over and I knew I just HAD to be in on that.

I'm not going to lie. His first issue and his second issue were both disappointments. I didn't get it. Joss's love for the characters and who they were and how to write them was undeniable, but it fell kinda flat for me. Then the delays started, and I remember putting Runaways on the bottom of my stack (I'm in the Josh/Conor delayed gratification camp rather than the Ron instant gratification camp when it comes to reading weekly books) simply because it was Joss Whedon and Runaways put together.

The third issue was... okay... But when they had that last page with the Yorkes I nearly shat my pants.

The fourth issue was confusing, and I began to understand everyone's complaints about delays and the massive disappointment that came with this story. I was looking forward to Runaways, and for (I think) one of maybe three times ever, Joss has let me down on a story...

And then the fifth issue happened, and I understood what I needed to do with this book.

See, my mind goes back to what Josh said about Joss's Giant Sized Astonishing X-Men book when he picked it came out, something that completely applies to this six issue run.

I had no idea what was going on, but halfway through I didn't care.

By the time I got to the fifth issue I just said "forget it. Let's see what happens" and I LOVED it. Joss writes good stories, but most comics writers can do that. If Joss was "just that" he wouldn't be as highly revered as I revere him now.

It harkens back to the very first issue of his run, issue number 25, when we were all giddy and optimistic. First issue Quixoticness.

Joss gets characters.

I read this book knowing that I had no idea what was going on with the plot. There was a war and some groups and the Yorkes were involved and... stuff... But I didn't care about that. I just wanted to see what happened with who and how they were treating life. Would Chase meet Gert again? How would Xavin deal with Lillie?

This was just great.

There isn't a single bad character in the book, and Chase (whom I feel even Vaughan had a hard time with after the first, initial series) had one of the most beautiful and heartbreaking moments I've ever read in a comic book ever. The fact that he used the time machine to go forward in time to see Gert, not really to talk to her or hang out, but just to watch her talk on the phone is heart wrenching and powerful and got me a little misty eyed with the everything about that.

But there's more than just that. Nico psychologically tortures the Yorkes (making them play the game while screaming to do otherwise) and Xavin has to leave a girl he's fallen in love with behind and Chase got hisself back the fistigons and there's a new Runaway (don't remember her name, but I can't wait to see what Terry Moore does with her)

Yes, this issue did feel squished, but this book is just so, so much more than just the incredibly dense, incredibly complex plot of story Joss wanted to tell. It's about who these kids are and what they do and how they're together that makes it so good. That's the basic idea of all Runaways ever really was. It, to me, was never really about The Pride or the D&D club or the Gibborrim. They were means to the end of exploring these kids who were put in an incredibly unique and/or difficult situation and how they deal with that.

And at its core, that's all this book really is.