I discovered the Runaways a little late. The nice thing was I bought the two (nice) hardcovers and got to devour all the stories quickly. You always become hesitant when the creative team changes on a comic, let alone the Man, Brian K., actually created the comic. I am a Whedon fan. It's almost like, how can you not be. He always brings life to the characters. They feel more than simply two-dimensional. And the interviews I read were true, he really does know these characters.

Reading this issue, you almost wouldn't know that things have changed. All the characters are still behaving true to their nature. I like that now we're gonna see them in New York City for a bit. Let's see how they react with others.

But then there's that darm continuity thing. The Kingpin is here in power. So when does this story take place? Wilson Fisk was at Ryker's until Matt Murdock got him off (not like that) and Fisk had to give up his citizenship. So if he's out of prison and walking the streets, I don't get when this is supposed to take place. Sure Kingpin's bound to return to New York but that hasn't happened yet. Maybe Whedon would be safer keeping the Runaways in LA where these kind of problems don't occur as often.

Everything else was great. I love the art and colors. They almost jump off the page at ya. Why only four stars? Where as the story, art, and dialogue were all spot on, not a whole lot happened. It's a great issue but it's not the perfect Runaways comic. I have no doubt that Whedon will earn that fifth star real soon.

I saw this somewhere on Comic Vine and I thought I might review it and from reading this story, I can see the theme in this comic, if not the whole Runaways' comic and what it’s like growing up and maturing with age. I think this may touch on issues with teenagers that they may be afraid to discuss, or are perhaps confused with these certain issues of teenage-hood like sexuality, relationships and losing close friends and family (Chase's supposed teen suicide). I dedicate most of my rating to that, as most comics do appeal to teenagers. After two years, writer/creator Brian K. Vaughn is leaving with Joss Whedon filling his shoes. Whedon is the perfect choice for runaway teenagers as he can understand these teenagers, and the way he executes actions for each character is constant. His humour and action fit in perfectly. Vaughn has also gotten Super Skrull to really be one with the team, and Whedon puts that out really well and his dialogue is great, as he uses one-liners but they can be interpreted as deep conversations and with Nico, not sure whether she should be leader or not, it goes really well with the dialogue.

But here comes to negatives. Marvel here have been trying to establish the Runaways in the 616 universe, but they aren’t doing a very good job even though they have had some cameo appearances here and there. In the last panel of issue #24, they are seen running away from Iron Man when he gets them to register (Superman Registration Act) and Chase tells them to run for it. So they leave California, which is totally understandable seeing as they are runaway kids. So where do they go to become big? New York, New York! And there, they decide to work for someone called… I won't ruin the surprise, as that's probably the climax of issue #24. But what I don’t understand is why they would escape their villainous parents, to run back to some other villain? It is okay that they are taking a main role in the Marvel Universe, but I don’t think this is the right way doing it. They are just confusing readers. Another downfall I saw in this issue is that when Whedon came in, I just wondered why he didn’t take the storylines that leave you hanging, as he goes and continues ones that aren't bad, but can do better. This confuses the storyline even more, as there is no mention of the Nico/Victor relationship. Instead, he gives us the Nico/Karolina love story which was meant to be resolved, but according to Whedon, it’s not because there are four pages devoted to it.

Looking back on other issues, I see the differences in art, and Adrian Alphona’s is sure different as Michael Ryan’s art is the total opposite from Alphona. Ryan's flow from one panel to another is excellent and his body language and face expressions are superb. This issue a must to pick up too, even for new readers as Whedon does a good job on background information for each character and if you are a regular reader, you are guaranteed to enjoy it.

After over 40 issues written by Brian K. Vaughan, Joss Whedon has the impossible task of replacing him. I'm one of "those" people who actually enjoy his characterizations on Astonishing X-Men so I was looking forward to what he was going to do with my favorite teenage misfits.

I've taking a look at various reviews before writing this, because I thought other people were seeing something that I was missing. Even though it's a good issue, I had several problems with it.

The first problem I had that comes to mind is that they are in New York, because they want to "spend some time" there and "chill out". If your runaways and you know that there's a super-human registration act, and you know that you're already on the Avengers radar... why the hell would you go to New York of all places? It's the mecca of the super-hero community in the Marvel Universe. You can't cross the street in New York without bumping into a super-hero or a super-villain. I'm hoping that it's revealed in an up coming issue that there's more to them coming to New York then to just simply "chill out".

My other gripe is that it's been well established now for 40 plus issues that these kids don't trust adults... not even the super-heroes. With that said, the person they go see in New York for help in "hiding out" makes very little sense. If they wouldn't trust someone like Captain America, why in god's name would they trust this guy?! I don't want to spoil who it is... but it makes very little sense. It also brings up some continuity problems for said character that have been established in other titles recently, and over the last year.

What I did enjoy about this character however is that he was able to put the kids in their place. BKV had a tendency to have the kids always one-up the adults in every situation they were in, and this time they are made to feel very small and out of their league.

The characterization of the "team" is ok, but it does feel like they've lost something. That is perfectly understandable considering that both Runaways series were entirely written by the same person and suddenly we have Joss Whedon taking over. Whedon is a capable writer and should be able to find their "voice" soon enough.

Although I did think the issue was good, I wasn't as blown away by it as most people.