Runaways #6 - "Dead Wrong, Part Six" (Writer: Terry Moore,
Penciler: Humberto Ramos, Inker: Dave Meikis,
Colorist: Christina Strain)
(jump to last issue)
Chase attacks the Majesdanians, which means that his friends can't afford to hide anymore, and they realize they soon have to reach an accomodation to deal with them once and for all.
This is the end of Moore's first arc, and there is a big change in that the Majesdanians leave, having been satisfied with taking Karolina into custody for trial. Except it's really Xavin, of course, who sacrificed him/herself for his/her love.
Now, I never especially warmed to Xavin, so if somebody had to go, I'm glad it was him, and at least it's done in a way that allows him to return pretty easily. But at the same time it felt cheap. It's practically the easiest solution when you have a shapeshifter on the team, and very similar things have been done before. It also doesn't hold up to much scrutiny, since it requires the Majesdanians to be pretty dumb, to not at least check.
It's also kind of another example of the whole 'break up the couple for cheap drama' school of writing. This is especially a problem in this case, because the Karolina/Xavin relationship has the potential for loads of drama just because of its complexity. She's gay, and he's a shapeshifting male who's transformed himself into a woman to be with her. Even beyond the usual questions about whether he's just 'pretending', or 'really' a girl (whatever that means for a shapeshifter), or what form he considers his default, there's the mindset behind their upbringing (him being an alien), and whether the whole relationship is fair to either of them.
Even beyond that, the issue, and therefore the arc, sort of fizzled and fell flat. While it might be interesting to see where the team goes from here, there's only 3 issues left in Moore's run, so it's a little harder to just be generous and say it's off to a shaky start. Instead, it's looking like the whole run may be a bit of a misfire if he doesn't really improve things in his last three issues.
Review: 3 stars
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Well, that's it for this week folks. Next week, according to the shipping list, it's another skip week. I'll probably be back in two with Captain Britain and MI-13.
See you next time...
Peter Dimitriadis
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