In my spare time, rather than glut on any television, I've been binging New Avengers, starting right at issue #1. It's a really great run of comics, all the way through. I was sold on Mr. Bendis right there and then. His gift for dialogue is where the bar should be set. But I'll get to that stuff, y'know, eventually.
Fairly early into the run, we get the mega-crossover "Civil War." Not to be confused with the similarly-titled, yet completely unrelated, film. Well, mostly completely unrelated. Civil War is one of those stories that only really makes sense in retrospect, knowing from afterward who was manipulating things, and how the war played into this. By itself, it's a bit flawed, though this time around I read as much of the crossover as I have, and the bigger picture is confusing and confounding. As most large-scale crossovers, and real-life political stories, often are. And in that it is successful.
This particular little section is okay, but not great. The Young Avengers, seeing that the Runaways might need some counselling from more mainstream heroes their own age, get into the inevitable hero smackdown before a tentative alliance is formed when Marvel Boy is sent by S.H.I.E.L.D. to take them all down.
For me, the best part of this story is the end, at which point (SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT) the Runaways reject both sides of the conflict, citing the notion that it's just adults screwing everything up, regardless of which side you choose. I think perhaps this, for me, is the aspect of the Runaways comics that the television show just hasn't quite grasped. These kids are anarchists. They're not interested in what the adult world has to offer. They're interested in the world they can make.
If they're left alone, that is.
To be continued.
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