Marvel: Runaways Found? Vaughan Talks Series' Haitus

[Local Hero]

Posted 22/05/2004
Source Newsarama
By Matt Brady

At today’s “Cup ‘o Joe” panel at WizardWorld East, it was confirmed that Runaways would be ending with issue #18. But that’s not the whole story – Newsarama spoke with writer Brian Vaughan about the series and its future.

First off, and this may seem like a technicality to some, the series is not “cancelled.” As the solicitation copy for issue #18 reads, August’s issue is the “Season Finale” of the series. What exactly does that mean?
“It’s the opposite of cancellation, actually!” Vaughan told Newsarama. “Six months ago, I knew that sales were entering the danger zone, and Marvel was cool enough to give us lots of advance warning that issue #18 might be our last. I was heartbroken, but appreciative that we got to tell as many cool stories as we did, and happy that we had time to wrap everything up right. I planned out the current ‘The Good Die Young’ arc to be a very satisfying conclusion to our whole series, but just as I was about to write the last issue, our first trade finally came out, and shocked all of us by doing phenomenally well. Marvel immediately called and asked if I'd be interested in keeping the series going beyond Issue #18.”

Vaughan credits Marvel’s willingness to go beyond issue #18 to one thing. “That's really a testament to our readers,” Vaughan said. “Runaways doesn't have nearly as many fans as some of my other comics, but the fans we do have are crazy insane-o for the book. They send us drawings, they start kick-ass fan pages like ‘The Hostel,’ they flood message boards with annoying posts berating other readers for not picking up the book, etc. If it weren't for these hard-cores and their unending dedication to spreading the gospel, we probably would have been canceled at issue #6. But much as I appreciate our readers and adore these characters, I didn't want to keep writing the book if I didn't have anything more to say - after all, you can only have kids running away from their parents for so long, right? After giving it a ton of thought, I came up with what I think is a really cool new direction for the book. It will still be called Runaways, and it will still be a parable about kids surviving the evils of the adult world, but our heroes will be in an all-new setting and have an all-different purpose. And since not everyone makes it out of issue #18 alive, we might even introduce a few new runaways - and villains - to the roster, too. But don't worry, the book isn't going to become West Coast Avengers or New Warriors Jr. or Wolverine and the Runaways. Our book is set in the Marvel Universe, and I'm not at all opposed to finding unexpected ways to further integrate our characters into that world - I think our Cloak and Dagger crossover was one of our better stories, but the higher-ups at Marvel definitely understand that the series works because it's fun and different and new, and they're not going to kill what makes the book special in order to save it. And no matter what Runaways becomes next, I promise that we'll still have psychic dinosaurs, magic decoder rings, secret hideouts, tortured romances, unbelievably shocking acts of evil, and all of the things that made me fall in love with comics when -I- started reading.”

That said, issue #18 still ends much the same way it was going to when Vaughan thought it would be the end of the series. “We wanted to give our characters a little downtime after this insanely epic season finale,” Vaughan said. “Issue #18 makes for a very natural ‘season finale,’ since we've been building to this final showdown between the Runaways and their evil parents since issue #1. I don't want to spoil how things end, but it's big. Joss Whedon is a huge inspiration, and we're definitely taking a page from Buffy here, where each season of that show was really its own complete story, with a beginning, middle and end. Like most viewers, I wasn't even aware of Buffy until its - very accessible - second season. That's when I fell in love with Buffy, and I hope it's when most readers will fall in love with the Runaways.”

Also – a hiatus between “seasons” will allow artist Adrian Alphona to uncramp his hand. “Adrian has been drawing nonstop since we pitched this comic almost two years ago, so we wanted to give him some much-earned downtime to recharge his batteries before our next phase begins,” Vaughan said. "And most importantly, we wanted to give Marvel a chance to put out the next two digest collections of Runaways, to help build excitement. I swear that you won't have to have read any of "Season One" in order to enjoy the all-new, all-different Season Two... but come on, Season One was effin' amazing! Those cute little digests look great, too, and they only cost eight bucks, so if you missed our stories the first time around, there's no excuse not to give them a shot now.”

Vaughan said that Marvel insisted that he and Alphona stay with the property, rather than bring in a guest team for an arc while the two geared up for the relaunch. “That's all Marvel, and the fact that they really care about their creators,” Vaughan said. “Either that, or Chuck Austen passed. Seriously, I like to think that Marvel recognizes that Adrian and I - and Jo Chen, and Craig Yeung, and Christina Strain - are a big part of what makes Runaways work, and they didn't want to do the book without us. And again, it's not about our schedules being too busy, or Runaways taking a backseat to anything else, it's about taking the time to do everything we can to ensure that the book relaunches as strongly as possible. Joe Q.'s been pimping this book so hard and so long, I feel like his queen ho. Editors C.B. Cebulski and MacKenzie Cadenhead have also fought tirelessly for this book, and I wouldn't have said yes to a relaunch without them.”

The kids from Runaways will be cooling their heels during the break, with no guest-shots planned. Although… “If John Cassaday wants to put them on the cover of Astonishing X-Men, he's more than welcome to, but I'm pretty sure that our kids will be going back into hiding for a few months after the end of issue #18,” Vaughan said. As for that “few months” it’s still up in the air, but Vaughan is projecting a return of the series sometime around the end of 2004. “And no, I'm not sure if we'll be coming back as Runaways #1 or Runaways #19. But I know fanboy numerologists hate new #1's, so I'd personally like to relaunch with a new #7, just to make their heads explode. I’m kidding. Kind of.”

If, God forbid, Vaughan and Alphona can’t return to the series (although everything, as the writer said, suggest that they will later this year), Vaughan’s happy with the work as it stands. “Hey, we gave the Marvel Universe six 100% brand-new heroes and at least twelve new villains. How many other books can say that? Plus, my aforementioned hero Joss Whedon wrote to tell me that he's a big fan of the book, so I can definitely die happy. That said, I really want more Runaways. For the past eighteen months or so, we've gotten a lot of emails from girls who said that this was the very first comic they ever bought, and dads who said that they loved reading the book with their kids. That matters to me. Obviously, I love writing books with severed heads and too much swearing – see Y: The Last Man and Ex Machina for all of that, but I recognize that it's important for our industry to nurture tomorrow’s ‘mature readers’ today. Our train can't keep pulling up the tracks behind us. Still, I don't want Runaways to become a ‘vanity book’ that's kept alive simply to please a small-but-important audience of new readers. I want it to be a Top Ten book! I know that sounds ridiculous, but a few decades ago, it was ridiculous to think that a fledgling little book called X-Men could ever escape cancellation, much less be the #1 book in America. A bald boy can dream, right? Love it or hate it, Runaways is something new, and new is important. I have nothing against existing superheroes: Bendis and Maleev's Daredevil is one of the best monthly comics of all time, and I'm honored to be working on Ultimate X-Men. But I flatter myself to think that Runaways is the kind of book that Lee and Kirby and Ditko would want to see Marvel publishing more of today. Those guys didn't get into comics to work on Batman and Superman, they got into the medium to help build a House of Ideas. Anyway, I know I'm starting to sound like a preachy, self-righteous douche, but I'm so grateful that Marvel has gotten behind more Runaways, and I really hope we can turn the book into enough of a success that it helps encourage all publishers to continue taking chances on new creators, new characters and new ideas.”