Secret Invasion: Runaways/Young Avengers

The terrible art was so distracting that it took away from the story. The witty banter of the Runaways seemed to have disappeared as well. Not much to like here. ( )

This is the second Runaways/Young Avengers event tie-in. Like the Civil War story, it's somewhat tangential to both the Runaways ongoing story, and to the Secret Invasion event. The latter is particularly disappointing, as a Skrull Prince and prophesied Skrull messiah could have been much more important to a Skrull religious fanatic invasion. The story is decent though, and involved our heroes fighting Skrull, as one would expect from the event. (No secret Skrull members of either team, though.) The art, unfortunately, made the characters look far too young. It worked ok for Molly and Klara, but didn't fit for the older teen/ young adult members of either team. ( )

I've been working my way through Secret Invasion after having finished Avengers Disassembled, House of M, and Civil War. Despite having the seeds of invasion planted as far back as House of M, I've found this event to be the weakest and least compelling. Nearly all of the tie-ins are very short, with little actual impact.

This tie-in is brief but action-packed. I've never read the Runaways except via the tie-ins to previous events. However, after reading this I did order the upcoming Runaways: The Complete Collection Vol 1 as I'm now interested in learning more of their story. I purchased this book for the Young Avengers. Both teams have ties to the Skrulls: Hulking is half Skrull, half Kree and Xavin is a full-blooded Skrull. When they find themselves in the midst of the battle in Times Square, both kids are targeted for death by the invaders.

While the story was simple, at least it tied directly into the event. However, I didn't care for the art at all. The artist drew both teams' members as 10 year olds! This is especially troubling for the older teens like Wiccan and Hulking who are dating, or Xavin and Karolina who are engaged to be married! The art actually pulled me out of the story more than once.

Overall, there is nothing essential here that expands on the crossover event, but it wasn't a bad read. Recommended if you really love the teams. ( )

This volume makes sense, which is a nice and rare element in a mega-event crossover. In this case the mega-event is Secret Invasion, when the Skrulls openly invade Earth, a story which was building for some time in the Marvel Universe. Both the Runaways and the Young Avengers have Skrull or half-Skrull members, so a separate three-issue series that covers their role in the invasion (or at least the beginning of their role), well, makes sense. I am not a fan of Miyazawa's art in the context of an American superhero comic; his young adults look like they are all thirteen, which does not fit the characters. That being said, his artwork is fun and cartoony, which some might like. This volume also includes various Marvel Handbook entries for characters in the Runaways and Young Avengers comics. ( )