Brian K. Vaughan’s Runaways

The Runaways, Volume 3

Brian K. Vaughan continues to surprise me. First with the beauty of “Pride of Baghdad”, then the intrigue and complex plot of “Y: The Last Man”, and then the raw action and fantastic superhero storytelling of “Runaways”. When I discovered the series was created by Vaughan, and later worked on by Joss Whedon, who has recently gained my respect, I knew I had to check it out and was pleasantly surprised to find them at the library near my school.

“Runaways” is based on a single, universal truth: Parents lie to their kids. They lie a lot, about everything. They are not to be trusted. And they are evil.

“Pride of Baghdad”

Brian K. Vaughan and Nicko Henrichon

From the first time I heard about “Pride of Baghdad” I was intrigued. A graphic novel based on the true story of a pride of lions released from the zoo during the bombing of Baghdad? Just the cover captivated me, (since every copy I saw in stores was wrapped, this was often all I got a chance to see), the eyes of a male lion staring out beneath iron bars and rubble. I had wanted to read it for so long, but always made excuses not to buy it. But over winter break I discovered, overjoyed, that Borders was having a Buy One, Get One Half Off special with graphic novels, and used this as the excuse to purchase “Pride of Baghdad” and the hardcover edition of the first two volumes of “Y: The Last Man”- both, I realized later, written by the fantastic Brian K. Vaughan.