The Hood: Blood from Stones

Collects: The Hood #1-6 (2002)

Released: July 2007 (Marvel)

Format: 160 pages / color / $19.99 / ISBN: 9780785128182

What is this?: A small-time crook gets an alien’s cloak and boots, which give him superpowers — and a chance at becoming a big-time crook.

The culprits: Writer Brian K. Vaughn and artist Kyle Hotz

When the trade paperback for The Hood: Blood from Stones went out of print, I thought my chance to read the story was pretty much nil, unless a local library picked it up. But somehow Marvel slipped a hardcover copy past me a couple of years ago …

Hood is the story of an obvious Spider-Man analogue, Parker Robbins (“Parker” for Peter Parker, “Robbins” because he’s a thief and a thug). Unlike Peter, no one was around to teach him about the positive correlation between power and responsibility, so when he and his cousin shoot an alien and take his super shoes and cloak, Parker’s thinking of supervillainy, not superheroics.

Not that Parker is evil. He visits his mother, who has Alzheimer’s, in the nursing home, telling her stories he thinks will make her happy, and he really wants to get her into a better home. He wants to build a better life with his pregnant girlfriend, although he lies to her about how he gets his illegal money. When the use of his powers leads to the grave injury of a police officer, he’s deeply sorry; when his cousin is thrown in jail for his crimes, he works hard to get him cleared.

But he wants to be a criminal like his father, who worked in organized crime. He visits a Russian prostitute. He lies, takes the easy way out, makes the easy choices, often by pulling a trigger. Like Peter, he has had a hard life; unlike Peter, he doesn’t have strong moral teaching or a moral anchor. So he drifts. It keeps Parker sympathetic, despite all the wrong things he does.

Hood is labeled as — and definitely is — part of Marvel’s Max line. There is plenty of sex, violence, and cursing. The interesting part is this allows writer Brian K. Vaughn the freedom to write natural dialogue in a way that’s totally different than Brian Bendis’s “natural” dialogue, even when Bendis was doing indy comics and could curse. There’s no stammering, no awkward pauses; it’s just men laughing at and with each other, insulting everyone in sight. It feels natural and is often funny.

The Hood’s big plan is to rob an incoming shipment of blood diamonds, and there he runs into his first superpowered opponents. If there’s a fault in the story, it’s in Parker’s opposition: he easily defeats the Constrictor, Jack O’Lantern, and Shocker (at once), outwits a pair of FBI agents (who aren’t that bright), and manages to pull one over on the mobster he robs and his enforcer. They seem too easily overcome to be serious antagonists. However, even though a pair of pistols are technically part of the Hood’s “powers,” Vaughn does make sure to show they’re not the answer to Parker’s problems — they do little to the supervillians, and they only make his problems worse in the end.

The story ends with an obvious set-up for later stories: the crime boss who the Hood fought cries over a picture of his family, the widow of a man killed during the story puts on a costume, and the alien whom Parker killed to get his super-equipment is shown to be alive. None of this is followed up on; whatever Vaughn had in mind, it came to naught. This is a bit frustrating, mostly in the sense that Vaughn’s vision for the Hood — which has largely been subverted — is an interesting one. The subplots he used as a trailer … well, I won’t miss not seeing them.

I like penciler Kyle Hotz’s art, although a good amount of credit should also go to inker Eric Powell and colorist Brian Haberlin. The Hood’s world is entirely a nighttime one, and it’s filled with shadows and darkness — appropriate for someone who’s path keeps going farther and farther into the darkness. In this world of darkness, Hotz’s art creates a New York filled with wide-eyed craziness, shabby apartments, and second-hand lives. The women are all overly curvaceous, although he avoids gratuitous shots.

I wish I had read The Hood earlier; it really is an excellent story. It’s too bad Vaughn and Hotz’s version of the character was jettisoned like a horse in the Doldrums, but that doesn’t affect this story.

Rating: (4 of 5)

Runaways, v. 7: Live Fast

Collects: Runaways v. 2 #19-24 (2006-7)

Released: April 2007 (Marvel)

Format: 144 pages / color digest / $7.99 / ISBN: 9780785122678

Runaways is among Marvel’s best new concepts since Jim Shooter was forced out as editor-in-chief in 1987; certainly, it’s the best of the last few years.

Runaways, v. 7: Live Fast wraps up some of the plotlines from previous volumes, such as Gert’s death, the Gibborim, the New Pride, and Alex Wilder. Because it closes out these plots without raising many new ones, it makes Live Fast feel as if it’s coasting along on momentum — especially since most of those plots aren’t monumental. Gert’s death, for instance, deserves to be dealt with, but it’s spread over two storylines and is more interesting than anything else in the one it’s not featured in. The one that does spotlight Chase’s reaction to Gert’s death feels a little padded.

There are some interesting parts: Xavin’s search for identity, Chase being a legal adult, etc. And there are throwaway moments like the pack of werewoofs that are amusing. Nico having a new boyfriend feels a little rushed, though. But even if the plots feel a little weak, this is still Brian K. Vaughan writing the characters he created, and that’s entertaining.

Live Fast is the final volume by Runaways co-creator Vaughan, which explains the tied-up plotlines. Vaughan wrote 42 issues of Runaways, and although its readership did not always match its quality, it’s had an excellent five year run. Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly creator Joss Whedon takes over next, then comes Strangers in Paradise creator Terry Moore. Both are established names, but with the departure of one of the book’s creator and a cliffhanger opening the team into the larger Marvel Universe, you have to wonder if the book’s going to lose its specialness.

Adrian Alphona — another co-creator who is leaving the title — does the art for the final three issues of this volume; his work is excellent, as always, and the gives the book the distinctive look that says “Runaways.” Mike Norton, who does the first three issues, has a smoother style, but it fits Alphona’s work without seeming like he’s trying copy. Also, the digest size doesn’t seem to muddy his art as much as it does Alphona’s.

Live Fast ends with a teaser for the next storyline, but it’s unclear whether that story is in v. 8 of Runaways or in the Civil War: Young Avengers / Runaways miniseries. The back cover seems to suggest the Young Avengers / Runaways story happens simultaneously with Live Fast, influencing the story there. Soon, those of us who wait for the trade will finally get to see whether new writer Whedon follows up on the Civil War angle.

Rating: (4 of 5)

Runaways, v. 6: Parental Guidance

Collects: Runaways v. 2 #13-18 (2006)

Released: October 2006 (Marvel)

Format: 144-page digest / color / $7.99 / ISBN: 0785119523

I always look forward to the next volume of Runaways, and Runaways, v. 6: Parental Guidance gives me no reason to change that.

Writer Brian K. Vaughan has created and sustained a teen drama mixed with superheroics that doesn’t disappoint. In Parental Guidance, Vaughan wraps up the “new Pride” storyline he began in Runways, v. 4: True Believers. Everything comes together as the team falls apart,¹ picking up all the bits and pieces from True Believers and Runaways, v. 5: Escape to New York and wedding them into a moving finale.

In the first story, Molly gets a chance to shine as she’s thrown into a group of pre-teen runaways and immediately has to become their leader in a rebellion against the Proctor, the Fagin-like adult controlling them. Molly, shown at her most mature, immediately after reveals her childhood vulnerabilities. It’s not unmissable, but it is entertaining with an ending that is moving without being precious.

The rest of the book reveals the mystery of the new Pride, which is out to take vengeance on the Runaways. The new Pride is more clever than powerful, but they still manage to be more than a match for the heroes. The Runaways’ problems come almost as much from themselves as the New Pride,² with the new Pride exploiting their adversaries weaknesses. Vaughan doesn’t sacrifice characterization for the sake of plot or a joke — although it helps that his characters are meant to be witty and clever with the blind spots of teenagers.

Artist Adrian Alphona does an excellent job as always; it’s an indictment of the comics industry as much as a compliment to Alphona to say he can consistently draw women with body types somewhere between “anorexic” and “orca.” He can also go from relatively realistic to the fantastic world of the Gibborim, the giant angels who backed the first Pride, with ease. Unfortunately, the digest size has consistently muddied his artwork — any darkness seems to come out as too dark, obscuring the subtleties of Alphona’s work.

All this, plus an emotional ending I won’t spoil — this is about as good as it gets.

Rating: (5 of 5)

Runaways, v. 5: Escape to New York

Collects: Runaways (v. 2) #7-12 (2005-6)

Released: September 2005 (Marvel)

Runaways is one of the best titles Marvel is publishing today, the story of six LA teenagers who find their parents are all supervillains. (As the characters continually ask, “Aren’t all parents?”) The series is reprinted in the digest format, which is considerably smaller than the comics it reprints and considerably cheaper as well.

Escape to New York has two storylines in it: the two-part “Star-Crossed” and the four-part “East Coast / West Coast.” Takeshi Miyazawa provides the art for the first storyline; it’s technically well done, but it’s a bit more cartoony than I like in a comic about a group of orphans who live in near poverty. It’s also jarring to see the characters drawn in a different style than regular series artist Adrian Alphona, who has been drawing the series since issue #1. Miyazawa, who filled in for two issues of the first volume, makes the characters look more generic; it’s sometimes hard to tell the difference between Chase and Victor, and Gert, who’s supposed to be at least a little overweight, looks just as impossible svelte as the other characters. Alphona is excellent as always, although shrinking down the artwork for digest size muddies it a bit. I especially like his Pusher Man, a pimpin’ drug dealer with oversized techno gauntlets.

The trip to New York in the second storyline allows writer Brian K. Vaughan to get snarky about the rest of the Marvel Universe, sometimes almost directly so. (At one point, when asked if the team is new, resident witch Nico says, “New York, New Wave, New Avengers … ‘new’ is just another way of saying old.”) It’s very funny, although sometimes it takes the reader out of the story. Vaughan also writes Spider-Man’s dialogue ten times better than J. Michael Straczynski.

Vaughan’s characters are almost always witty, although they usually come across as teenagers rather than small adults. As in any series with adolescent protagonists, the angst-filled love triangles and unrequited feelings erupt everywhere; hormones are so thick you’re almost surprised when Alphona doesn’t pencil them into the art. Additionally, Molly, the pre-teen, feels more like a child than the others.

Still, for some reason, “East Coast / West Coast” is an unsatisfying storyline, in which New York superhero Cloak asks the kids for help proving he didn’t attack his partner, Dagger, and leave her in a coma. I didn’t particularly care for the Cloak & Dagger elements, which is strange, considering how big a Cloak & Dagger fan I am. Cloak forces them into helping him, and given the rocky relationship the kids have had with him, I’m surprised they didn’t put up more resistance to the idea. Also, interacting with the Avengers seems like a fun idea on paper, but Vaughan seemed mainly to use them as punching bags and to reject them. The latter is a good idea, but the Avengers don’t get to make much of a case.

“Star-Crossed” is also unsatisfying, partially for the art and partially because the teens — particularly Karolina — seem to offer as much resistance to the alien visitor’s ideas as they do to Cloak. Their fight is lackluster at best. Perhaps this, coupled with their lack of a fight against Cloak, is Vaughan showing the kids wearing down after all their time on their own, but I’m not sure. Because of the lack of conflict, the team dynamics are almost teen soap opera — not that it’s not enjoyable, but it’s more enjoyable in the midst of a more engaging conflict. Also, despite Chase’s barbs, newcomer Victor seems to be fully integrated into the team, taking away some of the intrateam conflict.

Still, I’m excited to read the next digest; the teaser at the end, showing the new Pride plotting the teenagers’ downfall, makes me eager to see them fully revealed, and I’m itching to see whether Vaughan ties up some of the loose ends he left in Escape to New York or if he lets them dangle.

In the end, even a slightly unsatisfying digest of Runaways like this one is better than most of the rest of Marvel’s product.

Grade: A-