Runaways (comics) - Publication History

Publication History

Series creator Brian K. Vaughan pitched Runaways in 2003 as a part of Marvel's Tsunami imprint, the goal of which was to attract new readers, particularly young readers and the manga audience. Marvel editorial staff agreed to it immediately, prompting Wizard Magazine to name the series as "one of the best original concepts from Marvel in thirty years." The Tsunami imprint turned out to be unsuccessful, and the series ended at issue #18. After the series' sales in digests, Vaughan pitched the idea again to Marvel, who accepted it. As of 2009, the series has been in continuous publication since its relaunch - though Volume 2 was ended with issue 30, with the following month seeing the first issue of Volume 3.

Writer Brian K. Vaughan has claimed that he had only planned to create Runaways for six months (six issues), but because of the popularity of the series and new ideas from Vaughan, Marvel decided to continue issuing it on for a monthly basis. In 2007, Brian K. Vaughan announced his departure from Runaways, deciding to leave the series at the top of its game. Longtime Runaways-fan Joss Whedon was hand-picked by Vaughan to write an arc; although Whedon had declined at first, he later accepted.

In Blair Butler's "Fresh Ink" segment on the cable television station G4 show Attack of the Show Marvel revealed that Kathryn Immonen and Sarah Pichelli were the new creative team. They started with issue #11, which will "start with a prom and end with a death"; Marvel editor Nick Lowe quotes that "It feels so right and so wrong at the same time? To be honest, and no offense to Joss or Terry, I hadn't felt this way since Gert died." The story ended with a major cliffhanger that has yet to be resolved since the series hiatus began.

The Runaways later appeared in Daken's comic book in an uneasy alliance with him in order to take down Marcus Roston, a superpowered criminal with ties to the Pride. They will also appear in Avengers Academy #27 on March 7.