Joss Whedon, director of "CHUD 2099"

As you’ve no doubt already read on Twitter, Facebook, various RSS feeds, and half the Internet at large, Joss Whedon is in final talks to direct Marvel’s upcoming “Avengers” movie, slated for release May 4 2012.

Whedon is, of course, well known for his various Whedonverse series’, as well as his runs on Astonishing X-Men and Runaways. Rumors abound of his potentially reworking the Avengers script to some extent, as well.

Geeks are rending their shirts like pre-pubescent Beatles fans. I, for one, am one part excited, one part hedging my bets completely.

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This seems to be a recurring theme with me lately. Runaways #10 is another mid-series break with a couple of small, character building one-shot stories, and I’ve once again been charmed all to hell by the offering.

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Final Crisis #7 Cover

Not a terrible week in comics this week. Not a whole lot of really big releases, but a few interesting end of arc issues are worth  noting. And guess what? I’ll be noting them right here. So don’t move. Here comes your Weekly Previews!

Final Crisis #7

This is the one issue that will probably overshadow everything else put out by any publisher this week. Finally, DC is finishing up their universe-changing event, Final Crisis. Did they really kill Batman? Are the heroes going to be able to defeat evil (yes)? Make sure you pick up this issue, DC fans, cause you will be talking (and probably bitching) about this issue for years to come.

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What If? House of M Cover

New this week in the world of Marvel is the start of a month of new What If? issues from the publisher. In case you don’t know, What If? issues basically take an existing story in the Marvel universe and change something about the story and tell the outcome. Fun stuff, right?

This week’s issue focuses on House of M, that crazy Marvel event that ended with Scarlet Witch saying “no more mutants” and the outcome has been playing out in the X-books for the last few years. But what if she had said “no more powers” instead? That’s the focus of this issue.

Also, because Marvel loves us, part one of What If? Runaways Became The Young Avengers? That’s right, it’s like 2 books for the price of one. Want to know if it’s worth your money? Read on, true believer!

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The Runaways have always been near and dear to me. Their story was the first Marvel series I ever read and led to my initial fandom. I remember being hesitant at first, skeptical of my friend’s plot synopsis of, “The children of super-villains runaway and get into all kinds of mischief! And there’s a dinosaur!”

But eventually, she got to me and I ordered the first volume off of Barnes and Noble’s website. It took exactly two days to get to my house and it came in an box that was taped and wrapped together in a way that I thought I’d have to use the jaws of life to get it out. I took it down into my basement and dug right in, eager to see what all the fuss was about.

I was immediately hooked after just the first issue and spent all night reading the rest of the volume. Twice. And then, when I’d finished devouring each page, I got right back on the Internet and ordered the rest of the Brian K. Vaughn books. I picked up Civil War: Runaways/Young Avengers in Washington D.C. I traveled from comic book shop to comic book shop, trying to find all the issues of Dead End Kids. I watched each character grow and fell in love with them all. Molly’s comic relief, Gertrude’s strict, but loving leadership, Xavin’s…Xavinness.

But sadly, it had to end however. Brian K. Vaughn is writing the movie now. Joss Whedon was so busy during his run, issues would come six months late at some points. I was sad at first, but then I saw that once again, it’d been picked up, by a man named Terry Moore.

[Will Nick like Terry's run or be pessimistic like he always is!?]

**Spoilers after the break!**

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Runaways Volume 4 Cover

Previously in Runaways: After the Runaways finally learn the truth behind The Pride’s actions, the six teenagers find their secret base and stop them from fulfilling the Rite of Blood.  The Rite of Blood was a ceremony in which a young girl must be sacrificed every year for the Gibborim, evil mythical giants.  This had to be done because the Gibborim no longer had the life force necessary to change the world back to its previous state: a utopia.  They ask the Pride to take part in these annual ceremonies to fulfill their needs, but because the Runaways infiltrate their plans, the Gibborim destroy the base and kill the Pride.  The Runaways also find out that Alex was a mole and worked with the Pride.  Not long after revealing his true identity, Alex is killed in action.  Living as orphans, the remaining five teenagers are put into foster care.  However, they soon reunite.

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Is it too early to name Brian K. Vaughan the best comic book writer of the new millennium? I must of course withhold such judgment until I really start reading stuff by lauded modern writers like Ed Brubaker and Brian Michael Bendis, but Brian K. Vaughan appears to be infallible. Y: The Last Man is one of the most captivating pieces of literature I’ve ever read, and, though I’ve yet to read them, have heard nothing but praise for Runaways and Ex Machina.

Now, for the last months, I’ve been asking for suggestions for comics to read, and a curious name kept coming up. Nearly everyone recommended a story called Pride of Baghdad. Nobody told me what it was about, only that “it’s not what it sounds like.” Well, I kept on buying other trades, but finally got curious the other day and picked it off the shelves. The first thing that caught my eye was the name at the top: Brian K. Vaughan. I bought it on the spot, without even reading the back cover. Now, the lion on the front made me see the pun in the title, but I still went into this fairly blind. Well, all the hype from my internet friends didn’t do it enough justice.

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Mystic Arcana: Sister Grimm cover

Reintroduced to the Marvel Universe in Mystic Arcana is Ian McNee, the teenage magic prodigy created by Roger Stern and Charles Vess.  He made his first and last appearance in Marvel Fanfare #7 where he challenged Dr. Strange for the title of Sorcerer Supreme, to which he faced a humiliating defeat.

In Mystic Arcana, Ian has a vision that starts him on a quest to retrieve four mystic items – the Sword, the Rose, the Crown and the Mirror – to restore the spirit of the ancient Egyptian Sorcerer, Heka-Nut and then begin to repair the structure of Magic itself.  These artifacts are known as The Cornerstones of Creation.

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Runaways Vol. 3 Cover

Previously in Runaways: After six teenagers realize that their parents are part of a super villain organization known as The Pride, they run away from home – vowing to turn the tables on their evil legacy. But when The Pride frame their children for the murder they committed, the fugitive Runaways are forced to retreat to a subterranean hideout nicknamed the Hostel. Unbeknownst to them, one of the runaways is a mole and vows to stay loyal to The Pride.

While in hiding, the Runaways meet a young stranger named Topher, whom they welcome into their fold.  Little did they know he was actually a vampire.  Afterwards, the team find themselves pursued by Marvel’s original teen runaway crime fighters, Cloak & Dagger.  After a long fight, they come to realize that they were tricked by The Pride to think that the six teenagers were criminals, and eagerly agree to help the Runaways.  However, Cloak & Dagger were later mind-wiped after The Pride was tipped off by the mole.

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OK, it’s official, I would go gay for Brian K. Vaughan. Y: The Last Man, Runaways, an arc on Buffy Season 8, Pride of Baghdad, it’s all brilliant. In all of his stories, he has proven himself a master of working with established characters as well as creating possibly the most original and exciting new list of series since Stan Lee and Jack Kirby hit the scene in the 60s. He manages to deal with a myriad of social issues while deftly sidestepping didacticism and preaching. Bearing that in mind, I was a little cautious when I picked up Ex Machina. After all, its concept, though brilliant and original (clichéd praise when it comes to Vaughan), dealt intricately with the political world. Ergo, many of the issues Vaughan could talk about subtly might be shoved to the front. Happily, BKV delivers yet again and yet another one of his creations has become one of my favorite series.

Ex Machina centers around Mitchell Hundred, a civil engineer who is left with the ability to communicate with machinery with moving parts (from guns to radios to handcuffs) after touching a mysterious glowing object floating under the Brooklyn Bridge. With the help of his two friends Rick Bradbury and Kremlin, Mitchell begins a short-lived career as the superhero The Great Machine (named for Thomas Jefferson’s term for American society).

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