Review - Runaway #1

Sara holt is an up and coming comic book artist and writer who has opted to go the non tights and cape route in her latest work, Runaway #1, which focuses on Rebecca Black. Rebecca was absconded by her mother in her youth and, ten years later, is kidnapped by a covert government agency to be turned into a killer. Sounds fun right?

Rebecca is depicted as having a troubling childhood with her parents constantly bickering. This most likely influences her general demeanor ten years later: apathetic about life in general. It's unclear if she actually ran away or not but it is clear that she's gone down a less than savory legal path. Think along the lines of sex, drugs and rock n' roll. She's taken into "custody" by the aforementioned government agency and made over to be a cold-blooded killer, but the agency's motives are unclear. Why her? Her youth may have been convenient as the agency says she will forever be known as a "runaway" now.

Runaway #1 is an almost existential identity crisis that could be a treatise on identity itself, but is more likely a statement about how society shapes our appearance whether we want it to or not. The art is pretty schizophrenic but really works well with the tone of the story. The relatively simple art style (not an insult) streamlines the dialogue in a sense and really boils the story down to its most basic level. Both Rebecca's and the agency's motives are unclear, so hopefully Runaway #2 will answer some of these questions.

Part of the reason for so many questions is that there really isn't much story here. I don't mention that as an affront to Ms. Holt, but the work is carried more by the artwork than the story. There are some parts where the story is sort of forced along via the writing to catch up with the artwork. I think that a lot of the story is left to the reader's interpretation, which means you can let your imagination go wild while reading this at some points.