I haven't got my copy yet so I can't comment on the conclusion (in fact, I actually haven't read the last two issues because I have found this series really confusing and thought reading it a oner would help me (plus with such huge gaps between issues I also just plain forgot what the heck was going on)) but what I have noticed is a lack of comment here about this final issue.

My question is: why do people seem less interested in this work by Joss? Or at least, less inclined to comment on it.

moley75 | June 27, 17:15 CET

It's taken ages (since the beginning of this year, almost) to come out. I blame the delay for people's drop in interest. It's still my fave title though, no matter how long I need to wait...

BunnyDee | June 27, 17:23 CET

I hate to say it, but I'm actually glad Joss is moving on from this one. I adored Brian K. Vaughan's work on the title, but have found Joss's storyline muddled, confusing and a pain to follow. I hope Terry Moore gets things back on track.

MindPieces | June 27, 17:47 CET

I agree with most of what was said, though I didn't mind that side characters were not developed, it just gave us a small look at the war over New York in 1907.
It really is a nice story, there was just no need for it to go on for 14 months.

There was one thing that wasn't mentioned and I don't know if it a problem other comic books have because I don't read many – the cover of the issue revealed two of the major surprises in the story. I wonder if that is the reason we don't see the new character on the cover of #31.

urkonn | June 27, 19:14 CET

I loved this run. I reread the first three last night. I think it shares a theme with Astonishing X-Men about not letting the fear of what could go wrong keep you from making what you can go right.

Ooh: moral! Kind of carpe diem, but depthier. Shadowcat had to confront her fear that she could lose Colossus before she could love Colossus -- and good thing, because just as she feared that he would abandon her to go save the world, she wound up leaving him/saving the world.

Lily failed to confront her fear of losing everything she had -- and wound up losing everything she could have had.

Well, actually, just losing one thing she could have had. There's no telling whether things would've worked out with Victor, and I rather think not. There's a deeper flaw in her, since she spent an entire century trying to undo one mistake, rather than living her life -- telling herself "If only I had . . ." as thousands of days accumulated without her seizing any of them. Telling herself she would've been happy if she did one thing was a way to avoid doing anything that might make her happy.]

[ edited by Pointy on 2008-06-27 16:48 ]

Pointy | June 27, 19:18 CET

When a new issue of a Joss book comes in, I always read the issues in the arc before it first to get caught up. Does everybody else just throw these out after they read them, so they can't go back and read them first?

Maybe it is because I'm not a die hard comics guy, but it doesn't really bother me when a title is late: I don't really think about them until I'm actually holding them. I think giving the book a lower rating because it was late rather than rating the book based on the content says more about the reviewer than the book. Not that this reviewer is alone in complaining about the delays--far from it.

It is entertainment. As with all entertainment, I enjoy it when I see it. I can't enjoy something I can't see ;-)

heliograph | June 27, 19:28 CET

Overall, a very strong run. I wound up reading them all in one shot, because by the time I'd finished catching up with Brian K. Vaughan's run on "Runaways," Joss had already put out three or four issues and I was aware of the delay.

That being said, this is one of Joss's better comics works. I've yet to read the fourth and final "Astonishing" trade, but overall his work on "Runaways" is more consistent than the first three volumes of "Astonishing," which started out good and fell apart and scattered to "all over the place"-status by Volume Two. But his "Runaways" was emotional, true to each of the characters, and showed a real love for the storylines and characters that BKV created. I'm sad Joss won't be sticking around.

patxshand | June 27, 19:42 CET

Just a reminder, Buffy Season 8 #16 and Angel ATF #10 are both out next Wednesday, July 2!

[ edited by Capt. Logic on 2008-06-27 21:35 ]

Capt. Logic | June 28, 00:34 CET

Wait, when did we get confirmation that Angel #10 is out next Wednesday? That's crrrrrazy if it's true, #9 and #8 just came out.

patxshand | June 28, 00:39 CET

My local comic shop and TFAW both have it listed for July 2.

Capt. Logic | June 28, 01:39 CET

Ahhhh nice. Local comic shops, I trust. TFAW, not so much, but it's been a *lot* better recently. Thanks Capt, now I know what to tell my shop to hold on the side for me.

patxshand | June 28, 02:05 CET

Loved it, although the Vic/Lillie story was heartbreaking.

There was not one, but two jokes about how L.A. is better than New York. Which nagged at me probably more than it should have. In fact, I've typed this five times and I still can't think of a nice way to explain how I feel about California and the whole West Coast culture. So I guess I won't say anything, other than to say that it annoys me that not only is my idol from there, but likes it enough to write two of those jokes into an issue. It's one of those things that I have to pretend isn't there in Joss's work, if I'm going to enjoy it.

dispatch | June 29, 06:27 CET

Just finished reading it. Brilliant. I really enjoyed Joss's run and hope he comes back to do a few issues in the future. It can definitely get more confusing, but all the humour, dialogue, and character development that Joss puts in is worth it. I will admit though...some of the new / extra characters didn't have enough development and were just left behind or weren't even explained in the first place. Perhaps one of the writers will go back to those characters in the future.

13 | June 30, 06:53 CET

That was a really good wrap-up of all the different stories he'd started. I'm still stunned that Lillie spent the rest of her life regretting that decision. I can see someone brave hesitating to jump through time like that, but she didn't at all seem like one to live a life of regret.

I like Chase and Nico's arcs here, and how not everything they'd each gone through was quite explained, yet they both clearly learned more about themselves and seemed to even grown up a little. Wow Nico did a very cruel thing to Gert's parents there. The vegan spell was pure awesome though. As was the zombie brain-eating.

I liked the shield combination, and Tristan flying off with the bomb. Love pretty much saved the day there, until Nico showed up all badass.

I'm glad Klara went with them. Plant powers should be interesting.

Sunfire | June 30, 19:20 CET