I did read a blogger of color (can’t remember who, though) who said s/he was okay with Alex being the villain, because at least he was a *good* villain, rather than just being dismissably stupid and evil. I can see that person’s point, though, like you said, it would have worked better if there were enough black characters (in Runaways or in the Marvel universe in general) so that there could be a realistic balance. As it is, there’s still THE black family, THE Asian family … and then a bunch of white people.

As for Vaughan’s treatment of gendered slurs … I feel like it’s characteristic of his tendency to drop the ball in addressing sexism. On the one hand, he does write some of the best strong female characters in mainstream comics, and he does address sexism in many ways. In that, he’s better than the majority of writers out there - but I think, because he’s proven he’s aware of sexism, I judge him more harshly than I do other writers, whom I *know* are ignorant and don’t really care about.

For instance, in his other series, Y: The Last Man, he explores a world in which all the men have died and the women get to shine. But at the same time, his characters tend to fall into one of two camps: the “feminazis” who are all glad the men are dead, and the reasonable people who insist that “it’s not that men were evil and did bad things, it’s that people in general are evil!” Thus neatly sidestepping any serious discussion of patriarchy.

Anyway, this is getting long. I agree with 100littledolls that you should keep reading the series, though, because on the whole it is quite good.

But! You must go out and get the next volume, stat. I’m not gonna hint at anything, but I think you’ll be really pleased. Also in the following volumes, there is still a good push for multiculturalism.