FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION: MARVEL’S CLOAK and DAGGER: RUNAWAYS and REVERSALS

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• on Apr 05, 2023

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Robert Greenberger

by Robert Greenberger

When bill Mantlo and Ed Hannigan introduced Tyrone “Ty” Johnson and Tandy Bowen in Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #64, way back in 1982, they were intended to help expand the supporting cast, setting them up to be new non-mutant teens running around the marvel Universe. What they created has endured beyond imagining and in early 2018, they will have their own television show on Freeform. To take advantage of this, marvel is releasing Cloak and Dagger: Runaways and Reversals, collecting many of their many recent appearances.

Cloak and Dagger: Runaways and Reversals

The title is clever, taking advantage of the surprise hit Runaways has become over on Hulu, and reflecting that the collection includes Runaways (2003) #11-12, Runaways (2005) #9-12, Cloak and Dagger (2010) #1, Spider-Island: Cloak and Dagger #1-3, fantastic Spider-Man (2015) #6-8 and material from unusual Tales: Dark Corners, marvel Knights Double-Shot #3, Dark X-Men: The beginning #2, fantastic Spider-Man #663 and fantastic Spider-Man annual (2016) #1.

Picking select issues of ongoing titles is always problematic because we aren’t aware of what’s going on with the main characters nor do we typically get any contextual content to show us where these fall with regard to the characters. We open with the Runaways issues, all written by the talented Brian K. Vaughan, with the first two illustrated by Takeshi Miyazawa and David Newbold. After a run of appearances in the marvel Knights imprint’s titles, it appeared that Cloak’s powers were unstable, to the point where doctor unusual had to intervene to help him.

When we encounter them here, he appears to have stabilized his situation, so much so that the Los Angeles police department asks the duo to help them locate the missing runaways. There’s a pretty tense battle between the sides until things are made clear. The pair agree to help them fight the others’ parents, the Pride, intending to go to new York and bring back the Avengers, yet their memories are wiped before they can make the trip.

Runaways #9

In their second appearance, Vaughn, with artists Adrian Alphona and Craig Yeung, tells a tale of the pair being conquer by Reginald Mantz, replicating Cloak’s power thanks to Mutant growth Hormone. When Dagger is hospitalized and Cloak blamed, he turns to the Runaways for help.

There was a time when Norman Osborn recruited a team of mutants, including Cloak and Dagger. We see him convince the pair that he can help them fight drug dealers on a much larger scale. Dagger succumbs to the idea while Cloak is reluctant as depicted in Dark X-Men: The beginning #2, from Paul Cornell and Leonard Kirk. during that run, they have several mutant-oriented adventures, none of which are presented here.

Cloak and Dagger #1

From there, they went on to appear in the Cloak and Dagger one-shot from Stuart Moore and mark Brooks where it is identified by Dr. Nemesis that they are not mutants. The story is much more character driven than many as Dagger learns Cloak has been cheating on her with a girl from their old ‘hood. Tia, though, isn’t all she appears to be (of course).

Spider-Island: Cloak and Dagger #1

When we next meet the pair, who have been working on their relationship issues, they are evicted from their non-code compliant apartment. Tandy has been taking college classes so she can feel “normal”, something that continues to chafe at Ty. Their issues have to be put aside when Mr. negative has kidnapped Tandy to avoid a prophecy that Dagger will kill him. using his powers, Dagger’s powers are reversed, forcing Cloak to ask for his touch as well. Suddenly, their power and needs are reversed, causing all manner of problems as seen in Spider-Island: Cloak and Dagger from writer Nick Spencer and artist Emma Rios.

Amazing Spider-Man #7

Amazing Spider-Man (2015) #6-8 shows Parker Industries’ attempts to create an antidote to Mr. Negative’s powers, which results in the two reverting to their normal powers although the experience has left them somewhat altered in perception. Which is pretty much where the pair are during the marvel legacy era.

The collection is rounded out with a variety of short pieces plucked from various titles so there’s Mike Baron, Alex Maleev, and Chris Ivy taking them on the “Expressway to Hell” from unusual Tales: Dark corners # 1. Peter Gross introduces them to the “Monster in the Basement” from marvel Knights Double-Shot #3 while the “Neon Dragon” appeared in fantastic Spider-Man annual #1 from James Asmus, Cory Smith, Scott Hanna, Roberto Poggi, and Lorenzo Ruggiero. Finally, there’s a two-page from fantastic Spider-Man #663 by Dan Slott, Emma Rios, and Javier Rodriguez.

Strange Tales: Dark Corners

If you’re not familiar with the characters, these contemporarytales give you a taste of what they’re all about, complete with heroes, villains, and a lot of teenage angst.