Runaways

by Chris Claremont

Like Runaways, this follows a found-family of young mutants learning to trust each other while hunted by authority figures—but Claremont's X-Men comics add the extra layer of the teens not fully understanding their own powers yet. You'll get that same sense of paranoia mixed with camaraderie, except the threat isn't just their parents but an entire world that fears them.

by Margaret Laurence

Bray assembles a ragtag group of misfits in 1920s New York who discover they have strange abilities and must band together against a supernatural threat they don't fully understand. The ensemble cast dynamic and that particular flavor of 'we're the only ones who know the truth' paranoia will feel very familiar, though the historical setting and magical mystery give it a completely different texture.

by Brandon Sanderson

This is my curveball recommendation—it's epic fantasy rather than superhero fiction, but Sanderson does something Whedon would appreciate: he builds a magic system with hard rules, then puts characters in impossible situations where they have to outsmart the system rather than just overpower it. The political intrigue and the way characters are trapped by circumstances beyond their control will resonate with Runaways' core tension.

by Gotham Writers' Workshop

This graphic novel collection captures something Whedon does brilliantly—mixing genuine teen drama with superhero stakes. Cloonan focuses on ordinary students at a school in Batman's Gotham, where the mundane (friendship drama, first crushes) collides constantly with the extraordinary (supervillains, mysterious disappearances). It's got that same tonal balance where the personal stakes feel as urgent as the plot.

by S.E. Hinton

I know this feels like a left turn, but hear me out: published in 1967, Hinton's novel has the same DNA as Runaways—a group of young people bound together by circumstances, defined by how society labels them, learning that their 'enemy' isn't monolithic. It's stripped of superpowers but keeps the emotional core: what happens when you're forced to grow up fast because the adults have already decided who you are?