Runaways (comics)
| Runaways | |
|---|---|
| File:Runawaystwo01.jpg The cover to Runaways (second series) #1: Gertrude Yorkes, Karolina Dean, Chase Stein, Nico Minoru and Molly Hayes. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Runaways # 1 |
| Created by | Brian K. Vaughan Adrian Alphona, |
| In-story information | |
| Base(s) | A hidden base under La Brea Tar Pits (current) Branson Canyon Hostel (former) |
Runaways is a comic book about six teenagers who discover their parents were secretly a group of super-villains called The Pride. It was created by writer Brian K. Vaughan and artist Adrian Alphona, and is published monthly by Marvel Comics.
Title history
Runaways was launched in 2002 as part of Marvel's Tsunami imprint. While it didn't achieve high sales, it gained a sizable cult following and rave reviews from critics. After the Tsunami imprint was phased out in January 2003, the series was moved to the Marvel Age imprint. In September 2004, the series ended at issue 18. At the time, the series creator Brian K. Vaughan insisted this was merely a "season finale" and promised that the series would return in a few months. Minding a large list of comic book series that never returned despite similar promises, the fans remained apprehensive until November of the same year, when Marvel confirmed the release of new Runaways series, as part of Marvel Next to open with a six-part story arc entitled "True Believers". The revival of the series was attributed to comparatively high sales of the series' digests. The first issue was released on February 16 2005 as part of the Marvel Next initiative.
Characters
The Runaways
Founding team members
- Nico Minoru aka Sister Grimm Current de facto leader of the team. Magic and she cannot cast the same spell twice.
- Chase Stein aka Talkback Piloting a transport ship, The Leapfrog.
- Gertrude Yorkes aka Arsenic She inherited a genetically engineered deinonychus (whom she dubbed Old Lace) under her telepathic control.
- Karolina Dean aka Lucy in the Sky Her alien heritage gives her ability to fly and manipulate solar energy.
- Molly Hayes aka Bruiser A mutant with super-strength, she grows sleepy after exerting herself or using her invulnerability.
Team member
- Victor Mancha is a sixteen-year-old 'spandex fanboy'. A version of Gert from the future told the team that he would grow up to kill the world's heroes, and asked them to kill him. They have decided to give him the benefit of the doubt, and have asked him to use his magnetic/electric powers to help them rescue his mother, who has been kidnapped by his supervillain father, revealed to be Doctor Doom at first. It was later shown that Doom was in fact a Doombot, and that Victor's real father was Ultron. Victor Mancha is a cyborg, and was programmed to join and later destroy the Avengers.
Former Members
- Alex Wilder was the former de facto leader of the group. He was a devoted MMORPG player and a self-professed nerd. Unlike other members of the group, this 16-year-old had no powers or gadgets, but was a prodigy when it came to logic and strategy. This made him apt to decode the tome called The Abstract, which detailed The Pride's past, present, and future. Alex chose not to use a codename, claiming he wanted to "redeem" the Wilder name, but was in fact a spy for The Pride. The Gibborim killed Alex when he failed them. Despite his betrayal, Nico tried to magically resurrect him. The ending of the True Believers arc seems to imply that she succeded.
- Topher joined the team after they foiled a convenience store robbery that was supposedly perpetrated by his evil, super-powered parents. The charming young man quickly seduced Nico and caused a lot of friction among his teammates. Topher was revealed to be a vampire, and his "parents" were actually lesser vampires sired by him. Topher planned to turn Nico into a vampire and kill the other Runaways, but he spontaneously combusted after he drank Karolina's solar-powered blood.
The Pride
A group of super-villains who are the runaways parents.
Who members are crime bosses, time travellers, Alien overlords, Mad scientists, telepathic mutants, Dark wizards.
Excelsior
Excelsior is a support group for former teenage superheroes. Its stated goal is to help fellow teenage superheroes to adjust to mundane lives and dissuade other super-powered teenagers from becoming heroes. They were introduced in the first arc of the second series, "True Believers". Founded by Turbo, former member of New Warriors and Phil Urich, who was the heroic fourth incarnation of Green Goblin, their attendees are Chamber, a former member of Generation X, Darkhawk, another former New Warrior who was briefly a member of the West Coast Avengers; Ricochet, member of the short-lived group , the Slingers; and Julie Power, formerly of Power Pack.
Timeline
The first seventeen issues take place over the span of two months. The first story arc, "Pride And Joy", take place in one night. Two or three days pass between issues 6 and 7. The first part of the second arc, "Teenage Wasteland," lasts for one night, while the second part, "Lost and Found," take place not long after. An unspecified amount of time, not longer than a week, passes between issues 12 and 13. Most of the third arc, "The Good Die Young", goes on for a single night as well, and three months pass between the end of the arc and its epilogue, in issue 18.
Series 1
Issue #1-6 Pride and Joy
- Written: Brian K. Vaughan.
- Pencils: Adrian Alphona
- Inks: David Newbold & Craig Yeung.
We meet the Runaways before thay see "The Rite of Blood." The shocked teens find strength in one another. Together, they run away & vow to turn the tables on their evil parents. They steal weapons and resources from their parents, and two learn they have special powers :
- Mystical Staff called The Staff of One.
- Futuristic Gauntlets called Fistigons.
- Lucy discovers her alien heritage.
- Molly discovers she is a Mutant.
- A genetically engineered Velociraptor named Old Lace, under Arsenic's telepathic control.
- The Abstract, a sacred text and history of "The Pride," & Mrs.Dean's decoder ring, required to read it.
The Runaways call the cops, but receive no help (partly because the cops think it's a crank call, partly because Alex's parents have agents in the LAPD). Sister Grimm and Alex Wilder kiss for the first time. "The Pride" frame their children for the murder of an innocent girl (who served as their most recent sacrifice) with the help of LAPD Lieutenant Flores. The Runaways are forced to retreat to a subterranean hideout nicknamed "The Hostel", that is a "missing mansion" swallowed up during an earthquake in the 1920s or 1930s. The Runaways, except Alex, pick new names to replace the ones their parents gave them. A note left at the Deans' house reveals that one of the Runaways is secretly loyal to the Pride.
Issue #7-10 Teenage Wasteland.
- Written: Brian K. Vaughan.
- Pencils: Adrian Alphona.
- Inks: Craig Yeung.
The Runaways are still in hiding. At a convenience store robbery, the Runaways encounter a boy named Topher. Sister Grimm (Nico Minoru) discovers that she cannot cast the same spell twice. Topher claims his evil parents forced him to aid them in the robbery, and the group takes him back to the Hostel. Topher's presence ignites tension between Alex, Sister Grimm, and Lucy in the Sky. Topher reveals himself as a vampire, and attempts to "turn" Sister Grimm. Alex rescues her. Sister Grimm and Alex Wilder fall in love. Topher dies after biting Lucy in the Sky, whose blood is infused with solar energy. The Pride track down and kill Topher's "parents" (actually his lackeys) and learn that their children have defeated Topher. They feel a modicum of pride.
Issue #11-12 Lost and Found.
- Written: Brian K. Vaughan.
- Pencils: Takeshi Miyazawa.
- Inks: David Newbold.
The Runaways meet Marvel's original teen runaway crimefighters, Cloak and Dagger. They were sent by Lieutenant Flores, who told them Molly was kidnapped by Alex, Nico and Gertrude. He does so without the approval of the Pride. Upon learning of his actions, Catherine Wilder shoots Lt. Flores in the leg. Cloak and Dagger fight the Runaways. Alex, Talkback, Sister Grimm, and Lucy in the Sky are drawn into the Darkforce Dimension by Cloak. Molly rips the cloak off of Cloak, turning him back into an ordinary human. He and Dagger weren't aware this was possible. Cloak is restored, the four older Runaways are rescued, and the misunderstanding is cleared up.Cloak and Dagger promise to contact The Avengers to help the Runaways take down the Pride. The mole tips off the Pride, and they telepathically remove all memory of the Runaways from Cloak and Dagger. The Runaways, unaware of this, go out for tacos.
Issue #13-17 The Good Die Young
- Written: Brian K. Vaughan.
- Pencils: Adrian Alphona.
- Inks: Craig Yeung.
Alex deciphers The Abstract and the Runaways learn how their parents' villainous organization began. The Pride were formed under the auspices of the Gibborim, an ancient race of beings who wish to wipe the Earth clean of humanity and start again. The six members of the Pride who serve them best will rule the Edenic world to follow. When the Steins became pregnant, the parents decided to give up each of their spots in Paradise to their children. Tipped off by the mole, Lieutenant Flores and the LAPD storm the Hostel. It is destroyed, and the team barely escapes in the confusion. Mr. Wilder executes Flores for his incompetence. Molly Hayes and Karolina Dean's parents plot to betray the rest of the Pride and divide the Gibborim's reward between their two families. The "Rite of Thunder" is a ceremony where all 12 of The Pride take the spirit captured at the "Rite of Blood" & feed it to the Gibborim. This year's Rite will be the last necessary to enable the Gibborim to destroy humanity. The Runaways crash the party, thinking the Pride is "Without Weapons". Instead, they are attacked by a Golem. Talkback defeats the creature, but nearly dies; he is saved by Arsenic, who reveals a crush on him. During the confrontation with the Pride, Alex manipulates his teammates into defeat and reveals himself as the mole. He learned of both the Pride and the Deans' and Hayes' betrayal a year ago, and planned all this as a way to save his parents and rule paradise with Sister Grimm. The Runaways defeat Alex. Molly destroys the "Sacrificial Offering". The Gibborim destroy Alex, and the Pride's undersea lair collapses. The Runaways escape in a vessel called The Leapfrog, and are met on the beach by Captain America.
Issue #18 Eighteen
- Written: Brian K. Vaughan.
- Pencils: Adrian Alphona.
- Inks: Craig Yeung.
After issue 17, the following events have taken place. All members of The Pride were presumably killed. The Runaways were split up:
- Karolina Dean was sent to a foster family and seeing a psychologist.
- Gertrude Yorkes was sent to boarding school, but she wasn't allowed to keep Old Lace.
- Chase Stein was supposed to go live with his aunt, but he didn't even have an Aunt and the address of her house was actually a PO Box for Chase's Playboy Subscription. Instead, Chase went on a hunt for Old Lace.
- Molly Hayes was picked up by a local branch of X-Corp.
- Nico Minoru was sent to Father Flanagan's orphanage and seeing a psychologist.
Three months pass and Karolina organizes a reunion, and the team heads off to an Avengers storage complex to spring Old Lace. After succeeding, the kids decide to stay together rather than return to their new lives in the Leapfrog.
Series 2
Issue #1 - 6 True Believers
- Written: Brian K. Vaughan.
- Pencils: Adrian Alphona.
- Inks: Craig Yeung.
The five Runaways are now superheroes fighing B-class supervillains in Los Angeles, which has become overrun with them since the death of the Pride. The new Hostel for the Runaways is revealed to be beneath the La Brea Tar Pits and is an old lair of The Pride's. An older version of Gertrude Yorkes from twenty years into the future shows up and tells the team that a man named Victor Mancha will one day kill all of the heroes on Earth. Before she dies, she tells them to kill him now as a boy before he becomes too powerful.
We meet the bizarre support group Excelsior, composed of former teenage super heroes. A shadowy figure calls Excelsior and says that he will pay them to find the Runaways. Excelsior decide to look for the Runaways, feeling that the million dollars promised to them by the anoymous donor would allow them to get the runaways safely off the streets. Phil Urich, in particular, likes the idea of starting up more branches of Excelsior to make it a national network to help fellow teenage superheroes to adjust to mundane lives and dissuade other super-powered teenagers from becoming heroes, starting with the Runaways.
Meanwhile, the Runaways are discussing the future Gertrude Yorkes dying words, and through a magical flashback Sister Grimm watches the last few moments of her life and learns the truth. Later, the Runaways locate Victor Mancha, who realises he has super powers, and after fighting and subduing him they are confronted by Excelsior.
Excelsior tell the Runaways that they are there to help. The Runaways claim that Victor Mancha is a murderer, despite his protests, and Chase uses the Leapfrog's lasers {which he has only just discovered} to attack Excelsior.
While attempting to bring Victor to the Hostel, he explains that Old Lace is not a "Velociraptor" but actually a "Deinonychus" and that his dad is dead. Before the Leapfrog can reach the Hostle, it is shot down by a blast from Darkhawk's amulet, and is forced to crashland into the set of a Sci-Fi Movie Studio.
As Excelsior and Runaways face off against each other, Nico casts a spell that destroys Turbo's wrist Fans, knocking her unconscious. The fight starts as follows:
- Chamber vs. Molly Hayes
- Ricochet vs. Arsenic and Old Lace
- Lightspeed vs. Karolina Dean
- Darkhawk vs. Nico Minoru
Later however, Darkhawk and Turbo start to fight with each other {with Ricochet stepping in to end the confrontation}, allowing the Runaways to escape; leaving Excelsior feeling defeated. The issue ends when Victor Mancha's mother calls a man who claims to be Victor's father.
The Runaways return to their hideout, and begin researching who Victor's father could be. Based on his powers, they guess Magneto or Electro, while Future Gert's description of the father as the greatest evil in the universe leads them to suspect Galactus or the Red Skull. Elsewhere, Excelsior's mysterious benefactor chides the team and asks how far they are prepared to go. Victor attempts to contact his mother, who worried about her son had contacted his father. Suddenly, his mother is abducted by his father, who demands that Victor show himself. Victor's father is revealed to be Doctor Doom.
Worried about Victor Mancha's mother, the team are eager to help him, despite his protests. Excelsior, who are now down a man since Darkhawk has left, are directed to a warehouse where they find an aeroplane for them to use. Meanwhile, Doctor Doom chides Victor's mother for her lack of parenting skill, when Victor comes in and swears alleigence to him. The Runaways sneak in and begin untying Victor's mother. Enraged, Doom takes on the Runaways, and is only beaten when Chase cannabilizes a laser from the Leapfrog. Flush from their apparent victory, the team is aghast when 'Doom is revealed as just a Doombot, and Victor's real father steps out of a doorway - Ultron, and kills Victor's mother. Using some deep conditioning, he corrupts Victor, whose eyes turn red to mark the change
Excelsior are flying, looking for The Runaways. Victor Mancha's past is revealed and that Ultron and his mother made him. Victor is a cyborg, with a deep-rooted love of "super-heroes". Ultron hoped that he would become an Avenger and would destory them from within. Victor claims that he is nothing like Ultron and Nico Minoru uses the mystical Staff of One to Ultron in diamond, but he brakes free.
Nico tells Karolina to fire at the celling, alerting Excelsior who arrive, fight and destroy Ultron. Afterwards, the Runaways take Victor Mancha, now an orphan, back to their hideout to keep them from ending up in Social Servies.
The secret sponsor is revealed to Exelsior as Rick Jones working on behalf of Captain America, who hoped to ensure that the Runaways didn't get into trouble. Rick offers to sponsor the team full-time and it is revealed that Chamber was, in fact, impersonated by someone else via a magical amulet. It is hinted that the person in question was Alex, as Nico had previously tried to magically resurrect him. At the Leapfrog The Runaways ask Victor Mancha to stay. When Chase asks what the team would do if he tries to kill them, Nico replies, Then we go back to Plan A and rip his damn heart out.
Issue # 7 - 8 Star-Crossed
- Written: Brian K. Vaughan.
- Pencils: Takeshi Miyawa.
According to some solicits, this series will involve an alien invasion of Los Angeles, which will be linked to some old plan of the Pride's. Owing to the story, it is assumed that Karolina will play a key role.
A month after the Runaways take in Victor Mancha, now an orphan.
Part One
After fighing a supervillain named Fritz Von Meyer, an ex-Nazi scientists whos body is made up of Bees, they run away before Excelsior shows up. The Runaways go shopping; Victor and Molly buy food, Chase and Gertrude buy new clothes, and Karolina and Nico buy "feminine products". On the way back to the Leapfrog, Karolina kisses Nico and proclaims her bisexuality. She says she is in love with Nico, and is done with men. But Nico has no romantic feelings for Karolina and just wants to be alone, leaving Karolina feeling stupid and more alone than before. A Starship falls, landing before the two-and a young man steps out, asking for Karolina, saying his name is Xavin and that he is her fiancé.
Issue # 9 - 12 East coast/West Coast
- Written: Brian K. Vaughan.
- Pencils: Adrian Alphona.
The Runaways go to New York City.
Guest-starring Cloak and Dagger & the New Avengers
Reprints
Reprints as digests (manga-sized comic book collections):
- Runaways Vol. 1: Pride & Joy (reprints Vol.1 #1-6, ISBN 0785113797)
- Runaways Vol. 2: Teenage Wasteland (reprints Vol.1 #7-12, ISBN 0785114157)
- Runaways Vol. 3: The Good Die Young (reprints Vol.1 #13-18, ISBN 0785116842)
- Runaways Vol. 4: True Believers (reprint Vol.2 #1-6, to be released on October 12 2005, ISBN 0785117059)
Reprints as oversized hardcover:
- Runaways, Vol. 1 (Hardcover, reprints Vol.1 #1-18, ISBN 0785118764)