runaways (comics)

For other uses, see Runaways (disambiguation).

  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.

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. On 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, to open with a six-part story arc entitled "True Believers". The revival of the series was attributed to comparitively high sales of the series' digests. The first issue was released on February 16, 2005 as part of the Marvel Next initiative.

The Runaways

Sister Grimm is a somewhat rebellious yosei goth. Her real name is Nico Minoru and she is 16 years old. She inherited her parents' abilities to manipulate magical energies, and uses the mystical Staff of One in combat. Unfortunately, Nico's blood must be shed before she can wield her magic, and she cannot cast the same spell twice. Her codename is actually her AIM screen name. She was romantically linked with Alex Wilder until his betrayal, and assumed leadership of the group after his death.
Talkback is 17-year-old Chase Stein. While he tends to come off as a dumb jock, he can be surprisingly clever. He used his parents' equipment, "weaponized" gloves called Fistigons and multi-spectral goggles, but the gauntlets were destroyed in battle with the Pride. With the Fistigons now gone, Chase helps the team by piloting a transport ship designed by his parents, The Leapfrog, which serves as their getaway vehicle. He got his codename from Gertrude's sarcastic remark (he wanted to be called "Neo"). Chase nearly drowned in a battle with one of The Pride's sentries, and it was Gert who saved his life by giving him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Chase fell for her, and the two are now dating.
Arsenic, actually Gertrude Yorkes, is a sardonic intellectual with socialist leanings. She inherited a genetically engineered velociraptor (whom she dubbed Old Lace) from her parents. Her codename is a reference to the classic play and film. She is 15 years old and currently dating Chase. Gert was convinced her parents were evil long before the Runaways discovered the existence of The Pride, for she believed they were responsible for the disappearance of her first pet, a potbelly pig named Orwell. In issue #1 of the second season, Gert from 20 years in the future (and leader of The Avengers) came to tell the Runaways about Victor Mancha. Soon after, this Gert died from wounds inflicted from battle with "Victorious".
Lucy in the Sky is Karolina Dean, an air-headed New Ager with a strong moral compass, who took her codename from an old Beatles song. Her alien heritage gives her ability to fly and manipulate solar energy. Karolina's powers were inhibited for most of her life thanks to a med alert bracelet forged from a strange metal; her parents, wishing to give her a "normal" life, lied about her having a deadly allergy and instructed her to never take the bracelet off. For a long time Karolina was ashamed of her alien heritage, believing herself to be a freak, and didn't put much value in her own life. Lately she seems to be more well-adjusted. Fan speculation is that the 16-year-old girl is a lesbian, and strongly attracted to Nico.
Bruiser is somewhat naive Molly Hayes. Being only 11 years old, she is the most idealistic member of the group, and is a mutant with super-strength and invulnerability. She admires the X-Men and has a crush on Wolverine (comics). Originally, she wanted to be called Princess Powerful (a possible reference to Squadron Supreme heroine Power Princess). Instead, Chase dubbed her "Bruiser", as a payback for laughing at the codename Gert had stuck him with. Molly thought running away was a great adventure, but had to be continually reminded that her parents were super-villains.
Alex Wilder was the former de facto leader of the group. He was a devoted MMORPG player and a self-professed geek. 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. This was revealed to be a lie, as Alex was actually a spy for The Pride, manipulating the team into engaging their parents in conflict. Alex wanted to start a new world with Nico and their parents, but his plans were for naught. He was killed by the Gibborium in issue 17.

The Pride

The Pride were formed under the auspices of the Gibborium, an ancient race of six-fingered giants who wish to wipe the Earth clean of humanity. As an incentive, the six members of The Pride who served them best would be promised rule over the Edenic world to follow. Every year The Pride gathered at the Wilder residence under the guise of a charity fundraiser, but were in fact murdering a young girl in an occult ceremony called the Rite of Blood so that they could feed her soul to the Gibborim in the Rite of Thunder. After Janet Stein became pregnant, The Pride decided to give up each of their spots in Paradise to their children to ensure their legacy. After issue 17, all members of The Pride are missing, assumed dead. The team is composed of:

Geoffrey and Catherine Wilder, crime bosses who posed as businesspeople. Parents of Alex Wilder.
Dale and Stacey Yorkes, Time-Travelers who posed as antique dealers. Parents of Gertrude Yorkes.
Frank and Leslie Dean, alien overlords who posed as Hollywood actors and New Age enthusiasts. Parents of Karolina Dean. Took their last name from James Dean.
Victor and Janet Stein, scientists who supposedly made a fortune for creating a tool that allows you to get the annoying sticker off CDs. Parents of Chase Stein. Victor was shown to be an abusive father who would hit Chase for "talking back".
Gene and Alice Hayes, telepathic mutants who posed as a doctor and a speech therapist. Conspired with the Deans to get rid of the human members of the Pride in order to ensure immortality for their families. Their identical power signatures and an offhand comment about their "pureblood" marriage has led to speculation that their union was actually incestuous. Parents of Molly Hayes.
Robert and Tina Minoru, dark wizards who posed as an average, church-going, middle-class couple. Parents of Nico Minoru.

Excelsior

See Excelsior (comics) for the main article about this group

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".