OMG! Can I just say how much I love the Runaways graphic novels? I just ordered up Vol. 6 (Parental Guidance) and 7 (Live Fast) from Amazon and are devouring them faster than a bag of M&M's! Marvel has done right by me with these great little digest formats that are just the right size for your purse or backpack. I also love the other Marvel digests, Spiderman Loves Mary Jane and Arana. If you get a chance, check them out! But until then, take a look at my RR book entry for Runaways, Vol. 1: Pride & Joy. from the Graphic Fantastic chapter. And remember, if you like what you see, there's 99 more of them where that came from!
Vaughan, Brian K. and Adrian Alphona. (2003) Runaways: Pride & Joy. New York: Marvel Comics. (unpaged)
The Story: It’s just another quiet evening at computer geek Alex Wilder’s house in Malibu, where his millionaire parents are hosting their annual fundraising party. Every year, they invite the same six wealthy couples to sit down and write checks for charity. And each year, Alex is expected to entertain the couples’ children: Karolina Dean, gorgeous blond vegetarian; Chase Stein, surfer dude; Molly Hayes, cutesy ‘tween and the youngest at eleven ; Nico Minoru, black nail polish-wearing alterna-grrl and Gertrude Yorke, purple-haired, brilliant bookworm.
Except this year is a little different. Instead of hanging out in the video game room like usual, Alex convinces everyone that it might be fun to spy on their parents in the library, using his father’s extensive security tunnels. They are horrified when they witness their usually boring parents, dressed in what look like elaborate Halloween costumes, utter strange incantations, then murder a frightened teenage girl as part of what looks like ritual sacrifice. As they piece together what they’ve seen and heard, they realize their parents are part of a secret society of super villains called the Pride.
Shocked and confused, Alex calls a meeting of all the teens the next night (except Molly because she’s too young to sneak out) to discuss what their plan of action will be. They decide to report what they know to the police, but the officer they get on the phone hangs up in disgust when Alex mentions super powers. They then decide to drive to Gertrude’s house to look for evidence of their parents’ crimes. There they discover a hidden room with genetically modified pet dinosaur that only obeys Gert that her parents (who turn out to be future and alternative-past time travelers) were saving to give her on her 18th birthday. They also discover a sort of handbook that contains information about the Pride, but it’s entirely in code. Next, they travel to Karolina’s house where she discovers that she is the daughter of powerful aliens from another world, and that she has the ability to fly and send out concentrated streams of light and heat.
Meanwhile, the police, who work for the Pride, alert Alex’s parents to his phone call. At Chase’s house, the teens look through his parents’ secret lab, where Chase discovers all sorts of interesting gadgets including x-ray glasses and giant mechanical hands that shoot fire. But it is here that Chase and Nico’s parents, who were called by Alex’s dad, finally confront them. There is a brief battle between the young Runaways and their evil parents, where Nico is attacked by her own mother and strangely absorbs the staff her mother accosts her with into her own body, and Gert’s dinosaur shows up and saves the teens at the last minute. As they make their escape, Gertrude’s parents call her on her cell phone and tell her that unless all of the teens come home, they will be forced to execute Molly, who is still home asleep in her bed.
The teens, realizing that there is no going back now, plan an attack and head for Molly’s house to rescue her. Nico, Alex and Gert storm the house with Gert’s dinosaur. Gert and Molly’s parents drive them back, but when Nico is cut, the staff her body absorbed reemerges, and she is able to use it to freeze the bad guys. Meanwhile, Chase and Karolina are behind the house waiting for Alex’s signal. They are attacked by Karolina’s mother, but quickly subdue her. Nico goes to Molly’s room and knocks out Molly’s mother, who is watching over her. Molly wakes up, and not understanding what is going on, almost attacks Nico. Molly’s parents are powerful mutants who have apparently passed on their powers to Molly, who suddenly has enough super strength to throw Karolina’s mom through the wall when she shows up again.
Again, the Runaways make their escape, this time with Molly in tow, and are about to try and contact the police again when Alex father calls his cell. He tells Alex the Pride basically owns the police department, and that there is a giant manhunt for the six of them because Alex’s parents have framed him for the murder of the girl sacrificed by the Pride. Chase suggests a hideaway, an old hotel he knows of that is in ruins from an old earthquake. The teens go there and try and decide what to do next. Back at Molly’s house, the parents have recovered, regrouped, and discovered an unsigned note from one of the teens that was left at the scene. The note indicates that whoever wrote it is still “loyal” to their parents, no matter what. The Pride is somewhat heartened by the fact that there is a mole in their group of rogue children. But who?
The Message: Never trust anyone over thirty. Occasionally, your parents really ARE as evil as you believe them to be.
Who’s it for? 6th-9th grade. No sex, only explosive violence, and the only death is that of the young girl sacrificed in the beginning, and even that is shown without blood or gore. There is an extended gag where young Molly keeps wanting to talk about her changing body with the other girls in the gang, which the reader is led to believe is about getting her first menstrual period, but is really about her coming into her mutant powers.
Why it rocks:
• Art: Relatively standard issue, it’s really Vaughan’s sparky writing that sets these panels on fire.
• Plot: Besides having a smashing good premise that turns The Incredibles on its ear, this GN is also just incredibly well-written. Vaughan, a relatively new but lauded talent, has outdone himself here. The many puns, word plays, and pop culture references included his dead-on, realistic teen dialogue are bound to date this GN quickly, but even so, I was lovin’ every minute of it.
• Pacing: Faster than a speeding bullet. The fledgling crimefighters tumble from one crisis into another, always a hairsbreath from being caught by their diabolical parents.
• Characterization: This group of fledgling crime fighters contains characters of color with realistic body types. No teen can come away from reading this series without being able to identify with one of these classic teen archetypes, reminiscent of John Hughes landmark adolescent angst-fest, The Breakfast Club. Which one are you? The Brain, the Basketcase, the Princess? They’re all here, re-interpreted by Vaughan for the twenty-first century teen.
Stand alone or serial? Serial, collects Runaways, #1-6, with subsequent sequel collections.
Hook it up with:The Shadow Club by Neal Shusterman and Alt Ed by Catherine Atkins
Read more about it:
Library Journal: 09/01/04
Publisher’s Weekly: 06/28/04
