I think every kid has wondered at one time or another if their parents were actually evil. What if your philanthropic parents were in truth ritually sacrificing people in those meetings? That's what happens with the kids in Runaways. The kids of course, freak out and slowly figure out the deal with their parents as they go on the run.

I decided to revisit Runaways with the publication of the Complete Collection line. I'd forgotten how YA this is. This was part of Marvel's Tsunami imprint where the trades were printed in those little collected Manga formats. The art does not look good blown up fullsize. It's very basic and relies too much on poor coloring to fill in the gaps. Each face has around 12 sources of light. It's looks very unnatural. The costume designs for the evil parents are ridiculous looking. They look like Molly's or another 11 year old's idea of cool. Vaughan does a fantastic job of giving each kid their own personality. The story is very Buffy-esque. It's got that same self-aware and irreverent tone I loved in Buffy and Angel.

Hey Book Peeps

So this graphic novel was in a Booktuber's TBR list and once it was described to have X-men vibes I was sold. I decided to grab it from the library and give it a go and I am so glad that I did. I really enjoyed the storyline even though it is part mystery. There is a lot of info kind of thrown at you but its never more than you can handle and it is just enough to keep you coming back for more.

All the runaway characters were fantastic. They all had distinct personalities and back stories that didn't make them fade into the background of the crazy plot. I also liked that the parents got air time in this graphic novel and they were not just side characters. They were active participants in this storyline and even though I am confused on what their overall intentions are in this book, I think that they added a different element that you just don't see everyday in coming of age superhero graphic novels. Well at least in my opinion:)

I think if you want a light read about superheroes then I think this will be it. I had a lot of fun and I can't wait to start volume 2.

Happy Reading

Jo

Tagline: At some point in their lives, all young people believe their parents are evil...but what if they really are?

Geared towards teens, this graphic novel perfectly captures children's angst towards their parents and their thoughts of how they will be better than them and their wicked ways. The story begins with six families preparing to meet for their annual meeting in which the parents gather to supposedly cut checks for charity, and the youth hang out together. The youth range in age from 12-18, and as they have gotten older this motley group no longer anticipates the gatherings. Once all the parents have sequestered themselves in the library, the six youths sneak down a secret passageway to spy on their parents. They are horrified to discover their parents are supervillains, who have banded together in a group they call the Pride. They witness a murder and then need to hide from their parents what they see. They vote if they should report the crime, but then the authorities do not believe them. This then sets them off on a journey of discovery, each discovering secrets of their origins and powers they now need to harness and understand. The six sets of parents discover that their children know the truth, and use their nefarious skills to try to stop them. The youth are forced to band together and hide, vowing they will bring their parents to justice. However, one child seems to waver, not believing that their parents are evil. So, who is the mole????

In the beginning, it was hard to keep track of all the families, so here is a cheat sheet: Wilder Family- Alex is a prodigy at strategic thinking and planning and is the child of mob bosses, Yorkes Family- Gertrude has a telepathic bond with a dinosaur and is the child of time travelers, Stein Family- Chase is a jock who steals technology from his mad scientist parents, Hayes Family- Molly is the youngest in the group who discovers she has superhuman strength, and is the child of telepathic mutants, Dean Family- Karolina finds out she is an alien with flying ability, with her parents masquerading as movie celebrities and the Minoru Family- Nico discovers she has magical abilities and is the child of dark wizards.

Pride & Joy collects the first six issues of the Runaways series, and each section opens with alternative art of the six youths. These splash panels give a different perspective of each teen and is done in a different art style than the novel. The series artwork is clean and attractive, and that they include the time and location at the top of some of the panels help the flow of the narrative. In 2005 the author, Brian Vaughan, won the Eisner Award for best writer for this series and is also the author of Saga. The artist, Adrian Alphona, now draws Ms. Marvel. I love seeing writers and authors I have liked elsewhere in books I am now reading (although Runaways was written first)!

This review can also be found on my blog: https://graphicnovelty2.com/2016/03/2...

I read Pride and Joy as part of a larger volume years ago, but what with my daughter wanting me to watch the tv show with her, I thought it was probably time to dust off the cobwebs and do a re-read.



And, hey! This was still a cool story.
The basic premise is that these kids discover their parents are supervillains when they stumble onto them ritualistically killing a young woman at their annual house party.



They freak out and go on the run (<--because they're n  runaways!n) together, trying to figure out who and what their parents are - while also discovering that they may not be as mundane as they had always believed.



The tone is very anti-adult which I found slightly annoying (because I'm a totally cool and awesome adult), but considering this is a TEEN comic...?
Eh. Whatcha gonna do?
I thought most adults were retarded and evil when I was a teenager, so I can't in good conscience complain too much.



If you haven't checked this title out yet, now is as good a time as any.

What would you do if you found out your parents led double lives as supervillains? The six kids in Runaways have only one things in common: their parents. Every year, they all meet up and the kids have to hang out together while their parents have a meeting about something adult and important, which turns out to be their secret villain society. Each kid finds everything they know turned upside down, especially since each of those parents has a potential power legacy that each kid has to adjust to and understand. The story and characters are funny, likeable and easy to identify with, the premise was interesting and enjoyable and I liked seeing references to some of the big Marvel superheros. Definitely going to continue the series!

Mums and dads play a major role in superhero stories. Frequently they are the hero’s main motivation for becoming the superhero in the first place: Bruce Wayne’s parents were shot dead, Kal-El’s parents’ last act was to send him to Earth where he became Superman, Peter Parker’s father figure Uncle Ben was killed by a mugger, Hal Jordan’s dad died in a plane crash, Odin gave Thor his powers by forging Mjolnir, Charles Xavier shepherded untold numbers of young mutants to realise their full potential, and so on.

Brian K Vaughan’s Runaways are similar in that the characters are made into superheroes through their parents - except they’re forced to step up and make that choice because their parents are supervillains trying to kill them!

Alex, Gertrude, Karolina, Chase, Molly and Nico are the teenage offspring of well-to-do Californian philanthropists. When their parents gather to decide which charities to patronise for the following year, the bored kids decide to spy on the dull grown-ups - and then discover that their parents are secretly supervillains in a group called The Pride! The murder of an innocent at the hands of their mums and dads makes up their minds for them - they have to run away, or they could be next!

I’m a big Brian K Vaughan fan so I’m not sure how it’s taken me this long to get around to this series but I’m glad I did because Runaways is terrific! Like Joss Whedon, Vaughan’s speciality is self-aware drama with the right amount of levity, as well as writing superb dialogue for convincing young characters. There’s not a single member of the group that doesn’t feel like a real teenager or unlikeable in any strong way. They’re charming and obnoxious, wise-ish but still kinda dumb, vulnerable, idealistic and guileless, thoughtless, fearful and brave - they’re teenagers.

Runaways’ concept is still remarkably fresh so that even in 2015 this comic from 2003 reads really well. It’s also Marvel in name only with a handful of pages at the start and the occasional reference tossed in denoting this is set in the Marvel Universe. I’m convinced if Vaughan were to write this today, he’d publish it via Image as his own independent superhero comic and it’d still work as perfectly.

The only giveaway that this is from several years ago is Adrian Alphona’s art. I’m a fan of the guy’s work from his recent run on G. Willow Wilson’s Ms Marvel so it’s surprising to see how different it looks here. It’s not as stylised or unique, not as eye-catching - it’s fine, it’s just a bit bland and generic, so much so that if I hadn’t seen his name on the cover, I would never have guessed he drew this book.

That and Vaughan’s occasionally too cool for school dialogue (Nico yawns, Gertrude points and deadpans: “What she said”) are the only critiques I’ll say about this book, but they’re minor quibbles really.

Runaways is brilliant. I wasn’t expecting it to grab me like it did but I was really drawn into the story with its unpredictable twists and turns and I loved getting to know this completely new set of characters. In fact the unpredictability comes from not knowing the characters and what they can do, so the two go hand in hand.

It’s definitely my favourite of all Vaughan’s work for hire Marvel stuff, maybe because it doesn’t feel like a Marvel comic or that it tries something a little different and succeeds. I think if you liked Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie’s Young Avengers, you’ll get a lot out of Vaughan and Alphona’s Runaways, though even readers who don’t especially like superhero comics might find themselves turned by this one. Good job, guys!

Very nice story (very Vaughan-y), but I don't like the artwork. It's not offensive to the eye, but it just isn't good. I think the book lost some of it's charm because of how uninspired the art is.
Still, the writing and the plot is good enough to continue reading.

3.5 stars
This was pure fun and I didn't want to put it down once I started. Six kids discover their parents are supervillains and band together to fight against them. Perfect for teens but adults will enjoy this too. There's a twist at the end that makes you want to keep reading - so I'm starting Vol 2 tonight.
n  n

First impressions:
Alex - I see potential in his super smarts. He also seems like the sensitive one.
Nico - a cool goth girl, hooray!
Chase - seems kind of dumb but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt for now
Karolina - cute and hippyish and I'm pretty sure she's a lesbian, with a crush on Nico
Gertrude - so glad there's a snarky kid. I could see her becoming a favorite.
Molly - the pre-teen, sweet and very innocent compared to the other kids
...
The Velociraptor - I love the random dinosaur, made me chuckle

n  n

n  n

From later books but I love these
n  n

n  n

This is pretty cool! It really is. The title accurately shows you what this is about.

n  WHAT IT IS ABOUT?n

Runaways is about a group of teenagers who witnessed something they shouldn't have, and now, they are on the run.

I don't want to spoil anything for you guys so I won't go into too much details about the plot.

n  MY THOUGHTSn

- This story was about teenagers who acted like teenagers. I loved that they didn't act like they were older than they are. They made stupid, irrational decisions, like most teens their age would. I, normally, would dislike teenage characters being made to think like an adult to make the character more likeable, which isn't always true. The more grounded or realistic the characters are, the better readers would emphatize and relate to them, the better liked these characters would be.

- I liked the relationship these teens had with their parents... at first... way before all the crazy stuff happened. Haha. I won't get into any further details than that. The reaction of these parents to the things their kids do, were gold! It was so funny how much I related to it.

- I liked the vibrant colors and illustrations.

- There was a plot twist here that, while I liked it, was a bit problematic for me. If one thing was done by one party, all this misunderstanding (or is it?) could have been avoided.

- I had a bit of a problem with the pacing. There were slower parts where I want more things to happened, then there were faster parts, which I enjoyed more.

- It was a bit predictable. The plot twist was something I have smelt way before the thing was revealed.

- The characters (talking about the teenagers here) had their own distinct personality.

n  FINAL THOUGHTSn

I found myself enjoying this quite a bit. I am familiar with Brian K. Vaughan's other work (Saga) which I actually really liked, so I was a bit confident that I was going to like this one too. The concept was simple, really, but I liked how it was exectuted. Aside from the problem I had with one story element, I really liked this.

Decent, pretty fast opener to the series. I'm already pretty familiar thanks to the tv show by the same name.

I still think the premise is strong. Kids of a bunch of supervillains run away, emancipating themselves from their dark, evil families. :)

To see a preview of the art be sure to check out this review on my blog, Reading Robyn.

A lot of people these days cringe when they hear the words "origin story" and I can't blame them. There's only so many times you can be told about Superman's fall to earth or how Spider-Man gets those fancy web-slingers. When it comes to the guys that have been around longer then I've been around I think it's safe to say we get the point. Despite this though, I have always had a thing for origins, especially when something new finally comes along.

Runaways has such an amazing story concept. Six kids find out that their parents are part of a very evil looking secret society and it turns out they've been keeping all sorts of secrets from their children, from superpowers to murder. Despite how awesome this all sounds, the odds that it would all work perfectly had me a little wary of Runaways. The success of an origin story has everything to do with establishing character and motive. What worried me initially was just how many introductions needed to be crammed into 144 pages. I mean, we're talking twelve parents and six kids in total. That's a lot of information on top of establishing the plot.

For the start of a series, this book actually surprised me. Not only did it manage to pull of the general introductions (although sometimes a little messily, which I can forgive) it also managed to create a sense of suspense and mystery that I wasn't expecting.

The way each teenager has their own distinct powers and personality made things really interesting. I mean, they've got it all in the stereotypical one from every click sort of way, yet they're not forcing their differences onto the reader. In this first volume the writing does a great job of making it clear that they're all in the same boat here. The only thing that bugged me about the characterization was the parents. Since they are the main antagonists I would have liked to have had more of an introduction to who they are so I could better understand their reaction to their teens going rogue.

My only other true complaint about the book would be the cover art on the paperback edition. Although I love the art inside, with it's vivid colouring and great character designs, the art on the cover makes me want to tack on a "I swear it's good.". It just doesn't do the art any sort of justice! I very much prefer the hardcover editions, which are a much better reflection of the characters and story. The paperback edition make them look more like cartoons meant for toy packaging.

On the more positive side, and I almost hate to say this, but this is the book you should give to teenagers in their welcome to teenager-hood package. As a lot of reviewers have said before me, a large amount of the appeal is it's a question of "What would I do?" At the perfect time just when you're starting to doubt everything you've been told about life and where you fit in it, BOOM! Turns out it really was all lies! You don't only have hormones, but you have superpowers, you're parents really are evil, and now you have to deal with the consequences!

This volume one really was a promising start. I'm not only super excited to keep reading, but I want to know more about these characters, about just what is going to happen next and that note near the end filled me with glee. This is definitely going to be an interesting series!

This was quite different from the usual Marvel stuff we get and wow I loved it!

It starts with Alex Wilder and his friends finding out what their parents do to a young girl and they belong to a group named "The Pride" and that they maybe supervillains and we follow this group as they go to expose their parents for who they are but well they are children and think everyone is innocent but they ain't and thus begins them vs their parents after they find out. Meanwhile Karolina's power kicks in, Gert finds out a dinosaur and Chase some mechanical equipment and when one of their own i.e. Molly's life is threatened, will the group be able to save her and what more secrets and battles they will discover or have to fight for?

Loved this whole thing and its a very new concept in Marvel like I said and that makes it so fun and these are children fighting their super-villain parents and thats cool and all and then the drama and tension it creates is awesome and I love how the children are written, they are innocent and all and the black/white lines is all they see, not the shades of grey and then we follow this team in weird wild aventures and all that and I like how the powers reveal themself and the mystery behind Nico is intriguing. Plus whatever the mission in the end is has me excited to read future volumes!