Runaways, Vol. 1 - Dark Publications

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Editorial Reviews:

Product Description
In Pride & Joy, six young friends discover their parents are all secretly super-powered villains! Finding strength in one another, the shocked teens run away from home and straight into the adventure of their lives - vowing to turn the tables on their evil legacy. In Teenage Wasteland, the Runaways find a kindred spirit in a daring young stranger and welcome him into their fold. But will this dashing young man help the teenagers defeat their villainous parents... or tear them apart? Plus: who do you send to catch a group of missing, runaway teenage super-heroes? Marvel's original teen runaway crimefighters, Cloak and Dagger, make their first major appearance in years! In The Good Die Young, the world as we know it is about to end, and the Runaways are the only hope to prevent it! Our fledgling teenage heroes have learned how their parents' criminal organization began, and now they must decide how it should end. As the Runaways' epic battle against their evil parents reaches its shocking conclusion, the team's mole stands revealed, and blood must be shed. Which kids will still be standing when the smoke finally clears?

Customer Reviews: Read 40 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars

Amazingly Original, Wonderfully Engaging; A Must-Read January 6, 2006
34 out of 36 found this review helpful

A few months ago, I was walking around in a comic book store with a friend of mine. While I am a newbie in the world of comics, he knows his stuff, and he pointed out Runaways to me. I had never heard of it before, but he assured me that it was amazing. The premise is simple: 6 kids in Los Angeles find out that their parents are supervillains, and they run away from home and try to find ways to defeat them. I was intrigued by the idea, but I never picked it up until just now. The book was everything he said and more.
Alex Wilder, Gertrude Yorkes, Chase Stein, Karolina Dean, Nico Minoru, and Molly Hayes are six kids, ranging from 12 to about 17, living in LA. They exist within the established Marvel universe, meaning that heroes like Spider-Man, Captain America, and Wolverine, as well as supervillains like Dr. Octopus and Dr. Doom live in their world as well. That doesn't mean that they don't also live in "our world" as well. There are many references to popular culture, which I will touch on later. Since most Marvel stories are based in New York City, the six kids have never experienced larger than life situations that super heroes find themselves in. The closest Alex ever got was when he played online games with his friends.
Every year, the six families got together so that the parents could get stuff done for the charitable organization that they work for. At least that's what they tell their children. Meanwhile, the six kids, who aren't big fans of each other, are forced to hang out together and find ways to pass the time. Gert is a cynical girl who can't stand capitalist culture (if you've ever read/seen Ghost World, she's very much like Enid) while Chase is a lacrosse player without an overabundance of brains. Nico is a goth while Molly is a young firecracker. Karolina is an outgoing daughter of two movie stars while Alex is a calm and collected, somewhat shy boy (of all the characters, Alex is most like me).
One year, the kids decide that they are fed up with waiting for their parents to finish their business, so they decide to spy on the group, only to witness their parents murder a young woman. Terrified by the act, the group decides to run away. Soon, each child learns that they have received some sort of ability or gift from their parents. Gert, whose parents are time travellers, finds a genetically modified raptor that she can telepathically communicate with, Chase steals some gadgets and weapons from his inventor parents, and Nico learns that she, along with her parents, are sorcerors. Meanwhile, Karolina and her family are aliens with powers drawn from the Earth's sun, and Molly learns that she comes from a family of mutants. While Alex doesn't have any offensive abilities, he, along with his parents, is a master strategist.
Using their newfound abilities, the Runaways vow to atone for their parents' sins and become a West Coast-based team of superheroes. Along the way, they fight their parents a few times (and barely make it out alive), encounter Marvel superteam Cloak and Dagger, and find friendship (and a few find a little romance) in each other.
Despite being about a group of teenagers (and one pre-teen), this isn't kids' stuff. It does get very dark at times, and there are a lot of adult issues in the storylines (I don't want to mention what they are, because a few of them aren't revealed until the end). Although, it's interesting how certain aspects associated with real teenagers are twisted to fit the storyline. For example, while some real-life teens cut themselves out of anger, Nico cuts herself in order to get access to her magic staff (it will make much more sense when you read the book). Also, the characters are very well developed. Karolina may seem like a perky Hollywood girl on the outside, but there is a lot more going on under the surface. Molly may be the youngest, which causes the others to attempt to shelter her, she may be the most powerful among them, and can keep up with every other runaway. Not only are the kids developed, but they act and talk like real kids would. There are tons of pop culture references in this book. The best part is that it isn't all just about current culture. The Who, The Beatles, and James Dean's Rebel Without A Cause are all worked into the story, but that doesn't mean that things like The Matrix, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Smallville (a show involving a DC Comics character, mind you) also make the book.
The artwork in this book is great. A mix of American comic book art and anime, each character has their own distinctive look to them.
Originally, the book was cancelled after these 18 issues chronicled in this amazing hard cover set. However, wild fan support, some of which even came from Joss Whedon (creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and he is also referenced to in the story) helped get the book revived, and it is currently in its second "season". Speaking of Whedon, author Brian K. Vaughn even lists Whedon as one of his heroes in the book's forward, and it is amazing to know that he is a fan of this story, especially since it is written by a fan of him.
Runaways is definitely one of the most original stories I've come across in a while. Even if you aren't a comic book fan, you should definitely check it out. There will be a few references you might not get involving characters within the Marvel universe (there were a few I didn't get due to the fact that I'm not a hard-core comic book fan), but overall, it won't hurt your understanding or enjoyment of the story.

5 out of 5 stars

A Great Read Even for Non-Comic Readers August 27, 2005
16 out of 18 found this review helpful

Marvel has had the great fortune of having Brian K. Vaughan's story of children who "runaway" from their evil, would-be world conquering parents. A story which has uprooted super-hero cliche's in the same way Spider-Man did in the 1960's. These kids don't want to save the world so much as make it through the day and you won't find them in spandex or masks. For jaded comic book readers this is a breath of fresh air and for new readers it is a completely fun read that fans of Harry Potter would surely enjoy.

5 out of 5 stars

Worth Spending Your Money On... August 31, 2006
12 out of 12 found this review helpful

Runaways, Volume 1 (Hardcover) is a collection of Runaways series one issues 1-18. If your a huge fan of Runaways this is a must have. If your a fan in general you will still enjoy this edition. I got this for $21-22 including shipping and I think it was worth every penny.
Here's a break down of what's in the book:
1) Introduction - Some word from Brian K. Vaughan.
2) The comics. (Issues 1-18)
3) A fan letter by Joss Whedon that appears in issue 18 and Brian K. Vaughan's response.
4) Runaways Expanded Proposal by Brian K. Vaughan.(I think this was interesting. To see what was originally planned. It funny to see what some of the characters name were originally and how they changed. A lot of the changed were for the best I think. Read and decide for yourself.)
5) Adrian Alphona Sketchbook. (Character concept art, character sketches and reandom doodles.
6) Promotional Art by Adrian Alphona.
7) Bios of Brian K. Vaughan, Adrian Alphona, Craig Yeung, Christina Strain, Jo Chen and Takeshi Miyazawa.
Also the book it's self without the dust cover is black with Runaways written in red. Very cool looking. So go and get your own copy today and enjoy. =^__.__^=

5 out of 5 stars

Fresh, fun series in the Buffy mold May 21, 2004
11 out of 11 found this review helpful

What a fun book! 6 teenagers find out that their parents are really supervillains. The book just sets up the premise and shows some of the initial confrontations between the kids and their parents. The term to use here is "Buffyesque" :) Just like Buffy, this is a good story with a premise that might appear silly at first. Just like Buffy, half the fun is the various characters and the way they interact. There is still so much left to explore - the full extent of the children's and parent's powers, the true nature and goals of the secret organization that the parents belong to. I have not had this much fun reading comics in a while. Think of the first volume as 1/2 of season one of a good teen SciFi/Fantasy show like Buffy or Smallville.

5 out of 5 stars

Amazing! October 9, 2005
8 out of 9 found this review helpful

This is a GREAT series! If you are on the edge about it, jump and pick this up...NOW!!!

Now to address an area of some confusion.This book collects the ENTIRE run of the first series. So that means you don't need any of the manga-style books volume 1-3. I got confused by that and ordered vol. 2-3 thinking it was new stuff, but it's not. The upcomming vol.4 however is new.

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