Runaways #1 review: Rising like a tsunami across time and space
By Alex Widen
The sole surviving franchise from Marvel’s “Tsunami” imprint is back! Yet can the Runaways find their place once more?
Runaways #1
Writer: Rainbow Rowell
Artist: Kris Anka
Colorist: Matthew Wilson
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The tale of the Runaways begins back in the heady days of 2003. Marvel Comics’ escape from bankruptcy was very recent, and the trick of getting newer, younger readers was as baffling then as it was now. Realizing that manga was (and is) tremendously popular with younger audiences, it was therefore decided to make an imprint whose titles would be crafted exclusively towards them. Titled “Tsunami,” it focused on younger casts of characters well as more distinct artists and writers.
Image by Marvel Comics
As an imprint, the success of “Tsunami” was mixed. Then as now, Marvel learned that readers rarely buy entire “lines” of comic books. Most of the titles focused on already established characters (such as Mystique, Emma Frost, and the New Mutants). One, Sentinel, was almost like a “mecha” title with a teenage boy who controlled a Sentinel robot. Yet the series which was the most original, and endured the longest, was Runaways by Brian K. Vaughan and Adrian Alphona.
Image by Marvel Comics
Seems Like Losing an Imprint Can’t Keep a Good Book Down!
Runaways featured the exploits of a cast of wholly new characters set within the Marvel Universe. Six teenagers (Nico Minoru, Chase Stein, Gertrude Yorkes, Molly Hayes, Karolina Dean and Alex Wilder) have been bound together thanks to annual “meetings” organized by their parents. Thanks to circumstance, they all realize their parents are members of a cabal of villains called “the Pride” who are engaging in dark ceremonies to please dark gods, the Gibborim! Their adventure began!
Image by Marvel Comics
Runaways outlasted the “Tsunami” imprint, running for 62 issues across three volumes from 2003-2009. Two-thirds of it was written by Vaughan, with other writers including Joss Whedon and Terry Moore. While a critical darling and source of diverse innovation in its prime, it eventually ran its course. The cast would reappear here and there in other Marvel titles, often apart from each other. In many ways, they were in that decade what G. Willow Wilson’s Ms. Marvel is now.
It seems like when team books relaunch, there tend to be two methods. One immediately reunites the team, and gets to particulars in flashback or exposition. The other slowly organizes the team across the first arc of 4-6 issues, perhaps one or two at a time. Runaways volume four begins via the latter method, beginning with Nico Minoru. Briefly known as “Sister Grimm,” she’s among the best-known Runaways. She’s also fresh off a stint on A-Force, which this issue acknowledges.
Image by Marvel Comics
Seems like Chase Always Arrived Unannounced!
Alone in her apartment, Nico’s having one of those frustrating nights where nothing goes right. Things continue to form due to her living space invaded by Chase Stein. Utilizing a time machine from their parents’ stockpile, he’s gone back in time to undo the team’s greatest tragedy. While all of them had worked well alongside each other (aside for Alex Wilder, who betrayed them), Gertrude had been their heart. Her murder during a mission consequently shook the team forever.
Image by Marvel Comics
Chase’s motivation is more than altruism; he had been in love with Gertrude (“Gert”). As a result, her death took him to dark places, making him more cunning and ruthless a person. While losing her was a pain for all of them, Chase was the least able to let go. Yet despite the aid of a time machine, his rescue attempt has gone as poorly as most of their adventures went. While Gert is technically alive, she’s still mortally wounded and liable to bleed out on the floor at any moment!
Image by Marvel Comics
Desperate, Nico Minoru taps into her sorcerer parents’ legacy once again and summons her magical “Staff of One.” It is able to cast spells based solely on Nico’s imagination, yet it can only cast each spell once. Nico has sought to “cheat” this limitation by summoning similar spells in different languages, but this has only delayed the inevitable — she’s running out of useful spells. Therefore, rather than be able to heal Gert, Nico has to summon a nearby doctor to operate now!
Image by Marvel Comics
With New Answers Come Yet More Questions!
As a result, now there is a fourth person who finds themselves in Nico’s pad in a hurry! Unfortunately, Nico’s magic isn’t always precise — she winds up summoning a podiatrist, not a heart surgeon! Unable (and unwilling) to contact the proper authorities, the three of them have to work around their panic and Nico’s spell limit to figure out how to save Gert’s life. This includes summoning one of Chase’s old x-ray goggles for the doctor to use, and magically sealing wounds!
Image by Marvel Comics
Yet once the crisis is over, this isn’t the end to the Runaways’ problems. Both Nico and Chase have plenty of questions to ask each other. If Chase had a time machine, how come he couldn’t turn up sooner, before Gert was stabbed? And how did Nico Minoru recover the arm that she’d lost during Avengers Arena, and at what price? And just what has happened to their pet dinosaur, Old Lace? Finally, can Chase and Gert just pick up where they left off with a two year age gap between them?
Image by Marvel Comics
For Rainbow Rowell, this is her first work in comics. A former newspaper columnist turned young adult novelist, she’s written books such as Eleanor & Park and Carry On. Her novels often involve elements such as magic, time travel, and romance, which makes her an ideal fit for Runaways. Part of the charm of the series was how the kids’ parents game from different arenas. Mutants, aliens, time travelers, mad scientists, sorcerers, and thieves all united to form one unique blend!
Image by Marvel Comics
The Rainstorm in the Kitchen Is a Great Bit!
One dilemma which often plagues some writers as they shift from novels to comics is pacing. In a book you can take dozens of pages to establish mood or have one scene. In a comic, that’s one entire issue. Hence, the entire issue’s events take place in Nico’s kitchen. Rowell’s dialogue is great, as she already has a great handle on the franchise and the voices of her two leads. As a result, there is a frenzied, confused, and scared tone to the issue, and it fits the plot perfectly.
Image by Marvel Comics
The plot and exposition, as it were, seems like it’s picking from the first two volumes of Runaways — the material founder Brian K. Vaughan wrote. The flashback is taken directly from Runaways #18. Much like the film Superman Returns, this may be an act of focusing on one set of preferred continuity over others. This is fine, as most fans of the series would be quick to admit that nobody had the same flair as Vaughan, nor did any of the stories since his run have as much impact.
Image by Marvel Comics
Kris Anka and Matthew Wilson handle the art and colors superbly. Unlike Rowell, Anka is a well-known figure at Marvel Comics. He’s had runs on Star-Lord, Captain Marvel, and X-Men. He’s also done design work for the company, specifically redesigning Spider-Woman’s costume. Anka’s work on this issue is utterly fantastic. His designs for the cast are excellent, showing them all different yet distinctly themselves. I can’t wait to see more of Molly and Old Lace in future issues!
Image by Marvel Comics
And Just Who Is the Mystery Person with the Cat?
Most importantly, Anka is one of the true believers of having characters in comics have realistic and diverse body types. Before Tumblr made such a thing a meme, Gert had the distinction of being the only full-figured heroine in Marvel Comics. Karolina may have been a leggy blonde, while Nico was lean in comparison; none of them were GQ models. From cover to panels, Anka continues along the spirit that Alphona defined. Nico, Chase, and especially Gert look fantastic!
Image by Marvel Comics
As the cover suggests, a cast reunion is due. Karolina Dean, Molly Hayes and Old Lace don’t appear in this issue, yet their return is inevitable. The fates of later term team members are up in the air. Alex Wilder was the villain for a good stretch of Power Man and Iron Fist, and it seems like he is off limits. Victor Mancha was killed during Tom King’s run on Vision. Xavin, a Skrull and the lover of Karolina Dean, and Klara Prast, a kid from the year 1907, have murkier and unknown fates here.
Image by Marvel Comics
Must Read: 100 greatest superhero stories
This is an excellent reintroduction to the Runaways. Rowell does a great job with catching up both old and new fans as to who everyone is and what they can do. As fun as a reunion of the team’s most iconic members may be, the themes of growth and bittersweet change are persistent. None of the Runaways can ever truly go home again; the best they can do is march forward together as a result. It’s great having this series to read again, and fans should look forward to more!