Chase Stein is a player and a homemaker in Runaways No. 21
By Alex Widen
Saving Lives by Accident for 17 Years!
On the other end of the spectrum is Karolina Dean. Much like Chase, she’s trying to juggle her life with the Runaways with everything else. Despite being happy, she’s conflicted. Karolina thought she was happy as a college student dating a member of the Power Pack, with the Runaways behind her. Yet now, while her academic career is in peril, she has a much more sustainable relationship with Nico and is glad to be reunited with her friends once again. Can she be anxious and happy at once?
Image by Marvel Comics
The answer, of course, is yes. Thankfully, Karolina has a decent therapist who reminds her of all the strides they’ve made and that Karolina’s learned mental techniques to deal with anxiety. Unfortunately, as the young space alien realizes, coping with her anxiety runs the risk of ruining much of her happiness. It takes a lot of energy to deal with negative emotions, and it can distract from the positive ones. As always, circumstances tend to get in the way.
Image by Marvel Comics
The Runaways, more often than not, are an anomaly within Marvel Comics. Aside for brief spurts or poor luck, they aren’t a team of vigilantes. They’ve historically battled monsters and villains before, and saved people, but more often than not they’re out to mind their own business. Even in this volume, their involvement with a mad scientist and an immortal witch were entirely due to circumstance. This time, Karolina rescues a little girl who would have been run over amid a high speed car chase.
Image by Marvel Comics