The curse of evil parents (and I mean really evil)
Written: Jun 15 '04 (Updated Jun 15 '04)
Product Rating:
Pros: Clever, innovative, great dialogue and art
Cons: Slightly slow-paced; definitely eccentric
The Bottom Line: One of the most compelling titles on the market today, this volume gives you an introduction to the strange world of Runaways. It's worth checking out.
minorthreat78's Full Review: Brian K. Vaughn and David Newbold - Runaways 6: Th...
Personally speaking, I would consider 2003 to have been a very fine year for comic books. Several series, from big series like Daredevil, Batman, and Fantastic Four and minor series like Birds of Prey producing great material, and new series like Superman/Batman, Teen Titans and Supreme Power offering up fun, exciting work, it was a downright great year for superhero comics. Likewise, non-superhero comics like Y: The Last Man, Fables, and The Losers gave us some of the more intriguing premises and stories out there in the land of modern fiction.
Still, while there are other tales that are more successful, more in keeping with mainstream tastes, and, yes, perhaps even better, nothing, to me, beats Runaways. The clever dialogue, stupid-yet-entertaining premise, and the borderline absurd characters made this comic book series, to me, one of my faves of the year.
Now, as a new marketing plan for Marvel Comics, the first six issues of this series have been compiled in a small volume modeled after the manga volumes put out by such publishers as Viz Comics, in order to offer up the stories to the somewhat younger and definitively more feminine clientle who purchase the Japanese comics in bookstores across the country.
Quite honestly, its a great marketing strategy. Manga, or Japanese comics, enjoy a substantial market foothold in American bookstores, one which, fairly significantly, surpasses that of American comics. This series' combination of wit, absurdism, and, yes, distinctly Japanese-styled artwork (courtesy of Adrian Alphona) make this series a perfect fit for fans of series like El Hazard or Inu Yasha. Add to that the low price (the first three issues of the series, at cover price, would cost more), and we've got something I'd be hard pressed not to recommend to anyone.
Basically, the series is about a group of six kids, 11 to 17, who discover their parents are super-villains. And we're not just talking any old super-villains; collectively, they are The Pride, a super-secret organization of witches, mad scientists, time-travellers, and aliens which all-but-totally controls organized crime on the west coast (which explains the conspicuous absence of super-heroes in the Marvel universe in California).
By the standards of clandestine evil secret societies, The Pride is an okay bunch of people, even if they do run drugs, commit grand larceny, and, oh yeah, kill a few people in the bargain. But in their hearts, they're all about family. In fact, they all plan to let their children inherit their positions when the time comes.
Unfortunately for them, their children witness them murdering a young woman in the process of a ritual sacrifice (which, you may presume, would alter any teenager's view of their parents). As would be expected, the kids try to alert the authorities, only to find that the few people who believe their parents are evil work for their parents, and want them dead for destroying the whole Machiavellian scheme of the Pride. In other words...things could be better.
Overall, the story is pretty active, as the characters are, well, running away. As much fun as the plot developments are, it is the characters that define this madcap story. Anyway, for reference points, the Runaways are:
Alex Wilder, the son of an upwardly mobile black couple making their way through la-la-land by breaking the backs of those who stand in their way (but not in a really evil way...just mildly evil).
Gertrude Yorkes, the daughter of time-travelling villains who happen to have a genetically enhanced, telepathically controlled velociraptor. Oh yeah, and if she could, she would've voted for Nader.
Karolina Dean, daughter of a first-class Hollywood acting couple, and quite lovely in her own right. She's also an alien being composed of pure solar energy, which has to be difficult to explain on a first date.
Chase Stein, whose lack of forethought is most likely not the result of his parents, mad scientists who invented several nifty tools, including psychically-controlled flame gloves and super-night-vision goggles. He's the wild one of the bunch.
Molly Hayes, 11 years old, whose insistence people talk to her about the "changes" in her physiology have little to do with her genital area. Her parents are mutants (the "X-Men" kind) and her power is similar to their own: she is super strong. Like, really super strong. She'd be dangerous, if she really understood her power. Or maybe she'd be less dangerous. Its hard to say.
Finally, there is Nico Minoru. The daughter of super-assassins with magical powers, she is capable of releasing a magical staff when her blood is spilled, though she is still largely unfamiliar with how to use it.
Anyway, that motley crew of misfits and freaks has to figure out how to escape from under the thumb of their nigh-omniscient parents.
Really, though, I realize this series seems dumb on the surface, being about a bunch of teens with super-powers facing off against their super-villain parents. Truthfully, though, Bryan K. Vaughan is a brilliant writer, capable of making absurd premises work (after all, Y: The Last Man is one of the best series out there, and it has one of the most absurd premises of any series). When he introduces a telepathically-controlled velociraptor, or has the characters seeking out a secret decoder ring, it somehow manages to make sense within the fractured universe he creates.
Alphona, of course, deserves kudos as well. While the series is definitely manga-inspired, Alphona's art is quite solid, giving us characters that aren't the standard "big muscles and big breasts" so typical of super-hero comics. It makes sense; after all, these kids are hardly super-heroes. Still, the characters are distinctive, and Alphona shows a clear skill for depicting quality facial expressions.
Silly though the concept may be (even for the comic industry), the series digs into a territory that is rarely touched in the comic book world; namely, what effect does having evil people for parents have on their kids. While this has been vaguely touched upon before in the Batman books (Stephanie Brown, alias Spoiler or Robin #4, has a villain for a father. There are other cases, but relatively few). The series has a unique take on the Marvel Universe (not to mention explaining why no super-heroes are based in the west coast), and Vaughan and Alphona make the frightening premise of having nowhere to run all the more real with their subtle characterizations and quirky humor.
Quite honestly, I would recommend this volume to almost any fan of comic books; it is quirky and innovative enough to warrant interest from indie comics fans, and superhero fans will most likely enjoy the subtle references and post-modern mockery of the stories' own plot.
If you are into comics at all, I hightly recommend this book. It is an inexpensive volume, well worth the money, and certainly merits a look-see from even the casual fan.
Stranger danger! Still on the run from their super-villain parents, this motley crew of super-powered kids finds a kindred spirit in a daring young st...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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