Graphic series

Runaways [Vol. 1-5] Brian K. Vaughn and Adrian Alphona published 2003-2005

Every teenager, at some point in their lives, thinks their parents are evil. But what if it were true?

Mismatched teenagers Alex, Nico, Karolina, Chase, Gertrude, and Molly dread the yearly reunion of their boring socialite parents. But this dread moves to a whole new level when they see their parents murder a young girl – one not much older than they are.

Thieves, scientists, time travellers, mutants, sorcerers, and aliens, their parents make up “The Pride”, an organisation that runs the dark side of California. A group determined to destroy the world – and their children if necessary. The kids become the Runaways, falsely accused fugitives intent on staying alive and repairing some of the damage their parents have caused.

I flew through the first five volumes of this graphic novel series, and am very eager to get my hands on the rest. I love a good superhero story, but the appeal of this Marvel series is that it’s not really about superheroes at all, nor the villains either. These are real kids (effects of living in the Marvel universe aside) with real issues who are just forced into a bad situation.

I did find the characters a little clichéd at the start of the first volume – the gamer, the goth, the nerd, the jock, etc – but the fact that these characters all have a true personality to go along with it makes the cliché work to the series advantage.

Comic book fans will appreciate the appearance of regular superheroes, major and minor (yes, I did have to make use of my brother’s Marvel Encyclopedia to identify one or two heroes), but for the most part they play their role and move on, in no way overshadowing the main characters.

The illustrating, both pencilling and colouring, was excellent – very Marvel, of course, but a few new touches here and there. A few edition in the later volumes were pencilled by a different artist, giving a slightly different look to the established characters, which I found a little off-putting but not to the detriment of the story.

Overall, a good graphic series aimed at Marvel fans 12-16. An excellent story with nice artwork; plenty of action but not too violent. 4.5/5

Vol. 1 -  Pride and Joy Vol. 2 - Teenage Wasteland
Vol. 3 - The Good Die Young
Vol. 4 – True Believers
Vol. 5 – Escape to New York