Runaways Vol.1: Pride & Joy (Digest)

Adrian Alphona (Illustrator) and Brian K. Vaughan

Meet Alex, Karolina, Gert, Chase, Molly, and Nico, a group of teenswhose lives are about to take an unexpected turn. When these six young friends discover their parents are all secretly super-powered villains, the shocked teenagers find strength in one another. Together, they run away from home and straight into the adventure of their lives--vowing to turn the tables on their evil legacy.

• ISBN10: 0785157328
• ISBN13: 9780785157328
• Publish Date: 27 April 2011 (first published 6 December 2006)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 16 March 2021
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Marvel Comics
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 152
• Language: English

Reviews

[Quirky Cat]

It goes without saying that this review is a little bit behind on the times, being that I’m reading it eleven years after it published. I’m not going to let that deter me though! I plan to binge through the Runaways and finally get caught up in time for the reboot (and the TV series, though they keep changing the date on that one). Part of my determination for reading through this series is that I love Brian Vaughan’s work (just got caught up on Saga, next is Y: the Last Man) and thus I am trying to read through most, if not all, of his works. Anybody that’s going into the Runaways thinking “oh! It’s a cute little story about a bunch of kids!” should probably take a minute to look through Vaughan’s other works. I have no doubt this will be just as heavy at times.



Pride and Joy is the start of a whole new adventure, introducing a whole new set of main characters and villains. During a “friendly” get together between six families, the kids quickly learn that their parents are not what they seem. Determined to not become like them, they choose to run away and try and stop whatever plan their parents have in motion. Obviously there’s a bit more to it than that, but I don’t want to spoil everything for you. I think the way everything was set up (how the kids found out about their parents, etc) was believable, as was their reactions. I can only imagine How I would have reacted, had I been in there place.
It’s probably worth noting that each kid has their own unique ability, courtesy of their parents. Alex Wilder is a genius and is brilliant at strategy; Gerturde Yorke (though don’t call her that to her face, seriously, call her Gert) has a dinosaur that’s psychically linked to her (her parents are time travelers and apparently that explains it all?); Karolina Dean is a beautiful rainbow alien; Chase (which is actually his last name) is a tech genius, even if he acts like an idiot, and manages to steal a couple handy things from his parents on his way out; Nico Minoru inherited (well, took) a magical staff called the Staff of One (which I actually find really interesting – it’s probably my favorite ability out of all the characters); and finally the youngest Runaway, Molly Hayes is a mutant with super strength.
The introduction itself felt a little rushed, but on the whole I really believe the series has a lot of potential (I swear I’m not just saying that because Brian Vaughan is writing it) and I seriously can’t wait to continue reading. Lucky for me, I bought the whole series at once, so I get to binge read it!


For more reviews, check out Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks