Runaways Vol.6: Parental Guidance (Digest)

[Quirky Cat]

I’m always surprised by the depth and character development that comes with Runaways. I think I instinctively keep assuming that it’s aimed for a younger audience and thus will pull the punches. Each issue continues to prove that theory wrong, and I am so very glad for it. Some of the information revealed in this particular volume has me reeling from the implications, and oh so very curious about how it’ll all pan out.
Obviously I’m reviewing these eleven years late, but I’m desperately trying to catch up before the reboot occurs - which last I heard should be happening in September. I can’t wait! But needless to say I have a few (five, to be exact) volumes to read before that happens.



Volume six seemed to set aside some time to focus on the youngest Runaway, Molly Hayes. The first issue has her separated from the rest of the team, resulting in her learning exactly what she is capable of. As it turns out, it’s quite a bit. It’s easy to assume that Molly is all brawn and no brains, but her planning skills prove otherwise. While being held captive by a greedy man, Molly figures out how to turn the tables on him, freeing herself and all the other children.
A few issues previously (I’m not exactly certain when); Nico revealed that she had tried to bring Alex back from the dead, despite his betrayal. Now, naturally I had assumed this was the reason we saw Alex (or at least a guy that looked shockingly like Alex) running around plotting against them. Turns out my assumption was in fact, wrong. Alex’s old gaming group is responsible for that turn of events. They found an instruction manual of some sort on Alex’s computer, explaining how they could pull him from a different point in time (ideally from a point before he died). The problem is, they messed up while casting the spell and went too far back in time. They ended up grabbing Alex’s father, Geoffrey Wilder, whom Alex takes after both in looks and maniacal plotting.
Perhaps my assumption of the Alex shown before being his father is also incorrect, I’m not sure. If it was the same guy the whole time though – what happened with Nico’s spell? I’m very concerned about that, as I don’t see Vaughin dropping a trail like that just to leave it alone.
Regardless of whether or not Geoffrey is the man we’ve been seeing in the shadows this whole time, the fact remains that he went after the Runaways, and hard. Kidnapping Molly as a ploy to draw the rest to a location of his choice, he baits them in hopes of getting one or two of them near enough to become a sacrifice. Clearly this guy had no intention of playing around, as the final issue shows. I sincerely wasn’t expecting something like that to happen – I never thought Runaways would reach the point of having a character death like that (even though Alex died. You’re welcome to try and figure out my logic on that one).
I should confess that I was actually warned about this character death, but for some reason convinced myself that it either would magically not happen, or at least that it wouldn’t happen until later in the series. I was wrong on both counts. I’m going to avoid saying which character it is, despite the decade gap between now and when it was published. Just try and prepare yourselves for it.
Despite the pretty sad ending, I’m really curious to see where things go now. I believe that Chase has some serious potential for character growth, which would be nice, since he is often shown as the goofiest of all the characters. We’ll see.


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