Runaways: Battleworld

by Noelle Stevenson

[Quirky Cat]

Noelle Stevenson (Lumberjanes) and Sanford Greene (Uncanny Avengers) team up to give us this unique story. Runaways: Battleworld is set in the Secret World (the one where Doom is basically god and controls everything). Battleworld is basically a school for all of the gifted (superhero, mutant, etc) kids to go and train and learn the way of Doom (sounds super creepy when you put it like that, doesn’t it?).



This is titled a Runaways comic, but honestly it really isn’t. The only Runaways character that makes an appearance is Molly, and frankly she’s not even the main focus. Teaming up with Molly we have Sanna Strand (AKA Frostbite, only appears in Doom’s world), Jubilation Lee (Jubilee, X-Men), Megan Gwynn (Pixie, X-Men), Amadeus Cho (the Totally Awesome Hulk), Delphyne Gorgon (Amazons), and finally, Tandy and Tyrone (Cloak and Dagger), Skaar (son of Hulk). The team list quickly confirms what I’m saying – Molly is the only Runaways on the team.
I think the intention was to have them be Runaways in spirit, so to speak. This (mostly new) group of kids also chose to run away from their superiors when they found out how corrupt they actually were. There’s a common link there as well as the fact that they were also betrayed by the adults (and one kid) they trusted.
Molly’s expressions in Battleworld were more comical than usual, but I’m ok with that. She’s a high-strung eleven year-old with super strength. I can’t say I’m surprised by it. While the focus wasn’t always on her, you can be sure that when she was in a panel she was making some sort of face (especially if she was angry).
Tyrone and Amadeus seemed to be the leaders, while Jubilee was the heart of the group. Did I mention it was actually really nice to see Jubilee interacting with a different group? I remember her from the classic cartoons, so she sort of has a special place in my heart because of that.
I don’t think I would have read this volume, had the Runaways title not been included with it. While I find the concept of Secret World interesting, I find the overall plot just a bit tired. I give credit to Stevenson and Greene for trying to give us a unique spin on their part of the world though.


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