So what would you do if you found out your parents were super villains? Alex, Nico, Karolina, Gertrude, Chase and Molly choose to run away and plot to take down their parents any way they can.
I started out with 4 stars, but it’s really closer to 3. I enjoyed Runaways, but it is no Saga.
On the night that the 6 teens find out their parents are super villains, they also find out that some of them have powers, one is an alien, one is a mutant, one has flame throwing gloves, and one has a telepathic velociraptor. Yeah. I’m here for Old Lace, the genetically engineered velociraptor. The kids struggle to understand what has happened and who they really are. Their parents are an organization called The Pride. They control crime in Los Angeles, and also the police and the media. Having discovered that they can’t go to the authorities, and don’t know who to trust, they are isolated and must depend on each other. They get into scrapes, fight off foes and fight with each other, there’s a twist and a victory that feels a little like defeat.
By the end of the volume one, we know why the parents were doing what they were doing, and who the kids are and how they fit into the Marvel Universe (they don’t fit in). My biggest complaint was that the kids, while distinct, are mostly caricatures. None of them feel all that real.
Next year, Marvel and Hulu are teaming up to bring Runaways to TV. I think this might play better live action than on the page. But I’m really in it for the raptor.
