Runaways: Pride and Joy by Brian K. Vaughan. Pencils by Adrian Alphona. Inks by David Newbold and Craig Yeung. Colors by Biran Reber. Editor-in-Chief is Joe Quesada. Marvel, 2005.ISBN: 978-0785157328
Plot Summary
Once again it’s time for the yearly meeting of The Pride, a group of super villains bent on wreaking as much havoc as possible. Of course, the Pride’s six children do not know the real reason behind their parents’ yearly meeting; they simply think it’s a boring tradition. In fact, the six teens couldn’t be more different. Alex is a gamer, Nico is a goth interested in alternative movies and music while Karolina enjoys cooking and fashion. Chase is a cheerful slacker while Gertrude is a studious academic. Molly, as the youngest, simply wants to be included. When the six of them discover that their parents are in fact super villains they try to stop them by calling the police. However, when the police ignore them they decide to take matters into their own hands and do a bit of investigating. Despite knowing that their parents are up to no good, even they are surprised at what they uncover.
Critical Evaluation
Containing Runaways volumes one through five, Runaways: Pride and Joy, is a visual feast for the eyes. Bold, complex colors dazzle readers as they quickly become engrossed in the storyline. Not only are the illustrations pleasing but the character development is as well. Because Runaways follows the story of six different teenagers readers are certain to identify with at least one of them. While superpowers and high-tech devices feature heavily in the book, author Brian K. Vaughan does not use them to neglect the characters’ development. Of course, the teens must come to terms with their newfound superpowers and the fact that their parents are super villains but they also must face the everyday struggles familiar to teens. Alex questions the high expectations placed on him by his parents, Chase must deal with a physically abusive father, and Molly just wants an explanation as to what is happening to her changing body. The only fault with the series is in the overarching storyline. After the writers completed the main story arc, the Runaways adventures became jarring and disjointed. However, this first volume is exquisite filled with complex characters and satisfying plot twists.
Reader’s Annotation
When six teens learn that their parents belong to a super villain group called The Pride they decide that it is up to them to take them down.
About the Author
Because so many people were/are involved in the creation of Runaways I’m going to choose to only focus on two—writer Brian K. Vaughan and editor-in-chief, Joe Quesada.
Brian Vaughan has worked on multiple comic book and television projects including Y: The Last Man, Runaways, X-Men, Green Lantern, and seasons three through five of the television show Lost. As Borys Kit writes as of March 2011, Vaughan will create new comics while working for Verve. Kit continues, “Vaughan’s Y, considered one of the best comics of the 2000’s, and Ex Machina are set up at [movie company] New Line. Runaways, the acclaimed series published by Marvel Comics, is being developed by Marvel Studios to act as one of their first pictures outside their current Avengers movie line-up, and Vaughan wrote the script. A believer in the creation of original material, Vaughan is cooking up several new projects across various media, including a new screenplay on which he plans to make his feature directorial debut” (Kit, 2011). No doubt Vaughan’s new projects will be equally as good as Runaways and Y.
Joe Quesada wears many hats as he is a comic book editor, writer, and artist. He is perhaps best known for his Valiant Comics books as well as his work on Batman, the X-Factor, and comics featuring his character Ash. He eventually formed his own company, Event Comics. As stated in Comic Vine (n.d.), “Quesada’s art…[is] heavily influenced by Manga, Japanese style artwork, which…[is]shown by his drawings…In 2000, Quesada became editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics after the departure of Bob Harras. He is the first artist to become editor-in-chief at Marvel. Quesada's ascension in the ranks occurred simultaneously with that of Bill Jemas, who became Marvel's president. The two worked closely together, and their efforts culminated in the all-new Ultimate line of Marvel Comics that modernized classic heroes such as Spider-Man and the X-Men for new, younger readers…Quesada also imposed a moratorium on reviving characters who have died over the years and stated that ‘dead is dead’. When asked about comics that revived deceased characters, Quesada stated that the policy wasn't an absolute mandate, but rather a rule of thumb to present to writers so that stories requiring a resurrection of a character wouldn't become frequent or produced without gravity…In 2010, Quesada was named Chief Creative Officer of Marvel Entertainment and left his editor-in-chief role in January 2011, being replaced by Axel Alonso”.
ComicVine. (n.d.) Joe Quesada. Retrieved from http://www.comicvine.com/joe-quesada/26-1537/
Kit, B. (2011, March 4th). Agency signing: ‘Last Man’ creator Brian K. Vaughan signs with Verve. Retrieved from http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/a-sign-last-man-creator-164408
Genre
Science fiction, Superheroes,
Tags
Superheroes, super villains, runaway teens, homeless teens, police corruption, mutants, superpowers, parental authority, magic, time travel, first romance
Curriculum Ties
N/A
Booktalk Ideas
--Ask the audience, “If you could have a super power, what would it be?” or “If you had to choose between the ability to fly, the ability to cast spells, or the ability to pilot a super high-tech flying machine which would you choose?”
--Start out with a sentence like, “Okay, we all think our parents are evil some of the time but what would you do if you found out your parents were REALLY evil, like super villain evil?”
Reading Level/Interest Age
Reading Level: 4th grade
Interest Level: 9th-12th grades (14-18 yrs.)
AR BookFinder. (2010). Runaways: Pride and joy. Retrieved from http://www.arbookfind.com/bookdetail.aspx?q=106838&l=EN&slid=191855348
Challenge Issues
In one of the first scenes a prostitute is stabbed to death. As a result, some parents may not want their children reading this book. If challenged librarians should point out the strong morals found throughout the book particularly as the teens struggle to be honest and upright when their parents clearly are not. Librarians should also explain library collection policy.
Why Was This Included?
I wanted to include at least one comic in my blog and I had read this one several months ago and liked it. I feel that it is an ideal comic for teenagers as all the heroes are teenagers themselves. I also enjoyed how each of them had different abilities or powers.
Cover art retrieved from:
Wikipedia (2009, April 12). File: Runaways pride and joy.jpg. Retrieved from http://www.amazon.com/Runaways-Pride-Brian-K-Vaughan/dp/0785157328/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1312698965&sr=1-1
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