Every teenager knows that their parents are evil. After all, it’s your parents who prevent you from joining that socialist collective, and force you to play with their friends’ kids, and just do not understand the importance of black nail polish. But, what if your parents really were evil, in a secret society, uber-villain, sacrificing young girls kind of way? Alex, Carolina, Nico, Chase, Gertrude and Molly have nothing in common except that their parents meet once a year to discuss very boring tax and charitable donation stuff. Except, it turns out their parents all belong to a secret society called the Pride, and apparently, the Pride isn’t exactly on the side of the angels. Now they’re on the run from the police and their parents and finding out that none of them is quite as ordinary as they thought.
Brian Vaughan has a deft touch with his characterizations and his dialogue is full of pop culture references. In a few years this might date the story, but in the moment it makes the characters feel real and vivid. The cast of characters is multicultural, which is highly unusual and really nice to see. Adrian Alphona adds to the feel of the story by making his characters look and react like real teenagers. His kids are not perfect, they are confused and ordinary with extraordinary abilities.
Runaways, vol. 1: Pride and Joy
ISBN: 9780785113799
By Brian K. Vaughan
Art by Adrian Alphona
Marvel Comics 2003
