Runaways #1

Runaways (2017) (Single Issues)

by Rainbow Rowell, Kris Anka (Artist)

GET READY TO RUN! The "IT" book of the early 2000s with the original cast is back – Nico! Karolina! Molly! Chase! Old Lace! And, could it be? GERT?! The heart of the Runaways died years ago, but you won't believe how she returns! Superstar author Rainbow Rowell (Eleanor & Park, Carry On) makes her Marvel debut with fan-favorite artist Kris Anka (ALL-NEW X-MEN, CAPTAIN MARVEL) in the series that will shock you and break your heart!

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Superheroes, Marvel, Graphic Novels Comics, Young Adult, Comic Book

19 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 13, 2017

About the author

Rainbow Rowell writes all kinds of stuff.

Sometimes she writes about adults (ATTACHMENTS, LANDLINE, SLOW DANCE).

Sometimes she writes about teenagers (ELEANOR & PARK, FANGIRL) .

Sometimes — actually, a lot of the time — she writes about lovesick vampires and guys with dragon wings. (THE SIMON SNOW TRILOGY).

Recently, she’s been writing comics, including her first graphic novel, PUMPKINHEADS, and the monthly SHE-HULK comic for Marvel.

She lives in Omaha, Nebraska.

More at rainbowrowell.com.

Reviews

[Vinton Bayne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have missed Runaways so much. This comic felt like coming up for air after holding your breath for too long. It was wonderful. Now I need to go re-read all the old stuff since I haven't read it since it came out. Good thing my podcast, Excelsior, is covering the Runaways in November!!

[Jess at Such a Novel Idea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Strong start out the gate! Definitely have to go back and reread the old stuff, but excited to see where things will go!

[Krysti · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my first comic book, and it was a lot of fun! I'm really intrigued by this story. There's clearly a lot of backstory I'm missing, but I can't wait to read more. I'll definitely be picking up the next issue this month!

[Zemira Warner · Rating 5 out of 5]

So excited to see the gang back together after so many years!

[Logan · Rating 2 out of 5]

An okay start. This is my first time reading Runaways, never read any of the previous runs, although I am interested in reading Brian K Vaughn's run. I don't know this wasn't the best of introductions to the characters for me, felt like I was missing out on a lot of information. This series feels like its more for long time fans, then for newcomers like me, might be better to go read some older stuff first. Good artwork though!

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This first issue jumps right in, so if you're unfamiliar with the Runaways this might throw you a bit. We'll see how much backstory we get as it goes on.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven’t read the original Runaways run, but I did enjoy this first issue in the new series. It was easy to jump into and the basic premise of the previous Runaways by Brian K. Vaughan.
I enjoyed Rainbow Rowells writing and the art was really good also. It had some serious notes with some humour thrown in there. The cast of characters seem like a lot of fun and I’m interested to learn more and continue this series!

[Jeimy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve never read Runaways before. Rowell’s story is lacking, but I expect that is because she was just setting up future events.

[Alexis Dubief · Rating 3 out of 5]

Came to this book cold (didn't read any of the initial mega-popular Runaways series) because of my love of Rainbow Rowell. Other reviewers claimed you didn't need to read the earlier books to successfully jump into this one.

I disagree.

While loads of backstory is given (they are all children of supervillans who ran away and eventually killed their parents in the past) not much happens in this book. An appropriate tagline could be, "Getting the band back together." I'm interested to see who things evolve in Runaways #2, but at this point am most interested in going back to check out the initial Runaways series.

That being said, the art is great and there is enough fun (telepathic cats, pet dinosaur, etc.) to make this a worthy read.

[Diana · Rating 2 out of 5]

2'5*

[Mr. Cody · Rating 2 out of 5]

Those were some ugly ass kids.

[nae · Rating 4 out of 5]

My babies are back, I know I'm going to cry...
I actually am grateful that they're the original characters, now I need more.

[Rita · Rating 4 out of 5]

yes yes yes yes yes

[Carla A · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good but I was missing way to much back story

[Elena Toncheva · Rating 4 out of 5]

I need the second one!

[Sans · Rating 3 out of 5]

Coming into this series completely blind. I only know Nico from the "girl gang" series. An interesting start, I'll give it a few more issues before I make any hard judgements.

[Edward · Rating 2 out of 5]

!!!REVIEW IS FOR RAINBOWS ENTIRE RUN NOT JUST THIS ISSUE!!!

I’d be lying if i said nothing good came from this run, Rainbow’s ability to focus on relationships between characters genuinely captures the feeling of BKV’s original run. And volume one showed this with a story that felt truly ‘Runaways’.

That’s just about all I can say for positives.

Even in volume 1 the decision to make Molly’s parents adoptive siblings is just weird. Like actually what?!?!

Then we have the entire wtf with Doc justice. IM TIRED OF RETELLING THE SAME STORY WITH THESE CHARACTERS. Not every adult in their lives has to be evil, especially considering half of them are adults now. 8 entire issues were wasted telling a story no one wanted to see again.

Nico and her magic brought out a different type of disdain towards the writer. For prior context Nico didn’t have to cut in order to summon the staff after her resurrection because of her ‘Witch hand’. We start the run seeing Nico’s original hand back, only so Rainbow can go on about how much Nico suddenly hates cutting in order to summon the staff.
Nico’s relationship with her powers is an incredibly complex aspect of her character. Even if she doesn’t like to use her magic, she’s never hesitated to use it, especially when her friends are in trouble.
Introducing Nico as a docile and incompetent character has undone the years of writers setting her up to be a selfless and confident leader of the team. And MAYBE it could be understood if this was after something traumatic, but her last appearance before this was with the A-force (an all female avengers team) where she’d played as the mvp for the entire duration of that run.
To get back on track, Nico didn’t have to bleed anymore, Rainbow made it so she did and made Nico some pussy only so she could set up her sorry excuse for an original character and make Nico sell her soul so she didn’t have to bleed anymore.

Nico is literally the only magic user in comic fiction that has set rules for her abilities, her only limitation is the inability to cast the same spell twice. BUT RAINBOW STILL FELT THE NEED TO CHANGE THIS??? synonyms and other languages had always been used as a loophole but suddenly she can’t use either anymore? well maybe the odd synonym when the story can’t go anywhere without it. Writing yourself into a corner only to backtrack really shows Rainbow had no clue what she was doing.

The Staff of One, should NEVER have an origin, I genuinely don’t think any writer could or should try to explain it’s background simply because I don’t think there’d be a good way to do it. The historical ambiguity surrounding something so powerful creates such an alluring conviction which i’ve al always loved. But here we were presented with the lamest way it could’ve been explained.

As much as I loved Karolina and Nico as a couple, rushing them into a relationship wasn’t necessary. Karolina was happy and moved on from Nico years ago, to have her suddenly catch feelings and leave her current girlfriend once more shows Rainbow had no clue what she was doing.

Not even going to get fully into Gert but the way Rainbow used her as a self insert was just so wrong.

Kris Anka’s art was stunning, my only nit pick is how the outfits (especially for Nico) didn’t match their previous styles and personalities. And then he left and we were subjected to art that looked like it came from a 2014 tumblr page.

These are just SOME of the reasons I dislike the run but there were some highs amongst the lows that made it bearable.

TLDR; Rainbow Rowell should never pick up a pen again.

[connie · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5 stars

I enjoyed this issue. I'm not a big fan of the art- it doesn't really flow as much as I would like, although I love the design of the characters- but I like the way characters are written so far, and I cried, which is a good sign for a first issue in a beloved series! I just have some issues with the choice of author for this particular series that I want to voice.

First: please respect the original material in this series. Read the original comics. It kinda sucks seeing how many people neglect those and only read this because it's a new Rainbow Rowell story. Additionally: if you want to get a vibe for this series, read the original first issue! Please! Don't start with this issue if you might go back to the start! This issue already has major spoilers for Runaways from the get go.

So. On to my issues/fears. And that is mainly that I've already cried, but I'm also terrified this story is going to focus entirely on relationship drama between Gert and Chase, as hinted in the preview of the next issue, and also just the rep RR has already. I know there was a focus on relationships and friendships in the original series, but RR has always struck me as an author who can only really focus on romantic drama once she gets her hands into the characters, pushing a lot of friendship and character development to the side, which makes me question if she's a good decision for a Marvel comic series with a lot of action and personal growth, not just romance. HOWEVER, she did have a really cool plot established in Carry On, which gives me some hope. I'm just basing this off what I read in Eleanor and Park and Fangirl previously, two books I'm not a big fan of anymore.

There was also a huge issue of fetishization of Asian people in Eleanor and Park, which makes me terrified for how she'll treat Nico, and she also has a habit of either making female characters the most amazing and unflawed beings to exist, or they are the devil and nobody should like them. Karolina is a very important character to me, as are all of the original Runaways, and I don't want to see them neglected in any way. I also don't want any more drama between Nico and Karolina. Those two are happy and got over all of their issues with each other where I stopped reading in the original series, and I will NOT be happy if Karolina's very old feelings for Nico resurface to create drama, something that was made explicitly clear as being wrong on the part of Nico for reacting so badly. I'm scared about this based off of RR's track record. Sorry.

Now just keep in mind, I haven't read any other issues, and RR might surprise me by changing her style. It's just based on a lot of bad experiences with her books, and the fact that these characters mean a lot to me.

[Chantaal]

Trying a new thing since I'll be reading this month to month and not in trade form like I usually do.

I usually love Kris Anka's work -- I have two limited run signed posters I bought from him at SDCC one year -- but something about the art is very stiff in this issue, especially for how tense everything is supposed to be. I get no sense of movement in any panels at all.

That aside, it's interesting so far? The dive right into showing the important relationships between Nico, Chase, and Gert works well, as does showing how Nico's powers work. Nico running out of words to use for her spells is an interesting way of looking at the Losing My Powers trope.

I'm not so sure how I feel about them bringing Gert back to life at all, but I'm tentatively looking forward to it. I don't love Rainbow Rowell's writing the way most YA fans seem to, but I'm open to seeing how she works in the comic book medium.

EDIT: I should probably mention that I love the Runaways and they're precious to me and I'll probably be reading this way more critically than I should BUT I LOVE MY CHILDREN.

[Siobhan · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's extremely difficult to rate the individual chapters, therefore the following is a review of the first volume. In other words, chapters one through six.


I have read the first volume of Brian K. Vaughan’s contribution to the Runaways storyline and found it to be an okay read. It left me curious, but it did not suck me in quite as deep as I would have liked. Although I plan to continue with the Vaughan arc, I decided to give Rainbow Rowell’s storyline a read to see how it differed.

I’ll be honest and say that this is one of those cases where missing information made it difficult for me to enjoy this one. While details were provided to fill in gaps, it wasn’t quite enough for me. It felt too much like I jumped into the middle of a story, and it distracted me throughout. Add in the fact that this one did not wow me to the degree that the Vaughan arc did, and I’m unsure if I’ll continue. Maybe I’ll come back when I’ve read the other Runaways storylines and understand this one better, but it didn’t quite work for me.

All in all, I think this was a case where it was me, not the book.

[Mika · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, I read the original run of Runaways (well, most of it) and it's a very near and dear to me series. At times a bit dramatic, but always going to be my first comic book series that I read and fell in love with.

Now, I'm not used to rating single issues, but generally this one had me intrigued. It introduces a plot point that I immediately think makes no sense unless you read the first run. Having done so, I have to say I'm excited.

It could go horribly awry, it could be amazing, but I dunno. This is why it's hard for me to rate single issues. I just liked what I saw, and I have hope that it'll turn out to be an awesome run.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

New reader - hadn't realised there was a previous series. It's a great entry point: I love the way the characters are already fully developed, and have clearly been through a lot. The comic does a great job of introducing us to Nico, her powers and her anxieties.

The artwork is also great - read it on my 'phone through Comixology, and there's tonnes of detail to each panel, especially the skin tones. The layout is creative as well, and fits with the story.

I'll definitely check out the rest of the series. I don't really know what to expect, though - this was very much an "intro" volume.

[W.A. Ashes · Rating 3 out of 5]

This confused me. I love comics and usually I'm a DC fan -that's probably part of why I'm confused -but Rainbow Rowell is one of my favorite authors so I thought I'd pick up this series while purchasing the DC comics I wanted.

I liked the storyline and the artwork was wonderfully done, but I felt like I was dropped into a place that I was supposed to recognize immediately. Like there should have been a comic before this one. However, I'm still going to read the second because I really liked the concept of the magician who can only use a spell once. And the time traveler was pretty cool.

[Mortisha Cassavetes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am so excited to start reading this graphic novel series by one of my favorite authors, Rainbow Rowell. The illustrations are amazing and I just love the starting of the story line. I am on the edge of my seat waiting for the next installment. The editions are really too short to say too much about as not to spoil the story but I highly recommend it. I will definitely be waiting patiently for the next one releasing in October.

[Vishualee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I decided to read the comic as a guide for my TV viewing. I'm watching Season 1 on prime video. What interested me was these characters were fighting their own criminal parents who go by the name Pride.

About this comic, the story had many interesting moments like when Nico magically brings a doctor to her apartment, who turns out to be a podiatrist. Then she equips him with medical instruments. It made me laugh. I'm excited for both the show and my reading.

[Eblison · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rainbow Rowell is always good with representing characters, unfortunately with these already established characters, the trouble with the book is in the continuity. Rainbow Rowell's Runaways #1 is not a good place to start if you've never read the book. You'll need to go back further for better back story. A great book for longtime fans of Rowell and Runaways, not so good for Rowell fans not familiar with the series.

[Tamara Van dishoeck · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ik had nog nooit van de runaways gehoord en nog niks van gelezen. ik kreeg deze van de stripwinkel eigenaar toen die zag dat ik er naar zat te kijken. ik werd gelijk in het diepe gegooid maar hou daar wel van. Nico kan toveren en dan staat Chase ineens voor haar met Gert in haar handen die ze moet redden. ben wel erg benieuwd naar de volgende issue vooral door het einde.

[Brigid · Rating 4 out of 5]

An exciting start to the new run of this comic. I liked the two characters it's centered on and look forward to reading more about all the characters in the upcoming issues. My only gripe is having to read these small issues and then wait a month for the next is killing me! I normally read graphic novels so this monthly issues is new to me.

[ze · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have read about Runaways in a Young Avengers volume and then I learned that Rainbow was gonna be in this and then the show started (I'm watching it and loving it) so this had to happen, though I was a little bit "what is going on?" at first because superhero comics are different to keep up and definitely not my thing. I have no idea who Victor is and where Alex is but drawings are really nice.

[James Rodrigues · Rating 4 out of 5]

My knowledge of the Runaways is next to nothing, outside of Nico's appearances in Avengers Arena, but this served as a great jumping on point which got to the heart of the limited characters brought to page. Not a page felt wasted, the characterisation was well defined, this did the job pretty well.