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Runaways (2017) (Collected Editions)
Runaways, Vol. 3: That Was Yesterday
A ghost from the Runaways' past returns with an ultimatum — and the world is in the balance! Nico's magic has always been painful, an inheritance from her parents she had to hurt herself to use. Now, at last, she learns the shocking source of the Staff of One — and things will never be the same! Meanwhile, Christmas comes to the hostel — but a familiar face could ruin everything. Alex Wilder is back! No one led the Runaways better than him — and no one hurt them more. But with the destruction of Earth looming, will Alex help the team overcome the worst threat they've faced since their reunion — or is another betrayal on the horizon? Plus: In a special adventure, see the world through Old Lace's eyes!
COLLECTING: RUNAWAYS 13-18
COLLECTING: RUNAWAYS 13-18
136 pages, Paperback
First published April 23, 2019
19 people are currently reading
1854 people want to read
About the author
Rainbow Rowell
142 books141k followersRainbow 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 210 reviews
August 22, 2020
Alex is back with the Runaways! Alex is back, and you know trouble will not be far behind. Will Alex be accepted, oh and can the Runaways save the world, again?
This is the end of Kris Anka's run as artist for this series, but hats off to him, he blew this up. Rainbow Rowell herself continues to bat this out of the park, her Alex is so damn fine spot-on. More incredible writing and characterisations ensure. So glad that this series will be hitting at least four volumes, despite lowish comic book sales! 8 out of 12.
NOTE: Alex Wilder came back in the series Avengers Undercover, Volume 1: Descent
This is the end of Kris Anka's run as artist for this series, but hats off to him, he blew this up. Rainbow Rowell herself continues to bat this out of the park, her Alex is so damn fine spot-on. More incredible writing and characterisations ensure. So glad that this series will be hitting at least four volumes, despite lowish comic book sales! 8 out of 12.
NOTE: Alex Wilder came back in the series Avengers Undercover, Volume 1: Descent
June 27, 2020
Rowell and Anka continue their fantastic Runaways reboot, this time bringing back major plot elements from the original run, including the Runaways leader, Alex, who’s back from the dead! Sort of. But more importantly, Chase wearing pigtails! An Old Lace issue! Gert and Victor blushing at each other!
The Runaways really became a family when they stopped their villain parents ("The Pride") from sacrificing the world to the Gibborim, giant alien creatures. All of them died in the process, including the Runaways’ first leader, Alex, who also betrayed his friends. Now in this volume – picking up immediately where the second ended – Alex has returned and so are the Gibborim’s children, who seem less interested in avenging their parents, and more in the Pride's incomplete human sacrifice. (The cover is a sweet callback to the Pride, with the kids in their parents’ costumes.)
Rowell sets this up really well – we’re introduced to the Gibborim kids and Alex in the first issue, the Runaways have seven months to figure out a “sacrifice,” allowing for other stories, and that deadline arrives in the final issues. This allows the whole volume to feel like a complete story, even though the Gibborim characters aren’t really explored (save for one at the end). And just like the rest of the cast, Rowell has a strong handle on Alex, who obnoxiously takes over as team leader and clashes with just about everyone. As a result, the Runaways return emotionally to what made them a team, the tremendous sacrifice that made to save the world, and how far they’ll go once again.
That theme of sacrifice resonates throughout the B plots too, as Nico discovers something huge about her staff (involving Inuyasha’s twin), and Gert takes a risk that may sacrifice her happiness. It’s more than appropriate, since as teens we start learning how our actions can have big consequences. But there’s also plenty of lighter moments as Victor gets a sweet robot bod, Karolina and Nico sunbathe in their spare time, and praise the sweet lord, Doombot returns!
Rowell beautifully returns the Runaways to their roots, but at the same time each character (and the team as a whole) develops from the experience. There's no resting on Vaughan's laurels here, but I was disappointed that we don't see or hear about Chase and Nico at their jobs, or Karolina serving on the nonprofit board. It might have been a little cramped with the rest of the story, but they seemed like important “growing up” markers in volume two that were forgotten here. There's some great setup with a big choice Nico makes, and I’m curious to see how the Victorious future continues to play out due to Gert’s actions in the final issue.
Perhaps my favorite scene from the book was the adorably dysfunctional Christmas dinner. The Runaways are a family, but they're still a bunch of kids.
AND I FRIGGING LOVE DOOMBOT.
David Lafuente's pencils are....not completely atrocious, but it reminded me just how attached I am to Anka’s interpretation of the Runaways (even more than Alphona at this point). Lafuente's cartoony style with pouty lips and bold outlines really threw me off. Faces looked either too cartoony or weirdly lumpy.
Anka and Wilson returning in #15 was like putting on my favorite sweater. Anka perfectly captures the emotional range of the Runaways, and Wilson’s gorgeous coloring, especially with facial tones, is just fantastic. This was Anka and Wilson’s final arc on Runaways, though they’re still illustrating the covers (this is 100% why I put off reading this for a week or two) and although I’m very excited to see their new two-part Image story “White Trees” with Chip Zdarsky, they will be sorely missed here. (I couldn’t take it and looked at the issue 19 preview, and I very much like Andres Genolet’s art. HUGE sigh of relief. Worth the spoilers.)
But can we talk about how Wilson’s coloring is just a dream.
Between Lafuente and Anka is an Old Lace “interlude,” illustrated by Takeshi Miyazawa. It’s clearly a riff on Aja and Fraction’s fantastic Hawkeye # 11, told entirely from Lucky the Pizza Dog’s perspective. (Oliver Sava over at AV Club wrote a great article deconstructing this issue.) Old Lace even overhears humans the same way as Lucky, with short vertical lines indicating gibberish (to her) punctuated with words she does understand.
The issue had a lot of potential, but it isn’t nearly as intricate or meaningful as it should be. Old Lace's observations only repeat what we already know without stumbling upon anything interesting or surprising. Old Lace could have at least shown us part of the hideout we haven’t seen before that she made as her own. Miyazawa isn’t the most subtle of artists and there could have been more creative ways to show Old Lace’s thought processes and expressions. We also don’t visually see her sense of smell, which seemed odd to me.
Even with that disappointing midway issue, this was still a strong third volume in this series – Runaways is one of few I’ll buy straightaway without reading first. Awaiting volume four (I guess I can wait until October, sigh) and until then, I’ll be looking at this all day, every day:
The Runaways really became a family when they stopped their villain parents ("The Pride") from sacrificing the world to the Gibborim, giant alien creatures. All of them died in the process, including the Runaways’ first leader, Alex, who also betrayed his friends. Now in this volume – picking up immediately where the second ended – Alex has returned and so are the Gibborim’s children, who seem less interested in avenging their parents, and more in the Pride's incomplete human sacrifice. (The cover is a sweet callback to the Pride, with the kids in their parents’ costumes.)
Rowell sets this up really well – we’re introduced to the Gibborim kids and Alex in the first issue, the Runaways have seven months to figure out a “sacrifice,” allowing for other stories, and that deadline arrives in the final issues. This allows the whole volume to feel like a complete story, even though the Gibborim characters aren’t really explored (save for one at the end). And just like the rest of the cast, Rowell has a strong handle on Alex, who obnoxiously takes over as team leader and clashes with just about everyone. As a result, the Runaways return emotionally to what made them a team, the tremendous sacrifice that made to save the world, and how far they’ll go once again.
That theme of sacrifice resonates throughout the B plots too, as Nico discovers something huge about her staff (involving Inuyasha’s twin), and Gert takes a risk that may sacrifice her happiness. It’s more than appropriate, since as teens we start learning how our actions can have big consequences. But there’s also plenty of lighter moments as Victor gets a sweet robot bod, Karolina and Nico sunbathe in their spare time, and praise the sweet lord, Doombot returns!
Rowell beautifully returns the Runaways to their roots, but at the same time each character (and the team as a whole) develops from the experience. There's no resting on Vaughan's laurels here, but I was disappointed that we don't see or hear about Chase and Nico at their jobs, or Karolina serving on the nonprofit board. It might have been a little cramped with the rest of the story, but they seemed like important “growing up” markers in volume two that were forgotten here. There's some great setup with a big choice Nico makes, and I’m curious to see how the Victorious future continues to play out due to Gert’s actions in the final issue.
Perhaps my favorite scene from the book was the adorably dysfunctional Christmas dinner. The Runaways are a family, but they're still a bunch of kids.
AND I FRIGGING LOVE DOOMBOT.
David Lafuente's pencils are....not completely atrocious, but it reminded me just how attached I am to Anka’s interpretation of the Runaways (even more than Alphona at this point). Lafuente's cartoony style with pouty lips and bold outlines really threw me off. Faces looked either too cartoony or weirdly lumpy.
Anka and Wilson returning in #15 was like putting on my favorite sweater. Anka perfectly captures the emotional range of the Runaways, and Wilson’s gorgeous coloring, especially with facial tones, is just fantastic. This was Anka and Wilson’s final arc on Runaways, though they’re still illustrating the covers (this is 100% why I put off reading this for a week or two) and although I’m very excited to see their new two-part Image story “White Trees” with Chip Zdarsky, they will be sorely missed here. (I couldn’t take it and looked at the issue 19 preview, and I very much like Andres Genolet’s art. HUGE sigh of relief. Worth the spoilers.)
But can we talk about how Wilson’s coloring is just a dream.
Between Lafuente and Anka is an Old Lace “interlude,” illustrated by Takeshi Miyazawa. It’s clearly a riff on Aja and Fraction’s fantastic Hawkeye # 11, told entirely from Lucky the Pizza Dog’s perspective. (Oliver Sava over at AV Club wrote a great article deconstructing this issue.) Old Lace even overhears humans the same way as Lucky, with short vertical lines indicating gibberish (to her) punctuated with words she does understand.
The issue had a lot of potential, but it isn’t nearly as intricate or meaningful as it should be. Old Lace's observations only repeat what we already know without stumbling upon anything interesting or surprising. Old Lace could have at least shown us part of the hideout we haven’t seen before that she made as her own. Miyazawa isn’t the most subtle of artists and there could have been more creative ways to show Old Lace’s thought processes and expressions. We also don’t visually see her sense of smell, which seemed odd to me.
Even with that disappointing midway issue, this was still a strong third volume in this series – Runaways is one of few I’ll buy straightaway without reading first. Awaiting volume four (I guess I can wait until October, sigh) and until then, I’ll be looking at this all day, every day:
September 30, 2019
I don't want to spoil anyone since this is the third volume in the series. I just want to say that I think this volume introduced a very interesting character and that I like where the story is going. I just love it when they all come together to fight, the drawings are truly great in those moments.
Also, how can I go on with that ending? I'm so curious to see what happens next, that was such a nice cliffhanger!
Also, how can I go on with that ending? I'm so curious to see what happens next, that was such a nice cliffhanger!
July 21, 2019
Verhaal blijft leuk, vond de graphics dit keer zelf wel iets minder leuk in vergelijking tot de vorige. Niet helemaal mijn stijl...
December 20, 2019
3.5/5 stars
This is the third installment in the Runaways graphic novels. I am really enjoying these books however I think that it was a mistake to have different illustrators do different sections of the book. Some of the same characters' illustrations look quite different in different parts of the book.
But overall I have really enjoyed these graphic novels.
June 15, 2019
Perfectly pleasant angsty YA superhero fluff. Great characters and good dialogue.
September 27, 2020
Rowell decides to bring back both Alex and the Gibborim in an arc really focused on Runaways lore. And, continuity is good, but the plot-heavy arc just doesn't allow the same depth of characterization (or humor) that the previous ones did, resulting in a perfectly good storyline, but not a great one.
That might in part be due to the huge misstep of returning Alex to the fold (and maybe to life?). I mean, he's a sociopath, and so we don't like him, and we think less of the Runways who try to welcome him back. Meanwhile, Rowell doesn't even try to offer a good reason for his resurrection. So, it just feels like a big-reset button that the comic had moved past.
On the other hand, the Gibborim, or rather their children, are an interesting introduction, because they do add nuance, as more children of super-duper-villains.
That might in part be due to the huge misstep of returning Alex to the fold (and maybe to life?). I mean, he's a sociopath, and so we don't like him, and we think less of the Runways who try to welcome him back. Meanwhile, Rowell doesn't even try to offer a good reason for his resurrection. So, it just feels like a big-reset button that the comic had moved past.
On the other hand, the Gibborim, or rather their children, are an interesting introduction, because they do add nuance, as more children of super-duper-villains.
July 22, 2019
Nyt sarja alkaa saavuttaa sen pisteen, että mukana pysymisessä auttaa, että on lukenut vähän vanhempaa Runawaysia.
March 26, 2020
This is pretty good, from the artwork to the story. Maybe Rowell does have Vaughan's number...
May 5, 2019
I finally caught up!!!! I'm not made for single issues. Honestly I just hope we dont get a cliffhanger like the end off series 3 again. Part of me still wants to know what happened. Who was the girl that looked like Gert? Who was that guy that said he was chase's uncle? And what happened to chase after getting hit by a car? He got better because he appeared later in other comics but....sigh. I will admit series 3 wasnt the best but it was just starting to get good again, than hiatus...that became canceled. With so many questions we never got answer to....all these complains are almost 10 years old. I remember looking for them in other comics because I wanted to see what happened to them but found a lot of nothing. I did find them in daken and avengers Academy but I wanted more. Than chase and nico did appear in avengers arena and avengers undercover but that wasn't runaways. This series still really isn't answering my questions....well the did explain the hand and what happened to klara so it has time but hopefully it doesn't get randomly canceled again
April 21, 2019
The Runaways renaissance continues as Rainbow Rowell and Kris Anka keep things moving in a storyline that brings back not just Alex Wilder but the initial threat that the team faced way back when, the Gibborim.
You'd think this book might be losing steam after a year or so at full blast, but it's absolutely not. Rowell's dialogue and intimate understanding of the characters and their continuity makes this arc even more fantastic, with some revelations regarding Niko and the Staff Of One, as well as the Gibborim themselves, and some decisions for the team to make that really hammer home that these kids can't just live in the shadows and work in the light - they need to decide who they're going to be.
I was tempted to knock off a star or so because David La Fuente's fill-in art is nowhere near as good as Kris Anka or Takeshi Miyazawa (who returns to the Runaways for an adorable side-story from Old Lace's perspective), but fuck it, I'll round up anyway. Runaways forever!
You'd think this book might be losing steam after a year or so at full blast, but it's absolutely not. Rowell's dialogue and intimate understanding of the characters and their continuity makes this arc even more fantastic, with some revelations regarding Niko and the Staff Of One, as well as the Gibborim themselves, and some decisions for the team to make that really hammer home that these kids can't just live in the shadows and work in the light - they need to decide who they're going to be.
I was tempted to knock off a star or so because David La Fuente's fill-in art is nowhere near as good as Kris Anka or Takeshi Miyazawa (who returns to the Runaways for an adorable side-story from Old Lace's perspective), but fuck it, I'll round up anyway. Runaways forever!
October 24, 2020
If the first two volumes talked about what the characters have been through since the original series, and where they're supposed to be going, this volume talks about where they *were* supposed to be going from the start. That's right, it's all about the Pride! Hell, even Alex Wilder is back in action. It's all about the Gibborim coming back and wanting their original deal with the Pride, but now it's the Pride's kids that are the focus. This volume takes them in a darker place mentally then they've been in a while, as everyone is forced to make compromises and weigh their options for a very limited amount of futures. It reads like a breaking point for the characters, sure they're a family and not a "team" but they were brought together because of the Gibborim... they could easily be broken apart by them, too.
Importantly this notes the end of Kris Anka's run on the series, with fill-in artists for the first couple of issues too. The fill-in artists are okay but I'll sorely be missing Anka's artwork. David Lafuente's fill-in doesn't have any unique tone to it either, it's just "not Anka" and disrupts the volume. At least Takeshi Miyazawa is brought in for a specific interlude and works in that way.
Importantly this notes the end of Kris Anka's run on the series, with fill-in artists for the first couple of issues too. The fill-in artists are okay but I'll sorely be missing Anka's artwork. David Lafuente's fill-in doesn't have any unique tone to it either, it's just "not Anka" and disrupts the volume. At least Takeshi Miyazawa is brought in for a specific interlude and works in that way.
February 14, 2019
The art, as always, is impeccable. It's sad to find out that this is Kris Anka's last volume as the artist :'(
I love this volume, mainly because of Issue #15. I love that questions were answered...
Something to keep in mind and look forward to because impulsive, bad decisions were made...
There is this moral gray area, and the writing shows that everything is not just black and white...
And, true to Rainbow Rowell feels, these little gems ❤🧡💛💚💙💜
ALSO, THAT LAST PAGE THO 😲
I love this volume, mainly because of Issue #15. I love that questions were answered...
Something to keep in mind and look forward to because impulsive, bad decisions were made...
There is this moral gray area, and the writing shows that everything is not just black and white...
And, true to Rainbow Rowell feels, these little gems ❤🧡💛💚💙💜
ALSO, THAT LAST PAGE THO 😲
May 10, 2019
The gang end up trapped in their own house when backstabbing betrayer Alex returns from the dead along with the offspring of the Gibborim, the gods who demanded a sacrifice and promised to make the Pride immortal. None of the Runaways want to participate in human sacrifice. The Gibborim give them a week to decide, leaving one of the gods, Gib, as a guard. Nico and her staff have a little chat, while Gert and Victor try to figure out if time travel can help them.
This run had a lot of fun issues but was mostly low-key, given that they are trapped in a house together. One issue was from Old Lace's perspective and made me love her even more. I still miss Gert and Chase's romance, somehow Gert and Victor's head don't make as good a couple... For me this was a little anti-climatic but I did enjoy the mix of quasi-superheroes doing regular things.
This run had a lot of fun issues but was mostly low-key, given that they are trapped in a house together. One issue was from Old Lace's perspective and made me love her even more. I still miss Gert and Chase's romance, somehow Gert and Victor's head don't make as good a couple... For me this was a little anti-climatic but I did enjoy the mix of quasi-superheroes doing regular things.
October 13, 2019
Still loving this series. I read in other reviews that this is the last volume featuring Anka, which, boo x1000 because I've really enjoyed the art thus far—it's part of the appeal of the series for me—and I'm always a bit wary when someone new comes on board (see: Lumberjanes).
There were a couple bits of That Was Yesterday that were callbacks to things I knew very little about, but I could follow along well enough. There was one action sequence that I DID NOT get until I moved to the next page, then I had to re-read the previous two pages, but I didn't stayed confused for long.
This series is so much fun that I'll end up buying my own copies if my library doesn't keep up with it.
(four and a half stars)
There were a couple bits of That Was Yesterday that were callbacks to things I knew very little about, but I could follow along well enough. There was one action sequence that I DID NOT get until I moved to the next page, then I had to re-read the previous two pages, but I didn't stayed confused for long.
This series is so much fun that I'll end up buying my own copies if my library doesn't keep up with it.
(four and a half stars)
May 8, 2019
Alex Wilder is back and so are the Gibborim, the aliens the Pride were going to sacrifice the world to. This series continues to be more character driven then fighty-fight, which I feel is a positive here. And this volume actually addresses a long-time pet peeve of mine which is that superheroes' rules about not killing never seem to apply to aliens or robots even though they're sentient (not to mention that there are superheroes who ARE aliens and robots). The Runaways who argue against killing include the god-like alien who wants to end life on Earth in that argument. Not everyone agrees with the not-killing stance, but the ones holding that position aren't hypocrites.
February 14, 2019
Individual issues read.
This was the best volume yet and also the saddest as it is Kris Anka's last as artist.
I'm not sure how to review without spoiling but this volume continues the tradition of using past plots and callbacks to plot a path forward. And how fitting for a YA comic, for often the choices we make as teens reverberate in adulthood. Humor, romance and action- what more can you ask for.
This was the best volume yet and also the saddest as it is Kris Anka's last as artist.
I'm not sure how to review without spoiling but this volume continues the tradition of using past plots and callbacks to plot a path forward. And how fitting for a YA comic, for often the choices we make as teens reverberate in adulthood. Humor, romance and action- what more can you ask for.
December 29, 2019
My least favorite volume so far. I never read the original Runaways Series and I felt like this volume had a lot to do with previous events (it was handles well, I understood everything going on) I just didnt really...care?
One Thing I Am LOVING is Gert and Victor. They are so freaking cute and I can't get enough of their scenes.
One Thing I Am LOVING is Gert and Victor. They are so freaking cute and I can't get enough of their scenes.
May 14, 2019
I'm obsessed with this Runaways storyline with Rainbow Rowell at the helm. I also love love love the art. There are still a few things I'm confused about, but I guess it was explained in other Runaways related storylines?
May 24, 2019
Another great set in the series! Great story buildup and easy to understand with little previous knowledge of the characters. Like the others, this one once again ends with a bit of a cliffhanger. Looking forward to finding out what happens next.
September 16, 2019
This was okay. Didn't care for Old Lace issue which I feel was lazy writing on Rowell's part. Still don't think she is the writer needed to bring this team back. A YA author writing a mostly grown up team of Runaways.....no.
November 27, 2020
This one was just a so-so for me, just as was getting into it, this volume took them back to their pasts (which I don’t know as much about), so I’m going to call it quits here unless or until I can read the older issues/earlier runs.
January 15, 2021
Love this 3rd book in the Runaways, That Was Yesterday, as Alex returns from the dead, to save the Runaways who don't trust him from the Gibborem who demand a human sacrifice. Victor and Gert become something, what will Chase think? And Nico and Karolina are falling for each other. Lots of other crazy stuff going on, I could not stop turning the pages! On to the 4th book!
Read
January 24, 2022Aside from shoddy art in the first two issues, this is par the course for Rowell and Anka's Runaways. I wasn't sure about that one character returning, but it wound up yielding interesting results. Solid dialogue as usual.
February 15, 2019
A little anticlimactic, and the art in the first half was not to my liking, but overall this is still a solid series! I hope the time travel plotline comes back around in the future. 4/5 stars.
May 31, 2019
So much I dig about this series but really, Doombot is my fav. Must say something about me I always gravitate to the outsider character that actually plays such a small role.
July 5, 2019
Rowell knocks it out of the park with probably my favorite volume of the new Runaways run!
August 25, 2019
This was an interesting volume of the Runaways. Not my favorite of the three, but still good!
October 30, 2019
Honestly, I love the new Runaways so much! This volume continues to excel. I'm already grabbing the next volume asap. Also the cover? Fantastic, my favorite.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 210 reviews