Runaways is a 2015 Marvel Comics limited series Written by ND Stevenson (NIMONA, Lumberjanes), and illustrated by Sanford Greene.
The series is part of the Secret Wars (2015) event, set at a time when reality has been remade and the only remaining planet is Battleworld, a patchwork of different realms held together by the will of Doctor Doom.
At the capital of Battleworld, Doomstadt, there is a Superhero School, attended by the most promising young individuals from all the Battleworld's domains. However, when a group of students discovers the headmaster has a hidden, nefarious agenda and the school is really an Academy of Evil in disguise, they decide there is only one thing to do.
The series is a more of a Spiritual Successor than a straight sequel to the 2003 Cult Classic Runaways series, following a different cast of characters, but using similar premise to that of the original series. The team roster is composed from alternate versions of various kid and teen superheroes from across Marvel's entire history.
Team Members
- Molly "Bruiser" Hayes from the remnants of mainstream Marvel Universe.
- Jubilation "Jubilee" Lee from Limbo, the reality where Inferno never ended.
- Amadeus Cho from The Warzone, the reality where Civil War (2006) never ended.
- Skaar from Greenland, the reality where everyone is a Hulk.
- Tandy "Cloak" Bowen and Tyrone "Dagger" Johnson from Arachnia, the reality where Spider-Man mysteriously disappeared.
- Bucky "Winter Soldier" Barnes from an unspecified reality. He actually turned out to be The Dragon.
- Megan "Pixie" Gwynn from the Monarchy of M, the House of M reality.
- Delphyne Gorgon from Arcadia
- Sanna "Frostbite" Strand, a new character with ice powers, from Killville, the reality ruled by supervillains.
Runaways (2015) provides examples of:
- Academy of Evil: The series starts off at the Victor Von Doom Institute for Gifted Youths. Yes, it's a school run by Doctor Doom.
- Adaptational Sexuality: Jubilee and Pixie, both of whom are straightnote in the Earth-616 comics, are stated to be former lovers here. Pixie tells Ty that she still dates boys too, and
Word of God is that Jubilee is a lesbian. - And You Thought It Was a Game: Students think the Final Exam is just a simulation and the losing teams get expelled. It's not a simulation, and those who lose die. When the team deduces this, they realize that their only chance is to run because they know too much. Not that headmaster Valeria doesn't hate them enough without this.
- Alas, Poor Villain: Valeria lost her only apparent friend (Bucky) because whatever she felt herself to be she was just The Dragon.
- Anticlimax: The final battle ends rather abruptly, as Team Puce is allowed to leave the school after Sanna defects and Bucky agrees to take the fall for their escape. When Bucky is subsequently killed by the Doombots, Valeria is devastated and decides that she doesn't want to be the Headmaster anymore, effectively ending her reign of terror.
- Badass Crew: The Runaways are this, with the likes of Molly, Valeria, Skaar, Cloak and Dagger and others as part of the group.
- Brains and Brawn: Seems to be a case with Amadeus and Skaar, a nice Shout-Out to their mainstream counterparts, who were parts of similar teams (Amadeus as Brains to Hercules' Brawn and Skaar as Brawn to de-powered Bruce Banner's Brains).
- Butch Lesbian: Sanna. Albeit maybe Butch bisexual as apparently she acted heterosexual enough that Jubilee thought that she has no chance by her.
- Composite Character: Cloak and Dagger are a composite of their 80's and modern incarnations - they are still teenagers as when they started, but their powers are reversed (something that happened to their mainstream counterparts at one point) — Tandy can teleport and Tyrone can create shadow daggers. Each also uses the other's codename.
- Cute Bruiser: Molly Hayes is still cute, and still very, very strong.
- Dolled-Up Installment: The series was pitched to ND Stevenson as Doctor Doom's Hitler Youth. It wasn't until later that he decided to call it Runaways, and it was only afterward that he realized he couldn't call it Runaways without at least one character from that series.
- Do Not Adjust Your Set: Cloak, Dagger and Emily hijack every monitor in the school in the last issue.
- Egopolis: The Institute is located in Doomstadt, the heart of Dr. Doom's empire. Naturally, monuments to Doom's ego abound.
- Girl Posse: Jubilee leads an all-girl gang with Pixie and Delphyne Gorgon. Molly really wants to join, dispite the others trying to discourage her.
- Good Thing You Can Heal: Delphyne loses an arm in battle with Sanna and Bucky's team. She keeps it a secret that she can regrow her limbs, feigning injury until the critical moment to overpower Sanna.
- The Heavy: Valeria to Doom, the whole thing is set up by him for his own reasons.
- Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: Skaar and Molly. They bond over how much ass they can kick.
- An Ice Person: Sanna Strand is capable of generating ice.
- Improbable Age: The school is attended by students between ages 14 and 18. Molly is 11. Even the narration at one point asks "Does she even go here?"
- In Name Only: Besides the name, the only thing that ties this series to the original is the appearance of Molly Hayes, who was only included because they needed someone from the original cast (and rumor has it that Marvel is legally prohibited from any implication that she was killed off).
- It Gets Easier: Bucky claimed this to Sanna about killing their schoolmates.
- Kid Hero: None of the main characters are over 18.
- Little Miss Badass: The series not only has classic member Molly Hayes, but also Reed and Sue Richards' daughter Valeria.
- No One Gets Left Behind: When the team actually gets to the running away they also try to save others. So:
- Dagger brings Cloak (but she decides to stay to act as diversion... she joins an issue later).
- Jubilee takes Molly with them.
- and Amadeus rescues the Detention Doombot.
- They come back for the whole school in issue #4.
- Mythology Gag:
- Valeria is billed as "Valeria Von Doom," which was her name when she was originally introduced as Marvel Girl, future daughter of Sue and Victor Von Doom.
- Official Couple: When the series ends we have:
- Jubilee with Sanna in the name of Belligerent Sexual Tension.
- Delphyne with Amadeus who are pretty much Twice Shy.
- Purely Aesthetic Gender: Doombots are only male because of Doom's ego. The team's liberated Doombot chooses the name Emily and Cloak insists on she when referring to her.
- Red Shirt: The main character's team gets the in-universe designation of Team Puce (all teams are named after colors, puce is reddish-brown). Someone somewhere (probably Valeria) wanted to tell them something about their life expectancy. Too bad nobody got it, and Jubilee outright renamed themselves "Team Puke."
- Sacrificial Lion: Pixie in the first exam, before the students know what it's really about.
- Sequel Hook: The school is pretty much destroyed, and the way it worked means there are now a lot of very talented children free, without homes, and on the run once more.
- Shout-Out:
- Jubilee's gang is called Night Witches, after the Russian 588th Night Bomber Regiment
, which was comprised entirely of women. - The variant cover for the first issue is a homage to the cover for the first issue of the original series.
- The regular cover is also a homage to the cover for ''Runaways vol.2 #25", the first issue written by Joss Whedon.
- The first issue features a cameo by Klara Prast, one of the second-generation Runaways.
- In issue 3, the team encounters a feral version of the Leapfrog.
- Jubilee's gang is called Night Witches, after the Russian 588th Night Bomber Regiment
- Teen Genius: Amadeus Cho, naturally. There's also the Headmaster - Valeria Von Doom.
- Trailers Always Spoil: The solicits for the second issue revealed that the final exam was a fight to the death months before the issue was released.
- Villainous Friendship: Bucky and Valeria until the very end. Even after the last second when Bucky tries to let the others go against Doom's wishes and gets killed for it, to Valeria's utmost horror... no she was not the main villian, either.
- What Measure Is a Non-Human?: For Amadeus even the life of a robot with no or very little apparent self awareness is worthy of saving.
- You Can't Go Home Again: In issue 3, Amadeus convinces the team to head to his hometown, only to discover that his parents have been killed off and their house was destroyed.
