"Pride & Joy" | |
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![]() Cover of Runaways: Pride & Joy (2004), trade paperback collected edition Featuring (back) Gertrude, Nico, Alex, Karolina, (front) Chase, and Molly, art by Takeshi Miyazawa | |
Publisher | Tsunami (Marvel Comics) |
Publication date | July – November 2003 |
Genre | |
Title(s) | Runaways (vol. 1) #1-6 |
Main character(s) | Runaways The Pride Lieutenant Flores |
Creative team | |
Writer(s) | Brian K. Vaughan |
Penciller(s) | Adrian Alphona |
Inker(s) | David Newbold |
Letterer(s) | Paul Tutrone |
Colorist(s) | Brian Reber |
Editor(s) | C. B. Cebulski Stephanie Moore Joe Quesada |
Paperback | ISBN 0-7851-1379-7 |
Hardback | ISBN 0-7851-3470-0 |
"Pride & Joy" is a six-issue story arc from the comic book series Runaways (vol. 1), published in issues one through six in 2003 by Marvel Comics' imprint Tsunami, which was created to attract young readers. It was written by Brian K. Vaughan and illustrated by Adrian Alphona. While it was initially intended to be a six-part miniseries, the popularity of "Pride & Joy" and new ideas from writer Vaughan allowed Runaways to grow into a regular monthly Marvel title. "Pride & Joy" has subsequently won several comics awards, including the 2006 Harvey Award for Best Continuing or Limited Series.
Although the Tsunami imprint was unsuccessful, "Pride & Joy" (and the series Runaways that continued it) was one of the very few Tsunami series to do well in sales and to continue being published. The story arc has been critically acclaimed for its simple story set in the typically complex Marvel Universe. [1] Vaughan is known for avoiding the clichés of the superhero genre, locating the group in Los Angeles rather than New York City, where most Marvel Comics superhero titles are set. In order to create an everyday setting and tone, Vaughan included various references to current popular culture, including television series, films, events and celebrities.
The story arc's primary purpose was to introduce the main characters, six children who discover their parents are evil after seeing them murder a girl in a sacrificial ceremony. It centers upon the children's relationships with their parents as the children learn that they themselves have inherited their parents' powers. Once The Pride realizes their offspring have disappeared, they begin to use their considerable influence to track down their sons and daughters. [2] [3] "Pride & Joy" sets up the main concept of the series, which involves children versus their parents. [4]
"Pride & Joy" was launched in 2003 as a part of Marvel's Tsunami imprint, the goal of which was to attract new readers, particularly young readers and the manga audience. Marvel editorial staff agreed to it immediately, [5] prompting Wizard Magazine to name the series as "one of the best original concept from Marvel in thirty years." [6] The imprint was unsuccessful, and "Pride & Joy" (and the series Runaways that continued it) was one of the very few series from that imprint to continue being published and to do well in sales. [7] Writer Brian K. Vaughan has claimed that he had only planned to create "Pride & Joy" to be set for six months (six issues), but because of the popularity of the series and new ideas from Vaughan, Marvel decided to continue issuing it on for a monthly basis. [8] The character of Catherine Wilder was originally designed to look like singer-songwriter Sade. [9]
Several of the characters went through subsequent changes as well. In Brian K. Vaughan's original pitch for the series, Karolina Dean was originally called Leslie, a name which would eventually be given to the character's mother. Her parents were originally real estate agents, as opposed to famous actors. [10] Molly was one of the few Runaways to actually keep the name she had in Brian K. Vaughan's original proposal; she is named after Vaughan's younger sister, Molly Hayes Vaughan, and was supposed to be thirteen years old instead of eleven. [10] However, in the original pitch for the series, Molly's parents were Hollywood actors; this would eventually become the cover story of Karolina's parents. [10] Also, Molly's sibling-like relationship with Chase was originally supposed to be with Gert. Nico Minoru was called Rachel Messina. Her parents were still magicians, but posed as wealthy antique dealers; this cover story was ultimately used for Gert's parents. [10] Nico's source of power was not originally going to be her mother's Staff, but Robert Minoru's spellbook. [10] Chase was originally called John, [10] and Gert was called Gertie. Originally, Gert was meant to give Molly the name "Bruiser." [10]
In the first issue of "Pride & Joy," a group of youths unite to fight against their parents, who they then learn are known as "The Pride," a band of villains. At the end of the issue, the youths witness the murder of a girl at the hands of their parents. [11] In the middle of the night, they run away from home and attempt to bring their parents to justice. [12] In the process, the youths realize that they are all inheriting special abilities: Nico Minoru learns she is a witch; [13] Karolina Dean finds out she is an alien; [14] Chase Stein steals his father's futuristic gauntlets, "the Fistigons"; [14] Gertrude Yorkes discovers that she has a telepathic link to a dinosaur hidden by her time-traveling parents; [14] Molly Hayes discovers she is a mutant with super strength; [15] and Alex Wilder, though having no supernatural powers, possesses a prodigal intellect and steals the mystical text that contains The Pride's secrets, becoming the leader of the group. [14] Using the book that contains The Pride's secrets, the youth agree amongst themselves to make up for their parent's sins by fighting crime. [16]
Once The Pride realizes its offspring have disappeared, it begins to use its considerable influence to track down their sons and daughters. [17] "Pride & Joy" sets Runaways for its main concept of the series, which involves children versus their parents. [4]
When Vaughan first pitched "Pride & Joy" to Marvel, they immediately accepted it and set Runaways in the Marvel Universe, the main string of story lines that ties Marvel's canonical series. [18] However, unlike most series (which are often set in New York City), Runaways is set in Los Angeles, an unexplored area of the Marvel Universe. [19] This, in turn, marked a significance for the story arc at the time; being a new series, "Pride & Joy" had been expected to take place in New York City. [20] Matt Fraction, a prominent writer for various Marvel Comics series quotes, "It was sort of great to see in Runaways that California was such a blank slate. It was refreshing to watch Brian create this sort of whole cloth." [20] Vaughan's decision prompted Fraction to create a new series to take place in Los Angeles as well. [20] Several notable landmarks in this story arc include Malibu, the Griffith Observatory, the James Dean memorial and Bronson Canyon in Griffith Park. [21] In an interview with Comic Book Resources, Brian K. Vaughan quoted, "I imagine that Angelinos in the Marvel Universe think of super heroes and villains the way that New Yorkers think of Hollywood celebrities. We see them on TV every day, so we know that they exist, but they still seem distant and unreal." [22]
In order to create familiarity with a common-day setting and tone, Vaughan made this story arc include various references to current popular culture, including television series, films, and celebrities such as CSI: Crime Scene Investigation , the Matrix trilogy, and Dr. Phil. [16] [23] Vaughan even makes references to real-world events, such as the Menéndez brothers' shootings, the Beltway sniper attacks, [12] Saddam Hussein's hiding [13] and the O. J. Simpson murder case. [14]
Unlike most authors, Vaughan is known for avoiding the clichés of the superhero genre, locating the group in Los Angeles and not the common New York. [24] "Pride & Joy" struck interest mainly because it does away with the concept of superhero behaviour, such as aliases, uniforms, and team names. At the very end of the story arc, the Runaways (minus Alex) adopt code names, but later drop them. [16] "Pride & Joy" starts off with four females and two males, which is uncommon in the Marvel Universe (most teams have more males). [11] Furthermore, the children never refer to themselves as "the Runaways"; the group remains unnamed. [16] Despite Vaughan's efforts to break down the superhero clichés within Runaways, Marvel's handbooks and website still refer to the characters by their codenames. [25] Also, Vaughan doesn't focus on an actual genre or tone; despite humour, horror and fantasy are common themes and genres, Vaughan mentions that while it may not be a "mature readers book," his style of writing is also dark, challenging and unpredictable. [22]
Penciller Adrian Alphona's style of drawing consists of crisp lines and monotone shading, and as a result, all of the characters are very clear and distinct. [1] Shannon Appelcline of RPGnet Reviews praised Alphona's style of drawing, calling it "attractive and evocative." She did, however, criticize how Alphona sometimes "muddles action sequences a little bit by not drawing important actions with appropriate importance." [1] J. Bowers of Beatbots praised the style Brian K. Vaughan brought to this story arc, comparing it to fellow Marvel Comics series Generation X . [26] Because of this, he gave this story arc 9 out of 10. [26]
When the story arc was first introduced, it was frequently praised for its large cast; six children, each with two parents, and several auxiliary characters. [24] Dave Wallace of Comics Bulletin praised author Vaughan's efforts on making sure the main characters' dynamic works well enough that "the occasional stereotypical elements do not detract from the characters too much." [24]
Dave Brennan of "Shaking Through" has called the story arc "spectacular," and said that even though it is aimed at a younger crowd, it is still a "lighthearted and engaging story that any fan of superhero comics can enjoy." He called "Pride & Joy" a promising start for a comic series. [27] The pilot issue of "Pride & Joy" received an A− on "The X-Axis." [28] On many cases, Alphona is also often praised for his style of drawing. [29]
Shannon Appelcline of RPGnet Reviews praised author Brian K. Vaughan for his work on the characters' characterization. [1] With six teens and twelve parents, she cited Vaughan as a strong storyteller for his work on characterizing eighteen crucial characters. [1] She gave the story arc a 4 out of 5, citing that the plotting is above average. She ended her review by citing that "Pride & Joy" was a superb example of the super-hero genre at its best. [1] The conclusion to the story arc received generally positive reviews. The issue sold an estimated 20, 035 copies, a significant improvement from the previous issue. [30] [31] Paul McCoy of Comics Bulletin cited it as "another solid issue, filled with spectacular artwork and very nice character oriented writing." He also went as far as to credit artist Alphona and inker David Yeung's layouts. [32] McCoy praised the detail in the character's designs, from Chases' gloves to the costuming of the Pride. [32]
Dave Wallace of Comics Bulletin, however, cited that "Pride & Joy" felt "pedestrian and lacking in depth." [24] Wallace also called colouring of the early issues flat and static, which made it fairly uninteresting. [24] Despite Molly often being considered a fan-favorite character, the character is nevertheless criticized for being portrayed "far younger than a child who is about to hit puberty," and is compared to acting more along the lines of a six- or seven-year-old as opposed to eleven. [29] Similarly, the character is always considered being "naive." [33]
Runaways, the series that grew out of "Pride & Joy," has been nominated for and has won several awards.
Three seasons of 'Marvel's Runaways' has streamed on Hulu, season 3 being the final season. All 3 seasons are now on Hulu and season 1 is also on Disney+. [40] The show is not the exact story of the initial run of the comic series, but has many references any many plot points from its original source material that are the same. [41]
Runaways is a superhero comic book series published by Marvel Comics. The series features a group of teenagers who discover that their parents are part of an evil crime organization known as "the Pride". Created by Brian Vaughan and Adrian Alphona, the series debuted in July 2003 as part of Marvel Comics' "Tsunami" imprint. The series was canceled in September 2004 at issue #18, but due to high numbers of trade collection sales, Marvel revived the series in February 2005.
Brian K. Vaughan is an American comic book and television writer, best known for the comic book series Y: The Last Man, Ex Machina, Runaways, Pride of Baghdad, Saga, and Paper Girls.
Loners are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published Marvel Comics. They first appeared in the pages of Runaways. The group consists of a Los Angeles–based support group for former teenage superheroes from New York, founded by Turbo of the New Warriors, and Phil Urich, the heroic former Green Goblin. Their goals are initially stated to be to help fellow teenage superheroes to adjust to normal lives while coping with their powers, and to dissuade other superpowered teenagers from becoming heroes, but these goals are discarded in their own miniseries in favor of the group apparently wanting to avoid using their powers for any reason, even if that means abandoning helpless victims of crime to their fate. Although all the characters were created by different authors and artists, the team itself was created by Brian K. Vaughan and Adrian Alphona, with other characters added to the cast during the events of the 2007 miniseries.
Pride, is a supervillain team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The characters are depicted as a criminal organization that controlled the Los Angeles area of the Marvel Universe. They are the parents and the initial and most prominent foes the Runaways have faced and are the team's greatest enemy to date. The Pride consists of six married couples who are secretly supervillains. They possess a wide range of abilities, skills, and resources. Each member of The Pride has their own unique powers or expertise, often related to their criminal or mystical backgrounds. The mafia-controlling Wilders, the time-traveling Yorkeses, the telepathic mutant Hayeses, the alien invader Deans, the mad scientist Steins, and the dark wizard Minorus.
Nico Minoru, is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created in 2003 by writer Brian K. Vaughan and artist Adrian Alphona, the character debuted in Runaways #1. Like every member of the original Runaways, Nico is the daughter of the super-powered villains calling themselves "the Pride"; in her case, she is the daughter of dark wizards. Upon finding out, Nico runs away with the rest of the runaways but later discovers that she inherited her parents' magical aptitude. Whenever Nico bleeds, a powerful staff emerges from her chest, called the Staff of One, allowing Nico to bend magic.
Molly Hayes is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character debuted in the award-winning series Runaways. Like every member of the original Runaways, she is the daughter of evil villains with special abilities; after the other older Runaways learn more about themselves, they raid Molly's home to find out her mutant abilities had already manifested. Often called "Mol" for short, Molly is the youngest Runaway and her innocence often serves as humor in the series, but she has demonstrated great insight at critical moments.
Gertrude Yorkes, is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. She was created by author Brian K. Vaughan and artist Adrian Alphona, and debuted in Runaways #1 with most of the other main characters. Like every member of the original Runaways, she is the daughter of evil villains with special abilities; in Gert's case, time-travellers. Gertrude, often called "Gert" for short, is often regarded as the most "book-smart" of the Runaways yet also the most sarcastic and cynical. She has socialist leanings and is ethnically Jewish but spiritually agnostic. Gert is known for her sarcastic one-liners, glasses, and purple-dyed hair. She stands at a rough height of 5'1" and weighs 125 lb (57 kg).
Karolina Dean, also known as Lucy in the Sky, L.S.D., or Princess Justice, is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, first appearing in the series Runaways.
Victor Chase Stein is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by author Brian K. Vaughan and artist Adrian Alphona, and debuted in Runaways #1 with most of the other main characters. Along with every member of the original Runaways, he is the child of evil villains with special abilities—in Chase's case, mad scientists. Chase tends to be viewed as the "wild card" in the series due to his shifting roles within the group. Chase, 18 years old, is the eldest of the Runaways. Chase possesses a signature set of gauntlets called Fistigons and later shares a psychic and empathic link with the Deinonychus Old Lace, granting Chase the ability to command the dinosaur.
Victor Mancha, also known as Victorious, is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character appeared in the award-winning series Runaways. Like the original Runaways, Victor has a supervillain for a parent; his is the classic Avengers villain Ultron, an evil robot bent on world domination. Victor, however, is a cyborg, with human flesh and natural tissue cloned from his human mother which completely conceals his metal parts and circuitry.
Alex Wilder is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is introduced in the series Runaways.
Geoffrey Wilder is a fictional supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character has appeared primarily in the series Runaways. Geoffrey is the leader of the Pride, a supervillain crime ring in Los Angeles. He is the father of Alex Wilder.
Xavin is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is commonly depicted in association with the Runaways. Xavin is gender-fluid with seemingly no preference in which pronouns are used for them. They were created by author Brian K. Vaughan and artist Adrian Alphona, and debuted in Runaways #7. In the publications, Xavin is a Super-Skrull in training. Although Alphona was the series' artist at the time, artist Takeshi Miyazawa first drew the character on print. When Xavin first appeared to the Runaways, they took on the form of a black male, but changed into a black female just for the sake of Karolina Dean, a lesbian whom they were to marry. Xavin is often seen as a male, simply to be "intimidating". Xavin, often called "Xav" for short, is known for their obtuse and warlike personality. They had originally found it hard to fit in with the Runaways due in part to Xavin's constant gender switching and unfamiliarity with Earth values and norms though through proving their loyalty to the group found acceptance. Xavin is the child of the Skrull Prince De'zean.
Adrian Alphona is a Canadian comic book artist best known for his work on Marvel Comics' Runaways, which he co-created with writer Brian K. Vaughan.
"Dead Wrong" is a story arc of the Marvel Comics' award-winning comic series, Runaways. The story arc features the first appearance of the creative team of Terry Moore and Humberto Ramos. The arc is composed of the first six issues of the series' third volume.
Val Rhymin is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character appeared in the award-winning series, Runaways. He was created by author Terry Moore and artist Humberto Ramos, and debuted in Runaways #1, at the start of the series' third volume. Val first appeared as a worker in a radio station. Although he played a minor role in Runaways's "Dead Wrong" story arc, Val was the main villain in the following story arc, "Rock Zombies".
David Newbold is a comic book artist. Newbold's first work was in 2004, where he inked an issue of Marvel Comics's series Marvel Age Fantastic Four.
Marvel's Runaways, or simply Runaways, is an American television series created by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage for the streaming service Hulu, based on the Marvel Comics superhero team of the same name. It is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), sharing continuity with the other television series of the franchise and acknowledging the continuity of the franchise's films. The series is produced by ABC Signature Studios, Marvel Television and Fake Empire, with Schwartz and Savage serving as showrunners.
"Reunion" is the pilot and first episode of the American television series Runaways, based on Marvel Comics superhero team of the same name. It is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), sharing continuity with the films and other television series of the franchise. The pilot was written by series creators Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, with Brett Morgen directing.
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