Runaways

The Runaways are a fictional group of teenagers featured in comic books published by Marvel Comics. They are part of the mainstream Marvel Universe and made their debut in the first issue of their own Runaways ongoing comic book series, which began publication in July, 2003. The series was printed under Marvel's "Tsunami" imprint.

Description
The Runaways were a group of youths who all had one thing in common. They were the children of a super-powered criminal cartel known as The Pride. The team itself was comprised of aliens, mutants, witches and enhanced humans - all of which included abilities that had been passed down from their parents. Finding a common goal with each other, they took up arms to combat their evil predecessors.

History
When Alex, Chase, Gert, Karolina, Molly, and Nico witnessed their parents, The Pride, sacrifice a girl in an occult ceremony, the group ran off. The children eventually learned of their heritage and abilities, and stole resources from their parents, including futuristic gauntlets, a dinosaur, and a mystical staff. Using these resources, they managed to remove their parents, who were aided by their benefactors, the Gibborim, from their criminal hold of Los Angeles, California. Alex, concealing his true loyalty to his parents, betrayed the other Runaways to the Pride. In the final battle with the Pride, Alex was incinerated by the Gibborim.

With The Pride defeated, Nico became the de facto leader, and the other Runaways vowed to prevent other villains from filling in the void left by their parents. When an older version of Gert time traveled to the present, she begged the Runaways to find a boy named Victor Mancha and stop him before he grew up to become a villain in her time named "Victorious". He betrayed her and then murdered every hero on the planet. She died soon after, but the Runaways decided to comply with her final wishes. The Runaways tracked Victor down and discovered that his actual "father" was in fact Ultron, who created Victor as a sleeper agent for the Avengers. The Runaways foiled this plan, but Victor still feared that this future could come to pass. They took Victor in after realizing that he was in the same boat as they were.

A shape-shifting alien Skrull named Xavin arrived on earth and demanded Karolina to leave with him. After a brief confrontation with the Runaways, he explained that Karolina was his fiancée as arranged by their parents and they must leave in order to stop the fifteen-year war between their races. During the wedding ceremony, a fight broke out between the two races and they barely escaped before Majesdane was destroyed. They returned to Earth, where they joined the team and helped rescue Molly along with the rest of the Runaways from the New Pride. Gertrude was fatally wounded in a battle with this new incarnation of the Pride as well as Alex's resurrected father. Before she passed, she transferred her power to control Old Lace to Chase.

During the Civil War event, the Young Avengers traveled to Los Angeles to help the Runaways fight off the government agents and Flag-Smasher. The two teams encountered Noh-Varr, who worked for S.H.I.E.L.D. and attempted to capture the teenagers. Chase then hatched a plan, without the consent of the rest of the team, to sacrifice himself to the Gibborim, but the team came to save him, which then causes the Gibborim to be obliterated.

When the Runaways were accidentally time-displaced in 1907, they encountered the parents of the deceased Gertrude Yorkes. After defeating the Yorkes and a deadly gang war, plant-manipulator Klara Prast joined the Runaways when they returned to the present. Upon returning from 1907, the Runaways found themselves in New York helping the Young Avengers during a long-standing secret Skrull invasion, where the Skrull Armada has invaded seeking Hulkling. Xavin pretended to be loyal to the Skrulls to protect her friends during an attack, but helped them retreat away from the battle.

The Runaways were hunted by several remaining Majesdanian soldiers with the desire to capture Karolina for the problems caused on their planet. However, Xavin shape-shifted into Karolina and left with the Majesdanians.

The Runaways also prevented a zombie epidemic in Los Angeles. Molly visited the X-Men in San Francisco and reconciled with Wolverine.

The Runaways were then attacked while staying in Chase's parent's beach house. Old Lace was critically wounded saving Klara, whose powers caused foliage growth to keep the house from crumbling, but trapped everybody within. A man alleging to be Chase's uncle appeared and tries to help, but was followed by the military. The team ran away, but Chase separated and was critically wounded in a car accident while running across the street chasing a figure reminiscent to Gertrude.

The reunited Runaways later formed an uneasy alliance with Daken in order to take down Marcus Roston - a super-powered criminal with ties to the Pride. Then they appeared again at the Avengers Academy asking for help in finding Old Lace, who had been banished into a secret dimension.

The Runaways partially disbanded afterwards, with Victor joining Hank Pym's Avengers A.I. team while Nico and Chase were both captured by Arcade and forced to fight for their lives in Avengers Arena, later joining other teen superheroes who had survived Arcade's games.

After Nico's brutal death, dismemberment, and subsequent resurrection in Avengers Arena, she was traumatized and had a hard time assimilating back with the Runaways. Chase seemed fine by his experiences in MurderWorld and relished his new found fame. Chase returned to take care of Karolina, Molly, and Klara.

Some time later, Chase used the Yorkes' time machine to go back in time and save Gert before she was killed by Geoffrey Wilder. The plan partially worked but Gert was still gravely injured. Nico managed to heal her and they went in search of the past members of the team in the hopes of reforming.

Karolina had become a college student, living off of her parents' royalties and in a relationship with Lightspeed from Power Pack, and Molly went to live with her grandmother and study middle school. Both turned down the offer to rejoin the team, but Gert accepted, becoming Molly's adopted sister living under her grandmother's rule.

The pieces of Victor Mancha had been sent by the Avengers to Chase, and he managed to reactive him thereby triggering the "Victorious" program but did not completely rebuild him. After rescuing Molly and Gert from her mad scientist grandmother's house, the team reformed and began to live on a derelict underground Pride Hostel, with Nico and Chase magically becoming Molly's legal guardians.Romance blossomed between Nico and Karolina and between Gert and Victor.

Members

 * Alex Wilder
 * Chase Stein
 * Gertrude Yorkes
 * Karolina Dean
 * Klara Prast
 * Molly Hayes
 * Nico Minoru
 * Topher
 * Old Lace
 * Victor Mancha
 * Xavin

Notes & Trivia

 * The Runaways were created by writer Brian K. Vaughan and artist and Adrian Alphona.

Appearances

 * -|Marvel Universe=
 * Runaways 1
 * Runaways 13
 * Runaways 14
 * Runaways 15
 * Runaways 16


 * -|Alternate continuity =


 * -|Alternate media=