“Try not to die!" Runaways Appreciation 2019

[Personamanx]

I think the first season very much wanted to divorce itself from any element of the superhero genre. It wanted as much plausible deniability as possible to have no connection to the Marvel screen adaptations that already existed. It's also why the archetypical nature of the parents as villains was ignored, and why most of them were established as scientists. Had the series not retroactively been stated as part of the Marvel TV universe I doubt we would have had any backtracking on the magic.

[Personamanx]

Nine years, and 345 days ago I expressed my displeasure at the idea of Gertrude Yorkes coming back to life.

[Fokken]

Now what, PManx???

[Personamanx]

Now what, PManx???

I have come to terms with the resurrection of Gertrude Yorkes, and have admitted to myself that I didn't particularly care for her at all before this volume. I'm more bugged that we don't know what Faux-Gert's deal from volume 3 was outside of a few interviews.

[Inversed]

I have come to terms with the resurrection of Gertrude Yorkes, and have admitted to myself that I didn't particularly care for her at all before this volume. I'm more bugged that we don't know what Faux-Gert's deal from volume 3 was outside of a few interviews.

I'm actually curious what was her deal. I just assumed it was simply just a lookalike that Chase believed himself to be the actual Gert. Was that their intention or was there something else?

[Personamanx]

I'm actually curious what was her deal. I just assumed it was simply just a lookalike that Chase believed himself to be the actual Gert. Was that their intention or was there something else?

The idea was that she was going to be an alternate universe Gert who would join the team after Kathryn Immonen/Sara Pichelli's first arc. I don't think anything more specific was ever stated. Kind of like how had Joss Whedon continued we would have gotten a "World Tour" arc, but no details beyond that.

For a few issues of the current volume I thought Rowell was going to close the loop, and have resurrected Gert go back in time to become Faux-Gert.

[Beetle]

I'm actually curious what was her deal. I just assumed it was simply just a lookalike that Chase believed himself to be the actual Gert. Was that their intention or was there something else?

I believe that Kathryn Immonen stated in an interview that her plan before cancellation was for the lookalike to be a clone of Gert's that her parents had made in the future, from the same place they got Old Lace.

[Personamanx]

I believe that Kathryn Immonen stated in an interview that her plan before cancellation was for the lookalike to be a clone of Gert's that her parents had made in the future, from the same place they got Old Lace.

That may have been what I heard as well, but had some wires crossed.

Also, I now realize that asking that question was the whole reason I made a CBR account in the first place. My teenage nerd rage is why I'm here.

[H-E-D]

I personally wouldn't have voted to bring Gert back, and I was always a fan of her's.

That being said, if you were going to do it, I think Rowell's take is one of the better possible ways to go about it. I don't think I would have dug an alternate universe version, and while the clone idea is absolutely an element that would fit seamlessly... I dunno how sustainably interesting that would have been.

So all things considered, the concept of bringing back Gert to a world that has largely moved on from her, the dissonance she experiences from that, that's more dramatically rich territory, I think. And not something most Marvel resurrections touch upon.

Honestly, the only thing that still bothers me about Rowell's run is that they're back in the Hostel. That's the one nostalgia-bait element that I just don't buy. The whole "there was another wing of it that we didn't know about" thing is weak. If they were going to go back to a previous hideout, the Tar Pits would have made more sense. The only reason they left was that Iron Man busted them, but there's no indication it was destroyed or anything, and it doesn't seem like hiding is really an imperative for them anymore...

My teenage nerd rage is why I'm here.

You have a very relatable origin story.

[Beetle]

The Tar Pits were a great hideout

I also wish that they had stayed in that hidden underground Gibborim city from the end of volume 2

[Snoop Dogg]

I was sketchy on Gert returning as well, but have been won over by A. brown hair, and B. Rowell's run with Anka, Genolet, and Wilson being better than BKV and Alphona's.

[Sutekh]

I do wish Gert would get some of her pro-active fire back, from the 'good old days' when she was implied to be a politically radical young instigator and rabble-rouser and a bit of a contrarian. Since the whole Pride thing threw her self-identity into a tailspin (who knew the 'rents weren't as boring and staid as they appeared, and for all your acting out, you weren't even on the radar to a pair of serial cult-murderers?), she's been extremely reactive and passive, and I kind of always wanted to see her lean into that hypothetical future where Victorious kills everyone and *she's leading the Avengers.* I also would love to see her embrace the 'Arsenic' code-name she never really used, other than to name her dinosaur Old Lace, and perhaps use some far-future tech left behind by her parents to give herself a venomous attack. (Genetically engineered stinging nematode cells in her skin? Micro-cybernetic implanted stingers under her fingernails with glands full of toxins? Something involving nanotech? I don't even care, although it should be something she can control to apply in various nonlethal, paralytic, pain-inducing, sedating, anaesthetic, hallucination-inducing, etc. dosages.)

I kind of wish they'd gone all 'Clue: the Movie' with the original arc Runaways, and set up a different set of endings. In one, Alex was 'the traitor.' The same story we read, only with the Watcher inexplicably on the first page narrating. In another, it was Karolina, who refused to believe the worst about her parents and just wanted things to 'go back to how they were.' In another it was Gert, who foreshadowed it with the statement earlier in the run, 'I always knew my parents were evil...' It would have meant three different final issues, and then declaring one of them to be the 616 canon, while the other two were what happened in other universes, but I loved the idea.

[Personamanx]

That being said, if you were going to do it, I think Rowell's take is one of the better possible ways to go about it. I don't think I would have dug an alternate universe version, and while the clone idea is absolutely an element that would fit seamlessly... I dunno how sustainably interesting that would have been.

So all things considered, the concept of bringing back Gert to a world that has largely moved on from her, the dissonance she experiences from that, that's more dramatically rich territory, I think. And not something most Marvel resurrections touch upon.

Honestly, the only thing that still bothers me about Rowell's run is that they're back in the Hostel. That's the one nostalgia-bait element that I just don't buy. The whole "there was another wing of it that we didn't know about" thing is weak. If they were going to go back to a previous hideout, the Tar Pits would have made more sense. The only reason they left was that Iron Man busted them, but there's no indication it was destroyed or anything, and it doesn't seem like hiding is really an imperative for them anymore...

Rowell has been making it work. The difficulty of returning home only to find your family has moved on, and having to grow in order to deal with it. It's a compelling story. More so than most resurrections anyway.

It is pure nostalgia. A buried hideout isn't the most difficult thing to deal with, but the Tar Pits were indeed just there. I get that she wants the volume 1 vibes strong, but the original hostel was only in about Six issues total. It's not that iconic. With Tony having sent Victor's head back to the team I would half hope he'd drop by, and say "You know, I'm not doing anything with the Tar Pits...." and give them the keys or something. And while we're at it have him apologize for letting the Pride remain active after having the opportunity to stop them.

I was sketchy on Gert returning as well, but have been won over by A. brown hair, and B. Rowell's run with Anka, Genolet, and Wilson being better than BKV and Alphona's.

Agreed, they're making attempts to advance the character beyond being the cynical loudmouth who knows a lot, but is ultimately useless. The new creators care more about the book than BKV ever did, that's for sure.

The Tar Pits were a great hideout

I also wish that they had stayed in that hidden underground Gibborim city from the end of volume 2

I loved it, but without the Leapfrog it becomes a problematic hideout. Granted that also leads to the question of where the Leapfrog went off to when the last we saw of it, the new model was running smoothly.

Randy would have kicked them out.

I kind of wish they'd gone all 'Clue: the Movie' with the original arc Runaways, and set up a different set of endings. In one, Alex was 'the traitor.' The same story we read, only with the Watcher inexplicably on the first page narrating. In another, it was Karolina, who refused to believe the worst about her parents and just wanted things to 'go back to how they were.' In another it was Gert, who foreshadowed it with the statement earlier in the run, 'I always knew my parents were evil...' It would have meant three different final issues, and then declaring one of them to be the 616 canon, while the other two were what happened in other universes, but I loved the idea.

Nowadays, I really don't think that the "mole" story element was conceived with having any definitive resolution in mind. It was just a plot hook for if the book managed to last longer than 6 issues. The personalities, and motivations of the characters are all over the place in the first 12 issues. Alex, and Chase were probably the most consistent though.

While I do feel that BKV made the plotline's resolution work. Up until the reveal at the end of issue #16 it could have been written as being anyone.

[Sutekh]

While I do feel that BKV made the plotline's resolution work. Up until the reveal at the end of issue #16 it could have been written as being anyone.

I definitely felt like Molly wanted to go back to her parents and 'get things back to normal,' and Karolina wasn't far behind. But both, being the sunniest personalities, would perhaps been too much of a bummer / heartbreaker as 'the traitor' (although Molly might have weathered it better).

Chase and Nico were least likely, IMO.

[Personamanx]

I definitely felt like Molly wanted to go back to her parents and 'get things back to normal,' and Karolina wasn't far behind. But both, being the sunniest personalities, would perhaps been too much of a bummer / heartbreaker as 'the traitor' (although Molly might have weathered it better).

Chase and Nico were least likely, IMO.

I can agree with Nico, but Chase took most of his ideas from serial killers, murderers, and war criminals in the original series. Alongside being more antagonistic to the other's ideas in the first two arcs, and his intelligence being at his lowest during that volume. It's not hard to read as someone playing dumb for malicious purposes. If anything I say it would have been too obvious to have Chase as the mole.

But like I said, I don't think BKV planned much of anything during the first series. Y: The Last Man was his first priority.