The Runaways try to understand high school. It goes better for some than others. Rainbow Rowell, Andrés Genolet, Dee Cunniffe, and Joe Caramagna bring us Runaways #33.
They say you can never go home again and that may be true for the Runaways’ Molly Hayes. The one time Princess Powerful loved being with her friends but found something resembling happiness was when she started school while living with her grandma. After being whisked back into the world of superheroics in the team’s recent, disastrous stint as the J-Team, normal Jr. High life just doesn’t work for Molly. The idea of a mutant paradise island sure sounds nice…
Rainbow Rowell and Andrés Genolet have been putting on a masterclass in character acting during their time on Runaways. Even though these are power teens in a Marvel title, this isn’t a book about superheroes. Fittingly enough, the action only starts when Krakoan stalwarts very literally burst onto the scene. Instead, the book is propelled by the character’s internal desires clashing with the reality of their lives.
Take Gib for example. The newest member of the team is the child of an elder god, the last of the Gibborim, and he is finally thriving as a highschool running back. He gets to experience the worship of being a god, without the price of blood. His joy in school plays as a foil to Gert’s depression of feeling stuck in a rut; the perpetual adolescent while her friends grew up. She’s stuck living and taking classes with her ex, unsure where life should take her. All this while Nico has to cope with a depressed girlfriend in Karolina and a pretend husband who is “young and dumb and running low on ethics”. Rowell’s background as a novelist proves vital as she deftly weaves these arcs within one another.
None of this, however, would be possible without Genolet’s phenomenal and emotive work. The character acting and use of body language in this comic is a sight to behold. It’s subtle and well paced panel work that truly sells the wry glances or curious looks. When he gets on a book with a wider appeal, he’s going to become one of the biggest names in the business. This aided by Dee Cunniffe’s soft and focused colors that add depth and emotion to the page. These creatives are working in synchronicity like few others can.We’re left with a book that is truly unappreciated. Runaways is the hang out title everyone says they want to read but no one buys. It’s obviously an editorial darling, with the promotional push Nick Lowe puts on the title, but it’s not found the readership it deserves among Wednesday Warriors. Maybe, hopefully, tying into the hottest franchise in Marvel today will help turn the tide on this title. But any book lasting over 30 issues today is a win. Maybe we just need to appreciate little victories like that and remember that sometimes, you don’t know what you got till it’s gone.
Zachary Jenkins co-hosts the podcast Battle of the Atom and is the former editor-in-chief of ComicsXF. Shocking everyone, he has a full and vibrant life outside all this.
