There are many universes. In the main 616 continuity, the Runaways, as they were called, chose not to join their parents, members of the secret organization The Pride. What would the world look like if, instead of running away, their parents told them about The Pride and welcomed them with open arms? That is the question at the core of What If….Runaways #1.
This review is brought to you by Nerd Initiative’s Megan and Shawn!
Creative Team
Writer: Rainbow Rowell
Artist: Zulema Scotto Lavina
Color Artist: Frank William
Letterer: Travis Lanham
Cover Artist: Lucas Werneck
Writing
Megan: The story of the Runaways is one that I feel has always been underrated and underappreciated in Marvel Comics, so to see the story get brought into the world of What If..? made me very excited. After reading the comic written by Rainbow Rowell, I have to say I loved everything that was done here. In the original story, Alex Wilder, Chase Stein, Gertrude Yorkes, Karolina Dean, Nico Minoru and Molly Hayes find out their parents are a part of The Pride, which is a group drenched in darkness with their sacrificial actions and answers to gods. The children runaway from home and form their own resistance against their parents with the main goal being to stop them by any means necessary. In What If…? Runaways #1, the question is asked what if they never ran away? What if they stayed?
In the story, the kids stay and become a part of The Pride, being trained by their parents and turned into supervillains. I found it very interesting how Rowell was able to show the vast differences in these kids versus the original story. You can see how hardened they are with their parents’ influences over them being very visible. It’s difficult for me to go any further without spoiling the story, but if you’re a fan of the Runaway comics, I think you’ll really enjoy this comic. Rainbow Rowell does a marvelous job in the writing and keeps your eyes glued to the pages throughout the read.
Shawn: I really enjoyed what Rainbow Rowell did with this issue of What If?. I thought this was a nice change of pace for the What If stories we have gotten this time around, and it was great to see the Runaways be a part of this series. It’s interesting to see Rowell show us what changes and what stays the same in a world where the Runaways are brought into The Pride rather than being shocked into running away. I thought Rowell captured that idea perfectly and even included a few nice twists for the story.
One thing that Rowell really does well with this story is keeping you drawn into it. You get a nice little recap, so you don’t need to have a ton of familiarity with The Runaways before reading. That combines into a narrative that is engaging and interesting. Rowell tells this alternate-universe story in a way that you still feel some connection to the characters you learned from the main universe while also seeing how things could have turned out so differently had one major point changed. Rowell also does an amazing job reminding us that even when a major plot point changes, some things are so ingrained that those aren’t altered.
Art
Megan: Zulema Scotto Lavina, Frank William, and Travis Lanham put their all into this issue and the readers will benefit heavily from it. The artists really captured the darkness that comes with the Pride and allowed most of the children of The Pride members to embody it. Then there’s Karolina, who looks nothing short of angelic with her beautifully vibrant look. The artists expertly captured the personalities of the characters through their looks and it really shows how far they’ve come in their parents plans for world domination and immortality.
The coloring work in the comic is striking and bold, which really hit the artwork out of the park for me. Frank William really captured the tones of the story perfectly throughout the comic through the colors. Travis Lanham does a fantastic job with having an even flow of dialogue with so many characters at play. Each character has their own tone and their own way of speaking, and Lanham illustrates that perfectly.
Shawn: Zulema Scotto Lavina, Frank William, and Travis Lanham put outstanding work into this issue. Scotto Lavina did a really great job with line work in capturing the new looks for the Runaways. The looks for this alternate universe maintained a few signatures of the characters from the original universe while giving them some distinct reimagining.
Frank William manages the colors well, choosing tones that really make the tones pop for the moment. Karolina Dean is beautifully colored, with William making the glow from her highlight beautifully illuminate the dark spaces. I loved that William used familiar colors as a callback while still making each character feel unique. The color choices for Molly were way more in your face than the other characters, but knowing Molly from the original run, they just work. There were a few issues in the lettering where Alex was called by his last name and Wilder was not capitalized. While not being a major issue it did disrupt the flow of the comic just a little bit, but the flow was still really well done, letting the art shine.
Final Thoughts
Megan: 9/10. This was such a fun spin on the original story! Rainbow Rowell did a fantastic job on the writing while the artists made this comic nothing short of stunning. Beautiful work all around!
Shawn: 9/10. This was a great way to tell a new story. I really loved how Rainbow Rowell managed to give us not only a new Runaways story but also a different version of a What If? story. The art was spectacular. While it would likely go unnoticed by most, the missed capitalization became a distraction before I was able to jump back into the story.
Overall Grade: 9/10
What did you think about this story? Let us know in the comments
