Runaways Volume One is an 18 issue collection and start of the "Runaways" Series. All teenagers at some point in their young lives believes their parents are the worst people in the world. Runaways tells the story of a team of six kids who discover their parents are actually a group of supervillians; thus the beginning of an exciting adventure.
Synopsis
In Pride & Joy, six young friends discover their parents are all secretly super-powered villains! Finding strength in one another, the shocked teens run away from home and straight into the adventure of their lives - vowing to turn the tables on their evil legacy.[1] In Teenage Wasteland, the Runaways find a kindred spirit in a daring young stranger and welcome him into their fold. But will this dashing young man help the teenagers defeat their villainous parents... or tear them apart?[2] Plus: who do you send to catch a group of missing, runaway teenage super-heroes? Marvel's original teen runaway crimefighters, Cloak and Dagger, make their first major appearance in years! In The Good Die Young, the world as we know it is about to end, and the Runaways are the only hope to prevent it! Our fledgling teenage heroes have learned how their parents' criminal organization began, and now they must decide how it should end. As the Runaways' epic battle against their evil parents reaches its shocking conclusion, the team's mole stands revealed, and blood must be shed. Which kids will still be standing when the smoke finally clears?[3]
Pride and Joy
Chapter One
"What if you discovered your parents were super-villains? This issue kicks off the Runaways, the critically acclaimed series of a group of teenagers trying to do right where their parents wronged."[4]
Alex Wilder is playing a MMORPG computer game before being interrupted by his parents, Geoffrey and Catherine Wilder. They ask him to be ready when their party guests arrive to their home in Malibu, California. Every year, the Wilder's hold an annual gathering of the same five families. While the parents meet in private to conduct their business, Alex entertains the other teenagers: Gerturde, the whiny yet intelligent daughter of Dale and Stacey Yorke; Karolina, the light-hearted vegan daughter of actors Frank Dean and Leslie Dean; Chase, the rebellious, jock son of Victor and Janet Chase; Molly, timid daughter of Gene and Alice Hayes; and Nico, the goth-like daughter of Robert and Tina Minoru.
After all of the family's arrive at the Wilder's home and the family's mingle in the hallway, the parents head to the library while they send their children off into the game room. Eventually, boredom ensues and Alex suggests that they spy on their parents. Months prior, he's discovered a series of secret passages, established by his father, when looking for Christmas presents. Coming to a two-way mirror into the library, the kids discover their parents dressed up in various wardrobes; they believe their parents to be secret superheroes, known collectively as "The Pride". However, as they watch, Catherine Wilder escorts a young woman into the room and as they briefly argue, the on-looking children begin to question their parents actions amongst themselves. Eventually, the Pride proceeds to prepare a device as Geoffrey Wilder thrusts a blade into the woman's stomach, stating that she is helping to forge a better tomorrow for their children. Before the meeting can continue, the Pride detects a noise from behind the mirror where the children are located. Fearing that they've been discovered Catherine Wilder checks in on the kids, who only arrived moments before her back in the game room, appearing to have been playing Twister the whole time.