Runaways (comics)

Runaways is a Marvel Comics comic book series created by Brian K. Vaughan and Adrian Alphona. The series is about a group of teenagers who try to make up for the evil done by their supervillain parents by becoming superheroes. They are commonly called "the Pride's kids" or "those kids in L.A." by other characters in the Marvel Universe. This is because the team does not have an official name and the most of Marvel's characters are in New York.
In 2006, the series won the Harvey Award for best continuing/limited series.
In February 2007, series creators Vaughan and Alphona stopped making "Runaways" at issue #24 of the second series. In April 2007, long-time "Runaways" fan Joss Whedon (of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", "Angel" and "Firefly" fame) will take over the series for 6 issues. Marvel has said that Terry Moore, creator of "Strangers in Paradise" will take over after Whedon leaves, with Humberto Ramos on art.
Overview.
"Runaways" was started in 2002 as part of Marvel Comics' "Tsunami" imprint. After Marvel cancelled the Tsunami imprint in January 2003, the series moved to the "Marvel Age" imprint. Because of this, the individual story arcs for "Runaways" are collected in small, manga-sized trade paperbacks. The hardcover collections are in normal sized books. In September 2004, the series ended at issue #18. Marvel started the series again in February 2005 and it has been published ever since.
The series is not usual in that it does not use the ideas of superhero names, uniforms, and team names. All the characters in the first series (except Alex) chose codenames, but they are used less and less throughout of vol. 1. In vol. 2, the codenames are mentioned once but never actually used. Molly is the only character who makes a costume but it is made from old bedsheets and clothes. She never wears the costume again after vol. 1 issue #8. During battle, the runaways mainly fight in their street clothes and call each other by their given names or nicknames. Also, the children never call themselves "The Runaways". Their team simply goes without a name. Other Marvel characters usually call the team "the Pride's kids" or "those kids in L.A." Vaughan even makes fun of common superhero sayings such as "Hulk smash!" or "Avengers assemble!" when Nico tells Victor that the team's rallying call is "Try not to die."
Bibliography.
"Runaways" has been collected in the following digest-sized comic book collections trade paperbacks:
"Runaways" has also been collected in the following hardcovers: