Vaughan, Brian K., and Adrian Alphona - Runaways, vol. 01: Pride and Joy

[oyceter]

All teenagers think their parents are evil. But what if they really are?

Six teens discover that their parents are actually supervillains. This volume doesn't feel especially new or different, largely because it's more concerned with introducing all the characters and setting up the entire concept. I'm ok with that.

(also, one should never try and look up character names on Wikipedia and inadvertantly spoil themselves. I'm sure no one else is stupid enough to do this, but I throw up this warning just in case)

So far, we have: Alex, a MMORPG player (black male); Nico, a goth teen (Japanese female); Karolina, a somewhat ditzy daughter of vegans (white female); Chase, a jock son of brainy scientists (white male); Gert, a purple-haired Janeane-Garofalo-esque miscontent (white female) and Molly, a twelve-year-old on the verge of adolescence (white female).

I like the female-to-male ratio, though I'm less happy with the number of POC characters. It also feels a little odd when the POC characters are paired off with each other; I don't think it's tokenism in this case, particularly because they seem to be the more proactive ones. But it feels like two is still a minority, while three would seem more integrated to me.

Also, is it just me or does it feel like most Asians in superhero comics are Japanese? Please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong; I really haven't read that much. Also, do let me know if there are Southeast Asian superheroes! That would be awesome.

I also like the inversion of the usual black athlete stereotype; here, Alex is the brainy one and Chase is the jock.

There are a lot of expected plays on the usual parental sayings: "This is all for your own good" takes a much more sinister meaning when said by someone with a knife.

So far, the characters feel distinct enough, though no one's really been developed yet, and there's a good enough of a cliffhanger in the end to keep people reading.

Also: psychic raptor dinosaur!

ETA: Adding links that a quick googling for "asian comic book characters" turned up

• Coloring the Comic Books (Wired, 2003)


• Ethnic stereotypes in comics (Wikipedia)


• List of Asian superheroes (Wikipedia)

And because I am insane and obsessive, I am actually going through the last link and tallying.

Comments

[taraljc.livejournal.com]

Linda Park, who was one of the major supporting characters in The Flash back when I read the title, is Korean. And I think Jubilee from X-Men is Chinese? I never read Marvel, so I'm going off the bits of remembered canon...

But yeah... and a lot of them are either omgcutegirls or, you know, know kung-fu.

[oyceter]

Yeah, most of what I could think of was Jubilee (Chinese) and Betsy Braddock/Psylocke, who wasn't originally Asian but got stuck in the body of a Japanese ninja.

And the many ninja in the Kitty Pryde/Wolverine Japan storylines.

I like Nico so far because while the goth girl thing could be seen as Harajuku-style, she's very practical and cool. And thankfully her parents aren't dressed too much like ninja.

[yeloson.livejournal.com]

The most interesting thing to me is the number of Filipinos working in the comic book industry and the complete lack of Filipino characters. Especially given that they're the second largest asian ethnic group in America...

[minnow1212.livejournal.com]

Dude, a comic I've read! Actually, I've read through--the big volume 1, which contained the first 18 issues or so, the complete first arc. (As differentiated, I think, from your volume 1--I am very confused by the bundling of issues and volumes and such.) Plus a little of the second arc. Which I then spoiled myself on Wikipedia for, so...not just you.

I actually did have thoughts on the racial issues--Vaughan did some things that made me happy and some things that made me crinkle my forehead and go, "hmm"--but that was later on in the series.

[tyreseus.livejournal.com]

I don't want to spoil anything, but in the latest arc, they're doing some fun things around gender.

I forget when they introduce Victor (hispanic male... sorta), because it's actually a plot point that his race was important to his story.

[ponygirl2000.livejournal.com]

This is such a fun comic. I've read and enjoyed a couple volumes each of Vaughan's Ex Machina and Y but none of his other work seems to have the same energy. It's definitely uneven in spots but enjoy the ride!

[oyceter]

So far, the progress through Wikipedia's list isn't too promising. There is a Vietnamese character and a Korean one, but not many other non-Chinese or non-Japanese ones.

[oyceter]

Oh. That's very confusing! The ones I'm reading are nearly manga-sized, and don't seem to have 18 issues...

But my holds in the library came in, yay!

[oyceter]

Cool, looking forward to it!

[oyceter]

Good, I'm glad all my library holds are coming in now!

[(Anonymous)]

Mmm, I've seen the manga-sized one at my other library, but this was a big bound collection. Numbers are hard!

[oyceter]

They are indeed! Huh, so if they're usually published weekly/monthly, I guess they must shrink down the art?