"Overcome me, baby..."

Runaways is a Marvel Comics comic book series created by Brian K. Vaughan and Adrian Alphona. The series features a group of teenagers who try to make up for the evil done by their supervillain parents by becoming superheroes. They are commonly referred to as "the Pride's kids" or "those kids in L.A." by other characters in the Marvel Universe, due to the team's lack of an official name and the majority of Marvel's characters being based in New York.

In 2006, the series won the Harvey Award for best continuing/limited series.

Runaways launched 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. In September 2004, the series ended at issue #18. Marvel revived the series in February 2005. Joss Whedon, a vocal fan of the book, will replace Vaughan for six issues, beginning with issue #25. Whedon had a letter printed in the letters column of Runaways, vol. 1 #18. Michael Ryan will provide the penciled artwork.

Vaughan named the characters Geoffrey and Catherine Wilder after his parentsand Molly after his younger sister. Of the original team members, only Molly, Gert and Alex retained the names Vaughan used when pitching the series to Marvel. In the pitch, Gert was "Gertie"; Karolina was "Leslie", which Vaughan used instead as her mother's name; and Nico was "Rachel." Despite being used infrequently during the first volume and not at all during the second, Marvel's handbooks and Web site refer to the characters by their superhero names.

Original members
Alex Wilder - The son of crime bosses, Alex leads the group at its inception but is later revealed to have betrayed them to their parents. Alex is killed by the Gibborim in the event.

Gertrude Yorkes - The daughter of time-traveling criminals, Gert owns a genetically engineered deinonychus named "Old Lace", with whom she had an empathic bond.

Karolina Dean - The daughter of alien invaders, Karolina can fly and manipulate solar energy. She is engaged to a Skrull named Xavin.
Chase Stein - The son of mad scientists, Chase uses high-tech gadgets stolen from his parents and pilots the group's ship, the "Leapfrog". After the team's final encounter with the Pride in vol. 1, Chase loses the Fistigons (fire-manipulation gauntlets) and x-ray goggles.

Molly Hayes - The daughter of evil mutants, Molly possesses super-strength. She often becomes extremely fatigued after exerting herself or using her invulnerability.
Nico Minoru - The daughter of dark wizards, Nico carries the mystical "Staff of One," which allows her to cast spells, although she apparently can never use the same one twice. In the second series, she leads the group.

Later members
Victor Mancha - The cyborg son of the robotic Avengers foe Ultron, Victor has electromagnetic powers. In a possible future, he destroys the Earth's superheroes, under the alias "Victorious."

Xavin - The son of alien warlords, Xavin is a young Super-Skrull-in-training bethrothed to Karolina by their parents. Because of Karolina's sexuality, he changes into a female form for her.