Runaways Vol 1 Issue 2

Pride and Joy, Part 2
August 2003
Written by Brian K. Vaughan

The issue begins right where Runaways 1 left off; The Pride had just killed a young woman while being spied upon through a secret passage by their children. Having heard a noise coming from behind the two-way mirror, the Pride is torn between thinking it is something/someone sinister or just "psychic residue from the sacrifice", according to Alice Hayes. While Geoffrey Wilder sends two members to check his secret catacombs, he sends his wife Caroline to check on the children in the game room. The rest of the Pride discusses the possibility that it may have been the children who had found them out. Leslie Dean then mentions that they are "suppose to protect them from all this until they're eighteen", which Tina Minoru says is what the "Abstract dictates."

As Caroline Wilder approaches the game room, she hears commotion, but though alarmed, it turns out that the children were just playing a game of Twister. As she leaves, the children stop the ruse and try to discuss what they just witnessed, filling in Karolina who missed the killing in order to escort Molly back to the game room. Alex Wilder suggests that they try to take their parents out, but the discussion ends when the parents arrive and request two of them, Nico and Alex, to carry a trunk out to the Yorkes' car. While doing so, Alex and Nico ponder that perhaps the body of the girl is in the trunk. Alex then resolves to have the other kids to meet later in the evening in order to discuss their possibilities.

Later in the evening, they all meet (except for Molly, who still doesn't know) at the Griffith's Observatory. Alex thinks that they should contact the Los Angeles Police Department and report the murder and is sided with by Gertrude. Chase and Karolina opt to just forget what they saw and chalk it up as a performance piece. The deciding vote comes down to Nico, who sides with called the police. Alex makes the call after the decision is made, but the cop at the precinct is unbelieving and refers him to the Avengers. Alex then figures out the only way to make the police believe is to bring them the body of the girl, now thought to be hidden in the Yorke residence.

At their home, the children explore the basement and discover a keypad hidden behind a painting. Nico says that the password must include the numbers "3", "4", and "7" since they are show wear and Alex suggests, after learning there are also letters, that the password is "Pride". Despite the skepticism from the others, Nico inputs the code and a secret wall slides away to reveal, in the final panel, what appears to be a large, angry looking lizard (Old Lace).

This is exactly what I was hoping for. It was fun to see how the kids reacted and how they went about finding out the truth. I think one of the things I enjoyed was how, for now at least, the comic is down-to-earth in the sense of what one would do if faced with this problem. The knee jerk reaction is the police, but of course that doesn't work. I also enjoyed the end, especially the surprise behind the wall!

Score: 4 / 5