RUNAWAYS Rainbow Rowell and Kris Anka interview

>Was RUNAWAYS a book you got into when it was coming out? What does it mean to you as a comic reader and a creator?

Rainbow Rowell: Yeah, I read it in real time when it was coming out, and stuck with it ‘til the end.

I think I started reading RUNAWAYS because I’ve always liked teen teams. I was really into NEW MUTANTS and GENERATION X, too. But then it became my favorite comic—and introduced me to Brian K. Vaughan, who is one of my favorite writers, in any genre.

RUNAWAYS felt like nothing else I was reading at the time. It was completely character-driven. It had teenagers that acted like real teenagers. And they were so funny and heartbreaking. And they made so many mistakes.

Also, thanks to Adrian Alphona, the book didn’t look anything else I was reading.

I just loved everything about it. I remember trying to talk my friends into reading it. Even people who didn’t read comics.

Now that I’ve written books of my own and created my own teen characters, I realize how hard it is to write an ensemble where every character feels distinct and engaging.

Kris Anka: That first issue of RUNAWAYS came out just as I was about to be a freshman in high school. I was born and raised in L.A. There had never been a book that so distinctly lined up with me and my friends. I remember passing around the first few issues with all my friends. It didn’t quite hit me until I was reading the script for the new series that I fundamentally have been preparing for 28 years of my life to draw this book.

It’s not an understatement that I understand this book and these kids through and through. As I was rereading the previous runs and preparing for the new book and getting into the [heads] of the characters it really struck me that I know these kids. Each of the characters reflected someone I grew up with. I mean I literally went to high school with a blonde girl who was the daughter of a well-known actor! I knew a Karolina, I knew a Gert, I knew a Nico. You could almost say there are no other characters in the Marvel Universe that I understand better then these characters.

>The Runaways have gone through a variety of trials and tribulations since their last series ended. How does this new volume find them when it picks up?

Rainbow Rowell: So many trials and tribulations! The series picks up with them really down on their luck. I mean, half of them are dead. They’ve been squashed and scattered, and the ones who are left don’t even think of themselves as Runaways, necessarily. They never chose each other, you know? They were just kids who got thrown together in a crisis.

This whole first arc is about trying to getting the band back together—when you can’t even agree there was ever a band.

>It sounds like the book kicks off with Chase and Nico reuniting. How does she react to letting him back in her orbit?

Rainbow Rowell: She’s so fed up with him. Nico and Chase have spent the most time together since RUNAWAYS ended. They’ve—maybe literally?—gone to hell and back together. And he was a thorn in her side the whole time, constantly on her nerves.

So, Chase shows up in Nico’s living room, trying to get her to help him with this spectacular mess he’s made. And she doesn’t want to! She doesn’t want to get dragged back into his dysfunction.

>Kris, Would you say it’s more difficult working on a super hero comic like this where the characters have very distinct looks and styles, but don’t have regular costumes?

Kris Anka: Absolutely. On most other books I’d have the costume to fall back on that they’d probably be wearing most of the time. On a book like this it’s entirely reliant on a robust and character fitting wardrobe that I have to build for all of them.

>These characters have grown and evolved so much over the years, what still makes them “Runaways?”

Rainbow Rowell: These four people—Chase, Nico, Karolina, Molly—have been through something so tragic and so traumatic and so specific. They betrayed their parents, they saved the world, they made themselves orphans. There’s so much unspoken between them that no one else will ever understand. I think they’ll always feel like home to each other. They’ll always be Runaways.

>Given their ages, the Runaways are always evolving. When coming up with their current looks, how was it balancing what we’ve already seen of them while also evolving them forward?

Kris Anka: The first big challenge of this book was boiling down their essences and finding what their styles have developed in to in modern L.A. The trouble with teen looks, especially in L.A., is that they don’t last very long. A lot of the styles from the early 00s just aren’t around nowadays and I didn’t want 18-20-year-olds to look dated.

Karolina who started as the daughter of actors sort-of-flower child Socal blonde would definitely be a Yoga-doing-Coachella kid nowadays. Nico’s Goth look has become the witch and crystals look. I spent weeks building Pinterests for each of the characters so I could have a multitude of outfits for them. What we see on the cover just happens to be the first look I [came] up with, but it is in no means the only look for them.

>Kris mentioned looking back at earlier runs; Rainbow, how much did you look back at the previous series or other teen comics to get a feel for these characters?

Rainbow Rowell: A lot. I’m a continuity junky. So there was never any question for me about whether to go back. I reread everything. The whole run. And then I read every appearance the characters have made since. Then I went back to the Vaughan/Alphona stuff again.

I didn’t really need to get a feel for the Runaways or teen comics; I already had that. But the exciting part of the project for me was moving these characters forward in a way that felt true to who they really are and what they’ve been through so far. Really bringing them back to life.

I wanted to write them in a way that would feel true to old Runaways fans—like me—and that would endear them to new readers. I hope that new readers fall for these characters the way I did 14 years ago.

>From a writing perspective, how has it been shifting from prose to comic scripting?

Rainbow Rowell: I’ve spent the last two years working on screenplays and the graphic novel I’m doing with Faith Erin Hicks, so I was all warmed up for RUNAWAYS.

But I’m still getting used to the pacing of a 20-page book—and how fast it goes. I think my original pitch for this six-issue arc would actually cover five years of monthly comics. Kris and Nick Lowe, our editor, have been really patient and generous with me.

>Kris, Rainbow comes from the world of prose writing. Do you think that gives her a different approach to comics?

Kris Anka: Definitely. In sort of a selfish way Rainbow’s new-ness to comics really helped me sort of specify early on and help us develop our work flow better so that we worked more fluidly with each other. There would be normal things you’d put in to a script that for this book I wasn’t looking for this time that helped lessen the learning curve for her and gave me more freedom.

When I got the first [drafts] of the scripts Rainbow had broken most pages down into beats, but it read so clearly to me and was so captivating I had no trouble in figuring out the panels and pacing that I asked her not to bother putting the panels in because it was already so clear. Plus given Rainbow’s skill in capturing characters I just couldn’t put down the scripts and I kept wanting to read more and more, which definitely helps get me excited to draw the book.

>Along similar lines, how has it been working with Kris on this series so far?

Rainbow Rowell: It has been, without exaggeration, a pure delight. Kris is a bountifully talented artist. And he brings everything I was specifically hoping for to the book. Adrian Alphona set the bar high for these characters. He drew them with distinct body types and each with their own sense of style. Kris gets that. I remember looking at Kris’s first drawings of Chase and thinking, “This looks exactly like Chase, but also brand new, and also somehow better than ever.”

Kris was already a RUNAWAYS fan. So we were both starting at the same place, and I think we immediately trusted each other with the evolution of these characters.

...

>I was really into NEW MUTANTS and GENERATION X
at least she doesn't have shit taste
>I’m a continuity junky
maybe there is hope

She at least did her research. But then again, Zub said the same thing and we know how the Thunderbolts reboot turned out. Knowledge unfortunately doesn't necessarily translate into the execution of the pitch. Although Runaways at least isn't saddled with two poochies from the start.

I just want to know if they'll be allowed to acknowledge Xavin or not, because it sounds like something this Rainbow chick would at least touch on as long as she was allowed to.

>It sounds like the book kicks off with Chase and Nico reuniting. How does she react to letting him back in her orbit?
>Rainbow Rowell: She’s so fed up with him. Nico and Chase have spent the most time together since RUNAWAYS ended. They’ve—maybe literally?—gone to hell and back together. And he was a thorn in her side the whole time, constantly on her nerves.
>So, Chase shows up in Nico’s living room, trying to get her to help him with this spectacular mess he’s made. And she doesn’t want to! She doesn’t want to get dragged back into his dysfunction.

So they aren't ignoring Arena and Undercover

>This whole first arc is about trying to getting the band back together
Cancelled by issue 5.

It depends how fast it goes. The problem with these things is the execution, not the rule.

this generation of writers are raised on Generation X and probably Gen13
this is a good thing

This all sounds pretty good. I'm interested to see what she can do.
But with the state Marvel is in, I find it hard to get excited about anything these days. There's just so great a chance that it'll get fucked over at some point.
At least this book had a little bit of marketing behind it so maybe people will know it's coming out and it won't launch with cancellation numbers.

bump

Why does Karolina have a tranny face?

Don't start this conversation again or go shit up your own thread if you feel like you're such a fag that just have to do it.

I'd much rather have a book about Alex desu. Alex Wilder the anti-villain crime boss trying to make the world a better place through magic and superscience while trying to convince his old teammates that he's really not that bad of a guy. Every time they fight Nico sneaks over after for a hate fuck.

Instead it's just another 'let's revive ' arc.

>implying Anka can into females

t. Tranny

Although I think it's dumb they're bringing Gert back I hope they at least touch on Victor getting killed by Vision's wife at some point. It'd probably be the big plot point of the Champions and Runaways were to cross over.

t. a person who's really tired of people who derail threads into "I would/wouldn't fuck a tranny" and political shit that leads absolutely nowhere.

Oh god that crossover would be awful

>tries to prevent a thread from derailing by preemptively derailing
Bravo

why they always dumping on my boy Chase for? he's more responsible and mature than Nico is, behind his Chad exterior

Hes a straight white male and therefore the bottom of the totem pole, even though he was the best written of the original runaways.

I mean he did blackmail one of the new Pride into helping him in his plan to betray and disarm his friends while he went to sacrifice himself to elder gods.

New Warriors didn't have TV show at that time

>So they aren't ignoring Arena and Undercover
uuuugghhh

I don't like the artist.

This Karolina design is the worst, I don't know why but it just doesn't seem at all like something she'd wear

Because it looks like a glorified bathing suit. Not that she doesn't show off skin, it just looks like something a ho in a rap video would wear. She usually wears small tops and comfy jeans.

She also has a real snooty expression on her face, and granted it's been awhile since I read Runaways, I don't remember her being particularly stuck up or snooty

Eh, blaming the artist. I've had this nagging feeling I've seen this Karolina before but I can't place what the photo was of. A kardassian maybe.

And just fuck Klara apparently. Regardless of whether or not you liked her, they seem to be acknowledging everything that came after she joined, but not her.

Given the way the writer is talking about continuity, I don't think there's much of a chance she doesn't at least get mentioned or explained away in some manner. I imagine it won't be a big story or anything, but I doubt this chick is going to pretend she never happened. Obviously interviews are all lip-service, but she seems mostly genuine.

All I want is a series that gets back to being a series with characters that mattered to me and not characters thrown into wacky shit stories that don't matter ultimately. I don't think it will ever be what it was again.

bump

>"""Men""" with long hair
Gross.

Fragile Males are adorable.

If you could have anyone join the runaways, who would it be?

I'd love to see Troll from Parkerbolts.

I'd like to not see someone's waifu, any characters Hopeless touched, basically any already used characters.

But they need a guy.

Singularity.

...

It's ok he did it for his waifu.

fuck off /u/

No

That would be fun. Singularity getting all touchy-feely with Nico and making Karolina jealous.

Singularity is Molly in Karolina's wrapper. It would be retarded to add such a repetitive character.

Remember, these writers are always "really big fans" of the characters and will always namedrop 2-3 (vaguely related titles). It means nothing and if they have to insist they're such big fans then you should start feeling bad.

Art looks a little goofy

I don't even doubt she's actually a fan. She probably says Karolina is her fave.

I doubt that she's going to not lay the politics on thick. That they'll be up against a robot that looks like Trump or fighting gentrification and Christian religious zealots instead of a cross country roadtrip because they're wanted or something.

I guess I just want to seem them go to places outside of the big coastal cities. Some Peewee's Vacation style detours. Some low level villains to thwart or missing kids to help out. Have Xavin come back, but as a dude, because I think his personality was unique in the group and that plot could be continued at any time.

Could make them a bit like the hippy drifters that go from place to place in a ratty looking bus doing odd jobs before moving on.

I'll never not be mad about this.
Why make a godlike teaser if you're just going to stealth launch the book at the exact same time as everything else without even bothering to fucking promote it?

>Have Xavin come back, but as a dude
Silly, user. Xavin is 100% a girl. Joss Whedon made it canon :^)

Ain't hard to write around it. As long as you're willing to have a serious conversation in the book about Xavin doing shit to please Karolina and he was never comfortable as a girl.

It would still have the same lesson about living as what you find comfortable. Just with less lesbians. Hell he could still be Pansexual or whatever.