So Runaways is first and foremost a really fun story. Amidst all the crossovers and chaos of the Marvel universe it’s nice to have a story that’s (mostly) self-contained. It’s about a group of teenagers who discover that their parents are all supervillains and decide to run away. It’s a good, light read. I’m still a fan. However, it’s not a comic I would really recommend unlike a lot of the others here. It’s great, sure, but it isn’t going to change your world. It’s probably not going to be Important to you. It’s important to me for one specific reason.
So my first expose to queer people was via Modern Family when I was a little kid. Modern Family is fine, I suppose. But 10 year old me saw these middle class, middle ages white gays and didn’t see myself. I didn’t really ever see myself in any of the stories I consumed. Until Runaways. Until Runaways and Young Avengers, which I read around the same time as a middle-schooler. Wiccan and Nico were the first times I saw myself. They weren’t exactly like me, of course. But they were young, confused goths who were still figuring out their sexuality. They were people who eventually grew to know who they were. They weren’t the butt of a joke or a stereotypical representation. They were cool. They were far closer to me than any character I had seen before. And when Wiccan and Hulkling had their first kiss I finally felt “Oh shit, that’s me.” Both these comic seriea are really important to me because of that.
