Runaways. In June 2017, it was announced that Marvel would release a new Runaways series written by Rainbow Rowell, and illustrated by Kris Anka. The new series was released in September 2017. In August 2021, Marvel celebrated the title's 100 issues with co-creator Adrian Alphona returning for a special giant-sized Runaways #38, final issue of Rowell's run. Fictional team biography When Alex, Chase, Gert, Karolina, Molly, and Nico witness their parents ("The Pride") sacrifice a girl in an occult ceremony, the group runs off. As the story progresses, the children learn of their heritage and abilities, and steal resources from their parents, including futuristic gauntlets, a dinosaur, and a mystical Staff. Using these resources, they manage to remove their parents, who were aided by their benefactors, the Gibborim, from their criminal hold of Los Angeles. Alex, concealing his true loyalty to his parents, betrays the other Runaways to the Pride; in the final battle with the Pride, Alex is incinerated by the Gibborim. With the Pride defeated, Nico becomes the de facto leader, and the other Runaways now vow to prevent other villains from filling in the void left by their parents. When an older version of Gert time travels to the present, she begs the Runaways to find a boy named Victor Mancha and stop him before he grows up to become a villain in her time named "Victorious". He betrayed her and then murdered every hero on the planet. It is at this point she dies, but the Runaways decide to comply with her wish. The Runaways track down Victor and discover that his actual "father" is Ultron who created Victor as a sleeper agent for the Avengers. The Runaways foiled this plan, but Victor still fears this future may come true. They take Victor in after realizing that he is in the same boat as they are. A shape-shifting alien Skrull Xavin arrives on earth and demands Karolina to leave with them. After a brief confrontation with the Runaways, they explain that Karolina is their fiancée as arranged by their parents and they must go to stop the fifteen-year war between their races. During the wedding ceremony, a fight breaks out between the two races and they barely escape before Majesdane is destroyed. They return to Earth, where they join the team and help rescue Molly along with the rest of the Runaways from the New Pride.