Gertrude Yorkes
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| Gertrude Yorkes | |
 Gertrude Yorkes and Old Lace Artwork by Jo Chen |
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| Publication information | |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Runaways vol. 1 #1 (July, 2003) |
| Created by | Brian K. Vaughan Adrian Alphona |
| In story information | |
| Alter ego | Gertrude Yorkes |
| Team affiliations | Runaways |
| Notable aliases | Arsenic, Heroine (alternate future) |
| Abilities | Empathic link to genetically engineered deinonychus |
Gertrude Yorkes, sometimes known as Arsenic, is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics ongoing series Runaways. She was created by author Brian K. Vaughan & artist Adrian Alphona, and debuted Runaways vol. 1 #1 with most of the other main characters.
Gertrude, often called "Gert" for short, is often regarded as the most "book-smart" of the runaways yet also the most sarcastic and cynical. She has socialist leanings and although ethnically Jewish, Gert is an agnostic. Gert is bespectacled and somewhat overweight, contrary to the typical notion of superheroines appearing physically fit and conventionally beautiful, making Gert unique among the heroines of the Marvel universe. Gert is known for her sarcastic one-liners and purple hair.
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[edit] Fictional character biography
Main article: Runaways story arcs
[edit] The Pride
Gert is with friends Nico Minoru, Alex Wilder, Chase Stein, Molly Hayes and Karolina Dean at Alex's mansion the night the group discovers their parents are part of a secret criminal oganization called the Pride; Gert's parents, Dale and Stacey, are the resident time travellers of the syndicate. While Gert is shocked to see her parents participate in a sacrificial ritual, she is the only one not surprised by the revelation that her parents are actually villains; Gert says she'd suspected her parents of being evil after her pet pig disappeared. She joins the team in a mass ransack and escape from their respective homes. In her basement, Gert discovers a dinosaur and a holographic message featuring Gert's parents, revealing that the dinosaur was genetically engineered in the 87th century and created specifically to take commands from Gert. When the kids finally manage to evade their parents, they hide out in a run-down mansion Chase calls "the Hostel" and decide they will stick together to bring down the Pride. Gert suggests that the team members take codenames; she takes the name Arsenic and dubs her dinosaur Old Lace, a reference to the movie of the same name. While the other members take codenames to be more like superheroes, Gert takes her name to shed all ties to her parents and former life. Throughout the entire first volume, Gert refuses to answer to her given name and sticks with her codename the longest of all the runaways. Gert's cynical view on her parents (and adults in general) also caries through the first and second volumes; though all the runaways share a mutual distrust of adults, Gert remains the most fervent and vocal about the philosophy. However, she finally breaks her cynical attitude while trying to resuscitate Chase from drowning in the runaways' last encounter with the Pride and shares a passionate kiss with him when he awakens; it's generally accepted that Chase and Gert become a couple at this point. After the battle, Gert is sent to live in a boarding school and while the Avengers detain Old Lace in a secret holding facility in LA itself. A few monhs later, she runs away from the school to join up with her friends and, with Chase's intel, frees Old Lace. She joins the cadre in the Leapfrog, an old Pride land/sea transport also confiscated by the Avengers, and runs away to start life as a full-time vigilante.
[edit] Heroine
The second volume finds Gert fighting under Nico's command and still dating Chase. Out of nowhere, one of her parents' old time machines appears in the new Hostel carrying a black-haired, physically fit woman without glasses, claiming to be Gert from the future; this version of Gert grew up to become the leader of the Avengers under the alias Heroine. Heroine warns the runaways of Victor Mancha, a dormant teenage threat that will grow up to kill every hero on under the alias "Victorious." The future Gert dies in Chase's arms without being able to finish saying, "I love you." The runaways find Victor and discover that he is the cyborg son of Avengers foe Ultron, created specifically to infiltrate the Avengers and destroy them from the inside out. After the runaways fight and defeat Ultron, Victor rewrites his programming and claims that he is free of Ultron's influence. Nico invites him to join the team.
However, shortly after the runaways' trip to New York City, a new Pride reveals a kiss shared between Chase and Nico to Gert; Gert is distraught and the runaways begin to deteriorate from the inside culminating in Molly getting kidnapped and Old Lace physically attacking Nico. Gert and Nico are able to put aside their differences long enough to rescue Molly from the new Pride, but during the rescue, Gert takes a dagger in the stomach to save Chase. In her final moments, Gert transfers empathic control of Old Lace to Chase, ensuring the dinosaur would live. Gert dies in Chase's arms, having forgiven Chase for kissing Nico, without finishing saying "I love you" (like Heroine's death), and fulfilling her own proclamation that she'd "never become Heroine."
[edit] Old Lace
Main article: Old Lace (comics)
In vol. 1 #2, Old Lace (sometimes called O.L. for short) made her first appearance when the runaways discovered her in a secret compartment in Gert's basement. Gert discovered that she had a telepathic bond to Old Lace when the dinosaur halted from devouring the runaways because Gert yelled out "NO!" in fear. In one of the runaways' early encounters with the Pride, Gert also discovered she had an empathic bond to Old Lace when she experienced the same pain Old Lace felt.
Gert's telepathic bond to Old Lace allowed her to directly communicate with the dinosaur and command it to do anything she wished. The bond worked both ways, enabling Old Lace to transfer her thoughts directly to Gert, but Old Lace could not give commands to Gert in the same fashion. Old Lace was unconditionally loyal to Gert, even to the point of fighting against the team; Old Lace once lashed out at Nico without Gert's orders when Gert and Nico had their brief falling out.
Gert and Old Lace's empathic bond was beneficial in that whenever one was healed, the other would always get better. However, it also made each susceptible to injuries they wouldn't normally be grossly affected by. For example, in Runaways vol. 2 #7, Gert refuses to fight Swarm because she is allergic to bee stings and posits that even one sting on Old Lace could end the both of them.
Old Lace was initially believed to be a velociraptor, but is later correctly identified as a deinonychus by Victor.
[edit] Relationships
[edit] Chase Stein
Gert dated Chase from Runaways vol. 1 #16 to Runaways vol. 2 #18. The two started their relationship after she resuscitated Chase from nearly drowning. Their relationship was often defined by bickering - Chase's dim-witted moments often clashed with Gert's sarcastic and intelligent quips. Gert's relationship with Chase softened her somewhat, though she didn't entirely lose her sarcastic edge. Their relationship developed quickly, with a few off-hand comments suggesting that they shared the same bed and were sexually intimate.
However, their relationship was threatened when Gert learned that Nico had kissed Chase in a moment of passion. Though Chase rebuffed Nico's advances, Gert was still hurt that Chase had kept the interaction hidden from her. She revealed her insecurity about her appearance and fear that Chase would eventually leave her for a more conventionally pretty girl. She strongly implied that she was hurt beyond reconciliation, but still selflessly dashed into a burning building to save Chase from Geoffrey Wilder after their falling out. She bluffed some details about Chase's past to keep Geoffrey from sacrificing Chase and Geoffrey fell for the bluff, but plunged his dagger into Gert's stomach instead. As she lay dying, she transferred control of Old Lace to Chase and died forgiving Chase for Nico's kiss and without finishing saying she loved him.
[edit] Nico Minoru
Gert and Nico had been friends since birth. Nico reveals that Gert had always been a liberal thinker when Gert hid all of Nico's My Little Pony dolls in the forest because Gert thought the animals should be free. Nico knit Gert a purple scarf for her birthday and it prompted Gert to dye her hair the same color. Although she sometimes questioned Nico, Gert always stood by her friend with unwavering loyalty. Gert's loyalty did not go unrecognized, as Nico requested that Gert take over leadership if something should happen. Although their relationship strained after Gert discovered Nico's kiss, they reconciled shortly afterwards, following a round of tossing insults and AOL Instant Messenger slang, demonstrating the close relationship and respect they shared. Nico grieved for a long time following Gert's death and even experienced survivor's guilt.
[edit] Conceptual Origins
In the original pitch for the series, Gert was originally referred to as Gertie. She also had the sibling-like relationship with Molly that Chase has in the series, and was the one who named Molly 'Bruiser' instead of Chase.[1]
[edit] References
- ^ Runaways Vol. 1 Hardcover
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