Karolina Dean
Gender: Female
Orientation: Lesbian
Publisher: Marvel
Character Type: Primary
Alignment: Good
AKA: Lucy in the Sky (L.S.D.), Princess Justice
Summary: Brian K. Vaughan's critically-acclaimed series Runaways begins with a bold premise: What would you do if you woke up one day and discovered that your parents and their friends are actually super-villains? The six teenagers who lead this ensemble book do what most of us might do in a similar situation: they connect with each other, run away from their families, and do their best to disrupt their parents' evil plans. Their team includes Alex Wilder (a hacker), Molly Hayes (a mutant gifted with Herculean strength), Gertrude Yorkes (an acerbic feminist with a telepathically-bonded dinosaur), Chase Stein (an engineer and a bit of a jock), Karolina Dean (an alien), and Nico Minoru (a powerful witch with a penchant for goth fashion). Although Karolina has dated several women over the years, her relationship with Nico is particularly significant. The first inkling of this can be seen in Runaways #7 (Volume 1, #7, 2005) when Karolina works up the courage to kiss her best friend, only for Nico to reject her advances. As the series continues, Nico and Karolina attempt to deny their feelings but the fact that they carry a torch for each other is as obvious to their teammates as it is to their faithful readers. Happily, the newest creative team (Rainbow Rowell and Kris Anka) decided to set things right 13 years after Karolina and Nico's tragic first kiss. In Runaways #12 (Volume 3, #12, 2018), the couple finally get together.
Database Links: Wikipedia, Marvel Wiki, Marvel.com
Important Issues: Karolina openly admitted that she is attracted to women in Brian K. Vaughn's, Runaways #8.
You never know exactly where life is going to take you. Sometimes you get a straight and narrow path to your goals with minimal hurdles, but other times the path is long and meandering. In the case of two Marvel Comics heroes, even finding the path was 13 years in the making and fraught with danger, supervillains, evil parents and the occasional world-ending cataclysm. But now, after more than a decade, two Runaways characters, Karolina Dean and Nico Minoru, have finally found their way and begun dating. (Read more)
Brandon Staley, "Two Marvel Heroes Finally Become a Couple After 13 Years," CBR, September 3, 2018.
So what is significant about Runaways? It takes the teen stories you thought you knew – the ones where an attractive jock pairs off with the perfect blonde girl in the series’ first episode and instantly becomes endgame – and flips them on their heads. Here, that traditionally heteronormative teen power couple actually turns out to be a vehicle for said blonde girl to realize her romantic feelings for her female best friend, for that relationship to subsequently evolve into the emotional center of the show. These kinds of subversions aren’t just important reflections of the real world that mean a great deal to those who see themselves in Nico and Karolina, but, also, after decades of heteronormative storytelling, a fresh narrative for all of us. (Read more)
Lacy Baugher, "What the Marvel cinematic universe could learn from Runaways' Nico and Karolina," Den of Geek, December 17, 2019.