Gertrude Yorkes (self-referred to as Arsenic), is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics award-winning series, Runaways. She was created by author Brian K. Vaughan & artist Adrian Alphona, and debuted in Runaways vol.

1 #1 with most of the other main characters. Like every member of the original Runaways, she is the daughter of evil villains with special abilities; in Gert's case, time-travellers. 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 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, a pair of glasses, and brown dyed purple hair.

She stands at a rough height of 5'1" and weighs 125 lb (57 kg). In 2008, Marvel.com named Gert's death as the sixth out of ten best deaths in comics. The daughter of Dale and Stacey Yorkes, Gert is first seen flatly yelling that she doesn't want to go to the Wilders' annual supposed charity organization; after the witnessing of the murder of an innocent girl by their parents ("the Pride"), despite being shocked her parents are a part of it, Gert remains the only one not surprised that her parents are actually villains, saying that she had suspected her parents of being evil ever since her pet pig disappeared.

Gert joins her team in the mass ransack to escape from their respective homes. Before leaving, however, Gert discovers a dinosaur in a hidden room in her basement that has a telepathic bond with Gert's mind, meaning it obeys her every command. Clueing a holographic message featuring Gert's parents and the fact her basement is full of rare antiques, the Runaways conclude Gert's parents are actually time travellers.

After running off, Gert takes the name Arsenic and dubs her dinosaur Old Lace, a reference to the film of the same name. While the other members take codenames to be more like superheroes, Gert takes her name to cut all ties to her parents and former life. Later she and the other Runaways decide to use their real names again, but Old Lace continues with her codename, since she didn't have any name before.

Throughout the entire first volume, Gert refuses to answer to her given name and sticks with her codename the longest of all the Runaways, who begin dropping their names. Gert's cynical view on her parents (and adults in general) also carries through the first and second volumes, where her belief her parents killed her pet pig becomes stronger. Though all the Runaways share a mutual distrust of adults, Gert remains the most fervent and vocal about the philosophy.

Similar to 0 things you like: