Morning Glories is a comic book series published by Image Comics. Described by writer Nick Spencer as "Runaways meets Lost," the series focuses on six "brilliant but troubled" new recruits at Morning Glory Academy, a prestigious prep school hiding "sinister and deadly" secrets. Featuring interior art by Joe Eisma and cover art by Rodin Esquejo, the series was split into two twenty-five issue seasons and debuted in August 2010, concluding in March 2016. The series is currently on hiatus but Eisma has revealed that a third season is planned.

Aside from the six titular characters, Morning Glories features a large ensemble cast of students, faculty, parents and others, with Eisma estimating that he had drawn 99 uniquely identifiable faces (excluding background characters) by the conclusion of the first season.

Morning Glories The six titular students who are accepted to Morning Glory Academy in issue #1. The Glories act as the audience's introduction to the series.

Casey Blevins

A smart, beautiful, blonde student from Chicago, Illinois. Casey is the only one of the six protagonists who does not come from a broken home in some manner. Her parents loved her and gave her affection, especially her father, a former soldier, who taught the tomboyish Casey various survival skills including boxing and how to construct tear gas. When she enters Morning Glory Academy, her parents refuse to cut off contact with her and are murdered by the administration. After this Casey determines to resist and "burn this place to the ground." She appears to be the most academically gifted of the students and shows a real flair for leadership, easily organizing her fellow inductees around her. She has so far been protected from official reprisal by orders of Morning Glory's mysterious Headmaster.

"There's a very maternal aspect to Casey's character, a kind of 'beyond her years' thing in terms of responsibility that makes her want to hold this group together and make sure they're safe. At the same time, I think she's like a lot of those kids you see getting straight A's and doing all the right things, in that she may be pushing herself a bit too hard and taking on too much."

Zoe

Zoe is an Indian-American student who embodies the stereotype of the popular and mean cheerleader. In her previous school, Zoe had numerous boyfriends all of whom believe that she loved them. Initially her concerns in Morning Glory Academy seem to be a continuation of her previous obsessions with cute boys and popularity. She expresses annoyance with the other students, particularly with the earnestness of Casey and the moodiness of Jade. With the boys, she is disdainful of Ike's crude pickup lines and disdainful of Hunter's lack of status. As the series progresses a darker, and more murderous side to Zoe is seen and it is hinted that she may have a deeper connection to the events at Morning Glory Academy.

"She's not a bad person person, but she's someone who's gotten used to living in the rarified air that is being beautiful and smart. She's very driven and tends to view the people around her within the context of how much they can help her reach her goals - especially guys."

Hunter

Hunter is the comic book loving, pop-culture savvy son of a single father. Seen by others as largely a non-entity, Hunter is not especially good looking or smart, and has a quirk where he is unable to read clocks or hear their alarms. Hunter can never seem to be on time when something important is happening. Early on he develops an attraction to Casey, but through various quirks of fate is unable to actually go on a date with her.

"Hunter is like a lot of people who grew up in a broken home - he took to pop culture and his own imagination as a way of coping with the world around him. He's eternally well-intentioned and optimistic in ways that often come back around to bite him in the ass."

Ike

Ike is a rich and entitled student from a privileged Manhattan background. As a teenager he was accused, but eventually acquitted of, murdering his father. A deceptive and manipulative delinquent, Ike claims to care only for himself and brags about his experience in challenging authority. He quickly falls out with the other students after he betrays them to the administration in order to gain more privileges.

"He comes from a very privileged but strange upbringing and he's got a bad reputation. He's the ultimate opportunist and happily inhabits a very sinful, very troublesome life. He's a schemer."

Jun Fukayama

A very serious student from Japan. In some ways the most straightforwardly heroic student, Jun befriends Hunter and quickly joins in Casey's plans against the school. It is eventually revealed that Jun has an identical twin brother Hisao, who has been a student at Morning Glory Academy for years and that Jun has infiltrated the school with the intent of rescuing his brother. It is later revealed that he is actually Hisao, and that Jun had taken his place before he was supposed to be taken to the academy. Jun had been sent to infiltrate Morning Glory Academy by a group opposed to the Academy's mission. Jun is one of several students sent to infiltrate the Academy, including his boyhood crush Guillaume.

"He's a very serious, very direct person who isn't playing around. And yes, when he needs to, he can definitely kick your ass, so it's probably best not to put him in that position. There's a lot Jun isn't telling us. [...] He seems to know more about The Academy than they do."

Jade Ellsworth

A young emo student from the Midwest. Raised by a single father, Jade was moody and emotional even before arriving at Morning Glory Academy. This was exacerbated when, shortly after arriving, her father claimed to not know who she was. Depressed, Jade attempts suicide and is put in the custody of the school nurse who performs a mysterious experiment on her. During this experiment, and during a subsequent suicide attempt, Jade has an out of body experience where she travels both to the past as well as to her own future, meeting an adult version of herself who is apparently involved with Morning Glory Academy in some way.

"She's from a very traditional small town where everyone seems to think and act differently from her. [...] She's been through a lot in her life so far, a lot of personal tragedy, and it's certainly done a great deal to shape the way she looks at the people around her."

Faculty Though the dark forces at work behind the academy are still largely mysterious, a few villains have emerged:

Miss Daramount

Georgina Daramount is the main teacher who the students interact with. While on the surface she is a traditional strict schoolteacher she is actually a murderous and manipulative villain.

Mister Gribbs

Reginald Gribbs is the other primary teacher in the early issues of the book. He often acts as the muscle for Miss Daramount. He will sometimes engage in violence personally and often advocates a more direct and confrontational approach than Daramount does.

Miss Dagney

Susan Dagney is the elderly teacher who also acts as the school librarian. Dagney is arguably the Academy's first teacher, having raised Daramount and Hodge in place of their mothers.

Nine

The school nurse. Nine's job seems to consist mostly of conducting experiments on the living students and autopsies on dead ones. She is shown to be sadistic and greatly enjoys torturing the students she is supposed to be healing, something that puts her at odds with Hodge and Dagney. Nine is also tasked with looking for "special" children using methods that often result in long-term physical or mental damage. Nine has been working at the Academy since she was a young child as she is shown delivering a lethal injection to Hodge's mother shortly after she gives birth.

After her ordeal in detention shortly after arriving at the Academy, Jade is taken to Nine's office. She escapes with the help of one of Nine's test subjects, Megan, but is eventually subdued by guards, allowing Nine to inject her. After completing her tests, Nine concludes that Jade is of no interest to the Headmaster and voices her desire to "crack her head open and see what comes pouring out". Her plan is thwarted when a guard brings an unconscious Hunter into her office, distracting her long enough for Hisao to remove his disguise, knock her out and escape with Jade.

Later, Nine excitedly shows Hodge the corpses of four students (Amanda, Chad, Steve and Brendan) and specifically delights in the work of Brendan's killer David, whom she refers to as the schools "mascot".

Flashbacks reveal that when Abraham's camp was destroyed, the children there were sent to Nine to receive her "curriculum". When the Truants first arrived at the Academy, it was Fortunato who ended up in Nine's office and that she and Daramount interrupted their attempt to rescue him. Nine then conducted her tests on him. They also show that Nine injected Akiko following her attempt to kill Daramount by blowing up her chalkboard.

In issue #38, Gribbs orders Nine to inject Ike. Although willing to do it, she warns Gribbs that, should anything go wrong or the Headmaster take issue, she is not going to accept any responsibility for what happens.

Miss Hodge

The sister of Miss Daramount, Lara Hodge is the school guidance counselor and appears more supportive of, and loved by, the students. She claims to be a metaphorical prisoner of the school just as the students are literal prisoners and offers help to Casey in escaping. However, her proclaimed allegiance to the students may be a falsehood.

Mr N. Mr N is a rarely-seen member of the faculty, due to his role as a teacher to students who need a more hands-on approach. He is briefly mentioned by Hunter and Fortunato in issue #28.

After her failed revolution against the Academy, Irina is sent to Mr N by Daramount so that he can deliver her a "specialised curriculum" in order to change her behaviour and allow the Academy to reassert its control over her. When they first meet, Irina stabs Mr N in the hand with a fork and the two begin to fight, with N emerging the victor. He encourages Irina to talk about her past and gets her to reveal that she is Daramount's half-sister.

In issue #46, Mr N offers to take Irina on a field trip where he can make use of her skills. Irina quickly determines that he wants her to assassinate someone which he confirms, saying that there are certain things members of the faculty are unable to do for fear of repercussions. N teleports them to Marrakech and reveals that his target is Zoe.

The Headmaster

Father to both Miss Hodge and Miss Daramount, the headmaster is the mysterious head of the school.

The Truants A group of students loyal to Abraham, the Truants play a significant role in the latter half of the first season.

Irina

Guillaume Sorel

Akiko

Vanessa Richmond

Fortunato Medeiros

Ian Simon

AV Club The A.V. Club are officially introduced in issue #31 when they recruit Hunter after he is able to read their poster which looks blank to the other students. They intend to expose the Academy by starting a secret newspaper. Ian and Akiko are also members of the A.V. Club but the others distance themselves from the rest of the Truants, preferring to use non-violent methods to achieve their goals.

Maggie Maggie and Hunter meet during the Woodrun in Volume 3. Maggie is sent by her teammates to "capture" Hisao, forcing him to return to the Academy and leaving Hunter and Zoe with one less team member. She and Hunter seem to get on well together and they flirt before Maggie is called back to her team, who mock her for being attracted to Hunter. That night, Maggie is collecting firewood and is brutally stabbed to death by Zoe as revenge on Hunter who insulted her earlier in the day. Hunter is awoken by the noise and finds Maggie's body, which is collected by the faculty and taken to the morgue.