Comics are essentially soap operas for boys. Yeah, they've got cool characters that have awesome powers, and bad-ass villains that you
want to see beaten...
...but they've also got relationships. Some good, some great, some ridiculously sappy.
Accept it. I have.
So for Valentine's Day, I thought I'd mention some relationships I've seen develop - and in some cases disintegrate - over the years.
10) Sam Guthrie and Lila Cheney
This was a great relationship. Sam was a skinny kid wit...let's just say poor social skills with the ladies. Lila was a punk rocker with groupies.
There was some flirting, and some interesting dress choices, over the years, but this story, New Mutants #42, really brought their relationship to a new level. Sam brought Lila to Kentucky to meet his family. We meet his brother Josh (never mentioned again to my knowledge), and the rest of his brothers and sisters appear for all of like two panels. I'm sure Paige was there, but I don't think she was mentioned by name...
Anyway, Sam and Lila fight, break up, she gets in a plane crash, he saves her and they make up in time for dinner. It was stories - and relationships - like this that made me the die-hard New Mutants fan I still am today.
9) Kurt Wagner and Amanda Sefton
This is kinda weird. Kurt and Amanda grew up together in the circus and raised by the same woman. They knew they weren't related, but had a sort of "step-sibling" relationship in their youth.
Then they grew up.
This showed that love isn't skin deep. Kurt's been close with the ladies, but always felt an outsider because of his appearance. Amanda was good for him, and he for her. Shame it didn't last.
8) Oliver Queen and Dinah Laurel Lance
Now I admit that my knowledge of comics isn't as deep with DC as it is with Marvel, but even I know this is a messed-up relationship.
My first reading of this couple wasn't until Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters. He asked her to marry him, she turned him down, she went after a killer, got caught, he saved her.
These two really need each other and should be together forever, but the on-again/off-again/died/came back/imposter thing sounds a little familiar...
7) Scott Summers and Jean Grey
This is just a lesson in futility.
Forget every "twangsty" show on the CW. If you want to watch a relationship on a roller coaster ride...with vomiting... read about these guys.
Scott and Jean were childhood sweethearts with mutant powers.
Then things happened. Lots of things.
Message to comic writers: Quit It!
6) Tim Drake and Stephanie Brown
If I was 12 when these two met, I'd have read every issue they appeared in. Even the whole baby thing.
I've said before that Tim was one of the best written characters in the DC 'verse Post-Crisis.
This relationship was proof.
5) Kal-El and Lois Lane
Here's an example of how a relationship that's supposed to work ends up being boring.
These two are the quintessential example of a love that is meant to be, but once these two get together there's nothing to write about.
The pursuit is more important than the goal, which is sad really - because in life, isn't the goal the reason for the pursuit?
Reminds me of the Moonlighting show, and another relationship on this list.
4) Reed and Sue
Here's a happy couple.
They've seen it all, and have lasted (how long now?).
A true testament to love, the ups and downs of a marriage, and is still interesting to read!
3) Barry Allen and Iris West
I don't care what's going on nowadays.
Again, I don't know as much about DC relationships, but this one was cool.
2) Ralph and Sue
Identity Crisis was my first reading of either of these characters.
I cried...
Then I read 52, and cried some more. Only this time they were tears of joy.
Like all the other couples on this list, these two don't deserve each other, they belong together.
But not quite as much as couple #1...
1) Peter Parker and Mary Jane
This couple gave me hope.
What teenage boy growing up in the eighties didn't identify with Peter?
Geek...Dork...Nerd...
...Super-Hero...with a hot wife.
A. Hot. Wife.
'Nuff Said.
Happy Valentine's Day!
