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Well, it's February, that time for romance. So why not get into the spirit of things and celebrate those couples we all love to read about in our funnybooks. Romance is one of those things that is often overlooked but is frequently integral to comics, right from the beginning - hell, John Romita actually got his start drawing romance comics. While people in funny costumes punching each other is one part of comics, nonetheless romance tends to play its part in making the stories a little richer. So let's have a thread in which we discuss our favourite couples! Why we love them, the best stories to showcase their relationships, all that good stuff. I'll get the ball rolling with one of my personal favourites. Peter Parker & Mary-Jane Watson(-Parker) Joe Quesada wants you to think this never happened. My intro to Spider-Man & superheroes in general came via the Sam Raimi movies (as did many others of a certain age), so I was brought in with the view that Peter & Mary Jane was how things were Supposed To Be when it came to Spider-Man. Of course, perhaps the chemistry in those movies wasn't as good as Peter & Gwen's in the Amazing Spider-Man films, but in the comics, you'll find the opposite was usually true. Mary Jane was a latecomer to Peter Parker's story - unlike many superhero love interests, she wasn't created along with most of Peter's supporting cast (neither, for that matter, was Gwen Stacy). She was originally meant to be a 'spoiler', the Veronica to Gwen Stacy's Betty. But Mary Jane proved far more popular than had been anticipated, and under Conway's pen she would begin to show much greater depth, a process that would continue under many other writers and after many trials and tribulations, they would become husband and wife (which came about because of Stan Lee himself). Unfortunately, a lot of writers & editors were striving ever since the wedding to get back to a single Spider-Man, ultimately culminating in One More Day, but at the end of the day I don't think anyone that Marvel has brought in to fill the void has ever matched up to MJ. Certainly, the positive response to the Renew Your Vows miniseries in Secret Wars shows there's still a lot of people who would happily read stories of the two of them. Where to read them: Marvel actually put out a trade several years back called Spider-Man/Mary Jane: You just hit the jackpot, that covers several of the best Peter & Mary Jane stories. Certainly MJ's presence throughout the Spider-Man mythos means that for the most part, you'll find great Peter/MJ stuff in most of the best runs of Spider-Man. Stuff like Kraven's Last Hunt, Marvel Knights: Spider-Man by Mark Millar, and Doomed Affairs in the JMS run are all excellent examples. Personally one of the very best stories in my personal opinion, is Sensational Spider-Man Annual #1, 'To have and to hold', by Matt Fraction. It's in that period between Civil War & One More Day, and is arguably the thesis statement for why their relationship works.
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# ? Feb 7, 2016 20:28 |
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# ? May 30, 2024 13:19 |
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Mister Miracle and Big Barda are the best comic book couple. Mister Miracle is an escape artist, his skill set is much more defensive than most super heroes. Big Barda is one of most physically imposing heroes this side of Thor or Orion. She's got a physique that Amazon's would envy, and has the power to go toe to toe with Wonder Woman. All that and she's beautiful when she's stripped down to her Kirby bikini. Kirby seems to be the only one that can pull off a married super hero couple: Mister Fantastic/ Invisible Woman, Black Bolt/ Medusa, Mister Miracle/ Big Barda. My apologies for listing all the men first.
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# ? Feb 8, 2016 00:05 |
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There's a legit chance we'll never see them again in comics the way they were, but Linda and Wally were one of the best couples DC ever had due to how well Waid wrote them.
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# ? Feb 8, 2016 00:08 |
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It's not really a huge part of Preacher, but I've always really liked how Jesse and Tulip's relationship develops.
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# ? Feb 8, 2016 01:03 |
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I don't know if Captain America: White has a love story, but Spider-Man: Blue, Hulk: Gray, and Daredevil: Yellow are all excellent love stories. I remember being eighteen and in love, buying Daredevil: Yellow at Islands of Adventure, and my girlfriend at the time reading it to me on the way back because she wanted my attention. Whenever I hear or read "Foggy" I hear her voice. Kamala and Bruno in Ms Marvel are cute even though they aren't a couple. EDIT: Don't care what anyone says about Identity Crisis "But that’s why ice cream stores don’t just sell chocolate and vanilla. Every once in awhile, someone walks in and orders butter pecan." hits me in the gut. Open Marriage Night fucked around with this message at 02:01 on Feb 8, 2016 |
# ? Feb 8, 2016 01:50 |
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Die Laughing posted:I don't know if Captain America: White has a love story, but Spider-Man: Blue, Hulk: Gray, and Daredevil: Yellow are all excellent love stories. I don't think Loeb intended Captain America: White to be a love story but goddamn does Cap come off as super-gay for Bucky in that book with all the narration constantly dwelling on him and mourning him, which only makes Sale's artwork super-awkward since he draws Cap and Captain America and Bucky as, well, a child.
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# ? Feb 8, 2016 05:48 |
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This is a great post from MelvinTheJerk from a similar thread in 2012MelvinTheJerk posted:One of the things Marvel has always done well, perhaps better than the entire comics industry and especially in the Silver Age, was romances. Early Marvel characters in their origins had a habit of making their characters more vulnerable and human and so were their love lives in a way that still translates well and holds up to this day. The Hulk has a classic monsters tale. As Bruce Banner he was in love with Betty Ross, but couldn't be around her for fear of her safety. Her father dedicated his life to murdering him. Spider-Man gained powers that on the surface you would think would solve all his problems, but he was still a shy nerd at heart and spent years pining after the wrong women until Gwen Stacy came into his life and loved him for his faults. The list goes on and on: Reed and Sue. Hank and Janet. Scott and Jean. I don't even have to use their hero names for you to know who I'm talking about.
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# ? Feb 8, 2016 20:47 |
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I'm a big fan of that Madame Masque post. Had no idea of the character but the arc seems super classic and pretty interesting. I disliked the romance twist(s?) at the end of Y the Last Man. I didn't mind it at the time, but when I think back on it, it wasn't some super great natural evolution, and it definitely wasn't my favorite part of the series.
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# ? Feb 8, 2016 21:22 |
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Die Laughing posted:
And then she gets raped and murdered!
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# ? Feb 10, 2016 00:40 |
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That Madame Masque post is awesome, thanks for sharing it! I really liked Brubaker's writing of Bucky and Natasha; that was good stuff. High action spy couple with a shared past spanning decades! It ruled. Even when he wrote their romance out (presumably to avoid future writers messing up the dynamic), I thought the way he ended it was well done and super sad. And it led to some of the best moments in Edmondson's otherwise-mediocre Black Widow series. I think it was at least 75% Noto's art selling Bucky's expressions, but man, his interactions with the woman he loved were really beautifully done. Also Billy and Teddy are great. Young Avengers vol. 2 was cool for introducing complications into their relationship and then having it resolve beautifully. Those are what I feel like typing about right now! Happy Valentine's Day, BSS.
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# ? Feb 10, 2016 18:40 |
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I was going to make a vote for Kitty Pryde and Illyana, but phrasing that as a romance seems to be going a bit far. Also, the cuteness of their friendship is a little undermined by our later, internet-given knowledge that Chris Claremont's "strong woman" thing got a little problematic and weird at points.
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# ? Feb 10, 2016 18:59 |
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I don't think it's that weird thing to bring up, Claremont was rather blatant about it.
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# ? Feb 10, 2016 19:16 |
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# ? May 30, 2024 13:19 |
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I was actually considering sharing an article or two on the Spider-Marriage in the OP to go with my post on it, but I decided against it. That madame Masque/Tony post has shamed me into action, though. The first one is Ta-Nehisi Coates' Spider-Man in Love, which really shows how great the marriage was - because the characters evolved to the point where they got married, rather than being designated from the outset, they felt much more real than many other fictional relationships. The second is Why did it have to be you, Mary Jane? - an old-school Spider-man fan looking at the trajectory of the Parker-Watson relationship throughout its long and storied history. It's pretty long, though.
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# ? Feb 10, 2016 20:20 |