Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Woman
Man, how long have these two been a couple? Seems like forever and a day, and since they pretty much started the Silver Age of Marvel Comics together, it's safe to say they're the poster-couple for heroic lovebirds.
They've had their fights, and Reed "died" for a long time, and then that whole "Civil War" thing tore them apart for a while, but these two always seem to find their way back to each other's arms again.
Green Arrow and Black Canary
Here's a fiery little couple that finally made it legal. After years and years of together apart together apart together apart, they finally got it all together long enough to get married. Of course, she killed him on their wedding night (and not in a good way), but that didn't stop them from getting it all straightened out later.
Will they last? I wouldn't put money on it. Still, they'll always be important to each other, and they easily have the most passionate relationship in comics. Hopefully the writers will be good to them for a little while longer before sending them spiraling back to square one temporarily.
Cyclops and Phoenix
He's the leader of the X-Men, she's the most powerful mutant in the universe. Together, they make a couple worth celebrating.
Although I've always been more partial to Wolverine hooking up with Jean Grey, you have to give this mutant couple credit for staying power. No matter how many times she dies and comes back, they always get together eventually. There's really nothing in his personality that gives a reason why she'd find him so irresistible, but obviously there's something hidden there.
Honorable Mention: Batman and Catwoman
As star-crossed as any two lovers could ever be, these two have an on-again, off-again relationship that tops them all.
She steals stuff, he catches her, they make out. She gets framed for something bad, he catches her, they have a lot of flirting, and then they make out.
Just before Bruce Wayne was finished as Batman, Hush grabbed Catwoman and actually took her heart out. Batman saved her, and they ended up with what seemed a happily ever after. Of course, there are very few happily ever after's in comic books, so they were apart again before the issue was over. Still, if they could ever get it together when Bruce gets back in the cowl, it would be a pretty interesting relationship that could possibly go the distance.
Happy Valentine's Day!
Okay, I gotta take odds with the Cyclops and Phoenix pairing. Sorry. Before Jean Grey was brought back to life back in X-Factor #1 (Okay, technically in Avengers, but still...), I would have agreed. My reaction is for the opposite reason, though. I've never understood what Cyclops saw in Jean Grey. What made them such a notable couple within comics was the original Phoenix saga. Everything since then has just been a bad soap opera in spandex. While I haven't read the X-Men comics in which Scott hooked up with Emma Frost, I was glad to see him finally move on and ditch the redhead. The entire X-Factor series reduced Jean Grey to the "other woman" and turned Scott into a lousy adulterer... and then committed the biggest screw-up of all, tried to rationalize the whole thing by saying, "Oh, Madelyne was a clone of Jean all along, so Scott cheating on her with Jean was really okay."
ReplyDeleteAs for Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Woman, I definitely agree with you there. Even though I was never that into either character or the "Fantastic Four" as a series, it's nice to see a marriage in comics that has actually lasted!
I think honorable mention should go to Wally West and his wife Linda Park. They don't have the historical depth to make your "greatest couples" list. But their relationship had an amazingly transformative effect on his character--making him much more interesting, in the long run (ha! Flash pun!). Before Linda, Wally was basically a shallow jerk. His realization of the importance of his family have really grounded him as a character. I don't know what's up with him -- if there will be three Flashes running around (it works for the Green Lanterns), or whether they'll scratch Wally now that Barry is back. I hope they keep him around.
ReplyDeleteBarry and Iris are another potential honorable mention. He loved her enough to kill the guy who murdered her--how often do heroes do that, especially in the early 80s? (Of course, she came back, and it turns out she was from the future after all. Getting chronology straight in the Flash stories can give you a speed force-induced headache!)
Dr. OTR