Comic Booked’s Top Comic Book Romances

It’s Valentine’s Day, and here at Comic Booked, we’re a bunch of romantics! So I thought what better way to show our love of comics and romance than to talk about our favorite comic book couples? Some of them may not still be together, or have ever really been together at all, but the love was clearly evident between the pages. So with no further ado, here are Team Comic Booked’s favorite comic book couples!

Jordamus Prime –My favorite comic book romance has and likely forever will be Tim Drake and Stephanie Brown, who are currently known as Red Robin and Batgirl. While they aren’t involved at the moment, there has been a chemistry between the two of them since the first time they met each other. As a guy that read the entire Robin solo series from the beginning, it was amazing to see their young love blossom and grow, and mortifying to see it fall apart as the years passed. Their romance came to a truly abrupt ending when Stephanie was killed by the Black Mask in War Games. She was subsequently ‘resurrected’ not too long after when it was revealed that she had faked her own death and disappeared. After she returned to Gotham, her on again off again relationship with Tim seemed to be at an end, but only time will tell on that one. Tim Drake and Stephanie Brown have been through a lot together, and I personally can’t realistically ever see either of them ending up with anyone else. You never forget your first love, that girl or guy that got you through those tough teenage years and stood by you no matter what; especially when ‘no matter what’ involves fighting super villains.

The Crimson Blur –

As a Smallville fan I have to say Clark Kent and Lana Lang. It’s the perfect example of young love that transforms you into the man or woman you need to be to find your soul mate.

Nicole Sixx –
While I have always been a sucker for Rouge and Gambit, Selina and Bruce, and Joker and Harley, I would have to declare my favorite couple in comicbookdom a tie between Poet and Chandra from Rising Stars and Tulip and Jesse from Preacher.

In the case of Poet and Chandra I have always thought it was beyond beautiful that the way Poet found about her love for him is because Chandra’s Super Power is the ability to appear as every soul’s perfect ideal of beauty once they look upon her. As such, whenever she would take men to her bed, she always made them wear a mask so that way she could imagine her ideal as well, and her ideal was Poet.

As for Tulip and Jesse well, let’s just say, they’ve seen some things. Yeah, and if you can see/live through all the crazy ass stuff they’ve stumbled upon, I don’t really ever see anyone else quite making the cut. Besides, they’d miss each other too damn much.

Nick C –
Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson-Parker. True, they may not technically be married in the current comics, but it nonetheless remains one of the most enduring and iconic relationships in the medium, having existed in some form for nearly as long as Spider-Man himself. Though they were first introduced by their respective aunts in the 1966’s Amazing Spider-Man #42, Peter was already infatuated with Gwen Stacy at the time, and the relationship seldom went beyond the bounds of friendship. It wasn’t until Gwen’s death in the early ’70 (after which MJ provided Peter with a friend when he needed one most) that they finally got together in any meaningful way. After breaking up with Peter and leaving the title for approximately four years, MJ returned in ASM# 242, and has remained a fixture of the title from that point on. Further, it was during the ‘80s that the two best demonstrated that they were one of those couple that, for all intents and purposes, is together even when they are supposedly apart. They were then married with much fanfare (including a real-life ceremony at Shea Stadium) in 1987, following which their relationship endured clones, the aftermath of the Civil War unmasking, and even John Byrne. It is this level of resilience which tells me that, in spite of whatever editorial mandates or Faustian pacts Marvel may throw at them; we have yet to see the end of this particular pair.

Colin Bell –

I choose Invincibleand Atom Eve. The relationship between Mark Grayson and Samantha Eve Wilkins is a timeless one, playing out like so many others across the ages – boy meets girl, boy and girl find out that they’re both superheroes, boy likes girl but girl’s not interested due to her relationship with superhero colleague, boy finds himself someone else in the meantime, girl realizes she loves boy and leaves to do humanitarian work in Africa, boy visits girl in Africa with new girlfriend, girl is jealous, boy finds himself stranded in an alternate dimension, future version of girl finds boy after fifteen years of searching and confesses her undying love for him, boy returns to own time and attempts to start relationship with girl but lets slip that it’s only because of his encounter with future version of girl, girl is upset, boy and girl eventually overcome these differences and hook up after FIFTY ISSUES OF ME WAITING. It’s like, straight out of a romance novel or something.

Their love has quite literally transcended time, space and even the occasional death, so it’s clear that Invincible and Atom Eve belong together, not in the least because the last time we saw Eve, she was apparently pregnant with Mark’s child. Will there be a baby waiting for Invincible when he returns home from the Viltrumite War? The cover to Invincible #79 says maybe…

Robb Orr-

I am going to have to go with Midnighter and Apollo from The Authority, as my favorite comic book couple.  Including a gay couple in the popular series was bold and progressive social commentary, done in a very tasteful and non-preachy way.  Here are two superheroes that can kick ass and oh, by the way, just happen to be gay.  The fact that the writer, Warren Ellis, did not cop out and go with a lesbian couple that might have been a bit less controversial to legions of fanboy readers is a bold move that I respect.  This is a perfect example of comic art tackling social issues, and the myriad of “equality for all” battles that continue to be be fought to this very day.  Happy Valentine’s Day Midnighter and Apollo!

Nick Furious –
Scott Pilgrim and Ramona Flowers – A love story for the new millennium. Think about the hardest thing you ever had to do for a girl. Long distance relationship? Take a break? Cut back on video games? That would have been small potatoes to Scott Pilgrim, who had to destroy all of Ramona Flowers’ evil exes to win her heart! But when you the meet the girl of your dreams (literally), you do whatever you can to get her. This would include but not be limited to fighting mystical powers, twins, and vegans. Someone always gets hurt in love and war, but in the end love always prevails. Bryan Lee O’Malley’s awesome Scott Pilgrim series featured the most awesome love story of our generation, it’s beautiful, eloquent, and above all endearing – making Scott Pilgrim and Ramona Flowers my favorite comic book couple of all time.

Roger –

Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy. This one is tragedy in practice. It’s the type of relationship that was doomed from the start. Arch-nemesis tossing her from bridge, hero tries to save her and kills her as result. Poetic display of all relationships doomed from start. I tried to save her, I killed her. I get all weepy just thinking about it. MJ will always be second string to me.

Jared Edwards-

Batman and Catwoman. Throughout their continuity, Batman and Catwoman (along with Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle) have had on-again off-again relations (and most importantly, mutually exclusive from mask-to-mask and face-to-face). These two seem drawn together despite and because of the way they maintain themselves. Catwoman skirts with being a heroine at times, while also being a thief. Batman skirts with breaking the law while being a vigilante. This tension obviously causes trust issues (best seen in the Hush arc), along with moral friction. The results though, stay the same; Catwoman and Batman, time and time again, go out of their way to aid one another while also fulfilling basic needs of love.

Who are some of your favorite comic book couples? Reply in the comments section below! Have a happy Valentine’s Day from the whole team at Comic Booked!