Today, in the adventures climbing the cliffs of insanity, we visit some of my favorite superhero couples, take a look at the unexpected romantic moment in Marvel's The Fearless Defenders, and I will contemplate the place of romance in our society with a look at the backlash spawned by my Audi commercial post.
The "I've got you." "You've got me, who's got you?" List aka a Few of Favorite Superhero Romances:
While I am giving away a copy of the 64-page Young Romance: A New 52 Valentine's Day Special, I confess none of my favorite superhero romances are in there, with the exception of Batman and Catwoman, who were the best thing about The Dark Knight Rises.
My all-time favorite couple is Lois and Clark because they're so perfect for each other. It's not a mistake that every incarnation of Superman on the big and small screen has included Lois and Clark in some form. A great Batman story can be written without Catwoman. A great Superman story without Lois? I imagine it can be done but it would be far more difficult.
I'm looking forward Lois and Clark in the upcoming Man of Steel movie, though the Young Romance special is intent on selling me on Wonder Woman and Superman. Even all of DC hasn't totally committed to Wonder Woman and Superman. Witness this excellent photo frame on DC's official product page with classic Lois and Clark images.
Wesley Dodds and Dian Belmont, the stars of Sandman Mystery Theatre, a 1990s title from Vertigo, DC's adult division, is my next favorite couple Theirs is one of the most sophisticated and complicated romances in comics, taking place over the entire run of the series, which is set against the backdrop of a seriously crime-ridden 1930s New York City. Wesley has shown up in the new 52 Earth-2 series but there's no sign of the personality of old Wesley from this book so I'll have to be content with my trades for now.
Over at Marvel, Reed Richards and Sue Storm seem the one couple in comics destined to never break up. Which is awesome, because the cerebral Reed is perfectly matched with the more worldly Sue. There have been times when the pair have been parted temporarily but perhaps because the Fantastic Four is essentially the story of a family, they've stayed together and changed with the times. Sue has morphed from a girlfriend/wife and secondary member of the superhero team to gaining added powers and confidence, so now she stands as equal to Reed.
There are so many other great romances in comics but very few of those couples stay together, perhaps on the feeling that readers don't like married couples?
Spider-Man was famously de-coupled from Mary Jane in a Marvel story that literally had him making a deal with the devil to exchange his marriage for the life of Aunt May, Barry Allen and his longtime love, Iris West, are not together in the new 52, nor is there any sign of Scott Free and Big Barda or Ralph and Sue Dibny. Black Canary and Green Arrow were never together in the new 52, though we might see them in the Arrow television show, and the Batman and Catwoman romance which had grown more solid over the years in DC Comics is back basically to square one, save for sexytimes with their masks on.
At least Batwoman readers still have Kate Kane and Maggie Sawyer.
My other favorite romance is incredibly obscure and also currently non-existent. Jim Gordon and Sarah Essen were a star-crossed couple in Batman: Year One but received a happy ending in Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, both written by Frank Miller, not usually known as a sappy romantic. Alas, Sarah was killed off (not by Miller) in previous continuity by the Joker. She seems to not exist in the new rebooted 52, which is something of an improvement. Limbo is a little better than death.
There's also the unique romance between Liana, Scandal Savage and Knockout, a threesome that vowed to be married in Secret Six before the reboot happened. For more on favorite couples, check out the DCWomenKickingAss tumblr which is holding a romance tournament right now.
But a Valentine's Day toast to all those couples and to those non-canon couples such as Booster Gold and Blue Beetle (Ted Kord), and Black Canary and Oracle.
May you all love that well which thou must leave ere long.
Valkyrie is So Crush-Worthy aka Fearless Defenders #1 Was Fun
I worried about Fearless Defenders, a Marvel book with an all-female team, written by Cullen Bunn with art by Will Sliney, as some of the preview artwork seemed intent on showing off our heroines two most visible assets. The end result was better than I expected, with action mixed with fun and a touch of romance, as seen above. Valkryie (whose actual name is Brunnhilda) is a mythic warrior and the other women is a new character, an archeologist who is a friend of Misty Knight, one of the other team members. I'm on board.
From a Real Person
The comments on my post about the Audi commercial during the Super Bowl that featured a young man, given confidence by driving his dad's Audi, striding into prom and kissing the prom queen, then driving away with a smile and a black eye, while the prom queen reflected happily on the kiss were about what I expected, though I hoped for a discussion on the topic at hand, rather than various suggestions related to my personal life.
Now, I don't believe the Audi commercial is going to inspire anyone to rape anyone, though the actions in the commercial do fit the definition of sexual or indecent assault, given the prom queen had no chance to consent to the kiss. But I do believe we need, as a society to take a hard look at the assumptions inherent in that commercial. One, the woman is a prize because he has confidence, and two, she liked it because he was aggressive.
Taken all by itself, it's mainly harmless. But given our society and that 60 percent of the women raped are under 18 and that rapists are often acquantances rather than strangers, (source of stats in the original post) and given how our culture so often views women as a prize or trophy and given that this was a commercial seen widely because of when it aired, I wanted to speak up and challenge all those hidden assumptions (sometimes subconscious) in that commercial.
And, yes, many romantic comedies put out by Hollywood are guilty of the same.
If you–Joe Guy- are persistent enough and don't take 'no' for an answer, the girl of your dreams will eventually be yours. I'm not calling for a ban on Audi's commercial or on these kind of romances but I'm certainly going to reserve my right to speak up as well.
My favorite romantic movies don't rely on this plot, including An Officer and A Gentleman, Dirty Dancing, and His Girl Friday, and they seemed to do just fine. For an example of the attitude of "I rescued you, you are mine," taken to extremes, look no further than Hal/Titan in Megamind. It's a fun movie and not just because Tina Fey is the voice of Roxanne Ritchie (well, Lois Lane, really...).
Totally GeekMom Moment of the Week:
Watching my oldest son and my youngest daughter (17 and 13, respectively) sitting quietly watching Full Metal Alchemist together. They've been zipping through all the DVDs available via Netflix. After, my daughter sat down to draw some of her favorite Sonic the Hedghog characters.
