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Post by DubipR on Dec 13, 2021 21:24:37 GMT -5
Wow, so this is not at all what I expected... I would say a majority of I've never seen before... that's good, got some stuff to look up (As soon as I post this I'm going to go find 'Ironwood'.. I had no idea that existed). Eros collected it as pair of graphic novels so it shouldn't be too hard to find. Honestly foxley I didn't even think about going through the Eros Comix stuff. Inspired choice. |
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Post by codystarbuck on Dec 14, 2021 0:40:13 GMT -5
#12 Hank Pym & Janet Van Dyne PymOkay, this might be controversial; but, hear me out. When I started reading Avengers, the romantic couple was Hank & Jan. It was like that from the start. They made for an odd couple, the quiet, scientific mind of Hank, and the boisterous, often flighty Jan, who seemed to have her head in fun and fashion, as much as the mission at hand. That's down to sexism and some bad writing, here and there. Through it all, though, there was a love between the two characters. Hank always saw beyond Jan's seemingly shallow surface, to the real woman underneath; the one who fought to help people and protect them from world conquerors, aliens, monsters, and psychotic androids. Jan saw beyond the technical mind of Hank to the gentle, often repressed soul underneath, encouraging him in his work, using her money to aid it, never asking for anything in return. Bad writers never handled the romance well, but at least had them act like a stereotypical couple, entertaining for others, aiding one another when in trouble, fearing for the safety of the other, embracing each other when it was safe. The good writers went beyond. Jan worked to try to build up Hank's self-esteem and reassure him after bouts with mental illness....  Really bad writers had Hank backhand Jan, then rig an attack to appear the hero, only to have to be saved by Jan. He got court-martialed, framed by Egghead, then redeemed. Janet divorced him and got thrown into bad relationships with others, including Tony Stark, before she knew he was Iron Man. Hank revealed that Jan reminded him of his lost first wife and they both used excuses to end things. Really good writers saw beyond that and brought them back together, because that's where they belonged, even with the bouts of mental illness and the abusive moment.  Kurt Busiek got it and the Ultron Unlimited storyline reinforced that and even addressed the idea that Jan had a co-dependent mentality, protecting her abuser. She dismissed that because it was an element of a mental illness that led to a single moment, not years of systematic abuse, like in real abusive relationships. One moment does not make an abusive husband. It is abuse; but, in this case, it was a symptom of a larger mental breakdown. It was not a pattern of behavior. Busiek had Hank and Jan drawn back together, because they truly loved one another, even with their troubled past. Hank feared losing control of his mental state and directly or indirectly bringing harm to Jan; yet Jan wanted to be there for him and help him work through the fear and embrace the good times. That is what a relationship is. It's not all good times, even in the best of circumstances. You ride out the bad and savor the good. Anyone who has been in a relationship with someone who suffers from mental illness can empathize with Hank & Jan. My wife suffers from depression & anxiety and I have literally picked her off of the floor, crying, because of the emotional pain. I have sat in emergency rooms, because she was going through benzodiazepene withdrawal, because she was taking more than her prescribed dosage and had run out of the medication, long before it could be refilled. I have had to sit there, being the calm in an emotional storm, because it was the only thing I could do for her. Personally, I think Mark Millar was the worst offender in how Hank was treated, reinforcing this idea that he was an abusive husband to Jan, not someone who had a mental breakdown that escalated in a violent moment. He turned Hank into a serial abuser, and a vicious one, all in the name of shock value. It was part and parcel of what I didn't like about Ultimates, from the rather Right Wing depiction of Captain America (plenty of WW2 soldiers were Roosevelt Democrats, Mark), to the implication of an incestuous relationship between Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch, to especially Hank as a serial abuser of Jan. Thankfully, the MCU seems to have gotten it right, that Hank never moved on from Jan being lost in the Quantum realm, to Scott finding her and leading her out, reuniting loved ones. Hank & Jan deserve a happy ending, more than just about any other couple in comics. Kirby knows they have been through enough. People like to use the image of Thor and the Avengers calling to Ultron, to say they would have words with him; but, this is my favorite panel of that storyline and I think it sums up Hank and Jan better than any single image..... 
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Post by codystarbuck on Dec 14, 2021 2:28:22 GMT -5
Yep. I knew I'd have this problem from the very start: ranking them. To me, there's just a bunch of comics couples/romances I like, that's it - ranking them just never occurred to me. So except for maybe the first two, the order in my list is going to be pretty arbitrary. Anyway, even though these two are among the first that came to mind when Kurt announced this year's theme, I suppose the nature of the series they appear in makes them less 'weighty' than some of my other entries. To wit: #12: E-man and NovaE-man, the good-natured and rather naive cosmic energy being who's taken human form, and Nova Kane, grad student and exotic dancer, seem like a rather unlikely couple to highlight, and their rather tongue-in-cheek series means their relationship may lack the gravitas and high romance of the many, far more famous comic book pairings. But I've always loved them together - because you really can't have E-man without Nova. They almost have the vibe of a sitcom couple, because the series itself (and by that I mainly mean the original 10-issue Charlton run in the early 1970s) is kind of sitcomish - but in a good way. And as in any good sitcom (or rom-com), I simply enjoy their easy rapport and amusing, often comical banter as they get caught up in all manner of outlandish situations and adventures... (...) You know, I truly expected to be the only one with E-Man and Nova on their list! |
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Post by majestic on Dec 14, 2021 10:42:08 GMT -5
#12: The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman.
Steve Austin and Jaime Sommers. They have been in comic books (Charlton & Dynamite) but of course they started on TV. I LOVED the SMDM and when they introduced Jaime and made her bionic... it was great to see Steve happy only for her to be tragically removed from his life by death and then amnesia. It really elevated the show at that point by making Steve more "real". Plus Lindsay Wagner was so perfect for the role in bringing Jaime to "life". It would be a couple of decades after the show ended that we got to see them reunited in marriage.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Dec 14, 2021 11:35:00 GMT -5
Random thoughts on Day One because it's a thing I do and apparently it's become something of a tradition. Just as an initial thought...y'all are bringing the weird and the obscure early on this year. Even more so that usual. Kal-El and Lyla Lerrol - Superman....NO! Why won't you people learn? Eric and Vanessa Openshaw (Striker) - I've just consigned myself that driver1980 is going to bring in stuff that I have zero clue about. And that's okay. Pandora Breedlswight and Fantasia Faust - I got nothing. I'm beginning to sense a theme. Binky and Sheba from Life In Hell - I only read Life in Hell very sporadically. I think it maybe ran in the free alternative paper in Boise...and maybe in one in Salt Lake too. But I have little memory of it and none of Binky and Sheba. Cliff Secord and Betty Page - I feel bad that I didn't think of Cliff and Betty. I really like The Rocketeer and re-read it semi-recently. But I probably wouldn't have chosen them anyway because I always felt Cliff deserved way better than Betty. Sure she's beautiful. But she's mostly concerned about Betty and not about Cliff. Earth 2 Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle - Damn I love that comic. We will likely see this iteration of Bruce and Selina again. Blondie and Dagwood Bumstead - I actually thought of Blondie and Dagwood for a second just to guffaw and ask myself what I was thinking. It's a perfectly cromulent choice. But for me Blondie always felt like your Grandma's comic strip. It wasn't generally offensively saccharine in the way that The Family Circus was, but it was largely the same unassuming gag-a-day safe strip that hadn't broken any ground since before most of us were alive. Alex Summers (Havok) and Lorna Dane (Polaris) - The lost Summers'. At this point I find Claremont mostly unreadable, so I haven't revisited the X-Men in eons. But, as stated, they seldom showed up. And I only vaguely remember them from the pre-Claremont days. And I haven't read an X book since the mid 80s. So...good for them. Karate Kid and Princess Projectra - I honestly only read the Legion for a few years in the early to mid 80s. And it's not a book I've really considered re-visiting. So pretty much any Legion couple is just not going to mean diddly to me. Robin and Bat-Girl - Sigh! I'm not a fan of kid side-kicks. And this is seriously the worst era of Batman. I certainly understand The Good Prince's rationale in his choices...but I think this is a list I'm not going to feel. Jugurtha and Vania - It's a damn conspiracy today to make Slam Google things. I will not fall victim to these shenanigans. E-man and Nova - I feel like I should have thought of E-Man and Nova, but it's been easily 30 years since I've touched one of those comics and I have close to zero memory of them. Lois Lane and Comet the Super Horse - Wertham was right! Steven & Tara - I got nothin'. But...having given in and Googled (damn you CCF!) this looks like it could be up my alley. So I may have to check it out. Usagi and Tomoe Ame - I actually know who they are! I've only read a handful of Usagi stories. I know I should read more, but it didn't really grab me. I'll likely get back to it some day. Natasha Irons and 'Boris' - I got nothin'. From the context clues I assume they're from some run of Steel, who was that fake Superman dude. I guess the movie did so badly they couldn't even buy the guy a last name. Ayla Ranzz (Lightning Lass) and Salu Digby (Shrinking Violet) - See above about the Legion. But good for them for finding love. Zenelle and Sleek - Man I really love Mike Allred's art. And yet I've not read that much of his comics work. Shame on me. Though I never seem to know where to start and what it interconnected. I may have to make a point to read The Atomics. Thanos and Death - Have I mentioned I'm not a fan of Starlin? I just never read any of Marvel's "Cosmic" books. Thanos feels like the sad little Sophomore Philosophy major to has discovered nihilism and thinks it's cool. Hank Pym & Janet Van Dyne Pym - Has any couple been as poorly written as often as Hank and Janet? I suspect not. The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman - I'm not convinced this actually fits the theme, though I can't say for sure since I have ZERO knowledge their funnybook appearances. And I choose not to play rules lawyer. I get enough of that in my day job. I loved those shows as a kid and suspect they'd be absolutely awful if I watched them now. |
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Post by brutalis on Dec 14, 2021 13:48:16 GMT -5
As I knew it would, this year the couples showing up are exactly what love is all about. Crazy, wild, mind blowing and spectacularly unique. Totally unexpected combined with the usual suspects. Gonna be a wiiiiide spreadsheet tally for Kurt at the end of all the shenanigans.
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Post by thwhtguardian on Dec 14, 2021 16:04:57 GMT -5
This sounds fantastic! Do you know if it ever got an English translation? |
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Dec 14, 2021 16:11:44 GMT -5
This sounds fantastic! Do you know if it ever got an English translation? Isolated like that it looks like one of those weird Archie crossovers. Jughead and Vanna. What will the Wheel of Fortune tell us? |
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Dec 14, 2021 17:55:36 GMT -5
This sounds fantastic! Do you know if it ever got an English translation? Not that I'm aware of, unfortunately. But it deserves one! |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Dec 14, 2021 18:02:31 GMT -5
This sounds fantastic! Do you know if it ever got an English translation? Not that I'm aware of, unfortunately. But it deserves one! Or I'll have to break down and learn French, your lists always have entries that are just out of reach despite looking and sounding amazing. |
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Post by wildfire2099 on Dec 14, 2021 21:44:53 GMT -5
I agree! We need more translated European comics!
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Post by berkley2 on Dec 21, 2021 13:13:53 GMT -5
Johnny Hazard and Brandy
Like most comic strip or comic book couples these two dont end up staying together, but when they are together they make a great team. Brandy is a news photographer and pretty dedicated to her job. She's also a jujitsu expert and doesnt shy awayfrom the action. Best ofall for me though, is her verbal giveand take with Johnny, as the two match each other with quips and jabs. At the point Ive reached in the series they've had a romance and brokenup, but I gather that Brandy makes a few return appearances downthe road and I look forward to reading them when I get there.
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Post by Farrar on Dec 27, 2021 19:53:08 GMT -5
#12 Dorrie Evans and Johnny Storm Strange Tales Human Torch (later Torch & Thing) feature This is a guilty pleasure. When I started reading Marvel Comics I set about buying all the back issues I could find, including some old Strange Tales. Sure, that ST Johnny Storm Torch series was pretty bad, but when Ben was added a co-star he and Alicia (both of whom I *really* like) would double-date with Johnny and Dorrie. So there's that! I liked the four of them together. Anyway, Dorrie and Johnny had an innocent, puppy love  type of relationship. Strange Tales #132  I love her cute little doggie! And of course Dorrie appeared in the epochal "Meet the Beatles!" story from Strange Tales #130.  Okay, so maybe not a match made in heaven. But for this reader, it was a fun little Archie-style diversion while it lasted. {More Dorrie!}{More Dorrie!: Click to show}I like that Kurt Busiek remembered that in addition to Dorrie dating Johnny, she and Alicia were friends; here's Dorrie at a reception for Alicia's sculpture exhibit, in 1994's Marvels #2. 
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type of relationship.