8. Howard The Duck and Beverly Switzier

as written by Steve Gerber




I won't pretend for a moment that this was a healthy relationship. Beverly was a nurturer and Howard was a taker. Beverly knew her value in the world, and Howard was insecure and jealous. So much of the schtick depended upon the idea that Beverly was hopelessly out of Howard's class.

And yet, they connected.

Really connected, sometimes.

Whereas most comics have characters talk only to further a plot, or (if you're lucky) to further a long term internal character arc, Howard and Beverly could just talk about things entirely incidental to the comic yet true to life, and I found those conversations really engaging. While everything else about their pairing was a terrible idea at best, they set a high bar for intellectual compatibility in a relationship. I'm not sure any other comic book couple did that better, really.

#8 - Camelot 3000's Sir Tristan and Isolde

I read Camelot 3000 still as a young reader but approaching adolescence. Just as it was a stepping stone of DC into the direct market and more mature storytelling, it was my first stepping stone beyond the mostly straightforward Marvel and DC superhero fare I had been reading off the newsstand.

Set in the year 3000 A.D., Merlin reincarnates the Knights of the Round Table. However, the physical bodies they assume are not identical to their prior incarnations, some more markedly different than others. And most notable was Sir Tristan who is reincarnated into the biological body of a woman.

Tristan struggles heavily with this, still fully identifying as a man along with his role in a male-oriented knighthood. At one point Arthur awkwardly refers to him as "Lady Tristan" and Tristan politely corrects him that it is still "Sir Tristan".

But if this is not enough, the love of his life in their prior incarnations, Isolde, returns as well, and she is still biologically female. She still fully loves him and does not struggle at all with accepting Tristan as he is now, and encourages him to reciprocate. Tristan wants to, with all his heart, but he cannot accept that he no longer is the man in the literal sense he once was and that he cannot offer that aspect to Isolde. But Isolde stays true to winning Tristan over, and their deep love finally wins out in the most romantic way as depicted below.

Ok, so was it simply a bit of edgy writing for the time (this was published between 1982-1985)? Maybe to some, but it honestly left a big impression on me about love transcending biology. I truly loved the happy ending here.

8. Ralph and Sue Dibney



Honestly, what else is there I need to say about the Nick and Nora Charles of the superhero set?

Well, first of all, they make married life look like fun. They obviously love being married, and there is no sign that they consider it a chore, unlike many other comic book couples.

I also love that Sue is an equal partner in this union. In too many superhero couples, the non-powered partner is either something for the hero to worry about ("Oh no! Brainiac has stolen Metropolis and Lois was there!") or a martyr to the hero's calling ("Go and save the city again, Peter. I'll stay home alone and wonder if I'm ever going to see you again."). Not so here.

And it was really nice to see a happy childless married couple. Ralph and Sue always seemed really comfortable with not having children. After all, you can't travel the world solving mysteries if your tied down with toddlers.

Personally, the comic I think did it best was Dynamite's Lord of the Jungle, but that came out in 2012 and wasn't eligible for this years 12 Days.

Excellent pic. You'll see them show up down the line.

#8 : Jean Grey and Scott Summers.

I mean, it was bound to show up eventually; it's a classic. It's also the romance that really got me hooked to X-Men comics. That's despite the fact that Jean and Scott barely interacted at the time, since they had been separated before I started reading and thought each other dead! I lived their romance entirely through the eyes of the grieving Scott, pining for his absent love; Jean was the unattainable star, the romantic ideal, and that was something I could entirely relate to! (Yes, I admit, I couldn't talk to that girl at school without feeling extremely self-conscious, tripping over my own words and having a heart attack all at once..."Unattainable stars" was a romantic subject I was quite familiar with).

That didn't change anything! Scott and Jean were the perfect tragic couple, and I wanted those two to get together again! (They did around issue #127, I believe, an issue I didn't read until years later).

Subscribing just in time to read the Dark Phoenix saga, I had the bad feeling that Jean wouldn't survive the ordeal  although, it turns out, that was the original plan. Reading the ending of X-Men #136, I dared hope against hope...



...but of course we were denied the happy ending I was rooting for, even if it admittedly made for a better story.

I hated the idea of Jean returning for Unethical X-Factor #1, and the years that followed her resurrection felt fake and editorially-mandated. From the great and tragic love story that had climaxed in X-Men #137, we moved to some patched-up ersatz where succeeding writers tried to make us believe in the couple again, despite the travesty that had been made of Scott's journey and the inability to make Jean more than "the girlfriend". Then I quit reading the X-books.

I came back for Morrison's run, though, and one thing that really, really moved me, is when she died again at the end : the scene in which saying goodbye, she calls Scott "my best friend". Oh, Lord, was that a great line... That is truly what should happen to two people who have loved each other for so long, going through the hormonal turmoil of puberty, the grand emotions of romantic love, and the founding of a family (even by time displacement/cloning/alternate reality means) : those two souls would naturally become best friends. I don't know if there is a greater compliment. I think even "my love" doesn't cut it.



...

Since we mentioned time-displaced, duplicate characters... I also very much enjoyed the quiet moment depicted by Brian Bendis in his All-New X-Men series, in which an adult Scott and a time-displaced teenage Jean manage to have a heart-to-heart conversation in which their awkward, mutual affection was obvious without any creepy overtone (mostly because Scott knew how creepy the situation could be! He had probably learned his lesson from the X-Factor fiasco!!!) It was very uncomfortable, to say the least, to see two people explore such very awkward and intimate emotions, and I thought it featured some pretty strong writing. We readers squirmed alongside the protagonists.

I wish the same could have been done decades earlier in Legion of Super-heroes, when Ultra-Boy and a teenage Phantom Girl clone ended up in a similar predicament. At the time, the subject had barely been broached before Zero Hour happened and made the point moot.

Day Five brings to the Classic Comics Christmas...