5 Best Comic Book Romances

This weekend is Valentine’s Day, and we’re ready to celebrate. We already gave you some geeky Valentine’s Cards to show your affection. Now, while we get ready to cozy up to our loves, and put all the converging and secret warring on pause, we thought it’d be nice to look at the softer side of comic books with some lovely loving lads and lasses.

Rogue and Gambit

Look, I could easily do a “top five X-Men romances” or maybe a top ten… or twenty… Romance has been more a part of the X-Men lineup over the years than just about any other in mainstream comics. With shoutouts to Colossus and Kitty, Cyclops and Jean, Havok and Polaris, and others, there’s one that just always had more impact than all of those.

That, of course, is Rogue and Gambit. This pair was a match made in heaven from the beginning. They were both Southerners (of a different sort, of course); she was Rogue, he was a rogue. But most importantly, they just felt like a couple of people (who happen to have crazy superpowers) who desperately needed each other, despite the fact that for the grand majority of their relationship, they couldn’t touch skin to skin thanks to her ability to absorb others’ powers, personalities, and very beings.

Most Romantic Moment: Nothing beats that first kiss, right? “One last moment together – to act on the only thing they have left.” It was Legion Quest, and it was the last issue before the dawning of the Age of Apocalypse. As reality itself was coming unraveled, Rogue and Gambit pulled each other close and passionately kissed. Let’s… not talk about the aftermath.

Bigby Wolf and Snow White

In the world of Fables, things are very topsy-turvy. With any and all fairy tale characters living together in… Harmony? Well, something like that.

If you tell the average Joe that the Big Bad Wolf and Snow White have a romance for the ages, they’ll probably look at you like you’re crazy. But if you’re talking to a Fables fan, then buckle up for a long, intense conversation about all your favorite moments. He’s gruff and used to, you know, eat grandmothers and blow down houses; her dainty tale covers up an incredibly independent and brilliant leader. And they’re perfect together.

Most Romantic Moment: There are a lot of them, but we have to go with the birth of their litter. There’s something so very genuine and heartfelt about the way Bigby looked upon the result of their love, and those adorable little hybrid kids. The fact there was actually one more, and he was… wind… was another story.

Thanos and Death

Traditional? No. Insane and strange? Yes. But there’s no denying that this is a romance for the ages. You see, that purple, scraggly-chinned ultimate villain actually does everything he does out of his twisted sense of love for the embodiment of Death. He’s in love with her, and so, he wants to end all life in the universe as a tribute to her. It’s sweet.

Most Romantic Moment: Um, successfully decimating the universe counts for something, right? Okay, okay, this one is just insane. Never mind.

Glenn and Maggie

Sure, a lot of people, when plunged into the zombie apocalypse, will find someone to hook up with. I mean, the world has already ended, might as well enjoy yourself somehow. But finding something real, finding true love? That’s really special.

This is of course, a doomed and tragic romance – it’s the zombie apocalypse people – and comic book readers know that well, while TV watchers have to wonder, as it has been made clear that no one on The Walking Dead is safe. Still, Glenn and Maggie found each other, and truly fell in love. It’s nice to think that in another world, maybe they would’ve met at a coffee shop, or while bowling, instead of while frantically running and hiding from flesh eating undead.

Most Romantic Moment: In The Walking Dead #37, Glenn and Maggie got married. It was simple, it was true, and she jumped his bones right after. Ah, romance.

Superman and Lois Lane

If there’s one big thing the New 52 did that got peoples’ ire, it was the near blanketed erasing of all romantic relationships. None stung worse than the removal of Lois Lane and Superman’s longtime love. In odd contrast to their relationship ending wholesale in the comics, when Man of Steel came out, not only was the attraction there right away, but Lois also figured out who Superman/Clark was nearly instantly.

But I digress. The thing that makes Superman and Lois Lane work so well is their perfect dichotomy. He’s strong of body, she’s strong of mind. He’s more than human, she’s the most human. He’s the country boy, she’s the city girl. A lot of people like to talk about how, when dating or married to the human being Lois, the alien Superman is more grounded. I think it’s just the opposite: Lois, and her determination, her wholesale jump-off-a-building belief in Superman, and her understanding of Clark is what lets him fly.

Most Romantic Moment: In All-Star Superman, as he’s slowly dying from years of radiation, Superman finds a way to replicate his abilities and give them to Lois, for one single day. Wanting to give her the real look under his skin like that as a final gift, it was just a special and beautiful moment.