5 Greatest Weddings in Comic Book History, Ranked

Two things are very true about superhero comics. One is that they hold to an impossibly powerful status quo, with so little changing, and what little does change often being reset, that it’s almost impossible to create true, lasting change. Second is that they are action-focused adventures first and foremost, meant to show off incredible heroes doing incredible stunts. Both of these points, and much discussion around comic books as a whole, ignore a third, crucial element that makes DC, Marvel, and all other superhero stories so darn entertaining and lasting. This is an essential part of why these comics have remained so relevant for so long. Superhero comics are soap operas.

While superheroes will be remembered for their grand battles of good against evil, they are at their best when they’re people. A huge part of Superman’s earliest stories revolved around his normal life and feelings for Lois Lane. Lois’s love for Superman and dismissal of Clark drove their stories and gave them a new element. This x-factor is at the heart of every great superhero comic. From Spider-Man’s struggles with relatable problems to the love between two characters, this is always present. To celebrate the often-overlooked power of love in comic books, we’re taking a look at its ultimate culmination. We’re looking at comics’ five best weddings and ranking them based on how incredible they are.

5) Bruce Banner and Berry Ross — Incredible Hulk (1968) #319

Bruce and Betty’s relationship has been tumultuous since its start. They were immediately infatuated with one another, but before they could act on their shared affection, the Hulk smashed his way into their lives. Even more than Hulk’s rage, Betty’s dad, Thunderbolt Ross, kept them apart with his obsession. He demanded absolute strength and obedience, so while he sought every way imaginable to kill the Hulk, he stepped between Betty and the milksop Banner. Of course, even through years of hardship and hatred, they kept coming back to each other. Of course they decided to marry.

Most superhero weddings are massive events, but this one was small and intimate. It saw the emotional return of Rick Jones and Thunderbolt Ross, the latter of whom held up the wedding with a gun. Rick took a bullet to save the wedding, and Betty finally got the chance to tell her dad off. She ripped him apart and showed why she loved Bruce, proving that all the hate in the world couldn’t keep them apart. Heck, Rick even asked them to keep going while he was bleeding out, because he didn’t want anything to get in between them.

This wedding perfectly captures everything about Banner and Betty’s relationship. Yes, it’s filled with crazed madmen, destruction, and more mess than a dumpster, but at its core, it’s all about people who love each other and try to help each other through everything. Everyone in this ceremony was damaged in some way, but they held on because of love. Their future was brutal and filled with tragedy, but they wouldn’t let that stop them from holding each other close today. This issue is the perfect microcosm of everything about them.

4) Scott Summers and Jean Grey — X-Men (1991) #30

Comics are at their best when they’re a soap opera, and nobody proves that better than the X-Men. Their whole team is a messy, convoluted, complicated family, but they love each other more than anything else, and nowhere is that more true than the love between Scott and Jean. They’ve always been the X-Men’s greatest love story. They were two kids who were in way over their heads, but found a way to help each other through it all. Their wedding came after years of setbacks, tragedies, and mishaps, but after so much heartbreak, they finally tied the knot.

This event saw every major X-Men character who was around attend. So many of the X-Men’s stories are baked in tragedy, but this was an unambiguous celebration. Scott and Jean celebrated their love for each other and their friends in every panel. Seeing every X-Man so happy and full of life was incredible and heartwarming. The real emotional core was Professor X, who was contemplating whether his students, his children, still needed him. His melancholy was broken by Jean, who used her powers to dance with him in a scene that always makes my heart sing. This was a reprieve in the X-Men’s darkest hour, and a reminder of why they do what they do. It was pure joy on every page, and reminded us all to hope.

3) Reed Richards and Sue Storm — Fantastic Four (1961) Annual #3

This is Marvel’s earliest wedding event, and what a way to kick it off. Reed and Sue have been an item since the very beginning, and they tied the knot only a few years into their superhero careers. It was inevitable, of course. Marvel’s First Family is the perfect example of what I mean when I say that superhero comics are soap operas. They were Marvel’s first true foray into that style, and this team put Marvel on the map. The emotionally tied stories and relationships were such an instant hit that it fundamentally altered how Marvel wrote every character and story after them. This wedding is, if nothing else, the ultimate proof of concept.

And what a proof it is. This is one of the most ambitious comics of all, because it features every single major Marvel character at the time. The X-Men, the Avengers, Spider-Man, Daredevil, and more battled the Fantastic Four’s biggest lineup of villains of all. Everyone crashed the wedding, and the entire superhero community worked to save the day. It’s a celebration of Marvel’s awesome relationship and all their incredible heroes, which is what every event should be. Heck, it even had a cameo from the legendary duo of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. They were true visionaries, and this comic celebrates everything they worked on during that time.

2) Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson — The Amazing Spider-Man (1963) Annual #21

Spider-Man and MJ are Marvel’s greatest relationship, without question. By now, I’m sure you can tell that Marvel is incredible at giving fans spectacular weddings, but this one takes the cake. It finally tied Peter and MJ together in a way that validated decades of buildup, character development, and storylines, all in one epic package. Of course, nothing is ever simple. Yet, unlike other superhero weddings that involved dozens of evil villains or last-minute surprise guests, this wedding focused on the emotional state of its two biggest participants. Both Peter and MJ had good reason to worry if marriage was the right step for them, and they spent most of the issue ruminating on it.

In the end, as they always do, Peter and MJ found each other once again and committed to the next step in their relationship together. This was one of the most down-to-earth, normal weddings, but it captured the heart that makes all of Spider-Man’s best stories so good. It was all about Peter and MJ coming to terms with themselves and choosing to take the next step, no matter how scared they were. It was an incredible wedding, and one day, I’m sure that this will be restored to the timeline like it should be.

1) Clark Kent and Lois Lane — Superman: The Wedding Album

Superman and Lois are, without any doubt, the most important relationship in comics. They’ve been pining for each other since the very first issue of Action Comics, which kick-started the superhero genre. Their love for each other transcended boundaries of space, time, and everything in between, as they always found their way back to each other no matter what distance they had to travel. Seeing them come together was the ultimate catharsis and a statement that everything is going to be okay. It was a statement that things are good. The two make each other better, and there can be no greater celebration of a superhero marriage than what happened in this issue.

The Wedding Album wasn’t just done by one team, but drawn with contributions from every living artist who worked on Superman at that point. Everyone threw their hat in the ring, all pitching in to create something truly special. It had then-modern sensations like John Byrne to incomparable legends like Curt Swan. The priest who brought Lois and Clark together even resembled Jerry Siegel. This was the ultimate wedding, celebrating the ultimate comic book relationship. No other wedding could possibly have the same cultural and emotional impact that this one does. How could you beat Superman and Lois? They’re made for each other.

What’s your favorite superhero wedding? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts on the ComicBook Forum!

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