The "Worst" couples in comics.

[B.A.L.]

This is my vote for worst couple in comics - Aviax and a Prehistoric Bird in Wanderers #12.



I kid you not, Aviax becomes intimate with and screws this bird to save it's species. Surely it doesn't get any weirder than that?!?

[AdamYJ]

Actually, it was worse than that. Mantis married the green glowing corpse of the Swordsman, which was possessed by a sentient alien plant spirit.

Anyone ever notice that the Avengers seem to get desensitized to the weirdness around them, to the point that they miss the warning bells when it invades their personal lives . . .

"Gee, what a nice double wedding. It was awfully nice of our old enemy Immortus to officiate it. [warning bells!]"

"Wow, Hank's acting awfully erratic. He seems to think he's this Yellowjacket person. Now would be the perfect time to ask him to marry me. [warning bells!]"

And the classic:
"Huh, Carol wasn't pregnant when I saw her last week. Bet the baby will be cute, though [warning bells!]"
which leads to the even more regrettable:
"Oh, so the baby turned out to be Carol's other-dimensional lover who invaded her body so that he could come to this world. I hope they're happy together. [CLANG, CLANG, CLANG!]"

Anyway, the problem with relationships in comic books in general is that if they're bad, then they're at least interesting but are often complete melodramatic trainwrecks. While, if they're stable and happy, they're generally kind of boring. I do have to give props to the relationship of Peter Parker and Betty Brant, which is the only major relationship I know in comics which actually ended in a whimper and the marriage of Ralph and Sue Dibny which served its own purpose in terms of the story.

Least favorites, though:
Quicksilver and Crystal- He doesn't even seem to like people all that much, how could he stomach being married.
Wolverine and Jean Grey- Logan's only really at his best when he's unhappy. So, this one only works if it's unfulfilled.
Storm and Black Panther- These two seemed to be set up together largely because they came from the same continent.
Cyclops and Emma Frost- I'm not sure mutual dysfunction is a good basis for a relationship.

[An Ear In The Fireplace]

This one didn't bother me so much, simply at the time I thought it was just a one-off, not an idea for an ongoing romance. I might change my verdict on Conway if I reread the surrounding issues, but back then, I just thought something like, Zatanna probably admired Barry in some previous meeting, didn't act on it because he was married, and then just invited him to have a little fling. I agree that it's unlikely that Barry would've responded to her if he were grieving, but stranger things have happened in real life.

That incident does seem to have the motivation behind later characterizations of Zatanna as a little bit, shall we say, loose with her favors.

A goofier idea by far imo was a JUSTICE LEAGUE story-- written I think by Kanigher-- in which Black Canary, who already a long-standing relationship with Green Arrow, shared a kiss (or something close to it) with Batman, for no good reason I could see except Kanigher had written both characters and created one of them. As the idea was never pursued that I can recall, one might deem this another "storyline that fizzled."

I've always had the feeling that Zatanna was a teenager when she first appeared on the scene searching for her father. So it seemed to me like there was an age gap between Z and Barry. I don't think Barry would have encouraged her, so maybe it was a schoolgirl crush.

I know Batman's fling with BC seemed to come out of left field, but I give Kanigher a pass on this. Dinah was pretty quick to find comfort with any man after her husband died (let's not go into the later retcon she was in fact her own daughter, or even later attempts to challenge her fidelity to Larry Lance). As for Batman--Kanigher always wrote him as a very sexy beast. Bruce had chemistry with everyone. During the JLA/JSA/7 Soldiers story (by Len Wein), Green Arrow and Johnny Thunder nearly came to blows over BC. While during the same event, on the cover of JLA 102 (by Nick Cardy), Batman and Golden Age Wonder Woman had eyes only for each other, as Superman rallied the troops.

[LEADER DESSLOK]

Did anyone originally reading Teen Titans knew that Terry Long was a stand in for Marv Wolfman? i just figured she had a thing for older sophisticated men and university teachers do seem to be very popular with the ladies at least from what i have heard.

Writers or artists inserting "themselves" into their art is nothing new. In his LAST JUDGEMENT fresco, Michelangelo did a "Self-Portrait" of himself as a piece of flayed flesh in the hands of one of The Elect (Prophets who received a special place during The Rapture) and Caravaggio depicted himself as the decapitated head of Goliath! And don't even get me started on Robert Crumb's "funnies"!

Oh, and besides Terry, Marv Wolfman also created a "stand-in" in TOMB OF DRACULA in the person of Harold H. Harold who NEVER got the girl of his dreams--except in one of his novels. So let the guy have his fun in his stories. To me, it's a heckuva lot better than having a film-maker act out his perversions in real-life!

[LEADER DESSLOK]

...A goofier idea by far imo was a JUSTICE LEAGUE story-- written I think by Kanigher-- in which Black Canary, who already a long-standing relationship with Green Arrow, shared a kiss (or something close to it) with Batman, for no good reason I could see except Kanigher had written both characters and created one of them. As the idea was never pursued that I can recall, one might deem this another "storyline that fizzled."

Try telling that to Frank Miller!

[dr chimp]

I was actually fine with that. First, it meant Johnny wasn't married to Alicia. But second, I thought his being married to a skrull created some interesting tensions and possibilities (a lot more than his being married to Alicia, that's for sure).

Whatever happened to Lyja, anyway?

yeah i agree getting rid of that marriage was a good idea - it was just the image of man and alien shapeshifter in bed together was tough to erase out of my head. I am such a prude when it comes to interspecies sex.

lyja? conveniently died 2 issues after being revealed to be a skrull in a selfless act of heroinism while rescuing the real alicia masters

[dr chimp]

This is my vote for worst couple in comics - Aviax and a Prehistoric Bird in Wanderers #12.



I kid you not, Aviax becomes intimate with and screws this bird to save it's species. Surely it doesn't get any weirder than that?!?

the awesomeness of this cover cannot be downplayed - straight into my top 10

[destro]

"Wow, Hank's acting awfully erratic. He seems to think he's this Yellowjacket person. Now would be the perfect time to ask him to marry me. [warning bells!]"

.

It was worse than that, she basically took advantage of him when she knew he was out of his mind to trick him into marrying her.

[Polar Bear]

yeah i agree getting rid of that marriage was a good idea - it was just the image of man and alien shapeshifter in bed together was tough to erase out of my head. I am such a prude when it comes to interspecies sex.

lyja? conveniently died 2 issues after being revealed to be a skrull in a selfless act of heroinism while rescuing the real alicia masters

You've gotta be kidding me! She died, just like that? I must have completely wiped that out of my mind.

As for Lyja in bed with Johnny, the chin is rather a major turn-off... but she can change her appearance into any form...

[dr chimp]

You've gotta be kidding me! She died, just like that? I must have completely wiped that out of my mind.

As for Lyja in bed with Johnny, the chin is rather a major turn-off... but she can change her appearance into any form...

discovered to be a skrull around issue 357 and dead by 358 (ish - i am hopeless at remembering this kind of thing).

this being comics though - she was revived by Paibok and given super powers because that's what you would do to someone who betrayed you and your race. classic comics

http://marvel.com/universe/Lyja