Thanks to the villain origin retrospective I’ve come across several of the main series, which got me thinking… how do Marvel’s love interest stand the test of time?
So I’ve decided to rank them from least to most interesting. A few ground rules:
1) I’m ONLY looking at the Silver Age stories. Since according to my own rules the Silver Age is decided on a character-by character basis, to level the field only the appearances published in the 60s will be taken into consideration.
2) Civilians only. Superheroines and sidekicks have an unfair advantage over the others, since they tend to get the spotlight more often.
3) It goes without saying, but this is obviously personal preference: feel free to find ANY of these girls the best love interest. No judging (unless your favorite is Dorrie Evans, in which case… get help)
I will probably do the same thing with DC, although to be honest I’m not as familiar with all of its 60s series as I am with all of Marvel’s.
So, without further ado…
DISQUALIFIED
Invisible Girl, Crystal, Black Widow, Clea, Sharon Carter and all of the X-Men are not taken into consideration. Sorry girls, you’re among the best but it wouldn’t be fair.
There are probably others worth mentioning, but I ended up with a neat 15.
#15: DORRIE EVANS
We’ve seen most of her appearances in the Human Torch retrospective, and she was pretty consistently awful. When something like 95% of her scenes involved her nagging Johnny, it wasn’t that hard to place her at the bottom.
She did recently show up in Marvels Snapshot, giving her a nice closure.
#14: JANE FOSTER
Oh boy. She’ll eventually turn into a great character DECADES later, but man the 60s are rough for her. Pure stereotype.
Sometimes she DOES chew out Don Blake for being just The Worst Doctor, though. Wish we saw more of that and less pining for Thor!
#13: BETTY ROSS
If you only consider the 60s, she’s nearly as stereotypical as a hero’s girlfriend gets. And even then, she wouldn’t become her own character until the 80s and, in my opinion, she’s not a good character until the 90s. Outside of Bruce Banner and her father… does she even HAVE a life in the 60s?
#12: SHALLA BAL
Unpopular opinion, but I find the first Silver Surfer series insufferable.
Stan Lee might have considered it some of his best work but I really, REALLY don’t like it despite being a huge Stan Lee fan.
Shalla Bal is not even a full character at this point: she’s a plot device.
#11: KAREN PAGE
We know Karen is in love with, and works for, Matt Murdock… and that’s basically the extent of her characterization in the 60s. I’ve said it before: on Spider-Man the soap opera stuff was often more in interesting than the superhero action, but on Daredevil it’s a chore to sit through.
#10: JANICE CORD
One of Iron Man’s earliest love interests and yet another girlfriend who dies without discovering her boyfriend’s secret identity. That happens A LOT, doesn’t it?
While Janice doesn’t stay around for long, she did have a personality beyond “she loves the hero”.
#9: PAMELA HAWLEY
Nick Fury’s love interest during WWII doesn’t get a lot of appearances, mentions or even much character development…
…but she IS significant as an early case of the tragic death of a love interest. She lasts from Sgt. Fury #4 to #18, dying in 1965, so she’s far from being a one-off character.
She dies off-panel in an air raid, in a powerful moment that really sells the war setting.
#8: MARY JANE WATSON
I feel weird for placing her this low: MJ is my favorite love interest of any hero, not just Marvel.
Heck, I find her more interesting than most superheroes! But unfortunately since I’m limiting this to the 60s… we didn’t know much about her, other than her fun-loving attitude.
Which worked wonders once we got to know her… but that came later. Still more interesting than many other love interests, but not in the top tier.
If this included even just the 70s, she would easily get the #1 spot.
#7: LIZ ALLEN
Technically speaking Peter Parker is HER love interest and not the other way around, since he was pretty much the only person on the planet oblivious to her crush.
We didn’t get the chance to really know her in the 60s: she wouldn’t develop into a full character until later. She does get above MJ because at least with Liz the story where we learn there’s more to her than she lets on IS in the 60s.
#6: BETTY BRANT
She was the best in the earliest stories, with great chemistry with Peter Parker and a life of her own.
Too bad she later gets bogged down with subplots about jealousy and insecurity. A great character on her own right, but as a love interest she drifted away pretty quickly.
#5: ALICIA MASTERS
She’s great, but her 60s appearances are a bit formulaic.
There’s only so many ways you can fit her into a superhero story, so we’re constantly going back to the Puppet Master or to someone kidnapping her.
Sometimes she gets involved in interesting ways (redeeming Silver Surfer during the Galactus saga), but other times it’s incredibly forced (she really has no place in the first Adam Warlock story).
And in the 60s, her relationship with the rest of the Fantastic Four is BARELY explored. Too bad because she’s a great character.
#4: LADY DORMA
While technically a Golden Age character, I haven’t read much of the Sub-Mariner stories from the 40s.
But in the 60s, his eventual first wife was a pretty well-rounded character that bounced off against the protagonist; plus she could get a little involved in action scenes, but not enough to disqualify her for my rules.
I wouldn’t have have minded if she managed to stay alive.
#3: WHITNEY FROST (Madame Masque)
She BARELY qualifies with my rules, making her debut in 1968 and becoming Madame Masque only in 1969. But I said HEROES are disqualified, so she still fits the criteria.
This mafia princess turned disfigured supervillain seriously stands out against most of the competition: that dynamic alone gives writes multiple aspects to explore.
#2: VIRGINIA “PEPPER” POTTS
When I started reading Iron Man, Pepper was long gone from the book. In fact, she wouldn’t return to the regular cast until about 20 years later. So I’ve always had a tough time considering her and Happy Hogan to be THAT important in Iron Man’s life.
That being said… Pepper is great in the 60s. Far more independent and less jealousy-prone than most other love interests of the era. Honestly she doesn’t have a ton of chemistry with Tony Stark, but she more than makes up for it with her no-nonsense personality.
#1: GWEN STACY
It’s my firm opinion that killing her WAS the right decision for the series, and at that point she had already started to get really really boring.
She’s not my favorite Spider-Man love interest when taking into account the full history of the character… she’s not even in the top three to be honest… if we go by the 60s alone, I think she blows everyone else out of the water.
She gets fully developed as a character, she’s not always 100% thinking about her boyfriend or her father (it’s still the majority of her scenes, but not anywhere to the extent of Betty Ross), and we probably spend more time with her than with any other love interest.
If we take the entire history of the characters she’s a little overhyped… she’s not all that great in her last two years… but if we only consider the 60s, she’s a fun character to explore.
Quite amazing we got so much variety in the 60s, considering some of the OTHER stuff there.
