Comics Archeology

When I ranked the Silver Age love interests for Marvel and for DC, I excluded romantic superhero couples.
This time I’m ranking those exclusively, but since there aren’t THAT many couples in the Silver Age proper I decided to expand this through the modern day.
As always, a few ground rules:

1) only DC and Marvel couples. There’s already a ton of those, and I’m not as familiar with other superhero universes. Even so, this list is BY NO MEANS complete!
2) to streamline this a little bit, I’m considering every couple as an amalgamation of all of its versions. Otherwise I would have to rank Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad like five times (which I will probably do at some point, knowing me)
3) characters might have started out as civilians or villains, but they must be a superhero for a considerable part of their publishing history to count. For example Lois Lane has been a superhero a couple times, but she’s not typically one so she’s not in this list.
4) to avoid including too many people, I’m only including romantic couple that stayed together for AT LEAST a whole storyline. This excludes flings that last a couple of issues and one-night stands.
5) anti-heroes are included on a case-by-case basis depending on whether I consider them full heroes during the relationship.
6) the ranking is based on my personal preference of how much I enjoy reading the characters, not necessarily how healthy the relationship is.

And yes, I should have waited Valentine’s Day for this, but one of the traditions of this site is making timely posts only by accident.

MARVEL

Given my familiarity with modern Marvel when compared to modern DC, I’ve separated the two universe because I’m going to list A LOT more Marvel couples.

N/A: Star-Lord & Kitty Pryde
I have not read the stories where they are a couple. They might be good, but I don’t find the couple interesting enough in concept to check.

#45: Spider-Man & Mockingbird
Yeah for some reason Marvel decided to couple Spidey with another superhero and they kind of randomly chose the recently resurrected Mockingbird.
I haven’t read much about them but I don’t think it worked. AT ALL.

Spidey also went on a date with Miss Marvel earlier than that, but they didn’t end up together. And at least, unlike with Mockingbird, they were written as horribly mismatched ON PURPOSE; if I counted them, I would rank them slightly higher just for that.

#44: Swordsman & Mantis
I don’t think it’s possible to beat them when it comes to weird marriages. I mean that was a double marriage between a regular woman and a ghost created by alien plants, and between a mutant witch and a robot, officiated by a time traveler.
That’s basically the only memorable thing about this relationship for me.

#43: Hellstrom and Hellcat
My first experience with them was on West Coast Avengers when I found them incredibly boring. They were slightly more engaging on Defenders, but just barely for me.
Not the last time Hellcat will be on this list.

#42: Angel & Psylocke
What a boring couple. I suppose they were trying to replicate the drama of Cyclops and Jean Grey, but Angel being blue wasn’t the same.

#41: Wonder Man & Scarlet Witch
They have a couple of good storylines, but man is this couple boring outside of the initial drama of Vision’s botched resurrection.

#40: Black Bolt & Medusa
They’re this low despite being a good couple because they have a few things going against them. The fact that we never read Black Bolt’s thoughts means that we only read HER side of the relationship, and they’re so inseparable we get little drama.

#39: Namor & Marrina
They had potential, with her shy personality balancing his bombastic attitude. But they last too little before she’s killed off to have a significant impact.

#38: Guardian & Guardian
James and Heather Hudson are not typically both superheroes at the same time, but sometimes it happens (usually with one of them going by Vindicator) so it counts.
They’re more interesting when one of them is a civilian, though, and in particular Heather’s best storylines happened while he was dead.

#37: Longshot & Dazzler
Surprisingly not the last time Dazzler will be on this list. They’re a fun couple, with Longshot’s fish-out-of-water providing the most interesting bits… but it gets old, and neither of them is a particularly deep character.

#36: Sasquatch & Aurora
For a couple in a relatively minor team, these two sure went through some weird stuff… he was a robot during one part of their relationship and a woman during another. They’re not higher because Aurora is purposefully written as quite shallow.

#35: Black Panther & Storm
I’m not a fan of this couple for a few reasons. While they HAD expressed attraction years before the marriage, the whole thing felt like “we have two popular black heroes, let’s put them together”. They also end up being separated from their own classic franchises, because having Storm around takes care of 99% of Black Panther villains and having the king of the one of the most powerful nations on the plant marry a prominent mutant makes it ridiculous he’s not solving like 50% of X-Men problems.
I’m not ranking Storm’s relationship with Forge because I don’t think they ever truly become a stable couple. She has a FAR better chemistry with him than with T’Challa.

#34: Whizzer & Miss America
The only superhero couple of Marvel’s Golden Age… because of retcons, which means we RARELY see them. But being the original couple wins them a lot of points!

#33: Captain Britain & Meggan
Nothing against them, they’re a solid couple and up to this point probably the healthiest one, but I’ve never found either character particularly engaging.

#32: Thing & She-Thing
This starts off HORRIBLY during her Miss Marvel days, because the only reason she’s attracted to the Thing is that since he doesn’t look like a normal man he doesn’t remind her of her rape (yikes!) and once she becomes She-Thing they start a very unhealthy co-dependency.
However I have a soft spot for them because A) the relationship gets SO much better in the Simonson run B) I just want good things to happen to Ben, and honestly, who wouldn’t?

#31: Hawkeye & Moonstone
This had a “absolutely should not work” disclaimer all over, and it ultimately did NOT work… but shockingly Hawkeye DID manage to bring her closer to heroism.
Not the last time Hawkeye will do that on this list.

#30: Beast and Dazzler
So much wasted potential, as we’ve already seen.

#29: Havoc & Polaris
These two have proven to be MUCH more interesting alone, but for a while they were one of the rare examples of a relatively healthy mutant relationship.
They’re not higher because we have Cyclops and Jean Grey home.

#28: Cyclops & Jean Grey
X-Men fans will probably think it’s sacrilegious to have them this low. But I’m just so tired of these two… are there ANY more stories or character development involving them that hasn’t already been done and re-done to death? And re-death and re-death, because Jean?

#27: Cyclops & Emma Frost
Yep, I’m definitely going to get some hate from X-Men fans for this take.
Sorry but the fact that these two are a complete trainwreck just waiting to derail the whole team is so much more interesting than the millionth time Cyclops angsts for an entire issue.

#26: Wiccan & Hulkling
The only married couple with a backstory that makes the marriage of Swordsman and Mantis sound simple to understand. They’re an interesting couple and provide good representation while still keeping enough drama. But I can’t rank them higher because like 90% of the interesting stuff comes from Wiccan, while I find Hulkling to be a bit boring.

#25: Rictor & Shatterstar
I’m not ranking another same-sex couple right after the other on purpose, but they felt they had similarities… they’re recent, they’re not particularly explored, and one of the two tends to be way more interesting than the other. In this case, Shatterstar is definitely the one I was more interested in following… something I never would have thought I’d ever say, but that’s Peter David’s writing for you!

#24: Colossus & Kitty Pryde
#23: Pete Wisdom & Kitty Pryde
I guess I’m not done with potentially controversial X-Men opinions! But I’m sorry, the age difference is too distracting for me… she’s just THIRTEEN when she has a crush on Colossus and they’re basically a couple in everything but name by the time she’s fourteen.
They’re together as adults too, but by then she had already gone through significant character development on her own and the throwback felt forced to me.
Pete Wisdom was also older than her, but by that time she was old enough that it wasn’t particularly distracting.

#22: Hawkeye & Black Widow
Told you Hawkeye would redeem another villain. This went MUCH better than with Moonstone of course, as Black Widow wasn’t the same kind of villain.
They kind of work best as former lovers than as a couple, though.
Not the last time either of them will be on this list.

#21: War Machine & Captain Marvel
Didn’t last long before he was dead for a while (because comics), but I thought they had good chemistry. Especially with both having a military background and needing to adjust to superhero life.

#20: Moondragon & Phyla-Vell
Remember what I said about the other same-sex couples? In this case the trend is broken because I found both characters equally interesting, and their relationship evolved a bit more naturally.
Had they stayed together longer I would likely rank them higher.

#19: Daredevil & Black Widow
#18: Winter Soldier & Black Widow
And now it’s time to disappoint the Daredevil fans! Who probably prefer to see him with Elektra (who I deemed too much of an anti-hero to make the list), but they would rather see Natasha with Matt than with the resurrected Bucky.
But I prefer the more recent relationship: not only they have more in common (reluctant pawns of Russian cover operations and, thanks to retcons, being older than they look), but it’s easier to integrate them into the same story.
Because you can’t have Daredevil too deep into Black Widow stories without taking him out of Hell’s Kitchen, and you can’t have her cross Matt Murdock’s life too much without breaking the secret identity.

#17: Quicksilver & Crystal
Kind of the definition of “trainwreck relationship that you can’t stop watching”.

#16: Gambit & Rogue
They manage to overtake Cyclops and Jean in the “recycling the same drama over and over again” for quite some time, so why are they this high? Especially since I never cared for Gambit?
Because after re-hashing the same plot too many times they DID switch it up a bit without constantly pressing the reset button for nostalgia.

#15: Black Knight & Sersi
Yes they were BLATANTLY copying the Gambit and Rogue dynamic, to the absurd point of giving Black Knight the same kind of weird eyes that Gambit has and giving Sersi a costume that is CLEARLY inspired by Rogue’s. And the run where this relationship happens is kind of a mess.
But while this is VERY FAR from being my favorite interpretation of Sersi, I really liked those two together!

#14: Cloak & Dagger
Marvel has tried like six times to turn them into a big deal and it never really worked out; hopefully one day they will actually succeed.
A few of their series went through the “will-they-or-won’t-they” phase for a surprising amount of time, without ever fooling anyone.

#13: Human Torch & Crystal
There’s a section of the Fantastic Four fandom that still thinks these two should never have been separated. While I disagree (their separation helped a lot of good stories), they were truly a fantastic couple. Honestly, in the Lee & Kirby run, they had a more healthy relationship than Reed and Sue.

#12: Luke Cage & Jessica Jones
I didn’t care much for the way Bendis wrote her and later writers did a better job (shocking, I know). I find their struggle to raise a daughter while also being superheroes without a secret identity to be one of the few aspects of superhero couples that still hasn’t explored to its full potential.

#11: Mach-1 & Songbird
Before Thunderbolts, if you had told me that one of my favorite superhero couples would eventually be the reformed Beetle and Screaming Mimi…

#10: Machine Man & Jocasta
…or a human-hating version of Machine Man and Jocasta? I probably would not have believed you.
Then again I’m a big Jocasta fan and this version of Machine Man, while he can get a bit grating, can also be a ton of fun.

#9: Jack of Hearts & She-Hulk
I never cared for Jack of Hearts and I still don’t, but this relationship was just written sooooo well.

#8: Spider-Man & Black Cat
She was at least TRYING to be a hero when they were together, so she counts.
I’ve already talked about this.

#7: Ant-Man & Wasp
When I started reading Avengers regularly, my first story had Hank Pym narrate his relationship with Janet up until their separation. They work better as separate characters, but it’s only because they were so good together before everything went bad.

#6: Hawkeye & Mockingbird
Up until the Englehart run they had the healthiest superhero marriage in Marvel, and they STILL managed to make it work for a while afterwards.

#5: Iron Man & Wasp
The story that ends with her discovering he’s Tony Stark doesn’t count, and for the longest time I thought they worked better as colleagues… but I was completely blown away from how great they were during the Slott run.

#4: Marvel Boy & Firestar
Their relationship was one of the best things to come out of the original New Warriors, as well as the Heroes Reborn relaunch of Avengers.
Too bad Marvel has been set on botching both characters since then.

#3: Iron Man & Hellcat
And speaking of recent Iron Man runs impressing me: I was kind of disappointed she didn’t accept his marriage proposal. They were THAT good together.
Iron Man’s following marriage with Emma Frost doesn’t count since it was basically a sham marriage for complex strategic reasons.

#2: Vision & Scarlet Witch
The relationship that made little sense on paper and that, by all means, should not have worked.
And yet it was shockingly healthy! At least until the writers decided it shouldn’t be.

#1: Mr. Fantastic & Invisible Woman
To nobody’s surprise, Marvel’s first couple take the first spot easily.
That’s only because I’m including all of their history together, though. Their relationship in the 60s has not aged particularly well and they were borderline unreadable for part of the 70s.
From the John Byrne run and afterwards, they because the gold standard of a superhero relationship.

DC COMICS

I don’t have a lot of thoughts on most of the DC superhero couples, so the Legion is going to be handled separately. Otherwise they’d take over the whole thing.

#18: Superman & Wonder Woman
This is the most boring pairing you can come up with.

#17: Beast Boy & Raven
I just don’t get this one. I’m a hardcore fan of the 2003 cartoon and it never gave me the impression these two had any romantic chemistry.
But it’s an INCREDIBLY popular pairing in the cartoon fandom, so DC eventually made it canon.
I still don’t get it.

#16: Mento & Elasti-Girl
I think I’ve said enough about how much Mento sucks.

#15: Green Lantern & Arisia
I’m not including the relationship between non-human Green Lanterns because it would take too long, but this one is too infamous to skip.
Hal Jordan rejected the teenage Arisia because of the age gap… until she used the ring to make herself an adult body. DC eventually realized the unfortunate implications and retconned this into saying that she was an adult on her own planet, but it’s still too awkward.

#14: Captain Marvel & Stargirl
And speaking of unfortunate implications… since nobody else knows Captain Marvel is just a teenager, his relationship with Stargirl attracted so much attention in-universe that he decided to break up.
Didn’t need the Wisdom of Solomon for that.

#13: Batman & Catwoman
She’s been enough of a hero long enough to count. I’m still sick of DC pushing this romance, as I don’t think there’s anything interesting left to explore there.

#12: Doll Man & Doll Girl
#11: Bulletman & Bulletgirl
Some Golden Age representation, courtesy of DC Comics buying everything it could.
Not a whole lot is done with them so they can’t get any higher.

#10: Midnighter & Apollo
Hey DC Comics bought the rights to the characters, so they count.
They have their moments, but Apollo is just a blank slate. Plus the core idea of “What if Superman and Batman were gay lovers and hyper-violent” kind of loses something when they share the same universe of Superman and Batman.

#9: Green Lantern & Jade
#8: Green Lantern & Donna Troy
Kyle Rayner’s relationship with Jade, the green-skinned daughter of the original Green Lantern, was cute but didn’t go anywhere.
I found pairing him with Donna Troy was more interesting: she was the veteran hero and he was the rookie, and she was a single mother so there was that angle to explore a well.

#7: Johnny Quick & Liberty Belle
They’re one of the best things about All-Star Squadron. They’re this high on that alone, considering that according to more recent stories their marriage was a disaster.

#6: Green Arrow & Black Canary
Controversial opinion: I’ve never cared about them as a couple and I think they’re overrated.
Still, given the sheer amount of comics based on their relationship, there are a few good stories.

#5: Aquaman & Mera
I haven’t read a ton of classic Aquaman, but from what I’ve seen they’re a wholesome couple.
Which naturally means it ends in tragedy, but it was surprisingly good while it lasted.

#4: Hawkman & Hawkgirl
Another character I haven’t read a lot, but this was a superhero couple that was a balanced team from the start of the Silver Age. Not to mention they’re the ORIGINAL DC superhero couple, going back to the Golden Age (although Hawkgirl debuted as a civilian).
Had they stayed at the level of quality of the Silver Age or even of the 80s, they might even have reached the top spot!
But the Hawkman continuity mess is STILL damaging him.

#3: Robin & Spoiler
I’ve mentioned before that Tim Drake is my favorite Robin. The way his relationship with Spoiler, daughter of minor villain Cluemaster, is a good example of goof his series was.
Too bad DC seems to actively hate both characters.

#2: Robin & Starfire
I understand it causes problems with Batman’s secret identity, but I really wish DC had the guts to just let those two marry.
I like Nightwing as a street hero, don’t get me wrong, but his girlfriend being an orange-skinned alien powerhouse is just a goldmine.

#1: Mister Miracle & Big Barda
As critical as I am of Jack Kirby’s Fourth Wall, something great came out of it. When written well, these two are among the most well-rounded couples in comics.

LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES

Last but not least! Keep in mind that I’m mostly concentrating on the main romances, so a few minor things (especially from the Reboot onward) are not included.
As is the Bendis Legion, because A) I haven’t read it yet B) would reading it matter?

#14: Duplicate Boy & Shrinking Violet
Yeah this felt like “we have a girl who isn’t paired up with anyone, let’s find a guy”.
The fact that he’s completely devoid of personality doesn’t help.

#13: Timber Wolf & Light Lass
I had a higher opinion of this relationship between the retrospective. Looking closely at their history together… yeah this was unsalvageable.

#12: Wildfire & Dawnstar
Another relationship soured by looking closely at each story.
Mostly because Dawnstar was just. The. Worst.

#11: Brainiac 5 & Supergirl
As iconic as these two are, it’s BARELY canon as it’s mostly one-way.
Mostly.

#10: Colossal Boy & Chameleon Girl
He marries her while she’s masquerading as Shrinking Violet, but in the Retroboot she’s a legit superhero so she counts.

#9: Ultra Boy & Shadow Lass
The Threeboot Ultra Boy gets too much hate. He’s not as complex of the original or the Reboot, but he’s fine. Pairing him up with Shadow Lass worked for me: he’s more arrogant than usual in this version, and her snark keeps him under check.

#8: Shrinking Violet & Lightning Lass
They start out great in Volume 3, but then grow into unpleasant characters. They have their moments in the 5YL era but too far in-between.

#7: Cosmic Boy & Night Girl
#6: Karate Kid & Princess Projectra
These are hurt by the fact that the pre-5YL continuity is the only one to develop them.

#5: Star Boy & Dream Girl
#4: Ultra Boy & Phantom Girl
On the other side of the spectrum, these other two couples tend to survive reboots and be quite developed.
I tend to prefer the original version for Star Boy and Dream Girl (the Reboot isn’t bad but it takes forever to get anywhere), and by a long shot the Reboot for Ultra Boy and Phantom Girl.

#3: Mon-El & Shadow Lass
I could write volumes about what an amazing relationship these two have in the original continuity.
It’s so strong that they get this high despite the fact that other continuities separate them!
As mentioned the Threeboot pairs her with Ultra Boy, the Reboot has them barely interacting, and we don’t talk about what the Retroboot did.