5. Jessica Jones & Luke Cage: What do Marvel's premiere interracial couple have to say about black men and white women? I have no idea, and honestly, I don't really care. What matters to me is everything they say about men and women, full stop. Bendis writes them as a beautifully normal couple in a crazy world. Their conversations about diaper changes, grocery runs, and raised toilet seats help make the the New Avengers matter. We know these people, and what they're fighting for.
Top mush moment: Jessica's speech at their wedding, from New Avengers Annual #1 (Bendis).
"This world is a scary place. You being an Avenger--it's so... scary. Every day there's some idiot in our face trying to ruin it. And ever since we got together, I just haven't cared. And no goon attacked us at our wedding, so I'm going to take that as a good sign. And even if the worst happens... It's a weird feeling--But I know we can deal with it. Look at that kid over there. Look at her. We made her. And I love watching you be a father. So much so that I'd wear this big poofed-out dress. I just wanted to let you know in my words. This is why I said yes to all this crazy. That's why."
Sorry. Bendis likes to make with the yak-yak. But all that stuff, that's how I feel about RD. I mean, not the stuff about her being an Avenger (that'd rock) or making babies (just yet) or goons attacking (I hope they don't, but we'll deal). But the world-is-crazy-but-who-cares-cause-she's-there? Absolutely.
4. Reed (Mr. Fantastic) Richards & Sue (Invisible Woman) Storm: Do these guys need an explanation?
Top mush moment: Ultimate Fantastic Four #7 (Warren Ellis). In the Ultimate universe, Reed and Sue are in their early twenties, and they've only just acquired their powers. Sue's a genius biologist to match Reed's head for physics. She drags him out of his lab, insisting he let her run some tests on his new physiology...
Reed: "Can we make out afterwards? Only I think I'm getting good at it."
Sue (kissing him): "You started out good at it. You're getting fantastic."
Yes, I realize they're not actually married in the Ultimate universe. But the fact is--and I realize how lame I'm about to sound, but hey, what's the internet for, if not for embarrassing personal admissions (and porn)--the first time I got to make out with RD, I showed her this scene afterwards. Because it was the first time I'd made out with anyone, and RD, kind and compassionate soul that she is, had said something to me not unlike Sue's line above, so I just had to share.
I'm that colossal a dork, and she's marrying me anyway.
3. Bobbi (Mockingbird) Morse & Clint (Ronin nee Hawkeye) Barton: Eight months ago, I barely knew who Mockingbird was. Now, she and Ronin are #3 on this list. See previous posts re: New Avengers: Reunion (Jim McCann) for why.
Top mush: New Avengers: Reunion #4. Once married, now technically divorced, Clint & Bobbi decide to try dating for the first time.
2. Peter (Spider-Man) Parker & Mary Jane Watson: Still married in my mind--not to mention Stan Lee's hi-larious newspaper strip.
Top mush: Honorable mention to Peter & MJ's wedding in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21 (Jim Shooter & David Michelinie), but I'm actually going to go with Amazing Spider-Man #491 (J. Michael Straczynski). Pete and Mary Jane have been separated for a time (don't ask), Peter just helped Captain America take down Doctor Doom in the middle of a crowded airport (like ya do), and now he's finally got a chance to tell her...
"I can do 'all these things' because you believe in me. Because you give me the strength and will to get them done. Everything's easier when you're there and harder when you're not. Without you, nothing works the way it should. But when you're there, in my life, I feel like I can do anything, MJ. Anything."
I'm mozzarella, I know, but again--approaching the big day that I am, this is how I feel. It's amazing (no pun intended) how one person can turn every problem and struggle on its head, with nothing but their presence.
And the #1 marriage in Marvel comics...
1. Scott (Cyclops) Summers and Jean (Insert Codename Here) Grey!*
It's trendy among some X-writers these days to say that "all Jean ever did was die on Scott," and I think that spectacularly misses the point of this couple. The reason Jean & Scott are the greatest pair in comics, the reason their love story is one of my favorites in all of fiction, is precisely because of all the dying, and replacement by dopplegangers, and alternate-possible-future children showing up, and everything else they've endured. Luke & Jessica, Peter & MJ... they talk about getting through the crazy together, and they live in the Marvel universe too, so they're certainly not exaggerating. But Scott & Jean have been through more than all the other couples on this list combined. Their honeymoon was 12 years long, wandering across an Apocalyptic future Earth, while they raised Scott's son Nathan (The Man Who Would Be Cable) and started a revolution. The mess that is the post-Morrison X-verse is just one more temporary setback. Love like this is unstoppable.
Top mush moment: from Uncanny X-Men #296 (Scott Lobdell), the panel below. Flying and kicking ass together towards the end of the "X-Cutioner's Song" 1993 mega-crossover.
"As opposed to Cyclops, Jean Grey has always embraced her mutant abilities. Blessed with the natural talents of telepathy and telekinetics, she felt she couldn't be any happier with her mutant gifts. That was before Scott Summers. Before she'd sacrificed her life on his behalf--only to learn there are greater powers than death in the universe... and the greatest of these is love."
*****
So clearly, committed partnerships rule. I couldn't be happier to be getting a ring if it was green and turned willpower into solid light holograms.**
- JC
*Surprised readers raise their hands. Anyone? No?
**Was that a bit much, honey? [This is why we're not having a ceremony. He would have wanted to write his own vows, and I don't think he could have gotten this post down to 2 minutes. - RD]
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