Happy Valentine's Day! Top 10 Comic Book Romances

X-Men Wedding

Let's get something straight...I HATE Valentine's Day!!! The whole holiday is just a pathetic excuse for candy and greeting card companies to make a buck! While most of these feelings come from personal bias, I admit I have been happily single for years. I really feel that I'm not alone in this as there are many a lonely and single nerd out there reading this blog instead of being with their significant other or "sweetheart". If you're a nerdy comic book fan like me who is more content to read their comics and fantasize about the many scantly clad super-heroines than seek out meaningful human companionship then you've come to the right place! However, after many years of enjoying comic book superheroes, I realize that there are more stories about superheroes' relationships and weddings than there are in even the smuttiest of soap operas! So this year, I thought I'd explore the more romantic side of comics as CHERNOBOG'S BLOG Presents: The Top 10 Comic Book Romances! So all you mushy types, enjoy...

#10 Aquaman & Mera - Aquaman #18, (Dec. 1964) - While Aquaman has long been considered one of the lamest (talks to fish!) superheroes in the DC Universe he at least is one of the few heroes who found love and got hitched! When Mera came along from another undersea dimension, they soon fell in love and when Aquaman was crowned King of Atlantis he soon married Mera with the whole Justice League of America was in attendance.

#9 Green Lantern & Star Sapphire - As the love interest of Green Lantern/Hal Jordan, Carol Ferris was also his boss at Ferris Aircraft. But when Carol became possessed by the alien Zamarons and becomes Star Sapphire and one of Green Lantern's most worthy adversaries. Later, during the Blackest Night storyline it was revealed there was a whole group of Star Sapphires, which gave a whole new meaning to "The Power of Love".

#8 The Joker & Harley Quinn, Batman: The Animated Series - While The Joker was incarcerated at Arkham Asylum, he was treated by an up and coming psychiatrist named Dr. Harleen Quinzelle. As Joker gains sympathy and manipulates her, she soon falls under his influence and breaks him out of the asylum and joins his ranks as Harley Quinn! While their relationship is literally insane and quite possibly the most obvious textbook case of dependance and abuse you could still call it a "happy" one.

Batman & Talia

#7 Colossus & Shadowcat, X-Men - One of the most touching and tragic love stories in the story of the X-Men is the relationship between Colossus ((Peter Rasputin) and Shadowcat (Kitty Pryde). After sacrificing himself to find a cure for the Legacy virus. Apparently the villain Ord had taken his body and left a duplicate in his place which was cremated by the X-Men and Kitty even took the ashes to Russia. When it was revealed that Colossus was alive (Astonishing X-Men) Kitty and Peter rekindled their romantic relationship.

#6  Batman & Talia al Ghul - Probably one of the strangest romances in the DC Universe; as the daughter of the megalomaniacal Ra's al Ghul, one of Batman's most dangerous villains, Talia has always been torn between her loyalty to her father and her love towards Batman. Now, as the new Demon's Head and leader of the League of Assasins, it was revealed that Talia had a genetically engineered son, Damian, who is in fact the child of Batman and Talia!

#5 Wolverine & Mariko, The Uncanny X-Men #172-173 (1983) Mariko Yashida was the head of the Yashida clan who fell in love with Logan/Wolverine and was to be married. After a long and complicated relationship Wolverine discovers Mariko's family is involved with the Yakuza, Japanese mafia, and Mariko soon calls off the wedding.

#4 Mr. Fantastic & The Invisible Woman, Fantastic Four Annual #3, 1965 - When the wedding of Reed Richards and Sue Storm is announced Dr. Doom sees this as the perfect chance for him to exact his revenge, so he gathers all of the most dangerous villains (including Sub-Mariner) together and uses the high-frequency emotion charger to "fan the flames of hatred..."!

#3 Spider-Man & Mary Jane, The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21, 1987 - "The Wedding!" was one of the biggest events in Marvel Comics history with the marriage between Spider-Man/Peter Parker and long-time girlfriend Mary Jane Watson, who's relationship has been one of the longest standing in comics.

#2 Cyclops & Jean Grey, X-Men Vol. 2, #30 (March, 1994) - Scott Summers (Cyclops) and Jean Grey (a.k.a. Marvel Girl & Phoenix) finally tie the knot in this special issue entitled "The Ties That Bind", the only one not in attendance is of course Wolverine (big surprise!).

#1 Superman & Lois Lane, Superman: The Wedding Album (Dec. 1996) - The long-awaited wedding of Clark Kent and Lois Lane was quite possibly the most anticipated comic book event in the history of comic books. While many Superman/Wedding story lines over the last 60 years have been either hoaxes, dreams or imaginary tales, this issue was considered legit and coincided with the TV show wedding in "Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of  Superman". A significant detail of the Wedding issue had contributions from all five of the Superman titles writers and every living major artist who had ever worked on Superman!