If the editors at Marvel and DC Comics are to be believed, the worst possible thing that could happen to any superhero is marriage. Batman’s recent ruptured nuptuals are a recent example, but the retconning away of several Justice League weddings, including Aquaman, Hawkman and Superman were apparently important to the New 52. And Marvel hasn’t had it any better, resorting to tortured, shopworn “bargain with the Devil” nonsense to remove the Parker/Watson wedding from the ranks of Merry Marveldom, leading to today’s bridal query…
The MS-QOTD (pronounced, as always, “misquoted”) will never understand why Batman can be a ninja, a strategist, a detective, a scientist and a father substitute, but somehow making him a husband is too unrealistic, asking: Are married superheroes really as much of a problem as Big Two editors seem to believe?
6 Comments
It’s ridiculous to avoid it.
Face it, Joe Quesada… you just hit the crackpipe.
Is this one aspect of the question, “can superheroes really be grown-ups?”
It is, yeah. And the answer will really explain how you look at the superhero genre…
For me, from a creative standpoint, I’d say it’s not a problem. From a “does it bring in the dollars” standpoint, though, my tastes and spending habits don’t seem to bear much weight.
No. IMO, writers (and editors) are used to writing a single Spiderman or a single Batman and don’t want to venture from the ‘safe’ zone. Maybe the writers need to move away from the ‘illusion of change’.
No, it just proves that almost every established superhero is now more juvenile fan fiction than actual story to be told.