By Joshua H. Stulman

Love is in the air at the Brooklyn Comic Shop! What’s better than a countdown of the greatest romances in comic history? Well that list obviously tops with Superman & Lois Lane, so instead we’re doing the Greatest Jealous Romances in Comics.

10. Lois Lane, Superman & Wonder Woman

We could have gone for the obvious Superman/Clark Kent & Lois Lane love triangle, but we can’t really say that qualifies as jealousy. However, throw Wonder Woman in the mix and things get interesting. A Superman/Wonder Woman relationship was obviously more appropriate to some fans because both are powerful heroes. However Lois Lane’s status as “Superman’s Girlfriend” since Action Comics # 1, meant it took a long time for DC to warm up to someone else taking that role.

Although, the situation was teased by many writers over the years, John Byrne was the first to romantically link Superman and Wonder Woman together in Action Comics # 600. The Lois Lane and Wonder Woman jealousy is explored in Action Comics # 761, in which Superman and Wonder Woman fight a thousand years time together in another dimension only to have Superman return to the average Lois Lane. In the New 52 era, Wonder Woman edged out Lois Lane as Super-man’s Girlfriend.

9. Wolverine, Cyclops & Phoenix

Cyclops and Phoenix have been together since they were teenagers at the very founding of the X-Men. Fast forward a couple years and in comes Wolverine and the New X-Men.

Cyclops is the stern, leader who is always dutifully following the wishes of Prof. X, while Wolverine is the older (much older) rash, cigar-smoking loner. Inevitably, Phoenix always chooses Cyclops, but it’s also an unspoken thing that she cares for Wolverine too. Better luck next time, Bub!

8. Submariner, Mr. Fantastic & Invisible Woman

The dawn of the Silver Age of Comics saw the re-emergence of Marvel’s oldest Super-hero, the Submariner, in the pages of Fantastic Four #4. In that very issue, he is smitten with love for Mr. Fantastic’s girl, and future wife, the Invisible Woman. This was one of Stan Lee’s earliest fusing of “Romance Comics” with the super-hero genre. Over the years, the Submariner has tried again and again to woo the Invisible Woman but to no avail…most of the time.

7. Ironman, Ant-Man & Wasp

Oldest of friends and fellow Avengers since issue # 1, it turns out Iron Man’s Tony Stark has a huge crush on the Wasp. At the time few people knew Iron Man’s secret identity, so Janet Van Dyne didn’t give a second thought to pursuing the advances of the Avengers’ benefactor, Tony Stark. Of course, Stark bided his time to wait for Ant-Man and Wasp’s divorce before making his move on his teammate’s wife. Oh yeah, for safe measure, Stark waits until Ant-man is safely/helplessly behind bars, in Avengers # 224!

6. Rick, Lori & Shane

Most people don’t exactly expect this one on a comic list, but don’t forget that the Walking Dead began and still is a comic series. The Rick, Lori & Shane relationship is arguably one of the greatest attributes the series and the tv show’s early success. Who doesn’t like the drama of the best friend stealing the wife?!

5. Human Torch, The Thing & Alicia Masters

Speaking of wife-stealing, who would’ve thought that the evil Puppet Master’s blind step-daughter was so remarkable that she could capture the hearts of the Thing, Human Torch and even the Silver Surfer! Having been blind, Alicia was not repulsed by the Thing’s appearance but instead grew to love him. After the Thing chose to stay behind in space during the events of the Secret War, Alicia eventually fell in love and married the Human Torch. While this “Alicia” turned out to be a skrull, the real Alicia did eventually hook up with the Silver Surfer!

4. Peter Parker, Spider-Man & Black Cat

Spider-Man is relentlessly pursued by the sometime villainess, the Black Cat aka Marvel’s Catwoman. But unlike Batman, Spider-Man eventually gives in to his frisky feline counterpart. In a shocking twist, Spider-Man reveals his secret identity to the Black Cat only to find her repulsed by his everyday persona. This causes a rift that eventually leads to the couple’s break-up. After Peter Parker’s marriage to Mary Jane, the Black Cat re-emerges in a jealous rage to get Spider-Man to take her back.

3. Jean Loring, Elongated Man & Sue Dibney

Speaking of jealous rage, nothing saves a marriage like destroying someone else’s. That’s the basic premise of DC’s Identity Crisis storyline, which sees the former Mrs. Atom, Jean Loring, accidently murder her friend and Elongated Man’s wife, Sue Dibney and her unborn child. Her plot centers on the concept that the DC heroes will be drawn back to their respective loves when one of their own is threatened. The plan almost works when the Atom comes rushing back to Jean only to discover her dark secret.

2. Peter Parker, Gwen Stacy, Prof. Warren & Green Goblin

I know you think Peter Parker, Gwen Stacy, and Mary Jane should be here but I’m not really sure how jealous they were of each other. There was an awful lot of date swapping going on in the early days of Spider-Man, but there were definitely two jealousies that no reader saw coming. During the end of Stan Lee’s original run on Amazing Spider-Man, it became clear that Gwen Stacy was the only girl for Peter Parker. When Roy Thomas picked up the creative reins, he did the unthinkable and toyed with Peter Parker proposing only to have her murdered by the Green Goblin.

Here’s where it gets weird. Turns out Peter Parker’s high school science teacher was obsessed with Gwen Stacy so much that years later he created a perfect clone of her (Amazing Spider-Man # 144) to keep for himself, Yuck! Want something even grosser? How about the Green Goblin having children with Gwen, then planning to kill her to avoid her going to the press about it (as told by Mary Jane in Amazing Spider-Man # 512). Even the Watcher couldn’t for-tell such icky comic writing!

1. Archie, Betty &Veronica

Perhaps the most obvious, but also the most deserved! The Archie, Betty & Veronica love triangle has formed the basis of Archie Comics’ Company success for over 75 years. The jealousy has supported many different comic titles concurrently each month for years. That means that fans didn’t have just one comic about the love triangle each month but several. Just imagine how many stories that is in a year, yet alone three-quarters of a century! This simple concept has supported a major comic company, multiple cartoon series and now the television series “Riverdale”…and there’s no sign of stopping now!

Well, What did you think of our list? What’s your favorite Jealous Comic Romance? Leave a comment below and let us know!

Joshua H. Stulman

Owner, BrooklynComicShop.com