Once again, it is February, and we all know what happens in February. That’s right – Ferris Wheel Day (February 14)! Oh, you were talking about the other, more well-discussed Valentine’s Day? Well I guess this week’s subject really fits more with that holiday so I’ll acknowledge the latter.
Love can be difficult, but it can get even worse when there are all sorts of demonic entities, ninjas, time-traveling scientists, or the end of the world trying to keep you down. There are always obstacles when comic book characters try to be the with person they love. This week I found three comic book story arcs to prove there may be strange obstacles, but in the end, it might be possible (but not always).
Squirrel Girl: I Kissed a Squirrel and I Liked It
It’s got to be really difficult to date when you always have to be ready to fight supervillains or help the Avengers. Add to that schoolwork and making time for the friends one currently has, and there’s hardly time to find love. Doreen tried though. In this story arc Doreen attempts online dating, with the help of Nancy, Koi Boi, and Tippy-Toe, ordinary second-year computer science student Doreen creates a profile which puts her on several dates, including with Fancy Dan (he’s not that fancy), the Human Torch, several squirrel haters, a giant sentinel robot, and Brad, an idiotic disbeliever of superheroes and the idea of inhumans (it’s real Brad, it’s not cosplay!). All in all, this leads Doreen to knock out Brad in order to become Squirrel Girl and defeat Mole Man. Mole Man doesn’t simply want to rule the above-ground though – he wants love and since Squirrel Girl was the first person to be nice to him, he wants her to be his Mole Ma’am. So yeah, it’s not always perfect…
Scott Pilgrim
It’s bad enough when you have to break up with the girl you’ve been dating for a while and really don’t like, but when, in order to date a new girl you meet you must defeat all 7 of her evil exes, things can get pretty choppy (literally). Scott Pilgrim is kind of a butthead to a lot of his friends (including his girlfriend) and can’t seem to make time for band practice or his friends, but after he dreams about a girl, Ramona Flowers, whom he mysteriously meets in real life, he’s ready to do whatever it takes to date her. Apparently that includes defeating her exes, who in the great video-game style, provide coins upon their death. In the end, Scott and Ramona decide to face other challenges of being in a relationship (those that do not include physical battles).
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Xander and Dawn
In the Season 8 comics, after spending time together as Dawn fought through several shape shifts, Xander and Buffy’s lil sis began seeing each other. This relationship grew as the battle against Twilight happened, destroying magic around the world. The effects of this battle gradually became known during Season 9 though when Dawn became ill and continued getting worse. Fainting at the hospital, she stopped breathing, falling out of existence as
a result of the loss of magic. No magic meant no Key. With the reestablishing of magic, Dawn awoke healthier, but with several small changes. She was Dawn, and remembered everything that had happened before, but did not feel the same way about her past relationships. She no longer felt quite the same way about Xander, despite remembering what they’d shared. This became even more complicated when the ghost of Anya showed up only to Xander, pointing out his faults, regularly showig up to mess with his head. Telling nobody, this inevitably came out, putting a knot in their faulty relationship. It wasn’t until Dawn was forced to travel on her own through dimensional rifts as the Key that Xander joined her, making them both remember how they felt about each other. So in the end, at least one comic book relationship turned out well. However, another season has recently begun.
So there you go – three comic book love stories to enjoy this Valentine’s Day. When you’re finished, why not pass them off to somebody else on Do a Grump a Favor Day (February 16)?