Four Romances and a Tragedy

Four Romances and a Tragedy

Whether it’s just a social construct or a day for sweet romances, Valentine’s Day is upon us all and no one is safe! Pop culture offers us many opportunities to take a glimpse into the human condition. One of those facets of life is that crazy little thing called love. In the spirit of the day, I want to share some romantic moments from geekdom that made me fall head over heels. There will be spoilers of varying degrees.

All-Star Superman #1-3
Minor Spoilers

In the world of comic books, there are few romances more storied than the one between Lois Lane and Clark Kent, aka Superman. In the All-Star Universe, Lex Luthor finally found a way to kill Superman –  by overcharging his cells with yellow radiation from the Sun and extremely shortening his lifespan. Faced with his newfound mortality, Clark Kent finally reveals his secret identity to Lois Lane.

Naturally, Lois Lane experienced several emotions. She was in disbelief, after spending years trying to prove that Clark was Superman. She was incredulous because that meant Superman and Clark were lying to her.  Her journalistic instinct made her suspicious as to why Clark decided to reveal his secret now. After a potentially fatal misunderstanding, Superman revealed his secret, although one of a less fatal nature:

Superman’s birthday gift for Lois Lane was his powers for 24 hours. She gained the ability to see things invisible to the naked human eye and smell trees from oceans away, in addition to the classic flight and invulnerability. Despite interruptions from mythical strongmen and an angry Sphinx-Pharoah from the future, their date went swimmingly with a visit to Atlantis and a trip to the Moon, concluding their super-date with one of the most romantic full-page panels EVER.

Mmmm… that leg pop makes the entire scene even more awesome. The simple simple composition flips the traditional moonlight kiss on its head, making the scene that much more fanciful. I will admit that I’ve always found Lois-Clark pairing to be quite vanilla, but it’s hard to deny that this picture shows they were made for each other. It’s a  memorable high-point in the definitive Superman story.