10 Comic Book Cliches That Need To Die

9. True Love

Ah Romance. The most prominent type of storytelling throughout all art forms is the love story. And what does romance mean in comics? Not a damn thing. There are two constants in comic book romance: 1. It will end. 2. Almost every combination of characters have been a couple a some point in time.

In recent years the idea of a one-night-stand or a short fling has entered into main stream comics, the relationships are still treated as serious business. Comic book romances just can't be taken seriously, but they are treated like life and death by the writers. The idea of coupling has become such a joke that the most extreme combinations have been put together. Rogue and Magneto? Yeah, nobody took that seriously. Iceman and Mystique? That was just...weird. And how many true loves has Wolverine had? Too many to keep track.

Even the most classic and long term of relationships eventually end. Peter Parker and Mary-Jane ended a few years ago. Lois Lane and Clark Kent are no longer together since DC launched "The New 52". The argument could be made that all of the different pairings that get made over the years provide the opportunity to tell different stories with different characters, but I disagree. Comic book characters are modern myths, a heightened version of humanity that we should strive to share more in common. Except that nobody has a stable relationship. It's kind of a poor message.

Love stories will continue to happen, this is inevitable. Just don't pretend like it's something worth investing any kind of attachment.