10 Controversial Comic Book Couples Fans Hated

Hell hath no fury like a shipper scorned.

Superman Wonder Woman Space Kiss
DC Comics

As far as debates go, they don't get any hotter, or more hotly contested, than comic book couples. The medium has been home to dozens of iconic relationships over the years, and while most have ended in tragedy on account of that ever-pesky refrigerator syndrome, there are certain items fans have come to cherish greatly in DC and Marvel's shared history.

Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle, Clark Kent and Lois Lane, Peter Parker and Mary Jane, Kate Kane and Maggie Sawyer - those are the kind of names that invoke the unique kind of adoration only couples of that stature can. There are other pairings, however, that never garnered that same reaction, whether it be because they arrived from an ill-conceived (or atrociously outdated) storyline, or because a deviation from the norm proved to be a little too much for certain fans to accept.

Ships are the name of the game these days, and while no one wants to see writers restrained in trying something new, it's understandable why some fans get so miffed off when they've invested heavily in a given relationship, especially when what replaces it is nowhere near close to what they've come to expect from past storylines.

It's one thing to forever hold your peace, but when it comes to comics, it's clear that some couples should just remain apart.

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Content Producer/Presenter

WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.