There are just a few days left until Valentine’s Day. For a romance lover like myself, it should be exciting. However, since I’m currently single, it’s hard to get that excited. Being single on Valentine’s Day is like being sick at an all-you-can-eat buffet. You feel awful, but see so many others enjoying the many treats available to them.
I still hold out hope that I’ll one day meet someone that will make every Valentine’s Day both exciting and special. In the meantime, it helps to be a comic book fan. It’s not just that comics offer a weekly dose of concentrated joy, courtesy of Comixology and my local comic shop. Many of my favorite comics also include top quality romance narratives.
I’ve mentioned a few before and every week seems to build on that foundation. Lately, romance in superhero comics has been more refined than usual. I attribute that to far less reliance on horrendous love triangles and more emphasis on actual romantic chemistry. What a concept, right?
Romantic undertones aside, superhero comics are a fertile ground for romance. Some are more iconic than others, but even the non-iconic ones help add a little drama into the narrative. I find myself appreciating those narratives more and more as my tastes in romance mature.
Eventually, I’d like to craft my own real-world romance narrative with that special someone. For now, I’m content being single and enjoying a fresh batch of new comics. Below is my pull list, which tends to be larger than usual around Valentine’s Day, and my pick of the week. Enjoy!
My List
My Pick of the Week
It’s never too late for a character to become more compelling. It doesn’t matter if they’re in a superhero comic, a Seth Rogan movie, or cartoon created by Seth MacFarlane. A character, no matter how flat or one-dimensional they may be, needs just one quality story to give them the depth they need.
It’s been years since Mystique had a story like that. Aside from the underrated and over-criticized version offered by Jennifer Lawrence in the X-Men movies, Mystique has been one of the flattest characters in the entire X-Men franchise. In a franchise that includes the likes of Deadpool and Mojo, that’s saying something. That finally changed in “X-Men #6.”
This is one of those issues that may ultimately become one of the most important single issues in Mystique’s chaotic, yet colorful history. Writer Jonathan Hickman builds on the role she played in “House of X/Powers of X.” Having been part of the deadly battle to destroy Mother Mold and the Orchis Forge, she was on the front lines of the pivotal battles that helped establish Krakoa.
In the shadow of those events, “X-Men #6” expands on Mystique’s motivation and how it clashes with both Charles Xavier and Magneto. For once, her motivation has nothing to do with tormenting the X-Men, alienating off her kids, or messing with Wolverine. Instead of her usual hatred and vindictiveness, this duplicitous woman who never misses a chance to back-stab the X-men is driven by love.
It’s true. Mystique is capable of love. It may seem strange to anyone familiar with her blood-soaked history, but it’s true. She has always had one true love in her life. Her name is Irene “Destiny” Adler.
It’s impossible to overstate how important Destiny is to Mystique. She may be selfish, violent, and misguided most of the time, but her love for Destiny has always been a driving force. Even though Destiny has been dead for years, she still influences Mystique a great deal.
That makes her continued absence a bit of a problem for Mystique. She was among those resurrected by the Krakoan resurrection protocols in “House of X/Powers of X.” She knows the protocols work. She knows that Magneto and Charles Xavier have the ability to resurrect Destiny, but they won’t.
While they have their reasons, which were also made abundantly clear in “House of X/Powers of X,” it’s not enough for Mystique. She wants the love of her life back. Hickman further establishes just how much Destiny means to her. It makes her motivations and frustrations understandable. It even makes Mystique somewhat sympathetic, which is saying a lot for someone with her body count.
It’s refreshing and ominous. “X-Men #6” doesn’t just give Mystique an overdue does of depth. It sets her up to be one of the biggest threats to the future of Krakoa. She’s willing to do all sorts of horrible things for selfish reasons, but when she’s motivated by love, she’s more dangerous than a million sentinel attacks. That’s what makes her worth keeping an eye on. It’s also what makes “X-Men #6” my pick of the week.
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