I disagree completely.
Two of the most enjoyable marriages to watch/read back in the 90s were Mr. Miracle and Big Barda, AND Elongated Man and Sue.

I think it has more to do with writers who are gifted with the ability of writing married couples WELL. And it just seems like too many writers for comics just can't do it.

Part of it is a larger problem of comic books. No one ages. It's all second act.

When someone does something to characters to fundamentally change them (like Morrison on Batman or X-Men), it's undone in a year or so. That's a big reason that I'm no longer reading monthly comics.

One of the reasons people enjoy Walking Dead is that things change, the characters evolve.

Ugh, speak for yourself.
I had to quit reading Walking Dead before I slit my wrists from depression.
I'll take Morrison on Batman any day of the week over WD again......

You are correct though, but it's more to the point of company owned characters.

But soldiers, many of whom are married, do go off for extended periods of time, often with the expectation that they'll be facing off against bad guys with machine guns and missiles.

And unlike those cops and fire-rescue individuals, Spider-Man has spider-powers to help him fight people like Doc Ock and Green Goblin. The foes may be more dangerous, but he also has more to rely on to help fight them and come home safely at the end of the day.

Buddy Baker's marriage did survive the reboot. That's such a great series that's enhanced with the Baker family.

Well, it *is* a book about the end of the world. You've gotta expect a certain degree of grimness going in.

Ditto. I grew up in the military, knew plenty of people who were very happily married where husbands went off into dangerous or remote places for long times.

Weren't there a lot of DCU pre-52 characters married but in order to make interesting and dramatic stories they killed off the spouses.

Wasn't Hourman married to Jessie Quick or Liberty Belle?

I did expect a certain degree of grimness, but it became too depressing and grim. There was no sense of hope, and the deaths just kept topping themselves in extremeness (I am incredibly glad I did not read #100).

I already read and see enough of this in real life, and while I enjoy a good zombie flick or story I want to feel that there is some sort of hope for the future........WD contains no hope, therefore I am not interested in reading it.

I didn't say EVERYONE liked Walking Dead, I was simply using it to make a larger point.

One of the big reasons it appeals to people is that things actually happen.

What's the other big story in comics right now? The Joker is back! We've never seen that before...

Yes, because his popularity and DC's need to merchandise him gives him protection from anyone getting smart enough to let the maniac die or stab him in the back and dump his body in a volcano somewhere.

Much as they talk about how killing him would make them as bad as him, nobody can realistically argue at this point that trying to let him live is anything but a mistake.

I would say the DCnU gets a bad rap on the marriage issue. While it did end some of the high-profile marriage, it raised the profile of a couple more and those are the ones you can read about consistently, month in, month out (Animal Man, Aquaman).

Also, note the Phantom Stranger is a family man in his new series.

It may really be a wash for how many marriages you could read about consistently pre-New 52 vs. now. As much is made about Clark and Lois, you had to go back a couple of years to actually read about that relationship. Superman's storylines for years kept him largely out of Metropolis, whether it was in the future (SM and the Legion), in space (New Krypton) or on a walkabout.


Yes, great relationship and great marriage. Unfortunately they got married at a time when the JSA membership ballooned, so we saw less of them than I'd have preferred.

I don't think killing off the Joker would prevent merchandising. Ledger's Joker will continue to be marketed for years to come, even though the Nolan version of the character is gone.

Dick and Damian sold quite well with Bruce gone. Same with Bucky as Cap.

People will read those stories: DC and Marvel just don't have the balls to follow through with them.

It is frustrating to me how many marriages comics have dissolved over the 40+ years I've been reading them.

And rarely is it an actual divorce. Death or retcon/reboot seem to be the main culprits.