Web-Slinging Romance Tropes

There is a pervasive, enduring assumption that superhero stories are exclusively masculine preserves. While men & boys have inarguably dominated the history of superhero comics, the wedding of Spider-Man showcases the indelible influence of a connotatively feminine genre–romance. 1/12

Romance has always influenced superhero comics. From one perspective, the world’s first superhero comic was a romance, wherein Clark Kent transforms himself into a Superman to impress a beautiful, powerful woman (Lois Lane), and inspires his readerly fans to imagine similar romantic triumphs. 2/12

However, the romantic elements of Superman comics from the Golden and Silver Ages generally take a backseat to action. Many of these comics also employ sexist tropes wherein Lois Lane pines and schemes to win Superman’s love while he continuously humiliates and punishes her. 3/12

The rise of Marvel in the early 1960s invited a broader inclusion of romantic tropes, undoubtedly influenced by the company’s recent output. Prior to the debuts of the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, and the Avengers, the company was primarily kept afloat by the success of its teen humor comics. 4/12

Elements of teen humor and romance comics were thoroughly integrated into Marvel’s new superhero titles, as especially evidenced by Stan Lee, Steve Ditko, and Jack Kirby’s early approaches to Spider-Man and the X-Men, where teenage longing and love triangles abound. 5/12

From a genre studies perspective, the romance genre is broader than stories about romantic love. As Christopher Pizzino explains, influential literary critic Northrop Frye defines romance as “cyclical narratives driven by tropes of danger & rescue, battle & triumph… disguise & revelation.” 6/12

These tropes are common in superhero stories in general and Marvel comics in particular, where the embrace of serialization necessitates “well-worn devices for plot entanglement, from disguises and switched identities to hidden lineages to apparent deaths and surprise resurrections” (Pizzino). 7/12

Many of these tropes are strongly evident in the Spider-Man wedding storyline. The son of the original Spider-Slayer returns changed from his last battle with Spidey; Mary Jane’s estranged sister & father suddenly reappear; Peter is haunted by ghostly memories of Gwen Stacy. 8/12

The story also emphasizes its nature as a serialized melodrama by telling us (sometimes clumsily) that the characters are growing & changing in ways that facilitate & inform their decision to get married and all the emotional commitments and adult responsibilities that stereotypically entails. 9/12

The wedding storyline is also self-consciously domestic, organized around family dynamics that are connotatively feminine: the catalyst for Peter & Mary Jane “growing up” enough to get married is MJ’s reunion with her sister and the preferred parental figure for each protagonist is an aunt. 10/12

While there is plenty of action in this storyline, in the form of repeated, highly destructive attacks by the Spider-Slayer, this action is arguably the b-plot, an excuse for action splashes that distract from the main plot rather than meaningfully informing it. 11/12

Appreciating the degree to which superhero stories are often informed & influenced by romantic tropes is important to understanding how these stories work. The post-60s success of the superhero genre owes a tremendous debt to romance–meaning its appeal is more complex than is often assumed. 12/12