By Shaenon K. Garrity
Our columnists are independent writers who choose subjects and write without editorial input from comiXology. The opinions expressed are the columnist's, and do not represent the opinion of comiXology.
Am I going to do a corny romance-themed Valentine's Day column? You bet your ass I am. My husband and I had our first date on Valentine's Day ("Annie Hall" at the Red Vic Theater), he proposed on Valentine's Day (at the Cartoon Art Museum), and we got married on Valentine's Day (also at the Cartoon Art Museum). That's how into Valentine's Day I am. And that's why this week's column is:
My Favorite Cartoonist Power Couples
But first, apologies in advance to all couples not on the list. Rest assured, I probably just left you off because I couldn't think of anything funny to say about you.
Trina Robbins and Steve Leialoha
Her: Underground cartoonist, pioneering feminist comics historian, that lady who bags on Crumb in his movie.
Him: Big Two inker living large off
Fables and residuals from
Secret Wars II.
There are many reasons Trina Robbins is a role model to countless women in the comics industry, but prominent among them is that she landed Steve Leialoha. Seriously, Steve is a silver fox. According to Trina, when they met he had the same long hair, but it was jet black. And he was a Hawaiian surfer. THAT IS FREAKING AWESOME. Remember, girls, when people tell you not to be a mouthy feminist because boys won't like you, those people are lying. It will actually net you a laid-back stoner with awesome hair who loves your Wonder Woman comics. What more do you ask of life?
Jill Thompson and Brian Azzarello
Her: Longtime DC and Marvel penciler,
Sandman regular, creator of
Scary Godmother and
Magic Trixie.
Him: Creator of
100 Bullets, one of the four bald guys who wins every Eisner award for writing.
What I like about these two is that they met at a bar and neither one knew the other one was in the comics industry until they went across the street to a comic-book shop. Also, as a straight female I admittedly have only limited insight into these things, but I'm pretty sure Jill Thompson is the perfect woman. She's a redhead, she draws comics, and she knows WWE Superstar Mick Foley. Dropping, "Oh, and I drew some comic books for Mick Foley," into the conversation is the intellectual equivalent of doing the Honey Lou walk from Kurtzman's
Jungle Book.
Eric Shanower and David Maxine
Him: Creator of
Age of Bronze, writer of the current Marvel
Wizard of Oz adaptations.
Him: Owner of Hungry Tiger Press, the publisher of just about every Oz-related thing besides the Marvel adaptations.
Okay, David Maxine doesn't do much in comics per se, but between them, these two basically run Oz. Which is kind of awesome.
Evan Dorkin and Sarah Dyer
Him: Creator of
Milk and Cheese and
Dork, artist of the single greatest Batman panel ever, entertainingly angry blogger who draws MODOK a lot.
Her: Editor of
Action Girl, 1990s zine legend, significantly less angry blogger.
Dorkin and Dyer get mad cute-couple points for doing so many projects together. Weird projects, like scripting
Space Ghost: Coast to Coast, and less weird projects, like writing for the
Superman Adventures comic book and coproducing the one-shot
Biff-Bam-Pow! Together, they may well be the funniest person in comics.
Raina Telgemeier and Dave Roman
Her: Creator of
Smile, artist of the
Babysitters' Club graphic novels, writer of the shojo manga
X-Men series.
Him: Former
Nickelodeon Magazine editor, creator of
Astronaut Elementary and
Agnes Quill.
I'm sorry, other cartoonist couples, but there is no competing with the utterly disgusting cuteness of Raina and Dave. First, look at the comic Dave drew to propose to Raina [http://www.webcomicsnation.com/daveroman/engaged/series.php]. That makes your idea of romance look sick, doesn't it? Second, from the comic itself one can glean many additional nauseating details: they were born on exactly the same day, they like to dress as things like Harry Potter and Strawberry Shortcake for Halloween, and, above all, they both have totally cute art styles. I have to go throw up. Isn't there some Sid and Nancy-type comics couple I can talk about next?
Tom Hart and Leela Corman
Him: Creator of
Hutch Owen, instructor at New York's School of Visual Arts, onetime webcomic collaborator with yours truly.
Her: Creator of
Subway Series and
Queen's Day, bellydancer.
Tom and Leela are awesome people and there are many reasons to love and admire them, but really I'm only putting them on this list because they named their baby Rosalie Lightning Hart. That is the second greatest baby name in the comics, right after Viz editors Beth Kawasaki and Eric Searleman, who named their daughter Tiger Lily Kawasaki. Both of these girls will grow up to be Quentin Tarantino characters.
Shaenon K. Garrity is a manga editor at Viz Media and is best known for her webcomics Narbonic and Skin Horse.
All the Comics in the World is © Shaenon K. Garrity, 2010
