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10 Romance Authors Who Would Write Killer Superhero Comics
Last week, as I read the latest issue from one of the two major superhero publishers, I run into a problem common in my comic reading: the action was terrific, the villains were compelling, but the relationships between the characters needed work—especially the romantic ones.
It’s not that the (mostly) men who write superhero comics can’t write good relationships and romances. James Tynion IV, whose began his Batman run with Batman: Detective Comics, Vol. 1: Rise of the Batman, comes to mind; as does Ed Brubaker, best known as the man who resurrected the Winter Soldier for his Captain America stories; and Greg Rucka, who skillfully handled both the romance between Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor and Wonder Woman’s friendships in his recent, excellent run that began with Wonder Woman. Vo. 1: The Lies.
Still, many male comic writers seem to struggle with these pesky relationships. Romance authors, however, excel at them, romance being a genre built on relationships.
This led me down the rabbit hole of imagining many superhero comics being written by romance authors—an idea not without precedent.
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The most obvious and current example is Majorie Liu, the writer and co-creator of the award-winning indie comic Monstress, and the author of numerous paranormal romance novels, including the Dirk and Steele series. Liu has written fine, character-focused stories for a who bunch of heavy-hitting heroes, including Wolverine, the X-Men, and Black Widow. As far as I’m concerned, she should allowed write any other DC or Marvel hero she wants to, starting with Wonder Woman and Iron Man.
Of course, romance authors have been writing superhero stories since before their were comics—the earliest example of a woman combining romance and superhero stuff is, of course, Baroness Orczy, aka Emma Orczy, the creator of the Scarlett Pimpernel, the work of fiction that pioneered the secret identity, the civilian identity as fop, and the superheroing family (many of her later books featured Percy Blakeney’s family getting into the secret-identity business as well).
It’s also a little-known fact that many romance authors are not-so-secret geeks. Aside from those who write superhero romance, there are those who use superhero (and villain) archetypes for their heroes and heroines. Loki anyone? (I see thousands of romance writers and readers nodding…)
So which romance authors should be writing which superheroes? Here are my suggestions.
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Author: Beverly Jenkins
Hero: Superman
In her storied career, Jenkins has written all romance subgenres, though I admit to liking her historicals the best—books like Vivid, in which a black female doctor in 1976 attempts to find a community to which she feels she belongs. She is also a fan of the Man of Steel, referencing her love of comic books several times in speeches, including the fact she thought Krypton was part of the Solar System as a child. America’s first superhero social justice warrior needs a writer who will do him justice, and that writer is definitely Jenkins.
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Author: Jayne Ann Krentz
HerO: Sandman Mystery Theatre
It’s my love of Krentz’s Amanda Quick historicals and her Jayne Castle futuristics that make me believe her blend of suspense, the supernatural, and romance makes her perfect for one of my favorite series ever, Sandman Mystery Theatre. The last book by Quick, The Girl Who Knew Too Much, was even set in the 1930s, the same time period as SMT. Ghost Hunter, one of her Castle books, features the head of a psychic guild as the hero, a nice parallel to the Sandman, Wesley Dodds, who is a seemingly normal human who receives strange premonitions via an unknown (to him) psychic power. More evidence: the heroine of The Girl Who Knew Too Much is a reporter with mad survival skills. The heroine of SMT is Dian Belmont, a writer who eventually helps Wesley on his cases. Plus, the villains in all of Krentz’s books are dark and obsessive, a requirement for the baddies in SMT.
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Author: Nora Roberts
Hero: Batman
Let’s face it: Roarke, the hero of Roberts’ mega-popular In Death series (written under the pen name J.D. Robb), is basically Bruce Wayne already, though his billionaire status is self-made. He’s insanely rich, flouts the law to investigate on his own, has zillions of gadgets, lives in a grand mansion, and has a butler who is basically a father to him. (One could argue the series is basically about Batman solving crimes in Gotham and married to a gender-flipped Jim Gordon but…we’ll put that aside for now.) Roberts has written superhero archetypes often in her romances, from immortal warriors to private detectives, and she can write excellent suspense, mystery, and supernatural plots, and handles large casts of characters with ease. She also writes seriously creepy villains. (See: Year One.)
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Author: Damon Suede
Hero: Ambush Bug
The irrepressible and sometimes irreverent author of bestselling male/male romances, such as Bad Idea, which features a romance between a comic book artist and a FX Make-up creator, Suede would be perfect for dreaming up the crazy adventures of Ambush Bug as he rampages throughout the DC universe, and even across time.
Author: Courtney Milan
Hero: She-Hulk
Milan’s The Heiress Effect features an heiress who wields her ability to cause a social uproar (outrageous gowns and a loose tongue) like an alternate identity in order to keep gold-digging suitors at bay. Jennifer Walter, attorney-at-law, uses her outrageous alter ego, She-Hulk, to navigate the world. As for legal credentials, Milan, in her former day job, was a successful attorney, and clerked for Sandra Day O’Connor and Anthony Kennedy of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Author: Suze Brockmann
Hero: The X-Men
Brockmann’s bestselling Troubleshooters series featuring a vast assortment of men and women who work together to fight evil—including characters of color and LGBTQ characters. (Brockmann was a pioneer in including LGBTQ characters in her romance stories.) I also immediately thought of her because the first Brockmann book I read featured a secondary romance where the hero was a comic book artist.
Author: Christine Merrill
Hero: Deadpool
Merrill’s latest Regency, A Kiss Away From Scandal, features a heroine who has to hire the Regency equivalent of a fixer to help her sort through a family mess. While some of Merrill’s off-kilter sense of humor comes through in her Regencies, (Miss Winthrop’s Elopement features a heroine who basically had to run down a hero to get her to marry him so she could get away from her family and have time to translate The Odyssey), it’s in Merrill’s self-published contemporary suspense stories that you can really see her sense of fun. Consider Need To Know, in which the librarian heroine has the Dewey Decimal number of The Right Stuff tattooed on her ass.
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Author: Alisha Rai
Hero: Green Lantern(s)
As I was putting this list together, I read a lovely series of Twitter posts by Rai, the author of the Forbidden Hearts series, about dealing with depression. It made me instantly want to see her take on Jessica Cruz, the most endearing of the new Green Lanterns, who suffers from chronic anxiety issues. Her story has been the most riveting part of the Green Lanterns series. And, yes, Rai can write action as well as romance, given her dystopian future novel Night Whispers.
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Author: Marjorie Liu
Hero: Wonder Woman
Yes, I’m going stumping again for Liu, who is long overdue for a stint writing the Amazon Princess. Make it happen, DC.