Some are averse to admit it, but comic books are soap operas with spandex. Superheroes get into all the antics that fall the average scope character, including unbelievably tragic backstories, miraculous resurrections and, of course, whirlwind romance. No matter if they come from DC Comics or Marvel, a superhero is bound to have a complicated love life. DC though, possibly because there’s connected history than Marvel, has had some very complicated romance plots. This is especially true within the Justice League. DC superheroes flirt with each other nearly as much as they save the world. While not every DC hero has made their way into League, most of them have in one form of the League or another. With all those very in-shape and pretty people working side-by-side, some romances have blossomed. Not all of them are created equal.
We haven’t included every Justice League couple ever -- merely some of the most famous or otherwise notable. Your favorite or least favorite Justice League couple might not be included. This just more of sampling of the Justice League, across many years, eras and team iteration. The criteria for being included on this list was very simple too. One or both partners in the couple just had to be on the Justice League at one point in their storied career.
20 GOALS: NIGHTWING AND ORACLE
Both Nightwing and Oracle have spent more time on their own teams, Titans and Birds of Prey, respectively, than on the Justice League. However, Batman’s two oldest protégés also have Justice League memebership and just happen to have one of the most compelling romances in comics.
True, there are those who believe Nightwing belongs more with Starfire than Barbara Gordon. While there’s nothing wrong with Dick and Kori’s romance, there so much more history between Oracle/Batgirl and Nightwing. They grew up together and know each other better than anyone. Nightwing wears his heart on his sleeve and dives into the action where Oracle is much more calculating and prepared. The perfect balance.
19 WORST: BATMAN AND BLACK CANARY
The only reason that Batman and Black Canary’s ill-fated (and icky) hook-up comes in so low, is that the only time they’ve ever been together is on an alternate Earth. There’s been some flirting between Batman and Black Canary in the main DC Universe, yet it was only on Earth-31, otherwise known as the world of All-Star Batman and Robin and The Dark Knight Returns, where the two locked lips… in front of a building full of criminals burning alive.
That one sentence tells you all you really need to know but, if possible, things gets worse. Batman and Black Canary’s “relationship” was based solely on looks and did nothing to explore either of their characters. They were just black-clad adrenaline junkies.
18 GOALS: MISTER MIRACLE AND BIG BARDA
Mister Miracle and Big Barda are one of the stranger couples in the Justice League as they are both members of the New Gods. Big Barda and Mister Miracle belong to the special mythology that DC, specifically Jack Kirby created, in the planets New Genesis and Apokolips. Still their love story is something that everyone should aspire to.
Mister Miracle was born as a slave under Darkseid. Big Barda, meanwhile, was one of Darkseid’s fierce warriors, The Furies. Eventually they found each other, fell in love together and decided to escape Darkseid’s home planet, Apokolips. All so they could live as a married. The two fight, literally, every day to ensure their love.
17 WORST: HAL JORDAN AND ARISIA RRAB
Like any epic space opera, Green Lantern comics are full of alien on human romance. What’s the point of having aliens that look like sexy ladies and lads if someone isn’t going to smooch them?
So the romance between Green Lantern Hal Jordan and fellow Corps member Arisia Rrab isn’t a little stomach churning because they’re two different species. It's not even as if they violate some Corps fraternization rules. The romance is the worst because of everything that preceded it. Arisia was first introduced in the early '80s. It was made clear that Arisia was very young and that Hal viewed her as a little sister.
16 GOALS: WALLY WEST AND LINDA PARK
There was a time when DC Comics wasn’t averse to having its characters get married. Entering into that tradition of martial bliss in 1998 was former Kid Flash, eventually Flash, Wally West and his longtime girlfiend Linda Park.
In his younger days, Wally West was a bit of a womanizer. As he grew older though and transitioned from Kid Flash to The Flash, he met Linda. Linda, a no-nonsense reporter, calmed Wally down and grounded him.Together Wally and Linda had a tremendously sold marriage, even enduring a miscarriage. Currently, Wally and Linda are broken up but only because neither can really remember their marriage.
15 WORST: DONNA TROY AND TERRY LONG
Wally West wasn’t the only original Teen Titan who settled down. Donna Troy, otherwise known as Wonder Girl, was the first Titan to get to the altar. In The New Teen Titans, it was revealed that Donna was dating a divorced college professor Terry Long and the two eventually got married.
At the start Terry and Donna were happy together and everything was golden, even though he was significantly older. Once they got married, things fell apart. Terry suddenly decided that Donna’s life as a superhero brought too much danger into their lives and he divorced her. Terry probably should’ve thought of all that before marrying one of the strongest women in the world.
14 GOALS: BARRY ALLEN AND IRIS WEST
Wally West and Linda Park’s marriage, while it lasted, was fantastic. Yet it really was built on the shoulders of the previous Flash marriage between Barry Allen and Iris West. Wally’s aunt and uncle emulate many elements from his own marriage, including the husband being The Flash and the wife being a star reporter.
Barry and Iris challenge each other and keep each other grounded. They both have tendency to go too fast, albeit at vastly different speeds, but together they are a well-oiled machine or heroism. Through time, space and even early demise Iris and Barry always find their way back to one another.
13 WORST: ARSENAL AND CHESHIRE
Roy Harper wasn’t the first hero to fall for a villain when he fell for the assassin Cheshire. He won’t be the last either. While the rocky relationship of Arsenal and Cheshire has its moments and fans, it’s hard to deny that, objectively, it’s a total mess. Unlike previous hero and villain romances, her relationship with a hero, doesn’t make Cheshire a better person. She just quietly retires from poisoning people when she has a baby and marries Roy.
However, when that baby, Lian, met her tragic demise (in one DC’s worst plot twists ever) Cheshire immediately turned to a life of crime. Arsenal’s best friends became Cheshire worst enemies again. Partly because she was hurting over the loss of her daughter but mostly because Cheshire's a selfish maniac.
12 GOALS: HAL JORDAN AND CAROL FERRIS
At the outset, Hal Jordan and Carol Ferris might not look the best couple. Hal can’t ever really commit to Carol and she seems to be constantly disappointed with him. Hal and Carol do spend more time apart than together. However, when the two are united they’re unstoppable.
Whether they are working together as Star Sapphire and Green Lantern or just as Carol and Hal, there’s very little that the duo can’t manage. Hal and Carol know each other better than anyone else. They're able to call each other on their failings and pick up the slack for one another.
11 WORST: BATMAN AND TALIA AL GHUL
There was a time where Batman and Talia al Ghul were close to relationship goals. That time has long since passed. Talia is the second major love interest for Batman and the mother to his child, Damian. Even though she is the daughter of Ra’s al Ghul, Talia believed that Batman’s no-kill rule had some merit and he could do some real good as the Dark Knight.
When the early '00s hit and Grant Morrison got a hold of Talia, she completely changed. Talia went from a rather reasonable character whose love of Batman redeemed her to an obsessive egomaniac. She no longer cared about Batman as a person but a means to furthering the al Ghul legacy. Talia became just like her father.
10 GOALS: BATMAN AND CATWOMAN
On the other hand, there’s Batman’s most famous relationship with Catwoman. It’s true that Batman and Catwoman’s recent engagement ended in disaster. Their failed wedding make it t seem like the Bat and the Cat are doomed to circle each other forever without ever having any real happiness or even a chance at a life together.
Still, there’s a reason that the Bat and the Cat can’t quit each other. They’re both broken but in different ways. Batman and Catwoman are the only two people who can understand each other’s pain and, more importantly, help each other fix those problems.
9 WORST: SHAZAM AND STARGIRL
Love or hate him, Shazam (previously known as Captain Marvel) is just a strange character. Billy Batson's whole gimmick is that he’s a kid who can transform into a superpowered adult body. Technically, Shazam is a teenager but he looks like an adult. This makes romance hard, but DC Comics did try, by hooking up Shazam with Billy Batson’s contemporary Stargirl.
The only problem is that most people (in-universe) didn’t know that Shazam is secretly a kid. So Shazam and Stargirl’s romance was viewed as pedophilic. The affair got messy quick. Shazam had to either expose his identity or break-up with Stargirl. He chose the latter.
8 GOALS: GREEN ARROW AND BLACK CANARY
Green Arrow and Black Canary are a lot like Hal Jordan and Carol Ferris. They’re dysfunctional most of the time and it’s not an ideal romance for everyone. When Green Arrow and Black Canary are on though, they are REALLY on.
There’s no reason that the romance should work. Dinah and Oliver are both huge and willful personalities but somehow, they combine their strength to a super heroic wrecking ball. Oliver adores Dinah and thinks she can do no wrong. Meanwhile, Dinah thinks the world of Oliver but isn’t afraid to tell him when he’s being more obnoxious than usual. It's ying and yang.
7 WORST: WONDER WOMAN AND SUPERMAN
Of all the strange decisions DC Comics made with their New 52 reboot, putting Wonder Woman and Superman together is one of the most destructive. The idea of Superman and Wonder Woman works fine in the minds of fans or in an Elseworlds tale but not in the main DC Universe.
Neither Superman and Wonder Woman are really challenged when they’re in a relationship with each other. They’re far too similar. Furthermore putting Wonder Woman with Superman diminishes her a bit. She becomes more of a supporting character not the premiere fighter of the Justice League.
6 GOALS: WONDER WOMAN AND STEVE TREVOR
The main reason that Wonder Woman doesn’t belong with Superman though is because she belongs with Steve Trevor. Steve Trevor isn’t always Wonder Woman’s love interest. For years, Steve was much older than Diana and married to her friend Etta Candy. Usually though Wonder Woman and Steve find their way to each other. When they do, it’s nothing short of magical.
Steve is often the first man that Diana meets and through him she’s able to learn the best that humanity has to offer. Wonder Woman would be a hero without Steve Trevor. It’s just in her blood. However, Steve represents the kindness and compassion of humanity that Diana wants to protect.
5 WORST: HARLEY QUINN AND THE JOKER
It’s a bit of stretch to call Harley and Joker a Justice League couple. However, Harley has been a member of the Justice League. It was just very brief. During the No Justice miniseries, Harley served on one of the four Justice League teams and therefore has a League membership.
The real reason they’re included on this list though is that Joker and Harley are the textbook example of a bad relationship. Joker consistently shows Harley just a little bit of affection to keep her strung along. However he quickly follows it up with that treatment, physical or verbal. They’ve been stuck in a destructive cycle for years. It’s only very recently that Harley has started to pull away.
4 GOALS: AQUAMAN AND MERA
A king is only as good as the queen that stands beside him. This is certainly true for Aquaman and his partner, Mera. Arthur and Mera don’t have as long a history as everyone else. Mera has been around for decades. It’s only until Geoff Johns’ run on the character that Mera got some real character development with some exploration of her romance with Aquaman.
The two are star-crossed lovers as she was originally sent to Arthur’s court to spy on him. Eventually though Mera and Aquaman fell in love. Together they have rebuilt Atlantis from the brink of ruin, several times.
3 WORST: ATOM AND JEAN LORING
The only Justice League couple that is worse than Harley and the Joker is the one between the first Atom, Ray Palmer, and his ex-wife, Jean Loring. Jean Loring was first introduced in the '60s as Ray Palmer’s main love interest. Eventually the two got married (and later divorced).
For most her run Jean was a rather bland and stereotypical superhero partner. Then Identity Crisis arrived and Jean Loring, inexplicably, became a complete villain. Identity Crisis has Jean go full nutso. She commits several ridiculous and bloody things all to make things feel “like the old days.” DC later tried to redeem Jean, but the damage was done. Sometimes when you lose it, you don’t get it back.
2 GOALS: SUPERMAN AND LOIS LANE
Superman is arguably DC’s most popular hero. It’s only right that his wife, Lois Lane, be as well-known as him. Yet there is more to Superman and Lois Lane than just popularity. No DC couple feels more balanced or works as well together as Lois and Clark.
Superman and Lois are two halves of the same whole. They’re almost always on the same page. If they do happen to disagree, they talk things out. They never keep anything from each other. Superman is always at the front of the DC Universe’s problems trying to fix them but Lois Lane is constantly at his side.
1 WORST: KYLE RAYNER AND ALEX DEWITT
Even the most hardcore comics fans could be excused for not remembering Kyle Rayne and Alex DeWitt’s romance. This is mainly because Alex couldn’t have been more boring. Alex’s whole identity was as Kyle’s girlfriend. That fact laid the groundwork for the couple becoming of DC Comics’s most controversial ever.
Alex’s name isn’t familiar but the trope surrounding her is infamous. Their relationship ended when Alex was taken out by one of Kyle’s enemies. To add insult to injury, her body was stuffed into Kyle’s fridge. Alex is the original woman in a refrigerator, whose storyline was ended simply to advance the plot of her male counterpart.