After seeing so many bad romances in movies lately...

How does one write a convincing romance? (Yes. Both homosexual and heterosexual romances.)

What are some comics that truly madly deeply have convincing romance? Don't just put any popular romance webcomic here cause I haven't ran into many that convince me. Please explain what it has that works please.

I thought Blankets was kinda nice even though it was a little one sided. The guy was very fantasy driven and poetic, but I don't know if it is any where like a real romantic comic.

Your input on romantic comics please.

Though it's now ended (and ended a year or two back), JunkRIOT was a fairly solid romance comic. It read *real* from start to finish.

>Net

To me 'convincing' is 'real', as in your characters should not act like hopeless 13 year olds that can't even understand their own feelings or go 'eeeew' at sex when they're like 23 in the story (i.e. Marry Me) It's those little moments of flirting and romance that make it work.

You can still have your romance take place in a post apocalyptic mecha battling world with aliens and still have their romance be real to me. 'Sam and Lilah' is a great example of this, it's weird and whimsical but also their flirtations and dialog is very realistic. Also the manga version of Eureka 7 was great at portraying 14yr old and younger love between renton and eureka.

Love triangles and just internal problems in general comming up for the characters, 'Anders loves maria' does this in a unique and interesting way. I usually like the element of mystery here "is the 3rd guy really into her? or using her to piss off his rival?".

Not sure if everyone would agree with me, but if you do not have an interesting love triangle/situation to your comic then please don't do a romance without story. There are shitloads of plain old boyXgirl girlXgirl boyXboy boring ass webcomics with no plot other than "do i really like them?? Dx". Have a back plot like gang wars, a fantasy world, mecha, god just something else. -_-

hmm, convincing comic romance....i honestly cant remember the last comic i read where i actually cared about the romantic happenings of the main characters...usually it takes something fucked up to make it seem more real to me, like she cheats on him or something

Let's see...
Simply Sarah does a great job of conveying the emotions (the whole range of 'em) and actions and chats of a couple in love. It works because it's complicated and rough but full of jokes and sweet moments just like real life relationships. Very acutely captured, I think.

Off the Duck, Red String has several realistic couple situations for many of the same reasons as Simply Sarah.

In thinking about this, I've realized I read very few comics with any sort of romance angle at all. There are plenty that have couples, but in many cases, I can't figure out why these two people would want to be together and there's really no reason for them to be in a relationship. It's just... there. *shrug*

In order to have a successful and convincing romance, it must be multi-faceted. Not always conflict, but not always easy. Not always sweet, but not always snarky. The other characters and different situations will actually affect the relationship - no couple is impervious to outside influences.

amanda
In order to have a successful and convincing romance, it must be multi-faceted. Not always conflict, but not always easy. Not always sweet, but not always snarky. The other characters and different situations will actually affect the relationship - no couple is impervious to outside influences.

I think that's part of the problem. I can only think of maybe a handful of comics that address a romance *SUCCESSFULLY* like that. Most others just go "Ok, Fred is dating Wilma, but Barney's secretly in love with Fred, insert angst, stir and serve!"

So the comic would have to be long enough to *ALLOW* for enough of said events to occur that would influence the situation, we'd have to see the relationship from multiple angles... and most comics can't do that very successfully.

>Net

I think that's because the majority of people writing romances are younger teens, and more young teens that have not really had many relationships themselves.

Skullbie
I think that's because the majority of people writing romances are younger teens, and more young teens that have not really had many relationships themselves.

i would agree with this a thousand percent. myself as a teenager would write a really crappy romance story, while myself now would write something...probably not so crappy.

Lol... a very good point that hadn't crossed my mind. :D

The single best romance in a comic that I've seen in a comic is Blankets. Yeah I know that I plug that comic a lot.
My problem with romance in general is that if I can't see what the two characters in love see in each other it just seems trite. That's what I hate about what I like to call "Hollywood Romance," it rarely has anything more complex than he's handsome, she's pretty, they love each other but... blah blah blah, they get married, the end.
What made Blankets strike such a chord with me is how empathethic the characters were. It was never really explicitly stated that the protagonist and this girl were in love but you could see for yourself that they were. When I'm reading what the main character says to and thinks about the girl it almost feels like I'm in love with her. I also liked the way it ends because it's not really a happy ending. It's not really a sad ending either, but definitely not happy. After all, what's love without heartbreak?

patrickdevine
After all, what's love without heartbreak?

thats why the only people who can right a really good romance story have to have had their heart broken

ooh! romance! my favorite topic...
I read a lot of shoujo, but perhaps so much that I can't think of an "omg WOW" sort of stand-out comic; perhaps because they all seem to follow the same basic trajectory of cute girl + standoffish guy...

But hark, I *can* think of the dreamiest dream of a wonderful romance off the top of my head-- Jane Eyre!! And since comic storytelling isn't terribly different than normal storytelling, I think it's pertinent ; D

One of the most interesting things about the romance is that the main characters are decidedly NOT good looking. Jane is plain and quiet and skinny (in a time period where skinny was the new fat, so to speak) and most people don't like her personality-- she can be willful, and has a "passionate" personality (not in the cheesy romance-novel way though) which causes a lot of people to hate her. She's poor, she's smart, she's artistic... why, all qualities that make me lurve her.

Mr. Rochester has a face that only a mother, or Jane Eyre herself, can truly love (except for that conniving money-hungry Blanche Ingram!) and he's mean, moody and secretive, and not a very good guy. Which makes him sexy.

Also, they both have to struggle insanely to fulfill their love-- Jane has a traumatic childhood, traumatic adolescence, leaves Thornfield (Rochester's manor) to travel in the wilderness, starving and freezing until she collapses on some strangers' doorstep; Mr. Rochester ends up crippled, blind and without his right hand, his manor burned down, and living in solitude.

Basically, I guess the key to strumming my particular toughened heartstrings is lots of conflict, tragedy, and characters who aren't always happy and positive.

The funny thing is, that for such a happy thing as love, it's all the more beautiful when it's stunted and miserable. The best romances, of course, are the ones that can never be fulfilled. (Let Broadway be your guide-- think Fantine & Jean ValJean!! Think Eponine and Marius! Think the Phantom and Christine!!!)


Oh, and I've thought of a gripping, wonderful manga romance: "Gravitation". It's much more than simply shounen-ai; it's... it's depressing!!! ; ) (the key here is to have one of the characters love his partner more than his partner loves him. It's almost sick.)

A lot of romance comics give the romantic interest zero flaws. She's perfect! She has nothing wrong with her!
This is boring. Everyone has faults. Part of what makes a good love story is having to deal with those faults and get past them to get to the gooey center inside. I mean, to their heart.

Simply Sarah is pretty much the only comic I'd put in this category, either in print or on the web.

I can think of very few examples in print and, where there is a romance of any sort, it's usually secondary to the main plot. There may be a relationship between the protagonists but it's not done in a way that makes you feel it's important to the main story. On the web, there seem to be a few more romance comics but these mostly ape the manga conventions (whether they're drawn in a manga style or not) with lots of slapstick humour and unrealistic plot devices.

The Dreamer would almost qualify but, to me, Bea's love still seems more like a teen crush or an infatuation rather than a true romance. I have a feeling that may well change as the story develops!

I can't see romance being dominant when there are bullets flying over your head.

What I mean is, while strong love is there and will manifest, syrupy pink-hearted, organ-playing, orchestra flourish kisses, eye-locking and the like probably won't if they want to live on to tell the take in action/mystery stories or anywhere where true danger (mortal or nearly that) is involved.

I've often included some pretty dedicated couples in my stories, but they nearly never declare their love, or serenade or go ga ga eyes at each other. Their affection is far more substantial and tangible in things that matter. (Of course, eventually they do say 'love ya' in some over way, 'cos that matters, too ;) )

And I think that unless we're talking Romeo and Juliet and less than a month worth of a relationship, love at first sight is very hard to sell as more than a shallow crush. True love needs time to be tested and proven to last. LOTS.

What about showing a lot of boobs?
Okay it might cheapen the romance...but you sure will get a lot of hits!

Skullbie
I think that's because the majority of people writing romances are younger teens, and more young teens that have not really had many relationships themselves.

You hit the nail on the head, totally there. I think that also applies to characters too, a lot of the comic characters written by young teens are often somewhat plastic, 2d and fairly bland. There are exceptions of course, usually however...they lack the knowledge of life's experience to write effective people.

I agree with Nick in that to interest me, a romance needs some really messed up characters or scenario. Or be... well, porn. ;)

I tend not to like the genre in general because it seems most authors tend towards the melodramatic; they'll have characters that absolutely would not "work" in real life. Or the angst is cranked up to full volume. It just gets obnoxious, seeming like the characters just run around in these emotional circles. Not that these things don't happen with real people, but they're often so amplified and theatrical that it becomes utterly implausible that anyone over the age of 12 would behave this way.

I do think a certain amount of tension or conflict is necessary. Just don't overdo it. Balancing that kind of drama with more subtle/ realistic/ mundane details and dialogue is key.

I do read a couple romances, believe it or not- but they've either got interesting characters or something else goin' on. Plastic, Good Taste, Dis come to mind- which are debatably out and out "romance" but do feature relationships as a prominent theme. Mostly it ain't my cup of comic, though. I don't think I could write one realistically/ convincingly. Huh!?

write something thats based on your own romance story or that of a friend. Just change the names and faces to protect the guilty. ;)

I think one of the more convincing romances in comicdom is the one between Maggie and Hopey in Love and Rockets. I know that's an oft-used example, but there's a reason for it.

I think the marriage between Buddy and Lisa in Hate is pretty damn realistic too. I can think of more than several couples in my life who are somewhat reflective of what I read there.

This one may be stretching it a tad, but I was always charmed by the surprisingly multi-faceted relationship between Howard the Duck and Beverly Switzler. Yeah, I know, one of them's a damn duck. Still, their feelings registered with me anyways.

I think Bendis writes the Mary-Jane/Peter Parker relationship pretty well. I'm also fond of the one Paul Chadwick writes between Concrete and Maureen. Yorick and 355 from Y: The Last Man was also pretty moving.

And, well, being a sucker for Garth Ennis, I'm gonna throw in Jesse Custer and Tulip from Preacher.

harkovast
What about showing a lot of boobs?
Okay it might cheapen the romance...but you sure will get a lot of hits!

Not necessarily. ;)
It comes off of characterization. To have a convincing romance you have to start with convincing characters who have believable motivations and act on them. If someone is shallow and infatuated and it's part of the story and told convincingly then that's fine. In a well done romantic story the reader should remember the characters not the ridiculous coincidences and circumstances that accompany most relationships in and out of literature.

Mawwidge, when wuv, twue wuv...