Through Frames in Sketch and Story

  Romance has always been a powerful emotional engine in the superhero genre. Beneath the spectacle of godlike abilities, masked identities, and world-ending threats, love stories promise something intimate, such as, a glimpse of vulnerability within figures who otherwise exist beyond the ordinary. Therefore, it is worth examining one of the genre’s most enduring romantic conventions, the human–superhuman romance trope and questioning whether it truly delivers on its promise of emotional depth and representation. To its true nature or main objective, this trope pairs an extraordinary being with an ostensibly ordinary partner, often positioning the human as an anchor to “normal life.” The appeal is obvious. Some of these examples are seen through Tony Stark (Iron Man), a workaholic billionaire tech genius, who is haunted by the death of people through his inventions, has a romance with his humble personal assistant, Pepper Potts. Likewise, Bruce Banner (The Hulk), a timid but ...