Out of Starfire or Barbara. Starfire no doubt. Barbara is a Batfam groupie. She straight up collects those boys. Both have had moments where they were well written. But overall both Nightwing and Starfire were just better characters as a couple in NTT. He was truly independent and stepped out of Batman’s shadow in that era. She was a strong, confident, powerful woman instead of a dizzy sex object. But alas it has been forever ruined. I hold no hope of any of that ever returning. So while I prefer Starfire above anyone I feel DC has sunk the ship to the point of no return. Same with Barbara. At this point I’m looking for something new and after reading Seven Soldiers where Zatanna described her dream guy the first person that came to mind was Dick. The description doesn’t fit Constantine at all and IMO they’re not really a good fit anyways. Then they were a thing in Young Justice. Then there was this thing where I did a study on Dick’s various birthdays from comics and television and what that means for birth chart and how that might affect his character and read he could possibly be attracted to the mysterious nature of magic and the supernatural. So from then on I’ve wanted to see them together.
I also prefer Wally and Artemis over Linda.
Superman and Lois are Iconic.
That’s really it.
Ok. I respect that. I’m a Cheshire & Roy guy but I just went with Z & John. I have a ton I could’ve went with. Z is my #1 tho so made sense. Huntress (Bertinelli) #2 I like her & Question but only in JLU. Those are amazing episodes but I think she’s a little out of his league. Sometimes that’s ok tho b/c it’s realistic. Idk how many times I’ve said- how on Earth did that guy get her? When I see an oddball couple. It happens. Seven Soldiers is one of my favorite reads ever. I like Starfire & Nightwing but I don’t hate Babs & Dick so I don’t go to hard on that. Plus, that argument will never be settled so it’s pointless. I love both of em (Babs & Koriand’r) anyways…
Yeah I wouldn’t mind if Barbara was not the universal Batfam love interest. It just makes the ship feel cheap. It’d also help if the pairing wasn’t constantly used to being Dick back to Gotham for a Batfam story. But that’ll never happen. So sadly I will say I do dislike it, but it could be done better in a way where I find it tolerable and still entertaining.
Cheshire and Roy is a hard one. It’s kinda like Batman and Catwoman. It’s fun to play around with but never actually getting. Like Roy and Cheshire made Lian but their relationship is doomed to never work out. Yknow?
Never saw Huntress and Question together could be an interesting duo…
Exactly why I like it lol. They shouldn’t be together for multiple reasons including she’s literally a terrorist. But u can tell he loves her b/c he’ll defend her against anyone, including his teammates, if they say anything bad about her. It was doomed from the start, but you’re right, it’s all because of Lian. Question & Huntress are great. He realizes how lucky he is which is a rarity in comics. Usually it’s 2 drop dead gorgeous people & it’s cool to see a guy get a girl he shouldn’t every once in a while. They fight Canary & Ollie, then go on a double date later lol. Those episodes are some of the best ones tho. The 6th episode of season 2 is literally called Double Date. The ones just b4 it are when it all starts in JL Unlimited.
I don’t like the tendency of pairing Barbara with others just because she’s the most well known female Batfam character either. Characters behind the masks matter!
Arkham games making Tim a love interest was just weird to me and seemed to only be done because he was Robin at the time (it also bugs me how much his Robin and Dick’s often get mashed together in media). Also, the timing seemed off to me in terms of the Batgirl and Robin teamup. Jason probably would have made more sense based on the game’s story.
Timmverse is pretty much ruined for me with the disturbing Bruce and Barbara story in the Beyond comics and animated Killing Joke.
Luke Fox just seemed to pop into the new52 Batgirl comic for a blip before Rebirth… Neither one seemed all that invested or impacted when they stopped dating. (I think more emotion was shown between Babs and Ricky or Jason Bard… and those relationships were pretty eh to me.)
Really, the only connection outside of Dick that I’d like to see grow is between Babs and Jason Todd. I say connection, because I think they could have an interesting and emotional relationship outside of a romance. I can understand Jason having a crush/looking up to her, sure, but I’d like an evolution beyond that. I think various stories have shown shared interests in learning and literature as well as overcoming past traumas to varying degrees of success. I actually thought Three Jokers did a decent job exploring their dynamic until the awkward kiss panel that should have been a hug or even a forehead/cheek kiss if lips had to be involved.
Anyway, Dick/Babs is my favorite overall. My favorite hero/civilian DC ship is Wally/Linda with Diana/Steve as the runner up. My favorite power couple is harder, because both Hal/Carol and Arthur/Mera are at the top… and both couples have had some pretty big low lows. I think I have to go with Hal/Carol though, because I don’t recall them ever pseudo-killing each other…
That’s because Tim Drake is the knock off brand Dick Grayson. Everything that’s “Tim’s character” (except the finding out secret identities and staff) was taken from Dick and given to him. Dick was the OG mathematical genius. And hacking is just math. 1s and 0s. Dick is also the OG second best detective next to Batman, but DC forever downplays his abilities. Oh and let’s not forget Tim is also an Olympic level gymnast now just like Dick when he is the OG for that as well.
Having a knack for figuring out people’s identities with information that literally ANYONE can find/have is not real detective work, just observant. Like sorry not sorry but if Dick Grayson is the only recorded person to do a particular gymnastics move and Robin does it, Dick Grayson was adopted by Bruce Wayne, and Bruce Wayne had been suspected of being Batman, anyone can acquire that information with a 2 minute internet search, or just by being a fan of the Flying Grayson’s as Tim was. ANYONE could’ve figured that out had they actually cared enough to look into it. Tim Drake was originally the every man Robin, not very good at fighting, stealth, or detective work. He was just like an average every day kid who rode a damn skateboard.
Oh yeah I’m also a fan of Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor as well!
A woman who regulates her own sexuality and chooses not to live by repressive provincial codes of conduct when it comes to matters of sex is not a “groupie.” And if you’re looking for someone to blame regarding BG’s relationship situation within the comics, how 'bout blaming it on lazy writing rather than taking the easy way out and going to the loose woman trope. WOW. Yeah, I’ve read your other comments in this thread and you vaguely mentioned questionable writing but moreso you held Barb accountable for the shipping status. You’re off course with that, in a BIG way.
Starfire has NEVER been categorized as a “dizzy sex object”, nor was she ever meant to be. Marv Wolfman and George Perez have presented a character in Starfire who very much embraces each emotion that she experiences to its fullest extent. She’s passionate in all things- her friendships, her loyalty, her devotion to self, her anger, her sense of right and wrong, and in her sexuality. She has an honesty factor in her reactions to things that isn’t encumbered by self doubt or the pensiveness that can sometimes overtake people who are afraid of not being seen as “going with the flow” in social situations. And as for your dizziness take, perhaps you need to reread the series because clearly you’ve missed the fact that Star is written from the stranger in a strange land device when it comes to her lived experiences on Earth, very similar to how Diana experienced the nuances of a new society when she came from Themyscira. Not sure how a person who’s new to a place and is acquainting themselves with the norms and customs of that environment can be described as “dizzy.”
I read NTT. I’m very familiar with Starfire’s character. But yes DC in recent years have depicted her as a ditzy sex object. Namely RHatO and her 2015 solo from what I understand to name a few.
I do. I speak on the way writers and whoever else depict her. And if we’re not supposed to take it that way then they need to do better. As of right now Barbara is written as the universal Batfam love interest. She has no relations outside the Batfam and just hops from Dick, to Batman, to Jason, to Luke, to Tim depending on the writer and title. The only “batboys” they haven’t tried on for size are Jace, Duke, and Damian and they have all the time on the world. I find it sick, but until the writing changes that’s the character they’ve portrayed. How many women do you that go to her ex’s father, then little brothers, and friends when they don’t work out, and then get back together like nothing ever happened? As I said before it makes the ship cheap and far less unique. Be mad all you want. I said what I said.
I do want to point out that in the mainstream comics, Barbara has been in relationships with Dick and Luke out of the Bats. Luke happened in the new52, and she had just met him, so there wasn’t any kind of ‘circle of friends relationship hopping’ in that scenario. The Jason she dated was Jason Bard, not Jason Todd.
Elseworlds and potential futures can and have smashed lots of people together romantically. In Barbara’s case, this has included others in the Batfam (I list some in a post above). Carol Ferris has had similar treatment as has (arguably) Dick himself. It’s sloppy writing in my opinion, and often seems to go back to the idea of a mask’s love interest instead of the character/person beneath the mask.
As an aside, IMO an ex is an ex - they’re free to date whomever they want. Instead of asking what person would date friends/family of an ex, I’d ask what friends/family would date the ex. For example, what father dates his son’s ex? To me the father/son relationship is where the dating code comes into play more than the ex/ex relationship.
->To get back on track on the happier favorite DC ships topic, I just read Wonder Woman Black and Gold 3, which provides a really nice perspective on Diana and Steve’s relationship.
Marv Wolfman and George Perez have presented a character in Starfire who very much embraces each emotion that she experiences to its fullest extent. She’s passionate in all things- her friendships, her loyalty, her devotion to self, her anger, her sense of right and wrong, and in her sexuality. She has an honesty factor in her reactions to things that isn’t encumbered by self doubt or the pensiveness that can sometimes overtake people who are afraid of not being seen as “going with the flow” in social situations. And as for your dizziness take, perhaps you need to reread the series because clearly you’ve missed the fact that Star is written from the stranger in a strange land device when it comes to her lived experiences on Earth, very similar to how Diana experienced the nuances of a new society when she came from Themyscira. Not sure how a person who’s new to a place and is acquainting themselves with the norms and customs of that environment can be described as “dizzy.”
