Comics Are A Family Affair

Comics are a family business. From Marvel's first family the Fantastic Four to family Bruce Wayne put together with Alfred and Robin, and there's even the newspaper strip Family Circus. There's lots of families on the comic book pages, but there's also families making those pages.

This history goes all the way back to comics' most famous figure, Stan Lee, who was hired at Marvel (then working under the name Timely) by his cousin's husband and founder to the company, Martin Goodman. But the best known legacy in comics goes to the father-son teams of John Romita Sr. and John Romita Jr. and Joe Kubert and his two sons Adam and Andy. The Romita name has become synonymous with Amazing Spider-Man as both did legendary long runs on the series, while the Kuberts have criss-crossed comics to work on a variety of stories in and out of the superhero genre.

Looking into more romantic ties, there are numerous comic couples working in comics. Longtime couple Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner lead the pack, followed close behind by the likes of Matt Fraction & Kelly Sue Deconnick, Jill Thompson & Brian Azzarello, Kazu Kibuishi & Amy Ganter, Walt & Louise Simonson, Stuart & Kathryn Immonen as well as Philip & Shelly Bond.

With all these familial bonds in comics, they've resulted in some team-ups big and small. Joe Kubert partnered with his son Adam on the recent "Sgt. Rock" strip in Wednesday Comics. Jimmy Palmiotti & Amanda Conner have done numerous team-ups, including a run on Power Girl which recently ended. Walt & Louise Simonson teamed up on a good run on X-Factor and the Immonens have done several creator-owned graphic novels. Most have paired together for stories, while some like Thompson & Azzarello travel in very different comic scenes in their professional life — but wouldn't that be an interesting team-up?

There's many more connections than we can mention here, so feel free to tell us yours — and which ones have produced the best comics.