{"id":2818,"date":"2009-12-15T16:56:49","date_gmt":"2009-12-15T23:56:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.alertnerd.com\/?p=2818"},"modified":"2009-12-15T16:56:49","modified_gmt":"2009-12-15T23:56:49","slug":"the-perfect-kiss-panel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.alertnerd.com\/?p=2818","title":{"rendered":"The Perfect Kiss Panel"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"xmen\"<\/a><\/p>\n

To me, there’s nothing more sublime than a perfect kiss panel.<\/p>\n

Yeah, yeah, I know — I’m a big, mushy girl with big, mushy feelings about big, mushy romantic things. In my adult years, I have finally accepted this distinctly uncool, ‘shippy part of my geek profile. (For so long, I concealed it within the classic armor of a cynic\/closet romantic, carefully avoiding the topic of Riker\/Troi’s latest near-dalliance in public discussion while secretly sending away for whatever marginally dirty fanfic I could get my hands on.)<\/p>\n

Anyway, executing the perfect kiss in storytelling — the one that takes place at the exact right moment between the right people, the one that provides an emotional center to whatever tale you’re trying to tell — is one of those things that always thrills me, maybe even provokes a “squee” or two. (Two’s the limit, though, totally — I’ve accepted my hopeless romantic ‘shippiness, but I still try to stay away from shrieking like a spazoid stereotype. Try<\/em>.)<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I love this moment in all mediums, but there’s something particularly satisfying about seeing it in comics — maybe because I can stare at that one perfect panel for as long as I want, no need to rewind the loud, bloopy DVR (the telltale Tivo!) over and over again and risk the jeers of my less ‘shippy viewing companions. Or maybe it’s because, when done right, the combination of panels and words and images gives that moment time to really breathe<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Recently, I spent…more minutes than I am comfortable admitting gazing lovingly at this page from Kathryn Immonen and Sara Pichelli’s amazing take on Runaways<\/em>:<\/p>\n

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\n(click for BIGGER<\/em><\/strong>)<\/p>\n

Gorgeous, no? Surprising, romantic (the hands in the last panel — wow)…and given where both of these characters are at this point, a little bit fucked-up. I’ve never been a Chase-Nico ‘shipper, but this invests me in a way that not a lot of things could. (Why is this series “on hiatus” again? Whywhywhy*irrationalfanwhine.*)<\/p>\n

It reminded me of another perfect kiss panel that stopped me dead in my tracks the first time I saw it, and still has the power to do so when I’m on a re-reading kick.<\/p>\n

\"xmen\"<\/a>
\n(click for BIGGER<\/em><\/strong>)<\/p>\n

The complete vulnerability of Scott sans visor gets me every time — especially when Jean says, sweetly and simply, “You have a good face.” They’re both fully-clothed (well, Jean has kind of a grandma swimsuit on, but still), yet that kiss panel is, like…painfully<\/em> intimate. Reading it in context — because we all know what happens next — guts me. One hundred percent.<\/p>\n

What I love about both these moments is they just go for it: balls-out emotion, no holding back. Perfect panels that get my big, mushy girl feelings going full-force. Sigh, squee, etc.<\/p>\n

My desire to discuss and share more big, mushy girl feelings with my fellow comic book fans has given me the idea for a little giveaway. I have two copies of my own big, mushy romance book, One Con Glory<\/em><\/a>, to give away — just in time for the mini-sequel, which you can read in Grok #5<\/a>!<\/p>\n

Here’s what you do: leave a comment here or @ me on Twitter<\/a> and tell me either 1) your favorite comic book kiss or 2) your favorite comic book coupling and why. If you do both, I’ll give you an extra entry. Not limited to superheroes — any comic book people will do! Let’s all get our big, mushy LOVE on.<\/p>\n

You have ’til 12\/22, midnight, Pacific time to enter.<\/p>\n

EDIT: If you already have the book but still want to play, please do! I will send you a special<\/em> book-related prize if you win!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To me, there’s nothing more sublime than a perfect kiss panel. Yeah, yeah, I know — I’m a big, mushy girl with big, mushy feelings about big, mushy romantic things. In my adult years, I have finally accepted this distinctly uncool, ‘shippy part of my geek profile. (For so long, I concealed it within the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,69,231],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2818","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-comics","category-fandom","category-giveaways"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.alertnerd.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2818","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.alertnerd.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.alertnerd.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.alertnerd.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.alertnerd.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2818"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.alertnerd.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2818\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.alertnerd.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2818"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.alertnerd.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2818"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.alertnerd.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2818"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}