Good Parents / Comic Books

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• The Incredible Hercules: Surprisingly, Ares is a very competent and loving father towards his son Alexander.
• The Avengers: While the fathers of iconic Avengers Captain America, Iron Man, and the Hulk (Joseph, Howard and Brian) were truly awful parents (especially Brian), their mothers (Sarah, Maria and Rebecca) were unconditionally loving and caring. Their efforts in raising their sons ultimately paid off given Steve, Tony and Bruce's later heroics. Sarah in particular managed to shape Cap into the good man he is through her own Determinator qualities in the face of her husband's abuse.
• Batman:
  • When Barbara Gordon is being hijacked by Brainiac, her friend Black Canary uses a picture of Babs's beloved father Jim Gordon to help pull her back from oblivion. As she explains it, and as we see throughout the series, if there ever was a father, this man was it. Sometimes, their relationship also verges over to Happily Adopted, but writers can never seem to agree on whether or not Barbara is Jim's biological daughter, his niece that he raised after her parents' deaths, or a non-blood adoptee.
  • It varies a little Depending on the Writer, but Thomas and Martha Wayne are usually depicted as truly loving of their son Bruce and upstanding people. In most of the alternate universes where they survive, whatever the other consequences, it's taken as a given that Bruce would have a mostly happy childhood.
• Black Panther's father T'Chaka was an immensely caring and supportive father to his son, with his death inspiring T'Challa's Roaring Rampage of Revenge against Ulysses Klaue. Subverted, however, with the rest of T'Chaka's children, Jakarra, Shuri and Hunter, whom he is less loving to. Played straight with Ramonda, who loves and looks out for both Shuri and T'Challa, despite not giving birth to T'Challa herself, being T'Chaka's second wife after N'Yami died from childbirth.
• Natasha Romanov aka Black Widow, shockingly for a Femme Fatale Spy, as seen in her 2020 series is a wonderfully affectionate and caring mother to her adorable genetic son Stevie, whom she adores despite his “birth” being orchestrated by supervillains. Naturally, any threat towards him gets delivered with the full force of a One-Woman Army Professional Killer. Sadly, Nat knows her job does nothing but put her little one at risk and actually begs her Avengers teammates to never reveal to her where they’ve sent Steve and his father James to hide, as she can’t trust herself to not go find them.
• Blue Beetle: Bianca and Alberto Reyes, who provide support and guidance for their son Jaime in his career as a superhero.
• Circles: Paulie and Douglas are good fathers to Douglas' son Jason and Jason loves them back.
• Jonathan Murdock from Daredevil. A single father and troubled boxer, "Battlin' Jack" Murdock was completely devoted to his blind son and future hero Matt, wanting him to hit the books so he could make something of himself. While he did have a Moment of Weakness and hurt Matt when he learned his son had gotten into a fight at school and immediately apologized for it, he only wanted his son to have a better life and not end up like him. The influence of his father fuels Matt's efforts as a superhero long after his death at the hands of a racketeer.
• Reed Richards and Sue Storm from the Fantastic Four, easily the best superpowered parents in the MU, rivaled only by Luke and Jessica below. While Reed does often put his Science Hero commitments over spending time with his kids, he and Sue will still do anything for Franklin and Valeria and open a whole can of whoop-ass on any villain dumb enough to endanger them, as Norman Osborn learned the hard way.
• Gender Queer: A Memoir: Maia's father and mother are both kind, laid-back, accepting people, which makes things much easier for them when they are struggling with gender/sexuality issues.
• Luke Cage and his wife Jessica Jones are dedicated to their daughter Danielle. Her safety is always their first priority, and when she was kidnapped by an alien infiltrator, Luke was willing to make a deal with Norman Osborn, at the time the most powerful man in America, for his help in getting her back.
• Paperinik New Adventures has the Raider. Sure, he may be a time-traveling thief with shades of Blood Knight, but that's because he's a single father and cannot figure out another way to get the money to raise his son Trip-and the short stories starring him show that he's doing his utmost to make sure he grows up a honest man. Then there was the time Trip was kidnapped and brought to an alternative past and the Raider tracked him down there ready to annihilate the kidnapper... Or the fact it turned out a manouver to prevent the Raider from getting in the adventure he'd get killed on, as everyone knew he'd throw away everything for Trip.
  • At one point, the Raider praises someone for raising well three kids without stealing and during an economic crisis. He's praising our hero Paperinik, to his face, and he has just found out he's Donald Duck.
• You'd think his goofiness and madcap antics would make him a horrible parent, but Plastic Man is anything but. He loves his son VERY much and his son loves him back the same. Any moment in a comic with both of them at the same time is guaranteed D'awww!-inducing.
• Done rather frighteningly in Runaways. All of the Pride are murderers, thieves, and backstabbers who quickly sign up to bring about the end of the world. When they have children, they love them and do their best to provide good futures for them... by which they mean that they will destroy everyone else on Earth and let their children inherit what is left. After they are defeated, the kids run into the past versions of Geoffrey Wilder and Mr. and Mrs. Yorkes, whose children both died. Upon learning of this, the parents are horrified and try their hardest to protect them...by murdering those "responsible" for it.
  • The only one who really averts this trope is Victor Stein.
  • Played straight in Runaways (Rainbow Rowell) with Josh and Paul, Klara's foster dads.
• Scarlet Witch, for all her Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds faults, is nothing but a deeply caring and supportive mother to her twin sons Billy and Tommy. Fascinatingly, Virginia, Vision’s second wife who was given Scarlet Witch’s brainwaves by Wanda herself, is accordingly a good mother to her “children” Vin and Vivian.
• Spider-Man:
  • Peter's adopted parents Uncle Ben and Aunt May were nurturing, supportive, and devoted to a boy who had a difficult time at school and had no friends growing up. Ben in particular might have the biggest impact on Peter's life, having taught him With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility, which drives Peter to continue being a hero.
  • Despite being a murderous thug, Tombstone was actually a loving and supportive father to his daughter Janice in The Superior Foes of Spider-Man, even though he actively encouraged her fascination with crime. Even though he disapproved of her desire to be a supervillain (as he wanted her to be a mob lawyer), he never forbids her from pursuing her dream, though he makes it clear that she's on her own.
  • In Alternate Universe continuities, Peter Parker and his wife, Mary Jane Watson, are also good parents to their children Mayday and little Benjy Parker, and Anna-May "Annie" Parker.
  • Miles Morales's mom Rio is a doting, loving mom who is proud of what her son does as Spider-Man. After a few years' worth of character development, the same becomes true of his father Jefferson.
  • Norman Osborn is usually a terrible father, but in Spider-Man: The Animated Series, Norman is a well-meaning case of When You Coming Home, Dad? who has an unfortunate knack for really bad decisions. He's still consumed by the Goblin persona.
• Jessica Drew, the first Spider-Woman, in spite of living in a world where having a normal life is next to impossible, is still a devoted single mother to her infant son Gerry, whom she adores and does all she can to provide for. Jessica hates having to leave Gerry under someone's else care while she's busy being a hero and tries to get back to him whenever she can.
• Superman:
  • Superman's biological parents Jor-El and Lara considered him to the be the most important part of their lives and devoted all their efforts to his survival when Krypton was doomed.
  • Superman's adoptive parents — Jonathan and Martha Kent — have likewise raised Clark Kent with the morals and conviction that made him Superman. Later when Superman and Lois Lane married, they are also good parents to their children in multiple continuities, like Chris Kent or Jonathan Samuel Kent.
  • In Superman (Rebirth), Clark and Lois are protective of their son Jon, but also see the potential and desire within him to become a great superhero. So rather than keep him hidden (which would likely force him to sneak out doing superheroics) or let him completely loose, superheroing becomes a family activity for them. Clark and Lo have basically taken the lessons learned from Ma and Pa Kent, and taken it to the next level with their son.
  • Pre-Crisis Supergirl has both her birth parents Zor-El and Alura In-Ze as well as her adoptive parents Fred and Edna Danvers, who really go out of their way to make sure that Kara isn't unhappy. Subverted in later continuities, though, in which Alura is emotionally abusive or Zor-El is manipulative.
  • In The Unknown Supergirl, Fred and Edna Danvers adopt Linda and immediately shower her with love and support. Later, when Linda reveals her powers to save their lives, the Danvers are shocked, but they note she saved them, and kindly ask for an explanation. Then they promise to keep her secret.
    Edna Danvers: To others, she's the world's greatest heroine, but she's more than that to us! She's the daughter we dearly love!
• Teen Titans: Roy Harper definitely counts as a single father raising a little girl, Lian, who's been consistently written as an adorable, precocious, highly perceptive, and well-adjusted young child, not starved of love or attention despite the fact that her father is a superhero and has often required nannies and babysitters. There's also the fact that Roy never had to sacrifice parts of his personality to become a good father. This is in stark contrast to his mentor Green Arrow, a Jerkass with a Hidden Heart of Gold who only ever really knew how to be buddies and often left Roy to his own devices while doing his own thing, and Lian's mother Cheshire, a genocidal maniac and Manipulative Bitch who considers replacement pregnancies as a good way of getting out of blackmail.
  • All five of the founding Titans later found themselves in a paternal capacity after Roy, in this order. Donna Troy married Terry Long and became both his daughter Jennifer's stepmom and had a son named Robbie, Tempest married Dolphin when she became pregnant and they had a son named Cerdian, Wally West and Linda Park got married after years of dating and had the twins Irey and Jai, and Nightwing (during his tenure as Batman) became a father-like figure to Damian Wayne. Wally and Dick had both proven to be decent parents, while Tempest and Donna were honestly kind of bad at it (due to their messy relationships and not exactly being attentive towards their children). It's still agreed upon that Roy was the best out of all five.
• Thanos and Eros's father A'Lars aka Mentor, while a bit neglectful, was still extremely loving to his sons and cared greatly for them. Even when his second son becomes A God Am I Galactic Conqueror, he still can't bring himself to raise a hand against his own child and watches in despair as Thanos runs rampant through the cosmos.
  • Shockingly, during Gamora's childhood, Thanos managed to be a good and caring adoptive father to her, even giving her a Christmas presents like a normal father from Earth. This is downplayed of course, given Thanos still put her through Training from Hell.
• The Vision, in contrast to how Ultron was to him, is very caring and protective father to Tommy and Billy and later his created children, Vivian and Vin.
• Wonder Woman: Shockingly, Ares seems to be a devoted and protective, if sometimes misguided, father to all his children (Eros, Harmonia, Deimos, Phobos, and Lyta) besides Hippolyta and her sisters, whose enmity with him stems from the earliest of DC's versions of the tale where he wasn't their father. It's his only consistent redeeming trait, excluding perhaps his enmity with the misogynistic serial rapist Zeus.
• X-Men:
  • Fantomex uses this on a clone of Apocalypse called Genesis to try to prove that evil isn't locked into one's genes in Uncanny X-force.
  • Jean Grey and Cyclops, although the former has technically never given birth to any of her kids in the mainline universe (it's complicated) and latter is emotionally stunted even at his best, they'll still do anything for their kids Cable, Rachel and Nate. While the relationships are often complicated to put it mildly, and Jean initially reacted badly to Rachel (though was immediately after horrified, recognising she was projecting her own traumas related to Maddie Pryor and general feelings of being railroaded into one specific destiny, which she saw Rachel as representing), they get on much better afterwards. Cable and Nate, meanwhile, adore their mother (and are violently protective of her, not that she usually needs it), treating her as a moral reference point, and she's more or less the only one who can get them to listen for more than ten seconds at a time.
  • Jean's own parents, John and Elaine Grey, as seen in X-Men Origins: Jean Grey, were very loving and supportive to their daughter, unlike most other human parents of the X-Men who are usually horrified at their children's mutations.
  • Christopher Summers aka Corsair has zig-zagged this, since he often seems to care more being a Space Pirate than spending time with his sons and Scott once bitterly expressed a fear that he'd end up like his dad, parenting wise - to his dad's face. However, still does genuinely love Scott, Alex and Gabriel, giving them his support and aid whenever they need it, and when teen Cyclops came to the present, he was ecstatic at the chance to spend time with his son. In X-Men (2019), Corsair has a long-overdue dinner with his family.
  • Wolverine, while he doesn't have the best track record of parenting, when it comes to his Opposite-Sex Clone daughter X-23, he is very caring and supportive. Seeing the trauma she's been through, Logan with the help of Gambit and Jubilee does his best to do right by Laura and is happy for her to take the mantle of Wolverine from him.
    Scott: ...X-23 who like Wolverine-
    Laura: Actually I'm Wolverine.
    Logan: You tell 'em, kiddo.
  • In contrast to Mystique, Destiny offered Rogue, her adoptive daughter, nothing but unconditional love and support and never once hurt her as Raven did. In Necrosha, Destiny is very thankful for the opportunity to talk to Rogue again when Selene brings her back from the dead and tells Rogue she's immensely proud of her. Sadly in X-Men (2021), Destiny Took a Level in Jerkass and openly criticises her daughter's marriage with Gambit, displaying a similar possessiveness as Mystique.
  • Rahne Sinclair aka Wolfsbane from New Mutants, while she was initially horrified of her son Tier due to painful and unnatural birth, she soon grew to adore him and does her best to provide for him. Tragically, Tier is killed by The Souless Strong Guy right in front of Rahne, although she does get reunite with him in a later comic. Tier's father Hrimhari (a Wolf God from Asgard) likewise is shown to be loving father to Tier.
  • Similar to Peter and MJ in the alternate universes where they actually have kids together, Gambit and Rogue are/were very good and protective parents to Olivier and Rebecca (Earth-41001) or Irene (Earth-20368).
  • Jubilee, despite her enduring 90s punk attitude, is a loving adoptive mother to her human infant son Shogo and both coddles him and fiercely kicks the ass of anyone who threatens him.
  • Magneto was a genuinely loving father to his first child Anya, whose life was cut short due when a KGB mob prevented Mags from saving her from a fire. Sadly subverted after Anya, as Mags considers raising his following children with just unconditional love a fruitless endeavor and is consequently a ruthless and cold father to Pietro, Wanda and Lorna, believing they needed to be toughened up to survive. X-Men Red (2022) #3 reveals Erik decades on still very much loves Anya (despite her being a pure human, the race he spites!) and he genuinely believes he would be better a man if he could only see his precious first daughter again.
• Young Avengers has the Kaplans, Wiccan's parents, who mistake his coming out as a superhero as a DIFFERENT kind of coming out and immediately invite his boyfriend into the family. Them being such good parents had also caused some backlash among the fans, since Billy became a Determinator over finding the Scarlet Witch, who thanks to chaos magic is also his and Tommy's mom. The fans are hoping that the Kaplans stay relevant, because they are good parents, even with Wanda back in the picture.
  • Happily, that seems to be the case in the next Young Avengers run. The Kaplans are indeed still very important, having taken in not only Teddy, but Billy's kinda sorta twin brother Tommy for a time as well. Teddy even points out how lucky Billy is to have the Kaplans and Wanda.

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