that green goblin panel is creepy as hell

" that green goblin panel is creepy as hell "

I'm sure people with conservative values would consider what Scott and Emma did cheating. As open-minded as we all may want to be, I don't think anyone wants to be cheated onfiguratively or literally. When I pick up a comic, I don't want it to be like real life. I could watch the news if I wanted that. A want something similar, but different. I want real people doing wildly unbelievable, fantastic things. Sometimes with their clothes on.    

Norman gets around does'nt he?

"All the young X-Men had the hots for Jean". lol
 
I agree with all of these points, G-Man. The reason they did this to Scott was to build his fan base because he wasn't edgy enough. It's completely against everything his character previously did or said. And as for the whole Norman deal that's just sick nasty.
 
I think that affairs AND divorces should happen occasionally in comics, but never shown and never as just a thing that happens. The writers should use them the same way they use anything else: a lesson. Terrible stuff happens, both in comics and the real world. They have an outlet here. They should be telling people this is wrong and painting pictures of the mess that happens when it does. As far as I know, Scott and Emma are now a happy couple. That isn't right. Jean should come back as Phoenix and then destroy them in fiery vengeance.

Comic Books are no different in some ways to a daytime soap opera. People sleep around with others who they are not married too or currently dating. It creates drama and tension and peaks the interest of readers, or at least it's meant too. More often than not it falls short and comes across as an attempt for cheap thrills.

comics should be just like books and movies in the content they discuss

If we are going to bother with relationships in comics at all I'd prefer them to be real relationships. These kinds of things happen in real relationships.

Yeah, it adds to the comic feel. If people are worried about their kids wouldn't it be better for them to learn about these things from comics then from their own lives?

Green Arrow's affair with Shado when he was still doing the on-and-offs with Black Canary.  Deathstroke's affair with Lilian Worth while he was still married.
 
And then there's Jade, who ends pretty much every one of her relationships with an affair.
 
Divorces?  Jean Loring and Atom's is now one of DC's most notorious divorces.  Kingpin and his wife have gone through a number of events that seem like divorce, but frequently end up being something else.

I think the Scott/Emma debacle enhanced the story, even though I'm sick to death of the "White Queen". 
 
but this stuff is nothing compared to the Pym domestic abuse. How do you feel about that? I personally think it's beneficial to represent characters from all walks of life and display all of their dirt as if they were in front of an unwavering camera. Kids and adults can become emotionally involved with characters who aren't perfect, who've had some bumps in the road, whether they've experienced those situations themselves or not, including affairs and divorce.

Taking your arch-nemesis' girlfriends' virginity, impregnating her then killing her. I'm not sure if this makes Osborn the best of worst super villain ever.

" comics should be just like books and movies in the content they discuss "

Isn't the divorce rate 1 in 3?  It's becoming a pretty common thing and I think the comics medium should represent people in real relationships. People get divorced and some cheat. We aren't all perfect and I'm glad that the writers make their characters real - I mean really that's how you connect to them, not through their powers. Just as long the writers don't turn it into a soap opera and the relationships become more like the Bold and the Beautiful then I'm happy.

Gone are the days when we could look up to super heroes as a good example.  Now they're simply fools like the rest of us; only with highly destructive powers.  I'd rather they not cheat, but I suppose it makes sense if they're moving away from the moral paragon approach and to the supposedly more "realistic" approach.

If you're trying to create a human character underneath the spandex and the reality warping powers, you need to have him do human things. Relationships, breaking up, divorces, etc. are part of human life so I think they should be included. 
 
Unless you're writing an all-ages book or trying to reflect Norman Rockwell's america. I don't see why writers and editors are scared of something like this.

I really don't think that the average comics on sale are for kids, they defnitely are for teens and grown ups. It's nice to see our heroes engaging on relationships, make them seem a little more like us, with flaws and qualities, instead of super beings without feelings

I want all my comics to be even more mature, and graphic where appropriate instead of the bs of perfectly hidden nudes and no blood when wolverine slices people around.  The topics need to get more mature as the characters do.  You can pretty much have whatever topics in a pg13 movie, and i'd consider mainstream comics at least that.  If you want a more chaste comic for kids stick with the super hero line stuff or comic lines for kids.

Honestly, I'm just satisfied with the psychological and social complexity of heroes and villains. Adding infidelity, divorce, or sex for that matter doesn't bother me that much in comics, as long as they don't become a TV soap opera on paper.
 
Every once in a while it adds some dynamics to a story depending on the character... like you  mentioned about Scott Summers, the guy need all the help he can get to make him interesting
but do writers have to go that far with heroes and villains?

" I really don't think that the average comics on sale are for kids, they defnitely are for teens and grown ups. It's nice to see our heroes engaging on relationships, make them seem a little more like us, with flaws and qualities, instead of super beings without feelings "

They're dealing with contemporary issues a lil' bit better nowadays than before. Scott and Emma's little mental affair had some build up and was carried out properly. It's not the same as say, when Arsenal became a junkie and the cover of the comic had a picture of him ready to shoot up. It's not there for shock value anymore, it's simply a part of the story.  
 
Shocking things is what Ennis uses to sell some of his books. It's not a part of main-comics with highly familiar characters.

"that green goblin panel is creepy as hell "

There was also Batman: Year One where Gordon was having ana ffair with Barbara.

Comics are not for kids you can have stuff for younger audience! It's easy just ban violence, blood, sex, killing and nudity all that. Comics should in a way mimic reality, still can get past all the censorship in american comics. Oh well you can sleep around but can't show panties or a girl taking a bath looool 

" Comics are supposed to be a form of entertainment. It's often considered a medium for "kids." Obviously a lot of comic book readers have grown up and we can handle more "adult" topics..." 
 
Any one who still considers comic books primarily a children's entertainment medium is out of touch with the industry and audience. There certainly are comics made for children-- just there are books or films, but that is not the standard. The mainstay series and universes of comics are not G or even PG. The readers haven't just grown up, the industry has.
 
"... If publishers feel that characters getting married changes them and makes them hard to relate to, do we need to see them cheating in their relationships?" 
 
Beginning that line of thinking validates the publishers's belief in the first place. Comics shouldn't be fundamentally different in narrative than any other story telling medium. Whether it's novels, television, or films, there shouldn't be any "we get enough of that in X. do we really need it in Y?". They're all just different medium of which the same narrative rules should universally apply.  
If comics want to bear the same kind of maturity as a medium that the others share, then they need to not shy away from telling socially and emotionally deep stories. 

I can honestly say I wasn't a fan of the Gwen Stacy/Osborne shenanigans. However, that was more because of personal attachment to the characters, then moral outrage over them having an affair. 
 
If mature plot lines are given a serious approach and written in a way that does not belittle the seriousness of the subject matter, then I'm okay with these things. Shoehorning them in for shock value however, is just lame.

I think is a good thing to have in comics it gives a crazy spin on the story and takes characters to places you wouldnt have seen them go. And since its comics anything can happen and anything can be undone. that makes it cool. 
 
for example just take superman yeah yeah he loves lois and out of all the women on earth he only wants her. OK he works with wonderwoman vixen and black cannary AND HE only wants lois???? SURE. sooo its kinda cool to see him maybe have an fling with one of those chicks while under mindcontrol or some other plot induced thing so he can come off free of guilt and lois has to take him back. 
 
The osborn thing just goes along with the theme of making spiderman's life hell cause you know kids only relate to life being hell and no one ever grows up happy. 
 
in the end I think comic fans want to see the characters they know do things they wouldnt think they would do sometimes. LIke heroes fighting heroes (why was civil war such a HIT) or heroes dating others than there known loved ones.

That perverted crap with Gwen and Norman must be cleansed away from the pages. Quesada is just a bastard for me 'cause of his cancelling of Comicbook' codex. Wait... That means that since those times MARVEL isn't publishing comicbooks! Just like I thought, 'cause it doesn't even look like a comicbook.

didnt emma frost have an affair with namor?

I guess the whole thing helps stir up emotions in readers....
 
@ripper525 said:

" that green goblin panel is creepy as hell "

This is one thing I don't understand about Marvel.  Not only do we have this kind of stuff going on, but we also have cursing and heroes/villains shown sleeping around.  "BUT" NO ONE IS ALLOWED TO SMOKE!?!?!?!  Don't get me wrong, I'm not against all the "real world" things that go on, it's just I wish they wouldn't push some subjects to the wayside.  If you're going to have comics be as real as possible show it all, please and thank you.

Cheating is bad but I don´t mind seeing it in comics.

It thats a deep look in to reality and they have shown how it affects children, example Rachel crying in Alex's arms below the image of Scott and Emma kissing. It doesn't destroy the characters. It added to them; Scott isn't a total boyscott and Emma actually is capable of loving someone and truly loving them. The End Song also showed the Jean forgives Scott and understands he's human, he'll screw up and in reality both can't stop loving each other. It's also a throne in the side of Emma. She knows she'll never be as important or as loved by him as Jean Grey is. It brings a spectrum of weakness and strengths into a character.

I think it comes across differently on the printed page, than it does in television or movies.  In a comic, sex and affairs are right there in a still frame, and don't pass by at the same pace for everyone, like they would in a movie or TV.  Meaning they could have a greater effect on the reader than on the viewer.  I don't think it's necessary to skirt the issue of affairs, but it's not necessary that they be shown either.  I'm a fan of the fade-to-the-next-scene/ implied action, when it comes to that kind of thing: the couple kiss, the "camera" moves up to the moon, changes to the sun, and then she's wearing his shirt, and we all know what just happened.  I think the actual love scene, even though it doesn't show anything but an arched back and and O-face, is a little much when it's caught in a still frame.  That's my own sensibilities though - I'm also a fan of the Alfred Hitchcock style of murder scene - a shadow on the wall or fleck of blood on a photo will prompt the viewer/ reader to imagine something far worse than they ever could have shown. 
 
There are ways to address the subject without showing the subject.  I mean, what purpose does it serve to show Scott and Emma in bed together?  My feeling is go buy a nudie mag if you want to see still shots of sexy naked people.  If you're not able to buy one of those magazines, you're too young to be seeing it anyway.  And while I personally am close to 40, a lot of readers aren't.  So even though I might want to read about a more adult theme, that theme has to be treated in such a way that it's appropriate for all readers (neverminding the parents' responsibilities, the publisher has a certain amount of responsibility to be aware of who all comprises their audience, and act accordingly - just as this site acts responsibly to enforce all-ages content). 
 
All that to say: more adult or real life subjects can be addressed in comics without showing every detail, and without it having to be a "lesson."  Tell a good story, but be aware of who the audience is - the entire audience, not just the majority.

comics are not for kids anymore.  It's more like a rated R movie.  People around the mid teens will understand it, but it's not really for them.  It's more like 21 and over. 

I like the fact that they do that it gives character's background make them more three dimensional for example Scott to this day I still don't want to get to close to the character for cheating, but I know he needed something to make him stand out because he was coming off as white bread with lasers. I think they use sex and affairs because thats what will get most readers attention not to mention the after-effects (births, awkward moments, jealous spouse or potential boyfriend/girlfriends)

firstable, I thinks Comics are no longer for children (or a few of them). 
And I also think that a mother who take a look of most of a comics would be more afraid by violence instead of sex affairs.  
The sex in comics is hidden, suggested for the most part and not so present. 
As to me, the romantic side is more present than everything.  Most of the heroes have real love relationship (even if most of this stories ends quickly and/or tragically), most of the ones who cheated are mind-controled or this kind of stuff and a few in comics have a huge sexual activity. And I don't speak of the rares woman who have a free sexual activity without being treat like a w**** . (contrary to man who could collect the “romantic” conquest).

In conclusion, perhaps because I’m European,  I think sex don’t have to be taboo especially compared with the profusion of violence in the modern comics.

If it's one thing about comic books, they reflect every dynamic aspects of our reality True yes that some relationships are built on solid ground and could last a lifetime, but there are others who feel one true love is not enough.

A stupid writer who had no idea who Kyle Rayner was, destroyed the best relationship in comics because of a random affair.