Tuesday, March 8, 2011

The Start of the Silver Age Rip & Bonnie Romance

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(Does Bonnie really want to put the moves on Rip in front of the rest of the crew plus a frowning robot? Yes, yes she does. Click on the image for the second panel.)

I've been going through a lot of Rip Hunter material and have found that (so far) he's only had one romantic interest: Bonnie Baxter. Bonnie was his research assistant that for some strange reason brought her baby brother to her job where he sort of helps out just because. Rips' solo series ran 29 issues, the first half showing the group in regular clothes dealing with historical figures, aliens and people that dress like monsters. Rip usually single handedly kicked most of their enemies asses although Jeff would lend a hand and Bonnie and Corky helped in less physical ways. Although both of the Baxters used the Time Sphere's guns to drive off enemies (just roll with it.) Anyway, the first half of the series surprised me because there seemed to be no romance with Bonnie and Rip. Jeff seemed more worried about her but they never had anyone seem compelled to have Bonnie as a love interest. In issue #16 a few things changed in the series.


The Time Masters started wearing their green and red uniforms that contained historical data and translator discs. The issue also has Corky kidnapped to operate the controls of the time sphere for some of times' greatest bad guys. What's interesting is that this issue also starts the Rip and Bonnie relationship although it's not presented as a major plot. Bonnie shows her interest when she gets jealous of another woman showing affection for Rip through their travels. He doesn't seem to notice either woman as he's focused on saving Corky and stopping the bad guys. During their search Rip and Jeff leave Bonnie to watch the time sphere as they close in on the villains. But while they saved Corky they realized that both Bonnie and their ride home are endangered. All seems lost until they figure out that Bonnie tricked the villains. That's right, Bonnie saved the day by capturing the bad guys (using those guns.)

When she explains that she didn't use the communicator to let them know for fear of tipping off their foes Rips' impressed. He let's her know this by telling her how amazing she was and kissing her on the cheek. (Sorry don't have pictures for this issue.) That's right, Rip falls for her because she used her brains and kicked ass. This is the start of their Silver Age romance that will be seen throughout the rest of the series.

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