Someone in an Asterix forums recently complained that Obelix never got a proper love interest, and it got me thinking... I mean, it seems that across Asterix, Lucky Luke, Tintin and probably many other popular series, very few (or outright none?) of the main characters discovered a bona fide romantic partner, and I suspect that the difficulties of mixing romance with a humor format was one of the biggest reasons why.
That, and the fact that adding a love interest would generally mean that such a character would become part of the ensemble, which means another mouth to feed, so to speak. (more storyline & panels for them, etc)
This is kinda why I'm re-reading Henk Kuijpers' Franka series, tomes 14 & 15, in which Franka has a pretty exhilarating love / adversarial relationship with "Rix," an art thief she initially sets out to capture. It's sort of in the style of James Bond films like From Russia with Love and The Spy Who Loved Me, and I thought author Kuijpers brought it with a lot of style and interest:
Now, I suppose that the difference in Franka (compared to more directly humorous series) is that such a series only lightly relies on humor, and maybe has greater license to muddy the waters without getting bogged down. For example, "Rix" could easily have been killed off either immediately or down the road, with the spirit of the series suffering little or no detriment. (much like a Van Hamme series for example, such as Largo Winch and Lady S.)
Compare that to Asterix, Lucky Luke or Tintin, in which it would have been a notably tragic event, doubtlessly shifting the tenor of the series. For Asterix in particular it could have been plainly disastrous, offending readers along the lines of how Simpsons viewers were outraged by the episode which revealed that Principal Skinner was in fact a fraudster.
All that said-- I'm hardly some 'know-it-all BD/Euro person.' So maybe in some other series, particularly humorous ones, romance can work perfectly well..?
Damn, Franka is such a cutie and so strong and dominant at the same time! :P
Regarding your question, Animah comes to mind, she is introduced in the second issue of The Incal and instantly becomes the love of John's life. Technically she is introduced in issue one, disguised as a homöo-geisha but the reader does not know at that point. As far as I remember they never really get to have much romance/quality time together, since they are constantly fighting to save the universe though.
In The Gardens of Aedena, Stel and Atan start out as sexless humanoids who later transition into a man and a women who eventually fall in love with each other. Maybe this example is a bit far fetched but when Stel and Atan change into Stel and Atana that is close enough to new characters getting introduced imo.
I still refuse to consider that episode canon and I never will! Experts often see that episode as the beginning of serious quality decline in the series. Skinner was a beloved core character of the show and they had built him up over years. To deconstruct such a character for the sake of writing a single under average quality episode was a sacrilege!
I do tend to prefer female leads, I think because their stories tend to be more interesting, less gimmicky, and more 'telling of the human condition.' OTOH, I'm also a sucker for beautiful babes, and Franka is a nice compromise I think because she lets me be a horny teenager at one level, but also someone kind of awestruck by how clever and powerful she is as a character. So... yeah, lol, I agree!
So, Animah is maybe the best example so far after Rix, who Franka does have plenty of sex with (mostly implied, but still). I haven't read any Incal in a long time. :S
Btw, I just found out that in a later album Rix betrays Franka, and deus ex machina, is indeed promptly killed off, seemingly confirming my thoughts in the post. It can work for stuff like Franka and The Incal, but would be a disaster in other works.
I guess Stel and Atana is a little more iffy for me. That was one of the first Moeby stories I ever read, and I distinctly remember the male (Stel?) becoming obsessed with Atana and chasing her away. I guess in a later volume she finally accepted him, but then it was revealed that the whole sequence was merely a dream-fantasy, right?
Haha, I can understand that. Personally I'm a bit torn, as I've always liked Le Retour de Martin Guerre and other imposter stories / films, but I guess I see yours and others' point that there was simply too much of Skinner's backstory to simply throw it all away like that, yup.