Happy Valentine’s Day.

Hopefully you’ve enjoyed wading through the ones we’ve found as much as we’ve enjoyed finding ’em. The day is here, so look quick and go do something with that special someone.

Close to one billion Valentines are sent each year; whether that be via mail or hand delivered. At last count, and that was 2010, an estimated 15 million e-valentines were sent.

The next time you shell out money for a valentine card, thank Esther Howland. Don’t look for her on Facebook or any other social media outlet. She’s been dead since 1904.

Her father owned the largest book and stationary store in the city of Worcester. He catered to his daughter’s wishes importing paper lace and floral decorations imported from England to create her own valentine cards. Her family was conscripted to further the endeavor. One brother with particularly good penmanship wrote the inscriptions. Her other brother who was a salesman began hawking the cards. Orders flooded in and friends and other family members were recruited to keep up with the deluge.

By 1850 she had turned the family business into an annual $100,000 success story. She retired in 1881, selling the business to the George C. Whitney Company, the New England Valentine Co.

With one last Valentine’s Day card to post, let’s go with Marvel’s Logan/Wolverine. While he may not seem to be the playboy Tony Stark is, Logan has had his share of lady friends. For example: Storm, Jean Grey, Mariko Yashisda, Mystique, Domino, Rogue, Silver Fox, Elektra, Itsu, Yukio, Black Cat, Lady Deathstrike and Snow Bird.

Again, happy Valentine’s Day, from us to you. We hope you like the card.

While this card is plainly geared for a more platonic relationship, Captain America, or Steve Rogers, has had his share of romantic interests.

Cap’s first love was Betsy Ross. Not the one believed to be the mother of the American flag, but a character introduced in the pre-Marvel era. Ross was also the Golden Age super heroine Golden Girl.

1979 Captain America Valentine Card

When Marvel brought Cap back, his history was retrofitted with another first love named Peggy Carter. Like her predecessor, Peggy was a woman Cap met during the war. All evidence of Betsy was dispatched with and Peggy essentially took her place sans super powers. Instead, Peggy was a member of the French resistance. It is unclear is she even knew Cap’s real identity.

When Cap met his fate in the waning days of World War II, Peggy suffered amnesia.

Cap would later meet Sharon Carter. When he was initially unfrozen, World War II was only two decades old, so Sharon was made a younger sister of Peggy. As time passed, her heritage was changed to grand niece to better fit the real passage of time. While they shared a strong bond for many years, their time together passed and the two became close friends instead.

Bernie Rosenthal entered the picture in the early 1980s during John Byrne’s historic year-long run on the title. At one point the two became engaged, but the nuptials were curtailed when Bernie moved to Ohio to attend law school. The two remained close after and she even represented Bucky for crimes he committed as the Winter Soldier.

Love is never simple. Especially in the Marvel Universe.

What a complicated web Stan, Steve, John and all who followed have woven for Spider-Man over the years.

Little did studious Peter Parker know when he attended the science exhibit his life would change forever. One spider bite later and Marvel’s flagship was born.

Whether it was the radioactive spider or Peter coming of age, the floodgates of romance burst open. His first lady love was Betty Brant.  J. Jonah’s secretary and the freelance photographer discovered some workplace chemistry ’till reporter Ned Leeds intervened.

Leeds’ interest and Betty’s eventual hatred of Spider-Man would end the romance almost before it began.

Waiting in the wings was Liz Allen. Liz began as the BMOC’s girl, but later found herself swayed by Peter’s low-key charm. Fate intervened with an uncle turned super villain and Liz would fade from the title for a decade or more.

Eventual wife Mary Jane Watson began as a blind date Peter ran as fast as he could from. Even after they began dating, he had eyes for a curvy blond, then involved with his friend Harry Osbourn.

Peter and Harry eventually swapped ladies and Gwen Stacy became his first true love. She would meet with an untimely end courtesy of Harry’s father Norman, aka the Green Goblin.

Mary Jane returned as an on again-off again girlfriend. Peter would even propose to her while still in college. She would decline the offer and head west.

Betty Brant, estranged from her husband, would return for a brief time and Felicia Hardy, the Black Cat, would enter Peter’s life as an admirer. They were an item until Peter learned Felicia was only interested in Spider-Man.

In grad school Peter would meet Deborah Whitman, but he was never as serious about her as she was with him.

Mary Jane would eventually return and this time accept his proposal. This would last until the One More Day story arc.

All this, plus a super-hero career. Wow.

Iron Man is the hero, while Tony Stark is the playboy.

Created in 1962, Stark was an early victim of the conflict brewing in Viet Nam. Misadventure led to the Howard Hughes illustrated surrogate’s heart issues requiring an outside power source to permitting further function.

And, a good thing, too, considering Stark’s other real life inspiration was silver screen Lothario Earl Flynn.

While most of Stark’s trysts are short lived, he has had his more serious entanglements. Employee Pepper Potts was one of the first comic book conquests. She would eventually marry another Stark employee, Happy Hogan.

Roxie Gilbert was introduced to spice the title up. Her plot twist branded her as the sister of Iron Man villain Firebrand.

Another relationship was curtailed when Whitney Frost became Madam Masque.

Bethany Cabe helped Stark dry out when he hit bottle’s bottom during Demon in a Bottle. Cabe would end the relationship for her husband she didn’t know was still alive. Ironically it was Iron Man who found him.

Bringing back the femme fatale, Indries Moomji helped ruin Stark and bring down Stark Enterprises.

The Avenger would mix business with pleasure by dating both the Wasp and She-Hulk, aka Janet Van Dyne and Jennifer Walter’s respectively.

His playboy ways were even expounded upon by Robert Downey Jr. in the big screen adaptation.

Yet, somehow Shell Head finds time to run a company and play hero. Hard to tell what his real super power is.

The Hulk doesn’t normally inspire fancies of Cupid, but ol’ Jade Jaws has had his share of romances. More so than his alter ego Bruce Banner.

His first, and truest, will always be Betty Ross.

Betty has been around since Hulk (1962) one. In true Marvel manner, she is the daughter of Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, Banner/Hulk’s oldest nemesis.

The two were romantically involved off and on throughout every incarnation of the Hulk’s books. They eventually married in Incredible Hulk (1968) 310 in 1986.

Next in Hulk’s black book would be a toss up. Caiera Oldstrong is his baby mama, but Jarella was pure puppy love from the dawn of the Bronze Age.

Jarella became the Hulk’s love interest, not Banner’s. When Hulk was miniaturized, he found himself ruler and betrothed with the princess of Ka’i. Their love couldn’t last as Hulk found himself yanked from the micro verse.

Caiera would play a lead role in Planet Hulk – Incredible Hulk (1968) 92-105 – becoming his wife and bearing their child, Skaar. Her death would result in the World War Hulk story arc that spanned most titles in the four color Marvel Universe.

As another famous green celebrity once said, “It’s not easy being green.”

So far this countdown we’ve had the boys showing their feelings, so lets soften the mood with one of the ladies.

While the moniker Ms. Marvel encompasses others, we’re talking about the OG Carol Danvers. She first graced the four color world in Marvel Super Heroes issue 13 in 1968. At the time she was a non-powered United States Air Force officer. The following year she was caught in an explosion with Captain Marvel, courtesy of the Kree. The explosion caused hers and Marvel’s DNA to merge giving her super powers. In 1977 she was given her own self-titled book and became a mainstay on the periphery of the Avengers.

X-Men scribe Chris Claremont would have her memories and powers stolen by the mutant Rogue in Avengers annual 10. Her misadventure would lead her to the X-Men where she would become Binary and, later, Warbird.

Carol officially became Captain Marvel in 2012.

Others assuming the title of Ms. Marvel include Sharon Ventuera, Karla Sofen and Kamala Khan.

Continuing to show some love this February is a Hallmark classic with the ever lovin’, blue eyed Thing.

For anyone who’s ever felt self conscious about their appearance, here’s Yancy Street’s most famous alum, Aunt Petunia’s own Bashful Benjamin J. Grimm.

Ben would spend most of his comic book career dating blind sculptress Alicia Masters. Their romance would be interrupted by teammate Johnny (Human Torch) Storm’s advances. She and Storm would marry only to learn later his Alicia was really a Skrull imposter.

The real Alicia, it was learned, had been in suspended animation during that time.

Ben would propose to schoolteacher Debbie Green only to leave her for fear of retribution by enemies.

Ben and Alicia would finally marry in Fantastic Four issue 650.

So, don’t give up hope, there’s someone for everyone.

January days seem so long though they grow dark too early.
Still suffering from the big holidays hangover, it’s almost like work trying to find anything mildly interesting to survive the month.

Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man 98 (1976)

This non-holiday caught my attention and triggered a memory of a Spidey villain from years past. Who better than The Spot to host National Polka Dot Day?

Why someone established a day for polka dots is beyond me. It just exists. The word first appeared in the 1857 Philly publication Godey’s Lady’s Book.

Since their introduction as a form of ladies wear fashion, polka dots have transferred to everything from napkins to fingernails. They are a fashion statement and fashion stigma depending which way the whims of haute couture are blowing.

For our purposes polka dots are a means of transportation.

Dr. Johnathon Ohnn made his debut in Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man 97 as a Kingpin minion. The MIT grad was under orders to recreate Cloak’s – of Cloak and Dagger fame – means of teleportation.

A laboratory mishap caused Ohnn to become the means of transference himself, peppered in black polka dots that are pathways to wherever his desire may lie.

Al Milgrom, writer, and Herb Trimpe, artist, are his creators.

Spot would also come to life as part of Marvel’s animated universe. He starred in his self-titled episode in 1994 on Fox Kids animated Spider-Man series and in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse in 2018 and Spider-Man: Across the Universe in 2023.