Friendly Enemy/Comic Books

Examples of Friendly Enemies in Comic Books include:

Batman has a hostile friendly rivalry with both Ra's al-Ghul and The Joker (usually, in both cases, with the 'friendly' part strictly one-sided on the villain's part). Neither will stop trying to kill Batman, though their attempts are worthy of him and their history. Of course, the Joker might just decide that it would be funny to simply shoot Bats in the back of the head in an alley one night...
- Batman also struggles with this when it concerns the Joker, especially in stories where his crimes are especially horrific and excessive. See The Killing Joke for probably the defining example: after the Joker commits probably his most evil act in a long career full of them, the graphic novel ends with the Joker finishing a joke that actually makes Batman laugh, and the two of them laughing together as the police sirens draw closer. Well, laughing insanely, with Batman possibly strangling the Joker...
  - The Joker is an interesting inversion because, from his point of view, this is their friendship. He commits all sorts of horrific and violent acts not because he's trying to cross the Moral Event Horizon (as he does this weekly) but because he views this almost as a game he and Batman play, and it's sometimes portrayed as the only thing he lives for.
    - One interesting Batman: Black and White (the first volume) story had The Joker and Batman as arch enemies...but only because it's their job to be so; after the climactic comic book scene (which is treated as a movie-style shoot), they're completely cool with stopping by the local cafe to pick up some lunch. In fact, at one point, the two even talk about their family lives!

In a Menacing Face-off style Pose, staring each other down:
Batman: How are the kids?
Joker: Just fine, yours?

A non-Batman (the person) example: in one issue of Robin, the Joker claims that he took a liking to Jason Todd's rougher, more streetwise style...which was why the latter had to die.

Less humorously, the Two-Face story ended with Two-Face actually waiting for Batman to come take him away after committing a murder.

Also from Batman, his relationship with Catwoman has always been inherently less hostile than with the other villains, primarily because she makes him hot under the cowl, and it's more justifiable here as her crimes are usually simple, for-profit theft and very rarely involve directly hurting people.
There's also the Riddler, who considers his rivalry with Batman a game and who, like Catwoman, is generally not harmful enough to warrant being treated as a serious villain.

Who, now, is just a friend—after going legit as a private eye, they get on quite well. Well, as well as one can with Bats.

Half the time, Ra's al-Ghul doesn't want Batman dead; he wants him to marry his daughter and father and/or become his heir. Especially obvious in Batman Begins, and it might be the one instance where the 'relationship' wasn't strictly one-sided on the villain's part.
Harvey Dent/Two-Face is one of Bruce's close friends, and one of the few relationships where the Bruce-centric version of their relationship seems more important than the Batman-centric version of the relationship to him.

A possible Fridge Brilliance for the Superman books suggests that Lex Luthor thinks highly of, or at least tolerates, Clark Kent and hates the everlasting the crap out of Superman: the Man of Steel, at least in All-Star Superman, seems to think he can reason with Luthor—which is a big step, all things considered. Not that Luthor ever listened to Superman anyway. But when the Man of Steel isn't around to stop him, Luthor starts doing really terrible things.
- In All-Star Superman, Luthor even gives Clark Kent a backhanded compliment and derides Superman in the same sentence.
- A lot of lower-level criminals (including Hitman) have this sort of relationship with Superman; it's been repeatedly noted that since Superman is so damn friendly and nice to everyone as long as they don't try to hurt or kill other people, very few non-super criminals actually dislike him. In one annual collection of short stories, it's even made into a gag in one vignette, where a member of a gang of bank robbers' opening question "Why Metropolis?" (of all cities to rob a bank in), is answered, after a long discussion about those assholes in Star City, Keystone City, and Gotham, when Superman catches them and politely hands them over to the police while recommending the Metropolis reform program to get their lives back together: "Because when he catches you, he's not a jerk about it."
Professor X and Magneto from X-Men. In fact, it's rare when either actively seeks to harm the other.
- They've been compared to Malcolm X (Magneto) and Dr. King (Xavier). The reason they're like this is because they both want what's best for mutants as a whole, but disagree on what this is and the methods for getting there.
- The movie actually shows them playing chess.
- Except in their Ultimate incarnations, where, at least for the first few issues, Magneto is quite willing to kill Xavier if he could get the chance. Xavier is opposed to killing in general - not to killing Magneto per se.
Doctor Doom and Reed Richards vary between this and blind, relentless hatred, depending on the day of the week. Another example is Reed Richards and Namor the Sub-Mariner, mostly because Reed's wife is the love of both of their lives.
- In one What If story, the Fantastic Four had been killed (or possibly disappeared) and the unlikely foursome of Spider-Man, Hulk, Wolverine, and Ghost Rider took over the title to uphold the legacy. They fight a massively powerful enemy who nearly kills them all, when...Doctor Doom steps in to take out the enemy, proclaiming that "None may kill the Fantastic Four... save Doom." That's right, he'll save their bacon simply because they're upholding his enemies' name, because he won't let that name be tarnished by being defeated by an unworthy opponent (that is, anyone but Doom).
- And on a less serious note, Doom has no problem with Squirrel Girl entering his sanctum and doing whatever she pleases. Either he respects her, or he's just afraid she'll beat him up again if he protests.
Lee and the Magistrate in earlier Fallen Angel were both rivals and lovers.
In New Teen Titans, Deathstroke the Terminator and Changeling (now Beast Boy) developed a relationship like this in the '80s. Changeling was about to fight him to the death when Deathstroke appealed to his humanity by showing up without his mask, stating that it was the faceless mask that he wanted to kill, not the person behind it. They later talked things over in a diner.
The Comedian and Moloch of Watchmen. He specifically comments that Moloch is the closest thing he has to a friend. He's known him for decades. He then immediately comments on how sad and pathetic that is. It's not a one-sided friendship either. Moloch is one of the only people who visits the Comedian's grave.
The Sandman has a less venomous relationship with Spider-Man than the wallcrawler's other adversaries, even when he's not playing the good guy.
- He has been known to form an uneasy alliance with Venom occasionally.
The Sonic X comic book portrays Sonic's and Eggman's relationship as exactly this. When Eggman's not launching an evil scheme, the two are practically friends. They have civilized conversations, face off in (mostly) friendly competitions...Sonic even helps Dr. Eggman get his secret lair back in control so he can get back to launching his evil schemes again. When Eggman shows up for a party, no one really bats an eye, either. Eggman's just the friendly neighborhood supervillain.
- Eggman also does something "truly vile" to get out of this relationship quite often.
The Flash's Rogues Gallery can be kind of like this, with such gems as Flash going to a party the Rogues threw for Captain Cold when the latter was released on parole. He crashed at Cold's house at least once, and one of his best buddies, the Pied Piper, was still kind of playing the Rogue, if for a good cause. All bets are off now, of course.
- The first Icicle (Joar Mahkent) apparently liked Jay Garrick and Barry Allen enough (and disliked his relatives enough) that he left half of his fortune to whoever was the Flash at the time.
When Eric Masterson served as replacement Thor for a while, he developed a friendship/rivalry with the villain, the Absorbing Man. When Masterson died, Absorbing Man visited his grave and openly admitted to Thor that they were friends.
Captain America has Batroc the Leaper. They both actually enjoy squaring off and are generally on good terms. He has even teamed up with Cap to defeat another villain on a number of occasions.
Played with in Damage Control. In the first issue, John Porter helps the villain Thunderball cut through Damage Control's Lost & Found department. Later, when several employees are trapped with the Wrecking Crew, Thunderball recognizes John among them; he instructs the Wrecking Crew to leave them alone and claims that John has superpowers.
In the Transformers Generation 1 comic books, Optimus Prime and Scorponok (who was the Decepticon leader for most of the second half of the book's run) become this through a series of Enemy Mines.
There is a friendship between sidekick Arsenal (Roy Harper) and criminal Killer Croc (Waylon) in Red Hood and the Outlaws, after the former hit Rock Bottom and tried to commit suicide while fighting Killer Croc. Luckily Killer Croc wisened up to the scheme and called him out on it. In issue #4 Roy even mentions Waylon sponsoring him in the Alcoholic Anonymous program.
The Shade and Jack Knight started out like this; Shade made a full Heel Face Turn later.
Some comic book adaptations of Strawberry Shortcake had a haughty, snarky girl named Raisin Cane. Alternatively a cousin or niece of Sour Grapes, she was an accomplice to the villains’ plans, but still friendly towards Shortcake otherwise.
- In some adaptations, Sour Grapes herself was portrayed as a child, in which case she was pretty much the same as Raisin Cane.

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