Hero Profile: Iceman

I’m so excited! And I just can’t hide it! I’m about to lose control and I think I like it! I’m just joshing, of course I’ve never had control. I’m Deadpool. Your regularly scheduled host will be on in just a second. He so graciously gave me the opening paragraph today to let you all know that Ryan Reynolds and Fox have revealed that MY movie is going to be rated R. I’m like a kid on Christmas. How do I know that this is real and not an April fool’s Day prank? Because I’ll do terrible awful things to whomever thought this would be a funny joke. Need I say more? Enough threats, back to being giddy! I wonder what sort of horrible, gratuitous violence I’ll commit or profane, disgusting words I’ll get to utter. When I kill people we’ll actually get to see the blood gushing! It’s so exciting! Now, on with the show. About a much less funny X-man named Frost-dude or something.

Deadpool, you know his name is Iceman.

Knowing and caring are two very, very different things.

Yeah, original design is a little silly.

I suppose that’s true. Well, on with the show.

Robert “Bobby” Drake grew up in Long Island. Like most of the X-Men he led an uneventful life until his powers manifested. He was out on a date with a girl from school when a bully arrived and tried to pull a Biff Tanner on him. Too young to recognize a Back to the Future reference? Bully tried to physically take the girl. Technically this is kidnapping, but apparently is still an okay tactic in the 60s. Weird times. Trying to protect his date, Bobby’s power manifest and he encases the bully in a block of ice. They thawed him out, he was fine. Well, the town’s folk heard about this and get their torches and pitchforks. The local sheriff locked Bobby in the jail for his “safety.” Probably also letting out some of his own Mutant prejudices. Bobby was “chilling” in the jail cell when the outer wall of the station blew in. Scott Summers walked in and offered to free Bobby. Bobby said no, which I guess didn’t sit well Scott as the two young Mutants started fighting. Optic blasts and cold beams flew, until Xavier rolled in. He has that effect on his Mutants. After talking with the Drakes, Bobby’s parents suggested that he go with Xavier. I’m sure the angry mobs had no effect on their decision.

Bobby and Scott were quickly joined by Beast, Angel, and Jean Grey. Bobby becomes fast friends with Hank McCoy and since they both loved a good laugh they quickly took up the role of comic relief. In his early appearances Bobby could cover himself in layer of deceptively thick snow, which later evolved into his now very iconic organic ice form. Bobby is the kind of guy that makes friends with just about everyone he meets. The X-Men meet the Fantastic Four early on, and Bobby and Johnny Storm (Human Torch) become close friends. Despite their conflicting elements. The team goes to the Savage Land, Bobby buddies up with Ka-Zar. Everything wasn’t always nice for Bobby, however, as he had a tendency to be pretty seriously injured against powerful opponents like the Juggernaut and the Sentinels. He was part of the team that was captured on Krakoa, the living Island, and was then saved by Scott and the new X-Men.

Maybe he can fix this whole climate change thing.

He departs to the West Coast with Angel and formed the Champions, though the group didn’t last long. After that Bobby took a few years off and went to college to get a degree in accounting. Huh, somehow I never pegged Bobby as someone good with numbers. He was an on again, off again superhero for a while, but ultimately returned to full time hero duty when Angel and the rest of his old team became X-Factor. In one of their first outings as a team, Bobby is kidnapped by Loki. The God of Mischief uses his magics to enhance Bobby’s powers before using him as a conduit to restore power to the Frost Giants. He’s saved by Thor, but finds that after this point his powers have increased dramatically. It’s at this point he reached the “organic ice” level of his armor powers. When the team goes up against Apocalypse and his Horsemen, X-Factor gets their collective butts kicked by Death (Warren Worthington III) and the Horsemen. In their second attempt, fighting to defend Manhattan, Bobby helps Warren get a grip on things. Bobby creates a perfect duplicate of his frozen form to trick Warren into destroying. The thought that he’d killed one of his oldest friends snaps Warren out of Apocalypse’s control and they fend the super mutant off.

After this Bobby has a series of semi-serious romantic relationships, but it never seems to work out. He travels through time with the Team, died once or twice, gone on a soul seeking road trip with Rogue, and some interesting covert type stuff. The biggest being infiltrating Graydon Creed’s presidential campaign under the idiotic alias Drake Roberts. While working for Creed, Bobby was shocked to find his father at one of the rallies. Now, up to this point Will Drake has been pretty much a racist towards Mutants, despite his son being one. He’d verbally abused two of Bobby’s Mutant friends and made it clear that his own son’s mutation made him uncomfortable. But, at the Rally he spoke out for Mutants. Unfortunately people found out his connection to Will, and he was beaten within an inch of his life. He’s saved and then takes a leave of absence to reconnect with his father.

Think he ever gets his tongue
stuck to a flagpole?

It’s around this time that Bobby’s body began to mutate further. With each new wound he found parts of his body transforming into the organic ice and that he was unable to return to normal. He eventually turns to ice permanently. This embitters the once kindhearted jokester, making him lash out angrily at others. He even offended Nightcrawler by claiming only he and the other four original X-Men were the only ones that had the right to be called X-Men. He remained this way until M-Day, where he was reverted back to his human form. Bobby at first believes that mean he’d lost his powers, but it’s quickly revealed that they remain. Apparently Scarlet Witch’s magics reverted him to normal but he himself put up mental blocks to his powers. These blocks were removed after being threatened at gunpoint.

After Wolverine and Cyclops have their falling out, Wolverine approaches Bobby to be a part of his Jean Grey School for Higher Learning, as an X-man and professor. Bobby accepted. While at the school, after the fall of the Phoenix Five, Bobby makes an offhand comment about how the young Cyclops would have slapped never tolerated the current Cyclops actions, giving Beast the idea to do some time traveling. He and his past self are rather shocked to see each other. Young Bobby at his older self’s icy form and Current Bobby at seeing his younger self. Young Bobby stays at the Jean Grey School when young Angel runs off. Time travel gives me a headache.

Sliding is a pretty crazy way to
travel.

Bobby’s mutation gives him the power to rapidly decease thermal energy, almost instantly freezing bodies of water or water vapor. He uses this power to create a variety of frozen weapons, as well as ice constructs that could serve as decoys for himself. His preferred method of transportation is creating an ice slide that he rides with surprising speed. His powers are said to be at Omega Level in strength. Criteria varies, but Bobby is in the category since his powers could technically effect an entire planet’s eco system, and that he can survive the destruction of his body. In his ice form Bobby’s strength increases substantially, and he becomes nearly immortal. Any damage to his body can be restored with a large enough supply of water, with it he can submerge the damaged area in water and revert back to his organic form. His limb is restored, no damage, no scaring. Oh, and obviously he can survive in subzero temperatures.

Like Warren Worthington, Iceman has been used a bit more sparingly than Cyclops, Jean and Beast. No idea why.

He appeared in one episode in X-Men: The Animated Series. In it, he’s a former X-man searching for his missing girlfriend Lorna Dane. With the current X-Men they come across this universe’s version of X-Factor, a government contracted team lead by Havok. He also discovers that Lorna wasn’t kidnapped, but left him to be a part of Havok’s team. Whom she’s now seeing. Would a Dear John Letter have killed you, Lorna, or are all spawn of Magneto such drama queens? Oy, my head.

Not an awful Iceman,
just not who'd I'd have picked

Iceman appears in the second season of X-Men: Evolution. Originally considered as the eight mutant for the main cast, he was pushed into the background for original character Spyke. He’s the most experienced member of the second generation of X-mansion students and the unofficial leader of that generation, dubbed the New Mutants. He becomes a more regular X-man after Spyke leaves to join the Morlocks. In the episode Under Lock and Key, Boy is part of a team protecting a relic known as the spider stone. The team consists of the original X-Men, the older Beast and Angel, and the teenaged Cyclops and Jean. To my knowledge, the only time the original X-Men have been shown together as a team, not counting a few flashbacks in the X-Men: The Animated Series.

Bobby Drake is portrayed by Aaron Ashmore in four X-Men movies, the original trilogy and Days of Future Past. While I do like Ashmore as an actor, I felt he was a little too serious to be Iceman. But that’s just me. He’s largely a background character in X1, just serving as Rogue’s first friend at “Mutant High,” and his form was used by Mystique to make Rogue run off and be captured by Magneto. He’s also a background character in X2, where he, Rogue, and Pyro are the only students not captured by the government raid. Again, doesn’t do much other than make it clear the Rogue relationship is rough since they can’t touch, and that his younger brother is a racist. He is much more important in X-3, where he’s a full-fledged X-man. He and Rogue’s relationship is strained by the whole no touching thing, and by the fact he’s good friends with Kitty Pryde. He takes part in the final battle against Magneto, facing off against Pyro and finally transforming into his Ice form.

He has a minor role in Days of Future Past. His team has been surviving the Sentinel holocaust by using Kitty’s poorly described time manipulating powers. While Kitty sends Wolverine back to the sixties, Bobby remains as the last line of defense against the Sentinels. When the timeline is reset he’s seen happy with Rogue.

Of the five original X-Men, Bobby is my least favorite. Not sure exactly why, he’s a very likeable guy. He’s the jokester, tries hard to befriend everyone he meets, has a pretty dark story arch when he believes that he might be losing his organic flesh and blood form forever. But yeah, I’ve just never been that into him. I don’t honestly dislike him, it’s just I’d rather hear about Wolverine or Beast’s day than his. I respect the heck out of him for being one of the first and most loyal X-Men. And that’s all I have to say about that. He’s the ever cool Iceman. Next time, Magneto’s most dangerous lieutenant, Mystique.

 https://forums.marvelheroes.com/discussion/82401/feedback-iceman/p8

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iceman_%28comics%29

 http://marvel.wikia.com/Robert_Drake_%28Earth-295%29

 http://x-menevolution.wikia.com/wiki/Iceman

 http://marvel-movies.wikia.com/wiki/File:Future_Iceman_01.jpg