University of Panels: Comic Review: Iceman (Vol. 1-2)

Writer: Sina Grace

Artists: Alessandro Vitti, Edgar Salazar, Ibraim Roberson, Robert Gill & Sina Grace

Sina Grace’s Iceman series excels in its portrayal of the issues the LGBTQ community struggles with!

Ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

In one of his famous soapboxes, Stan Lee wrote in the letter’s column of AVENGERS #74, “None of us lives in a vacuum — none of us is untouched by the everyday events about us — events which shape our stories just as they shape our lives. Sure, our stories can be called escapist — but just because something’s for fun, doesn’t mean we have to blanket our brains while we read it!”

What he meant was that although comic books are fictional fantasy at their core, they should still try to be reflective of the societal trends of the time they’re published in. The soapbox was published in response to fans who complained about the inclusion of political messages in comics. However, Stan believed that escapist literature should serve as a vehicle for moral and philosophical discussions. This is evidenced by him alluding to the Civil Rights movement along with Cold and Vietnam Wars, which were subjects that he frequently referenced in the comics he wrote during the 1960s. I find Stan’s words to be fittingly appropriate in regards to subject of today’s review, the 11-issue ICEMAN series by Sina Grace. History seems to have repeated itself. Although ICEMAN is a well-written and brilliant series about a young man’s struggles to come to terms with being gay and further demonstrates Marvel’s efforts to become more inclusive with readers, the book has drawn significant backlash from right-leaning members of the comics' community.

But before I provide my analysis of the book itself, I need to give some lengthy background on both the character Iceman and the controversy surrounding his solo-series. For those unaware, Iceman, a.k.a. Robert “Bobby” Drake, was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in 1963. As his name suggests, Bobby is a mutant with the ability to create and to manipulate constructs of ice, and he was one of the original five founding members of the X-Men. For almost fifty years the character was portrayed as a thrill-seeking jokester and ladies’ man, but, in 2015, writer Brian Michael Bendis decided to reveal that the character was secretly gay. Back in 2012, Bendis launched the series ALL-NEW X-MEN, which focused on the original five teenage X-Men being brought from the past to the present-day. In issue forty of the series, the time-displaced Jean Grey questions the younger Bobby’s flirtatious attitude after hitting on Magik, stating that she knew he was gay due to her telepathic powers, and later in UNCANNY X-MEN #600, the older Bobby reveals that he has always been gay as well when questioned by his younger self.

While the method in which Bobby was outed was indeed problematic in its execution (although I interpret Jean’s attitude as that of a concerned friend), I personally really loved the idea of Iceman being gay and felt it made perfect sense from a character perspective. Although Bobby has been shown to be an incessant womanizer, he was always really bad at being a womanizer, which is reflective of behavior demonstrated by some closeted gay individuals according to real-world studies. Furthermore, in stark contrast to the character’s cool and confident exterior, Bobby is shown internally to be insecure and self-doubting because he was raised by ultra-conservative parents who were unaccepting of their son’s mutant status. This, combined with the racism and bigotry the X-Men fight on a regular basis, forces Bobby to rely on humor as a shield to hide his true feelings. And seeing as how Bobby constantly tries to act hip and cool around attractive women, an individual could interpret his flirtatious behavior as the character overcompensating in order to try burying his inherent sexuality.

Additionally, the decision to have Iceman come out of the closet felt like a progressive effort by Marvel to be more reflective of our diverse and multicultural society. While Marvel has always promoted messages of tolerance and inclusion in books like X-MEN, it wasn’t until Bendis' creation of Miles Morales, an African American-Hispanic version of Spider-Man in 2011, that the company as a whole began to take shape in this direction. Marvel began creating new diverse characters like Kamala Khan (Ms. Marvel), who is a Pakistani-American Muslim teenager, and America Chavez (Miss America), America Chavez (Miss America), who is a Lesbian Latina woman from a parallel dimension, and Riri Williams (Ironheart), an African American engineering student from Chicago. Additionally, we began seeing new versions of old favorites such as a female Thor (Jane Foster) an African American Captain America (Sam Wilson; formerly the Falcon), a Hispanic Ghost Rider (Robbie Reyes), and a Korean-American Hulk (Amadeus Cho).

All-New, All-Different Marvel! From https://www.vox.com/culture/2017/4/4/15169572/marvel-diversity-outrage-gabriel.

Furthermore, Marvel also began hiring more diverse writers such Muslim-convert G. Willow Wilson for the aforementioned MS. MARVEL series, and African American journalist Ta-Nehisi Coates for the BLACK PANTHER books. Making Iceman gay felt like a natural extension of this progressive trend, so when I learned that Iceman received his own solo-series written by Middle Eastern gay author and former editor of THE WALKING DEAD comic, Sina Grace, I was naturally excited!

Unfortunately, however, while I and several others were on board with the series, it has simultaneously been subject to massive criticisms from far-right comic book fans, in particular by Richard C. Meyer and the members of Comicsgate. I already briefly discussed the controversy surrounding Comicsgate in my review of MS. MARVEL (VOL. 8): MECCA since the movement has been centered around making racist attacks against diverse characters and creators in comics, particularly those at Marvel. In regard to Sina Grace’s ICEMAN book, this comic has been one of the most viscerally attacked books by Meyer and his followers (second only to Gabby Rivera's AMERICA, another LGBTQ-lead comic). Not only have they made videos with clickbait titles like “I rip SJW Marvel’s ICEMAN In Half Figuratively and Literally,” but Meyer has also inaccurately labeled ICEMAN as "stereotypical" and “anti-gay propaganda.” This is in spite of the fact that ICEMAN is written by a gay author, while Meyer himself reads all of the character’s dialogue in a stereotypical “gay-lisp” voice, openly describes Bobby's bigoted parents as "nice people," and regularly makes homophobic and transphobic jokes in his videos. Meyer even went as far as to state that people like Sina Grace should be “waned from society" by being killed in a hypothetical third world war, which is hands down the absolute worst thing Meyer has ever said.

Meyer's rhetoric at its absolute worst!

You Know… for as much as I've complained SPIDER-MAN: ONE MORE DAY in the past, I honestly feel obliged to apologize for my past insults towards Joe Quesada for spearheading that book. While ONE MORE DAY is still my most personally despised comic of all-time since it moronically had Spidey and Mary Jane sell their marriage the devil (which was a complete middle finger to me as a Spider-Man fan), at least that book never advocated for the death of a gay man like Meyer did. I never thought I'd be saying this, but I've finally found a subject more deserving of my ire than ONE MORE DAY in the form of Richard C. Meyer and Comicsgate. They're right up there with Frank Miller's HOLY TERROR as being some of the most racist and hateful blights upon the medium of comics. And seeing as how ICEMAN has been one of the biggest targets of Comicsgate, I feel that it's my duty as a critic to provide a professional and unbiased analysis of the comic. Although the series was canceled after only 11-issues (reportedly due to low sales), it’s one that I personally really enjoyed and felt succeeds in its portrayal of the issues and struggles faced by the LGBTQ community and provides an authentic voice for gay representation in comics despite the homophobic backlash its recieved.

Set directly after the events of INHUMANS VS. X-MEN as part of the RESURRXION relaunch of the X-Men books, ICEMAN opens with the framing device of Bobby Drake struggling to describe himself on a men’s dating website juxtaposed to his sparing with the time-displaced version of himself in the Danger Room. After finishing their training exercise, the younger Iceman leaves to go on a date with his boyfriend Romeo, causing Bobby to momentarily reflect on the current state of his life. While Bobby has yet fully to come to terms with his recently discovered sexuality, his younger doppelgänger is not only fully comfortable with who he is, but he’s currently in a happy and prosperous relationship with a handsome young Inhuman. But before he can dwell on his thoughts any further, Bobby suddenly gets a call that his father is recovering in the New York Presbyterian Hospital from a heart infection. The meeting is awkward and uncomfortable for Bobby because not only are his parents already biased towards him being a mutant due to their conservative beliefs, but they’re also unaware of their son being gay: Mrs. Drake asks Bobby if he has any new girlfriends. As Bobby struggles to answer his mother, the three are interrupted when a teenage girl suddenly runs into the hospital and is shot at by a member of the Purifiers, a group of Christian zealots who believe that being a mutant is a sin against God. After subduing the purifier, Iceman learns that the young girl Michaela Ladak is a mutant as well, possessing the ability to solidify her saliva. Although Michaela laments about her powers being useless, Bobby confesses to her that in his earlier days he was solely restricted to throwing snowballs at his enemies, but that “you never know how far your powers can take you if you believe in yourself.”

Understanding that he’s an omega-level mutant who’s failed to tap into the full potential of his powers and is currently leaving behind a legacy of nothing but bad jokes and failed romances, Bobby leaves the hospital determined to try to establish a better life and legacy for himself. In doing so, Bobby will be forced to contend with challenges far more taxing than the likes of Wolverine’s deranged son Daken or the Juggernaut: namely confiding with his friends and teammates, struggling to find dates, and most draining of all… coming out to his bigoted mutantphobic parents! The road to becoming the best version of Iceman will not be easy, but it’s one that Bobby Drake intends to traverse all the way through!

Similar to the realistic and positive portrayal of Muslim Americans in MS. MARVEL, ICEMAN is a comic that I feel succeeds in conveying the various struggles faced by members of the LGBTQ community. What truly struck a cord with me about this series is how Bobby’s struggles to come to terms with his previously repressed sexuality come across to me as very genuine and earnest in their depiction. I believe that this can be attributed not only to the fact that the Sina Grace is not only a gay man himself, but also more especially that Iceman’s experiences are off those of Sina Grace and his friends. In an interview with IGN Grace states, “My rule with writing all of the personal stuff in Iceman is that it has to come from somewhere real. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to stand up against any criticism.” And in a sense, that mindset echoes all throughout the comic as Iceman’s efforts to come out to those closest to him feel reflective of those of LGBTQ individuals in the real world. For instance, Grace demonstrates how coming out can be beneficial for one’s relationships in the scene where Iceman confides with his ex-girlfriend Kitty Pryde, the current leader of the X-Men. During one mission where Kitty and Bobby struggle to calm down an anti-mutant mob pestering a new mutant named Zach, Iceman inadvertently makes the situation worse by forming a gigantic wall of ice, thereby making the mob angrier. Although Bobby tries to excuse the situation by stating he didn’t know that Zach possessed the uncontrolled ability to decrease or amplify power levels (including electronics and mutant powers) around him, Kitty reprimands Bobby with “Is that your excuse for everything? ‘I didn’t know?!’” Bobby quickly realizes that she’s referring to not just the situation at hand, but also that he didn’t discuss with her that he was gay, and Kitty tells Bobby, "I could have been there for you. When we broke up I couldn’t help but blame myself. ‘What did I do wrong?’ [But] the minute Goldballs told me, I went: ‘Oh! He’s gay. Okay.’ That’s all it took to go from being an angry ex to a concerned friend…” before embracing him in a hug.

Kitty Pryde comforts her ex-boyfriend. From Iceman #2 (Jun 2017).
Art by Edgar Salazar and Ibraim Roberson. Copyright © Marvel Entertainment.

These words give Bobby confidence and allow him to think strategically by not only knocking Zach unconscious, thus allowing them to use their powers efficiently, but also by forming a legion of ice-clones to fend off the mob while Kitty helped them escape. Grace effectively uses the scene to convey how in some cases coming out to your friends can have a positive effect on LGBTQ both personally and socially. And the scene resonates even further when Grace later states in the letter’s column of issue 4 that Kitty and Bobby’s conversation is based on “a real talk [he] had in college,” thus making it feel even more genuine.

Conversely, Grace portrays how coming out can also potentially negatively affect a gay individual’s relationships and is one of the most emotionally draining and terrifying issues the LGBTQ community still struggles with. This is nowhere more apparent than with Iceman’s parents, William and Madeline Drake. In addition to their already struggling to accept their son’s status as a mutant due to their conservative religious backgrounds, their narrow-minded world views caused problems for Bobby even as far back as a child since his father continuously pushed him to pursue a career in accounting despite it not fitting in with Bobby’s own dreams, and was even downright racist when Bobby dated women who were Italian or Japanese during the 90s. These attitudes made it difficult for Bobby to function as a child and caused him to begin using humor as a shield to hide the insecurities and feelings of self-doubt that he would carry on into his adult years. And while Bobby’s parents do express love for their son, such as when William speaks out against anti-mutant bigot Graydon Creed back in UNCANNY X-MEN #340, it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to interpret their relationship with their son to be borderline abusive in nature.

Grace perfectly understood this. The entire first half of the series is dedicated to building up Iceman’s fear and anxiety about coming out to his already mutantphobic parents. And when Bobby finally does come out to them in issue 5, it should come as no surprise that their reaction is negative and rejecting. Grace expertly demonstrates how parents with conservative backgrounds can say especially cruel and harsh things when their children come out. For example, Bobby’s father states “So where’s the Bobby Drake we raised? Our son’s dead. The Iceman wins.”

And similar to the conversation between Kitty and Bobby, Grace bases the one between Bobby and his parents off both his own coming out experience to his Muslim mother as well as those of an ex-boyfriend and lesbian friend of his. So, when Bobby’s mother questions why he doesn’t continue dating tons of women and Bobby states, “Haven’t you ever been with someone and known deep down that it’s not right. That’s how it's felt with every girl — every time. I don’t think that’s how you’re supposed to feel when you love someone,” his words resonate on a very genuine and authentic level. In large measure, Sina Grace greatly excels in his portrayal of LGBTQ struggles in ICEMAN by drawing upon his own personal experiences and those close to him, thus making them feel genuine to those unfamiliar with such situations.

Another element of ICEMAN that I particularly enjoyed is its depiction of Bobby’s powers and how they operate as metaphors for coming out and self-confidence. While mutants in the X-MEN books have always served as metaphors for oppressed minorities and the dangers of racism, in recent years many scholars and fans have interpreted being a mutant as analogous to being gay and struggling with issues like homophobia. This idea was undoubtedly portrayed by Bryan Singer in the movie X2: X-MEN UNITED, in the scene where Iceman first shows his powers to his parents and they infamously ask, “Have you ever tried… not being a mutant,” which is eerily familiar to real questions parents have asked their children when they come out. Grace provides an interesting take on the analogy between mutants and LGBTQ people with the idea that the level of Bobby’s ice powers is dependent on his self-confidence and state of mind. This idea is not entirely new. It has been implied since the 1990s that Bobby is significantly holding back with his powers and isn’t using them to their full potential. In UNCANNY X-MEN #314 from the 1990s Emma Frost telepathically takes control of Iceman’s body and uses his powers in ways that he himself had never imagined. This causes Bobby to feel ineffectual and worthless, as is later demonstrated in UNCANNY X-MEN #319 when he forms a gigantic castle made of ice on the Long Island beach but laments to Rogue that he’s “been kind of a slacker over the years,” and “had [his] face rubbed in the fact that he [hasn’t] been living up to the full potential of [his] mutant powers” for reasons he cannot explain.

While it was heavily implied back then that the sole reason Iceman relegated himself to be the class clown was because of conservative and borderline abusive parents, Sina Grace further builds on the idea through suggesting that it was also due to his repressing his sexuality. In recent years, psychological studies have shown that gay people who come out and accept their sexuality are more likely to live happy and prosperous lives than those who try to hide and suppress it. While this certainly won’t be the case for everyone, as homophobia is unfortunately still a real problem (even with the nationwide legalization of gay marriage back in 2015), it does seem to be the case for Bobby and his respective author.

This is most effectively demonstrated in issue 4, where a doubtful Iceman fails to stop his student Zach from being recruited by Daken, Wolverine’s evil son, who tells Bobby “I can smell the insecurity on you… the nervous energy. Good luck getting any of those X-Teens to fall in line with a leader who reeks of fear.”

Grace draws effective parallels between the two characters as Bobby becomes envious of Daken, as the latter is not only bi-sexual but is also fully content with who he is and embracing the full potential of his mutant powers. This leads to Bobby deciding to confront his worst fears by coming directly to his parents the next morning instead of in a letter like he had previously intended. By overcoming the most egregious and emotionally draining hurdle in his life, Bobby is able to express his mutant powers to their fullest potential, which Grace effectively demonstrates by having him fight the Juggernaut alone.

While the Juggernaut is one of the X-Men’s most powerful and dangerous enemies (he is often described as “unstoppable”) Iceman manages to defeat him singlehandedly with minimal effort because in a sense Bobby already has faced an even more unstoppable force in the form of his bigoted parents. Oftentimes in the real world an individual can only appreciate themselves after they've confronted their worst fears. And once they do so they are more likely to accept who themselves for who are internally, and only then will they have a chance of gaining the acceptance of others, as well as enduring and triumphing over hardships. Iceman's victory against the unstoppable Juggernaut after confronting his parents effectively symbolizes this idea. And even though Bobby does somewhat reconcile with his parents when his father states, “Bobby… I Love you. Nothing changes that,” the series still portrays them as struggling to accept Bobby’s sexuality as is demonstrated when they discover the existence of the younger time-displaced version of their son and say that he’s “a second chance,” that “[they] can raise this boy right,” to which the older Bobby describes their attitude as “a smack in the face to me.”

Bobby's parents continue to be verbally abusive. From Iceman #8 (Dec 2017).
Art by Robert Gill. Copyright © Marvel Entertainment.

This is reflective of how in the real world even families who do still love their children after coming out may not fully accept their sexuality and even continue to say offensive things in front of them. But even after all of the negative experiences with his parents, Bobby still pushes forth to try and maintain a working and healthier relationship with them, as Grace stated in an interview, "that's what makes us really mazing heroes, and that's what makes us really strong as a community, because we have to just absorb so much pain from our loved ones, and still love them back." In essence, Bobby is trying to be the best version of himself both by loving his parents even if they don't fully accept him being gay, which in turn allows him to perform better as a superhero and as a mentor to his student. Grace also simultaneously acknowledges in the letters column of issue 5 that “there are reactions that are several times worse than what Frosty had to deal with,” which is again reflective of real-life LGBTQ people enduring homophobia but still thriving as individuals and a community by gaining the acceptance from themselves and others. Overall, Grace’s handling of Bobby’s evolution from a joking underachiever to an omega-level mutant further develops him into a three-dimensional character, while being further symbolic of the real-world struggles of coming out, self-confidence and acceptance, and dealing with issues like homophobia.

While I did enjoy Sina Grace's work on the series, there were a few flaws that prevented me from elevating it to 5-stars. For instance, I feel that the second half of the series which focuses on Iceman beginning his first gay relationship doesn’t resonate with me as strongly as Iceman’s conflict with his parents did in the first half. Another nitpick that a friend pointed out to me is the how sometimes otherwise serious scenes would be interrupted briefly for a quick joke. While I could definitely see this annoying others, it isn’t too egregious of a flaw for me since the conversations themselves are so expertly handled. Speaking of humor, while some of Bobby’s one-liners and “dad jokes” fell flat for me personally, I can easily let them slide since Bobby’s jokes are intentionally supposed to be awkward, a fact that he himself acknowledges in the book. But the biggest flaw I find in ICEMAN is the villain from issues 6 and 7, Leti. In contrast to Bobby’s parents, Daken, or the Juggernaut, who all serve as effective antagonists for Iceman in my opinion, Leti is easily one of the most stupid comic book villains I’ve recently encountered. Her plan is to build an army of Sentinels (i.e. giant mutant killing robots) that will purposefully rampage across the streets of Los Angeles and fight Iceman and then sell footage of the fight to a special-effects company in Hollywood that will hopefully recruit her for a job.

Just wow… this plan makes absolutely zero sense. Not only will having giant robots tearing up the streets undoubtedly get her thrown in prison, but what studio would want to associate itself with a person who willingly destroys public property for the sake of a publicity stunt. And to make it even worse, after stopping her Iceman takes pity on Leti and gives her contact information for a job in mechanical engineering instead of tossing her in jail like he should have. This isn’t quite as dumb as the Jackal’s idiotic plan to kill the entire human population and replace them with clones from SPIDER-MAN: MAXIMUM CLONAGE, but it sure does rank high among insanely stupid villain plans. While I can easily ignore the other flaws I mentioned, it’s stuff like Leti and her stupid evil plan that demotes a star from this otherwise fantastic series.

But aside from that, Sina Grace’s ICEMAN series excels as a character-driven narrative about an individual’s struggles to find acceptance both within himself and from others while simultaneously providing an excellent perspective of LGBTQ issues drawn from the author’s own personal experiences. While the bigoted fans who make up the Comicsgate crowd were celebrating when both ICEMAN and Marvel’s only other LGBTQ-lead book AMERICA were cancelled back in March 2018, I was heartbroken as I personally loved this series. It presented a respectful and passionate portrayal of an otherwise marginalized community. Thankfully, the series was granted a second lease on life in September with Sina Grace back at the helm, proving that bigotry and intolerance has not won yet. And like how Bobby Drake pushes forward to become the best version of Iceman that he can be, I wish the same for Marvel!

“With realization of one’s own potential and self-confidence in one’s ability, one can build a better world.”

-Dalai Lama

1 comment:

WichitaOctober 14, 2018 at 5:25 PM
"Sina Grace’s ICEMAN series excels as a character-driven narrative about an individual’s struggles to find acceptance both within himself and from others..." That is a struggle we all have. Iceman is a character that has been around for a long time and in this particular storyline reveals his identity as a gay man. His gayness is not the whole story of Iceman; it is only one part. Your review underscores the fact that a good story is a good story. If it happens to touch on a societal theme, so be it. Stories are how we give life to our identities. It is how we humanize who we are. His struggles with his identity help to humanize him. In the end a good story will resonate with anyone who reads it. That is the case with Iceman because it stresses the importance of pushing forward to become the best version of who you are. A storyline that is a part of us all.

Sunday, October 14, 2018

Comic Review: Iceman (Vol. 1-2)

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