Gay and Cancelled: catching up with Iceman (#1-9)

When Marvel relaunched all its X-books in spring of 2017 it did so with a lot of fanfare regarding its return to basics, which ended up being mostly misplaced 90s nostalgia. The relaunch was also an opportunity for a reorganization of which characters where thrust into the spotlight or given leadership positions. This was mostly women like Young Jean Grey (X-Men: Blue) and Kitty Pryde (X-Men: Gold). Infinite variations of Wolverine still oversaturated the X-Market, but two of the ten (yes, TEN) X-Books were brand-new solo series: Jean Grey and Iceman, neither of whom had seen an ongoing solo book before. These choices can be understood as part of a multi-year attempt to return X-Men to before consecutive runs drastically transformed major characters like Cyclops and Jean Grey, bringing them back into the fold. It can also be viewed in context of Marvel’s ongoing diversity initiatives to highlight and change its overwhelmingly straight white cis male roster of heroes to reflect its diverse readership. If you didn’t already know, Iceman is now the gay X-Man. Marvel often does diversity poorly, much like an HR rep that would continually use the term diversity. Despite what 4chan white supremacists would have you believe, Jews in the media aren't pushing leftist agendas but rather a global corporation sees dollar signs in new forms of marketing. The problem of these book's quality is often from a lack of diversity in the creative teams hired to script and draw these books. There are some notable exceptions, Iceman being one, but also Black Panther and Ms. Marvel. A side note: a lot of Marvel books suck right now for a variety of reasons, none of them being the inclusion of women, queer, and POC characters, but that’s a different blog post.

I’ve pulled Iceman since its debut, but haven’t read it until now—months before its slated cancellation in March with #11. So here are my thoughts as I play catch-up with the various X-books that I’ve neglected.

Iceman plays like old school Peter Parker; a classic Marvel formula of a superhero juggling family life, romantic life, team-obligations, and a menagerie of super-villains. Writer Sina Grace has this balance down perfectly, with Iceman’s love-life being a stitch that weaves through all of the other elements of his life. In an smart turn from the post-Bryan Singer approach to the X-films (I cannot wait for the X-films to divest themselves of this abuser), Grace gives Iceman’s sexuality its own open dialogue and cleaves it distinctly from the mutant-as-metaphor stank that continues to haunt the X-books. That is, X-Men using mutant powers as a catch-all metaphor for complex intersectional identity is fraught with problems of erasure and reductionism, largely because X-Men at its worst is a bunch of straight, white, cis, able-bodied men and women that are said to represent marginalized peoples in America. In Iceman, the titular hero is both a mutant and gay and each part of his identity engenders distinct reactions from his family and friends.

The book also has a fascinating on-going dynamic with young Iceman aka time-displaced Iceman. In short, a couple years ago the original five X-Men from the 1960s were brought to the present day and have since starred in their own ongoing titles (All New X-Men and currently X-Men: Blue). Grace uses this relationship of modern day Iceman with his younger self to explore the book's central ideas of fit and family—where does Iceman belong and what is his role, if any, in all this. Some of the best moments in the these nine issues are when the two Ice-men are in dialogue. One of the best scenes in the series is when Iceman's modern-day parents discover the existence of a past version of their son and invite him to dinner.

The book has its weaknesses of course. It suffers from a current plague on the X-books of a constant revolving door of X-villain of the month, who often function only to bring Iceman into contact with another character and are then completely forgotten (see: Pyro, Juggernaut, et al). Grace does establish a slow-burn narrative arc with a prime nemesis of Daken, a headmaster of a rival school that steals an impressionable and idiotic student from Iceman with deeply tragic results (as seen in #9). The resolution of this arc will see the book through to its closure in #10 and #11, due out in February and March respectively. There’s also a really creative exploration of Iceman’s powers over the course of the narrative that recalls the rapid transformations of Iceman in the original 60s comic under Jack Kirby and Stan Lee, who goes from lumpy snowman to chiseled Iceman in the span of a few issues and who’s constantly learning new tricks, like the signature ice-bridge.

Perhaps the most glaring issue—partly because it contrasts the stellar writing—is the book's art. The pencil work is solid, especially in the first few issues drawn by Alessandro Vitti. The look and expression of Iceman’s bourgie middle-aged parents is warmly realized and practically everything with Iceman’s evolving mutant powers is intricately drafted. The problem is in the inking and coloring, which always looks like a rush job. Marvel is incredibly inconsistent, so some issues look way better than others. My knowledge of these processes is limited, so I can’t go into further detail, but most of this book is hideous to look at. I know I’m picky about art, but when DC is churning out books with gorgeous artwork at half the price of these Marvel books it becomes a bit unforgivable. To quote my friend and fan of the book: it’s a shame the cover artists didn’t do the whole series. Iceman features the best cover art, hands down, of any X-book on the stands right now.

reference:

1. Iceman #1 w.Sina Grace a.Alessandro Vitti Pub. June 7, 2017 Read 1/6/18
2. Iceman #2 w.Sina Grace a.Alessandro Vitti Pub. June 21, 2017 Read 1/6/18
3. Iceman #3 w.Sina Grace a.Alessandro Vitti Pub. July 26, 2017 Read 1/7/18
4. Iceman #4 w.Sina Grace a.Edgar Saul Salazar Arteaga Pub. Aug. 23, 2017 Read 1/7/18
5. Iceman #5 w.Sina Grace a.Alessandro Vitti Pub. Sep. 6, 2017 Read 1/7/18
6. Iceman #6 w.Sina Grace a.Robert Gill Pub. Oct. 4, 2017 Read 1/7/18
7. Iceman #7 w.Sina Grace a.Robert Gill Pub. Nov. 1, 2017 Read 1/7/18
8. Iceman #8 w.Sina Grace a.Robert Gill Pub. Dec. 6, 2017 Read 1/7/18
9. Iceman #9 w.Sina Grace a.Robert Gill Pub. Jan. 3, 2018 Read 1/7/18
10. top image: title page banner image of the book (I couldn't find credits)
11. middle image: #1 cover art by Kevin P. Wada
12. bottom image: panel from #5 art by Alessandro Vitti.