Dedicated to the definitive superhero non-team.


Friday, October 16, 2009

What's Eating Bobby Drake?

Iceman was one of the last heroes you'd expect to have angst. Physically, he could easily pass for a typical human—something most of his teammates couldn't do. And he lacked the mythic turmoil that inherently plagued so many Defenders.

But for existential Bobby Drake, the ability to choose whether or not to be a hero was the source of his problems. After leaving the original X-Men, his interest in studying accounting at college seemed to come more out of a desire to be conventional than a deeper interest in the field.

Revisiting some of the plot threads from his days in the Champions, Iceman's 1985 limited series forced the hero to face the on-the-fence position that he carried with him into the Defenders.

More a psychological journey than an adventure story, the limited series ultimately asked Iceman to decide to be the leader of his own life, independent of his parents' wishes or the expectations of his super-powered friends.

And though he did decide to stay with the New Defenders, there was no guarantee that Iceman would be happy.

J.M. DeMatteis wrote Iceman's limited series. The story was set soon after New Defenders #130.

2 comments:

Martin Gray said...

What is it with Iceman? Original X-Man, superb powers, iconic travel method, personality you could write in any direction . . . yet no one wants him to stick around?

Doc Savage said...

The Iceman miniseries was so dull. Such wasted potential for a character who could easily have made the A-list with a good writer and artist team.