X-MEN: The AoA Iceman

[starwolf_oakley]

We've been discussing how "all new, all different" Iceman is going to be, and if Iceman is going to be similar to the Age of Apocalypse Iceman. But how powerful was the AoA Iceman, and was he *anything* like "our" Bobby Drake?
Well, no. As I've said, he's more like sentient ice. I don't even think he resumes human form at all during AOA.



Magneto quotes Yogi Berra!



Pages after the cut.



As in this reality, Apocalypse has conquered most of North America and murdered millions of people, Bobby Drake isn't exactly the X-Men's resident "goofball accountant."

From X-MEN ALPHA:



From ASTONISHING X-MEN (vol 1) #1:



Six pages from AMAZING X-MEN #1:











From AMAZING X-MEN #2:

Comments

I like the idea

[blue_bolt]

I remember when Bobby got shot and spent a while in ice form, but he was always in the same shape. Here he's actually sentient ice rather than a human made of ice. I really like the idea. It's like Sandman (Spider-Man) but Bobby can drain thermodynamic energy.

Here's something I've always wondered. Since Bobby cools by moving thermodynamic energy, and thermodynamic energy is merely the manifestation of molecular, atomic and subatomic particle movement, does that mean that Bobby can drain kinetic energy? If Gambit can charge items with kinetic energy why can't Bobby do the opposite?

Imagine these scenarios:
Bobby drains the kinetic energy from a bullet stopping it in mid-air.
He could stop all movement (time effectively) and walk through a frozen fight, handcuffing the enemy. Heck he could replicate super speed by slowing everyone else down, or slowing the target down while everyone else stayed at the same speed. That's way better than Quicksilver.

[dr_archeville]

Since Bobby cools by moving thermodynamic energy

Are we sure that's how his powers work?

Loki once amped him up so much he had to wear an Inhibitor Belt (made by Forge) to keep his powers in check (which he eventually figured how to do). Since then my theory's been his powers are that he's channeling the icy cold of Nifleheim; it's why Loki chose him in the first place. Mutants accessing other dimensions isn't new -- Magik and Nightcrawler do it, so does Cyclops (under at least one writer, his power isn't "generating blasts of energy" but "opening a portal, in his eyeballs, to a dimension filled with concussive energy, and letting it pour out").

There was also another comic -- X-Men Forever, I think (the first one, where Prosh kidnapped Iceman, Jean Grey Mystique, Toad, and one or two others and told them they all had some great destiny; it ended with Mystique's 'default' form, and Toad's body, being the same as their counterparts from the first movie) -- where they said Bobby's powers are to essentially create ice; not by freezing ambient water vapor but by just creating it, ex nihilo.


All that aside, playing with thermal energy's fun. He could turn most anything into a superconductor, including the air (boosting the electrical/electromagnetic powers of anyone in the area). (Maybe that's why Magneto keeps coming back to the school....)

[valismedsen]

"so does Cyclops (under at least one writer, his power isn't "generating blasts of energy" but "opening a portal, in his eyeballs, to a dimension filled with concussive energy, and letting it pour out")."

From which writer/issue is this from? I've read it before on the internet, but could never find where it's from.

[arbre_rieur]

The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, I believe it was.

[icon_uk]

It was mentioned back in his 1980's four issue miniseries (Whose most notable claim, much like Darkseid debuting in a Jimmy Olsen comic was that it introduced Oblivion, who would be revealed to be one of the "Big Four" cosmic entities of the MU) than Bobby has two powers, one is the ability to manipulate water vapour and the other to absorb thermal energy from any source (And that can mean that if there isn't enough ambient moisture, he can pull water out of his own body to form the ice, though it was very dangerous to do so for obvious reasons.

It was the "Emma Frost posseses Iceman's body" which seems to have been the first move towards him getting his wider ranger of powers. Because Emma was interesting is neeing what he could do, and wasn't worried about hurting Bobby's body since she didn't plan on being in it long, she demonstrated all sort of new tricks, like reshaping the body, adding things like razor sharp edges to it, and being able to convert entirely into a liquid form for faster travel.

Generally I like the idea he's got more powers than he's shown before, and him doing a "Swamp Thing" style regrowing his body elsewhere I can get behind (Throw in a couple of limitations like needing a sub-zero pathway to travel through) but that "Molecular Inversion teleportation for people other than himself" struck me as an annoyingly random "We need a teleporter... Who can we bafflegab into being one?" situation

[arbre_rieur]

Was the moisture/molecular inversion thing only ever mentioned in the one scene posted above, or did it show up elsewhere?

[icon_uk]

It's mentioned (and done) a couple of times in AoA, but it's never even been hinted at as a power for mainstream Bobby that I'm aware of.

[arbre_rieur]

What is it? Turning into vapor to travel to another location?

[icon_uk]

Pretty much, but with the added tweak that he can do the same to other people (and their clothing) and reconstitute them perfectly at the other end.

[schmevil]

I've been waiting for them to explore Bobby's powers since Emma took him for a joyride. Here's hoping they do something interesting.

[auggie18]

Heh, the AoA Iceman I was talking about was the one who appeared in X-Force. Never actually read the original AoA. In X-force, they had him doing stuff like growing really big and making multiples of himself.

[brooms]

I had forgotten how much a I truly dislike AoA.

Bobby is supposed to be on Legacy, right? I won't be reading that, but I trust anything done with Bobby in W&tXM will be a happy medium of playful Bobby and Sentient Ice.

[starwolf_oakley]

"Was I ice that only dreamed it was a man?" I just don't know about a "Bobby starts losing touch with his humanity" story. He's not really the type.

Bobby doing amazing and astonishing things (pun intended) with his powers would be cool, but transporting the team through "Molecular Inversion" is a bit much. They should keep it in "Bobby can occasionally do some really incredible things with his powers, but takes a physical and mental strain on him" area.

[eyz]

You know what, in these types of 90s comics, it's always been more the colors hurting my eyes than the drawings.
It really feels like the colorists where discovering computer coloring softwares and throwing loads of gradients everywhere...