Iceman (Marvel Comics)

Iceman (Robert Louis "Bobby" Drake) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics and is a founding member of the X-Men. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in The X-Men #1 (Sept. 1963). Iceman is a mutant born with superhuman abilities. He has the ability to manipulate ice and cold by freezing water vapor around him. This allows him to freeze objects, as well as cover his body with ice.

Iceman has a relatively high profile among X-Men characters due to being frequently adapted into X-Men and Spider-Man-related media, including video games, animated series, and films. The character later received widespread media attention when a storyline retroactively revealed the original version of the character was a closeted gay man, in All-New X-Men #40 (April 2015), leading to his coming out.

Following the publication of this storyline, Iceman has been described as one of the most notable and powerful gay characters in comic books.

From 2000 to 2014, Shawn Ashmore portrayed Iceman in the 20th Century Fox X-Men films and voiced the character in The Super Hero Squad Show.

Created by writer Stan Lee and artist/co-writer Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in X-Men #1 (September 1963). Lee later admitted that Iceman was created essentially as a copy of the Human Torch, only using the opposite element for his power.

Iceman was featured in two self-titled limited comic book miniseries, one in 1984–85 written by J. M. DeMatteis and another in the 2000s by Andy Lanning and Dan Abnett, with art by Karl Kerschl. DeMatteis said of the first series, "It was my idea, so there was no one to blame but myself. I'll just say that it was a mistake and if the series made any sense whatsoever it was due to [editor] Bob Budiansky. That was a case where the editor's input was really needed—and Bob was a big help."

A mainstay in most X-Men titles, Iceman has been a main character in both Uncanny X-Men and the second volume of X-Men and was also featured in The Champions from 1975 to 1978 and The New Defenders from 1983 to 1986 as a member. He was a main character in the first volume of X-Factor, and a star in flashback stories when he was a teenager in X-Men: The Hidden Years and X-Men: First Class.

In April 2015, in issue 40 of All-New X-Men, a time-displaced version of the teenaged Iceman was revealed as gay by his teammate, Jean Grey, who discerned this with her telepathic ability. This raised questions, because the character's adult, present-day counterpart had previously been portrayed dating women. In Uncanny X-Men #600, which was published in November that year, the young Iceman confronts his older self, who confirms that he is gay as well but repressed his true self, not wanting to be both gay and a mutant. In 2017, Iceman received his first ongoing solo series, which focused on the adult Bobby Drake coming to terms with life as an out gay man, his status as an Omega-level mutant, his legacy as a hero and fighting some of the biggest villains in the Marvel Universe. The book had been cancelled, with its last issue being in early 2018. However, Marvel later reversed the decision and announced that a new book written by original writer Sina Grace as a part of their Fresh Start initiative and was released in 2019.