Iceman (comics)
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Template:Superherobox Iceman (Robert Louis "Bobby" Drake) is a comic book superhero in the Marvel Comics universe, and an original and current member of the X-Men. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, he first appeared in X-Men volume 1 #1 (September, 1963).
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Character stats
Height: 5'8"
Weight: 145 lbs.
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Brown
Character history
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Iceman is a mutant with the ability to emanate intense cold which manifests as ice formations, and the mental ability to shape those ice formations into whatever structure he can imagine. He is often seen to project cold from his hands in the form of "ice blasts" which can cause an enemy to be completely engulfed in ice in a matter of seconds. Perhaps his most ingenious use of his abilities is the creation of a sort of ice slide along which he can slide very quickly.
He was born in Long Island, New York, United States to William Robert Drake and his wife Madeline Beatrice Bass. As a teenager, Drake was recruited to Professor Charles Xavier's "school for gifted youngsters", where he joined other young mutants as a charter member of the X-Men. Drake was sometimes self-conscious that he was the youngest member of the original team.
Iceman's appearance has changed significantly over the years. In the early X-Men stories, his appearance was more reminiscent of a snowman. The explanation that was given in those days was that when he used his abilities, he became so cold that frost formed on his skin. In X-Men #7 (1964), at the prompting of team leader Cyclops he learned to cover his body with hardened-but-flexible ice, and adopted the hard crystalline appearance familiar to modern readers. Even more recently Iceman developed the ability to not only cover his body with ice, but to actually become organic ice. Though the appearance is similar, Iceman is now actually translucent in his ice form. Iceman is virtually indestructible in this form: he can reform his shatterd body, and even if the rest of his body is completely destroyed, his head can form a new body from frozen liquids. Most recently, Iceman has been trapped in his ice form to the degree that he cannot return to his human form.
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Iceman suffers from a chronic poor self image, and is a classic under-achiever. Bobby's use of his powers has often been lazy and undisciplined. Iceman has never realized the true potential of his abilities, and even went through a period of deep depression after Emma Frost, the former White Queen of the Hellfire Club, took over his body and used his powers at levels which Iceman himself had generally been unable to reach. The White Queen believed that Iceman had the potential to be one of the most powerful mutants on earth.
Powers and abilities
There has been quite a bit of speculation regarding the true nature of Iceman's powers. According to the laws of physics, cold is defined as the absence of heat, and therefore there is actually no such thing as "cold." If this is the case, Iceman cannot emanate cold, but rather must absorb or dispel heat. Since heat is energy, Iceman's power then becomes a pseudo-psionic ability to manipulate energy. It has been suggested that Iceman's lack of personal initiative has prevented him from discovering the deeper facets of his abilities, and has led him instead to focus only on what might be the easiest manifestation of his abilities, the creation of ice.
Iceman has long manifested his power to lower his external and internal body temperature without harm to himself, thereby projecting intense cold from his body. (He can reach -105F within a few seconds.) Iceman can use this ability to freeze any moisture in the air around him into unusually hard ice, and thereby form ice-slides, shields, bats, and other objects. He is also immune to sub-zero temperatures around him.
Iceman possesses the normal human strength of a man his age, height and build who engages in intensive regular exercise.
Appearances in other media
Iceman was one of the three leads in the animated television series Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, in which he was played by Frank Welker.
He also appeared in the X-Men animated series voiced by Dennis Akayama.
In the movies X-Men and X2, he is played by Shawn Ashmore.
External links
- Spotlight On... Iceman at UncannyXmen.Net (http://www.uncannyxmen.net/db/spotlight/showquestion.asp?faq=10&fldAuto=55)