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The X-Men's Bobby Drake is starring in his own miniseries, with the Omega-level mutant's new adventures being told in the upcoming "Astonishing Iceman" #1. The five-issue comic book by Steve Orlando ("Scarlet Witch") and Vincenzo Carratù ("Mary Jane & Black Cat") will follow Iceman as he leaves Krakoa and heads to Antarctica following the events of the 2023 "Hellfire Gala."

How did this particular project come to be? Obviously, you have experience with the "X-Men" line of books ...

Do I have experience in the X-Men office? I guess I do. When we were talking about who could get a spotlight in "Fall of X," it was — as with many things in comics and the big two and the way publishing works — a confluence of events. We're looking to do some more solo titles, and you've also seen that there's going to be a Jean Grey solo title. The last time there was an Iceman book, I wasn't working at Marvel, and I love that book that Sina [Grace] did. That being said, our perspectives are very different as creators. It seemed like a great opportunity to explore the character, especially because as we dance around what's going to be happening in "Fall of X," it makes Iceman even more in my wheelhouse.

That's not to say there's some big change coming to his core. He's still Iceman, but the situation around him allows him to be even more aggressive and even more swashbuckling and dashing and all the types of things that I tend to write with my romantic superheroes and heartbreaking superheroes. It was a combination of this character had come free for a solo, and at the same time, he's also going to be positioned with the mutant status quo in "Fall of X" to be the type of action book that I write, where he's very much the heartbreaking outlaw doing the right thing against the will of all else.

That was very much in my wheelhouse for people who read "Midnighter" or any of my other solo books. That being said, Iceman is a very different character. While the setup and the environment might be similar, the play-out is very, very different. You're not going to see any exploding heads in Iceman, as you might imagine. He is not obsessed with serial violence, but he is about as driven and dedicated to helping people who need him, which is what appeals to me.

Iceman feels like one of the more underrated X-men characters, not only due to the fact that he's one of the original characters, but also the fact his power levels as an Omega-level mutant are constantly evolving. What makes Iceman such an interesting character in your eyes?

The power is the power, and he certainly has it — I'll make no argument there. But I don't tend to gravitate to those characters for what they can do so much as who they are. In the case of Iceman, since "X-Men" # 1, he's been the class clown, and there's a lot that goes into that. Part of that is wanting to be a people pleaser, wanting to make people happy, and wanting to turn a bad situation or a stressful situation into a less stressful situation. Part of that is almost like a biological necessity to not follow the rules.

Those are things that I sympathize with, or rather, that I relate to. The nice thing about that is that it's fun when Iceman is making jokes in class, but as the world comes to be even more aggressive toward mutants than ever before and rules start to include what mutants can and can't do — well, Iceman is still Iceman. If you tell him he's not allowed to do something, he's going to want to do it three times as much as before you said that.

You've talked about how the series will explore Iceman's powers in new ways. What can you say about that? Does he have an upper power limit?

I don't like to get into that too much because it's kind of the opposite of story, but I'll say this: The minute a character reaches a quote-unquote "peak" or upper power limit ... I don't foresee that ever happening for characters, but not for in-story reasons — for real creative reasons. This concept of characters peaking, that's the end of a story. That's the end of development, and that's not what we're interested in [for] anyone. If readers got it, they probably wouldn't be interested in it either because there'd be nowhere else for the characters to go.

Regarding an upper limit, it's a false narrative in some ways because even if any character "peaked" in their power level, they can still learn increased skill, increased complexity, increased nuance. In the same way that Emma Frost on paper — and I know I'm inflaming the comments section here — is not as powerful with telepathy as Jean Grey, she's still gotten the upper hand on Jean from time to time.


There's always still more to learn, and an upper limit is a simplistic way to look at things. That being said, you will see Bobby do things he's never done before, and you will see him use his powers in a different way than before because what happens to him in the Hellfire Gala forces him to come to terms with what his powers mean for things like his personhood and how he actually exists as an entity. That's thrown right in his face by the events of the Hellfire Gala. You'll see him be not just more powerful, but powerful in different ways and cavalier in different ways because he does know for sure now what matters, what makes Iceman, what's a threat to Iceman, and what he can be flippant about.

Where does Iceman find himself in this book post-"Hellfire Gala"?

All of mutant-kind is forced to abandon at least the lifestyle and the structure that they've known before. As to how that happens, you got to read the "Hellfire Gala." I'm dancing right up against it. Bobby's not alone, and mutant-kind as a whole has to reinvent itself. Luckily, what is mutation but change? We're all here to do it. So yes, he does find himself disconnected from the life he knew before. The nice thing about Bobby is that he has — whether he knows it or not — many families, and he has many circles.

When it comes to Iceman, you may not see him around all of the characters that you've seen him [with] when he was in "Marauders" or when he was on the X-Men, or he is on the X-Men roster now. But you will see him reestablishing connections that he hasn't had in a little bit, that maybe even he didn't realize were as strong as they are. Much like in real life, sometimes we meet people, we have flings with people, we interact with people, and we think we have our view of it, but we don't know whether or not we've touched someone deeply, whether or not we've really connected with them.

How other people feel about us may not match how we feel about them. While this is a tough time for mutant-kind, it's also an important chance for Bobby to shore up relationships that he maybe hasn't paid a lot of service to in Krakoan times because he's been looking and focusing on other things. Yes, it does include him going to Antarctica. As to why he has to retreat and build a stronghold in the coldest, most remote place on the planet, I will again direct you to Mr. [Gerry] Duggan and his co-creators and the "Hellfire Gala."

How has Iceman's recent time on the X-Men influenced the hero as he goes solo here? How does this build on his most recent stories?

The throughline between the "Infinity" comic and his current run in "X-Men," and even "Marauders" before, is there's a time when Bobby was not unsure about, but reticent and anxious about, his powers. Back in the '90s, it took Emma Frost taking over his body to show him how powerful he could be. The part that's fun about the current era is that he's ... Do I want to connect this to him in canon being closeted then, and now he's out? He's found a confidence and the ability to celebrate himself. That goes in "Marauders," it goes in Luciano [Vecchio]'s "Infinity" run, and it goes in the current "X-Men" run.

Iceman, in this book, when we say that he's going to be pushing bigger, bolder, and more provocative with his abilities — I'd love to take credit for that. I can in this book, but I'm not the one that started it. Gerry [Duggan] started that; Luciano started that when they decided that he was going to be going bigger, bolder, and more confident. You see him f***ing off to Jotunheim to fight frost giants for fun in "Marauders."

This is an Iceman that is at peace with himself, and I can't say that I don't think that isn't connected to his ability to finally live authentically and center his own internal being. Now that everybody knows who Iceman is for real, he is more comfortable being Iceman, being more bold, being more showy with his abilities. We're picking up on what started in those books, and we're going further and we're challenging it, but these are the seeds that started with Luciano, that started with Gerry and Mateo, and it's all about him rather than ...

What was it like working with Vincenzo Carratù on this project and seeing covers from Jesus Saiz?

Jesus on the covers has been incredible. I have been a fan of his for a long, long time. I'm sure I read him before, but it was his "Brave and the Bold" Aquaman issue with JMS, who he is now coming up with "Captain America." To have him on covers has been great.

And Vincenzo ... Look, this is not an easy book to draw for all the reasons we just discussed. Iceman can do so many things. He has an endless variety of ways to express his powers, his abilities, his own body. It was never going to be an easy book to draw. But the nice thing is that Vincenzo is leaning in. Every time I put something on the page that I know is going to be a little bit of a challenge, I try to get the scripts done a little early. He doesn't just make it happen; he over-delivers on it, and he exceeds the creativity needed. It's wonderful, wonderful work.

I think that we'll be talking about Vincenzo the same way that we talk about Pepe Larraz in the next three to five years. He has incredible kinetic energy on the page. There's nothing he can't draw, and his pages are incredibly exciting. You'll all see that in a couple of months.

More at the link: www.looper.com/1314757/marvel-comics-steve-orlando-iceman-class-clown-uplifts-others/

From Marvel:

www.marvel.com/articles/comics/fall-of-x-astonishing-iceman-steve-orlando-vincenzo-carratu

Following July’s X-MEN: HELLFIRE GALA #1, mutantkind will enter a thrilling new era of uncertainty, danger, and mystery known as FALL OF X! But as the X-Men recover from this brutal defeat, one member will strike out on their own as Earth’s new protector in ASTONISHING ICEMAN!

Just in time for the X-Men’s 60th anniversary, readers will witness one of the X-Men’s founding members embark on his most extraordinary chapter yet in a new series written by Steve Orlando (MARAUDERS, SCARLET WITCH) and drawn by Vincenzo Carratù (MARY JANE & BLACK CAT). Launching in August, ASTONISHING ICEMAN will elevate Bobby Drake to Super Hero greatness, complete with a new base of operations, never-before-seen uses of his abilities, and fierce new enemies. Iceman’s newfound purpose will position him amongst Marvel’s most powerful beings, but a dark side effect of his new mission could cause it all to shatter…

After the events of this year’s can’t-miss Hellfire Gala, Bobby Drake, AKA Iceman, sets his sights on heroic deeds like never before. But as a new situation develops that links Iceman to his Antarctic ice palace, he’ll have to be slicker than ever to accomplish his mission before Orchis knows what hit them! See the Omega-level mutant as you’ve never seen him before in a new saga that’ll push Iceman to the limits of his powers…and beyond!

"Have I not been saying my next Marvel project was cool as hell?" Orlando said. "ASTONISHING ICEMAN has been not just a joy, but a challenge, and the best possible kind....because the FALL OF X means Iceman's life is more dangerous and harrowing than ever. But Bobby is a hero to the core, and there's no danger he's met in whose face he won't laugh. When it's more dangerous than ever to be a hero, that's when Iceman's at his most heroic! And with Jesús Saiz and Vincenzo Carratù joining me on this—Iceman's going to look cooler than ever. See what I did there?"