Bobby Drake: Iceman Appreciation 2022

[NewMutant]

[QUOTE=Nicoclaws;6031764]I know some of you are not fan of his, but Luciano Vecchio posted another com of Iceman, in AoX garb, in and out of ice form !
https://twitter.com/LucianoVecchio/s...k3_IWX1Oqa77Og

Still one of my fav Iceman look.

Attachment 120724[/Q]

I really enjoy this look. I know a few poster had some historical qualms with it. But I thought it was a good look.

[Nicoclaws]

[QUOTE=NewMutant;6032010]

I know some of you are not fan of his, but Luciano Vecchio posted another com of Iceman, in AoX garb, in and out of ice form !
https://twitter.com/LucianoVecchio/s...k3_IWX1Oqa77Og

Still one of my fav Iceman look.

Attachment 120724[/Q]

I really enjoy this look. I know a few poster had some historical qualms with it. But I thought it was a good look.

Well tbh it IS nazi-inspired XD.
But take off the armband, and maybe make the pants a tiny short...

[Journey]

This Bobby with a beard Agenda he keeps pushing I am not here for it at all.

[NewMutant]

[QUOTE=Nicoclaws;6032019]

Well tbh it IS nazi-inspired XD.
But take off the armband, and maybe make the pants a tiny short...

Haha. I still go with the red romper!

[Journey]

Yeah My favorite Bobby suit is Definitely that Red Wrestling Singlet type looking suit from his solo barefoot tho it looks stupid with shoes.

[Nicoclaws]

[QUOTE=NewMutant;6032157]

Haha. I still go with the red romper!

I dislike the red costume, mostly because I don't like that color for him. Also the short was not really sexy.

[Mirai]

This Bobby with a beard Agenda he keeps pushing I am not here for it at all.

Same . Kris Anka likes to do that too, giving bear and hairy chest to (almost) every male hero he draws.

[Shadowcat]

Happy Jewish American Heritage Month

[PolarIceFire]

[Icefanatic]

[Nicoclaws]

Same . Kris Anka likes to do that too, giving bear and hairy chest to (almost) every male hero he draws.

I'm very happy with hairier X-men but that's just my taste.

[Mirai]

I'm very happy with hairier X-men but that's just my taste.

And thats fine. But when i think of hairy/bearded X-men, i think of Wolverine, Forge, Cable or Beast, not the water-themed mutants like Iceman or Namor.

[BobbysWorld]

Random wishlist for things they could do with Bobby that focus on stuff other than just his powers:

- Do more with the Christian/Bobby relationship. Whether or not Bobby's going to Arakko in X-Men Red, they could easily have Christian go to Arakko in order to represent Hellfire interests on the new mutant planet and in the Diplomatic Ring where alien races gather for trade and talks. I do want Christian fleshed out as a character in his own right, but no reason they can't do that and still showcase his relationship with Bobby more than we actually got in Marauders. I've been trying to figure out for ages what Alyssa Wong might be working on as her still unannounced X-Book, and I've been going over what niches haven't been filled yet - given that Duggan ended the last volume by definitively moving Emma, Shaw and Kate away from Hellfire to focus on their Quiet Council seats, and Orlando's clear focus on the Marauders as an entity unto themselves separate from Hellfire.....it is noteworthy to me that we got major shakeups in what's supposedly one of the foundational institutions of Krakoa, with Lourdes, Christian and the Cuckoos all moving into new roles....and no indication where this new Hellfire Court might show up and get some focus. So while I don't know how likely this is, I feel like there's at least a possibility Wong's working on something Hellfire related.

(Which would also explain the lack of an announcement still....its not hard to imagine that there could be a specific plot point in this year's Hellfire Gala that leads into a new Hellfire related book, and thus there understandably wouldn't be an announcement about a book like that until after the Gala).

- Might seem like kind of a swerve, just after talking about more Christian/Bobby, but I reeeeeally want to see someone pick up the long-teased possibility that Bobby really is the father of Opal Tanaka's son Robert Jr. - I mean c'mon, its the easiest thing in the world to canonize, the legwork is already done! And the thing about this is....one of the core problems that recurred in Bobby and Opal's relationship (besides the whole, y'know, him being gay thing, lmfao) was how often Bobby's life as a superhero came between them. Opal wasn't really a fan of all the danger and drama that came with being a superhero's boyfriend. There was one occasion where she popped off about how it seems the only way she can get him to show up for a date is if she's kidnapped by a supervillain, lol. I mean....she wasn't wrong. But the point is...ultimately the big divide between them, even before Bobby came out, was due to Opal wanting to distance herself from the unconventional and unpredictable life Bobby led as a superhero.

If Bobby really is Robert Jr.'s father, it would be perfectly in character if the reason Opal lied was to try and protect their son from getting caught up in all the danger that revolved around the X-Men. It'd be hard to blame her.....even as a baby, Robert Jr. was already used by a supervillain to gain leverage over Bobby. Plus, Opal was right there and part of Bobby's life in the aftermath of baby Cable being sent into the distant future and while they all still thought they'd never see him again, and she saw the toll it took not just on Scott and Jean but Bobby too (he loved babysitting his nephew)...not to mention, she was around for or heard about all kinds of instances where X-Men were mind-controlled or impersonated, like when Dark Beast replaced Hank in the Onslaught era, when Havok was brainwashed by the Brotherhood, Lorna possessed by Malice, Mystique masquerading as....pretty much everybody at one point or another, including Opal herself.....like, again, I don't think Bobby would even blame her for lying about RJ's parentage if she made the case that she figured not having him be on any villains' radar was the only way to keep him truly safe, and the only way to ensure no villains went sniffing around an omega mutant's possible progeny was to not even risk the X-Men knowing Bobby really did have a son.

So again, you barely have to do anything at all to establish both that RJ is Bobby's actual son and Opal had perfectly plausible reasons for lying about it....which brings us to the potentially VERY interesting set-up of RJ being at least old enough to be wielding some very impressive ice powers, potent enough Opal needs to break radio silence to enlist Bobby's help in teaching him control. (Something that Bobby of course struggled with at multiple times himself, with more power than he safely knew what to do with yet). Given all of the aforementioned....Opal's not likely to be a big fan of Krakoa, even if just from the perspective that it has a giant, permanent target etched on it, but once Bobby's back in RJ's life as his acknowledged father, it seems inevitable that they'd settle on some kind of split custody arrangement. Its not like they're getting back together or like Opal would want to move to Krakoa, so you could have RJ spending half his time living with his mom in the States, and half his time being raised by Bobby on Krakoa and helped with his powers.

Considering there's a lot of criticisms about the seeming lack of interest in human/mutant co-existence in the current era, I think you could do a LOT with an ongoing storyline about a gay X-Man known for being one of the most powerful members of mutant society co-parenting his son with his human ex-girlfriend that he is actually still friends or at least friendly with (they were never the kind of exes who hated each other, they just didn't work as a couple for well, so VERY many reasons). RJ being raised with a foot firmly planted in both his parents' 'two different worlds' introduces a really unique angle we haven't really seen yet in this era - or any previous era either, for that matter.

Not to mention there's a lot of drama and action potential inherent in RJ becoming known and thus popping up on various other characters' radars. Sina Grace's last Iceman arc focused on Sinister's interest in Bobby's powers, and we know he's got a sample of Bobby's DNA in his labs and some kind of plans for it and the samples of the other omegas....so there's definitely a potential arc to be had in Bobby justifiably worrying about Sinister showing the same interest in RJ. Not to mention his ex Mystique is a member of the governing body of Krakoa and last we saw them interact, she was still holding a grudge against Bobby for....being the only one to be nice to her when they were on the same X-Men team, oh Mystique, your Logic is so god-tier, your faves could never.....and additionally she's already impersonated Opal to get close to Bobby during Manifest Destiny, and considering she does her research, it'd be interesting to see just how much she knows from studying Opal's life in order to convincingly pass as her. Raven has to at least know Opal has a son, could be interesting if she figured out Bobby was his dad all the way back then and was just holding on to that little secret in case she ever needed some leverage with him herself.

Like I said, just a lot of possibilities all around. Not to mention how it might affect his relationship with Christian....how would his boyfriend - that he hasn't even been seeing that long - feel about Bobby's 'sudden' parenthood?

[BobbysWorld]

Moving on:

- Give Bobby some actual rogues of his own. As mentioned, he's got pre-existing conflicts with Sinister and Mystique at the very least, but it'd be great to see them give him a personal rival or nemesis all his own. The problem too many of the X-Men suffer from, especially in this era where they're a bit more spread out and disconnected from each other (and most of their villains are now on the same side as them, nominally at least) is that most of their villains are ensemble villains. They're enemies of the whole team rather than specific to the X-Men as individuals. There are exceptions of course, but not that many.

Individualized rogues really open up a lot of story possibilities however. There are figures from Bobby's past that I'd love to see come back.....for instance, in the very first X-Factor annual, Bobby was almost singlehandedly responsible for defeating the threat of a mutant named Heinrich Wolfgang aka the Doppelganger. He's a shapeshifter able to replicate the powers of those whose shape he takes by copying their DNA as long as he has access to them (sound familiar? LOL, of course unlike the Great Ring's Nameless Queen, he's likely not omega level so while he can shapeshift into other mutants and even copy their powers, I'd imagine there's a cap on how thoroughly he can replicate those powers, like he can copy the ability but not the scale of it, perhaps).

Anyway, the Doppelganger was attempting to engineer specific mutant powers for Russia (he even predated Sinister, even if only marginally) and when X-Factor went to Russia, he kidnapped Bobby and took his place among the team in order to destroy them from within. But Bobby got free and brought Doppelganger down by using his powers more effectively than Heinrich had figured out how to yet. The last we saw of Wolfgang was him being presumed dead by X-Factor, but then being shown on the final page of the issue still in Bobby's form and on a plane out of Russia, vowing revenge on Bobby specifically. He was mentioned as still being alive and having his powers even as of the 198 Files after Decimation, but we haven't seen him in decades....but he's still around presumably.

Someone like him could make a great foil for Bobby if he comes to Krakoa to be part of the mutant nation but despite the amnesty can't stand seeing this guy he's hated forever being celebrated for things like terraforming Mars....reigniting his desire to find some way to get revenge on Bobby for long ago slights or even take his place and receive the adulation he feels he deserves more instead. Something like that.

Another possibility is Infectia, a mutant with the power to rewrite someone's DNA to turn them into monsters of her own design. She targeted him back in the X-Factor days, seducing him and planning to turn him into one of her monstrous minions (Hank followed them and jumped in the way, taking the 'hit' for Bobby, which resulted in him regressing to his blue furred form after he'd recently figured out how to regain his human appearance). She showed up again in the 90s, having gotten sick with the Legacy Virus and turning to Hank and the X-Men for help in the hopes they'd found a cure...which they hadn't by then, of course, so she died with only Hank and Bobby there beside her. At the end, she expressed regret for what she'd done to Hank and planned to do to Bobby, but it'd be really interesting to see her resurrected and whether that change of heart still holds true when she's no longer dying...what would Josephine do with her second chance, and given her history with Bobby, how might he play into that either as an ally or an antagonist?

And then of course, they could always make someone brand new to be an antagonist for Bobby specifically. But just.....giving him a villain of his own, with a grudge or agenda against just Bobby rather than Bobby-as-part-of-a-team....that could go a long way towards helping him stand out. Heroes are often known as much for their Rogues as for their teammates. A lot of Scott's best stories result from Sinister's obsession with him, same with Logan and Sabretooth, Storm and the Shadow King, Warren and Apocalypse, Bishop and Fitzroy.....etc, etc. Focusing a villain's attention on just Bobby himself could open up some new avenues when writing him.

- This of course leads into one of my lingering finger-crossed hopes....that he's the surprise character yet to be revealed as an X-Men Red cast member. If it is him, the secrecy is likely because he's meant to be a challenger for Tarn's seat. There's a lot to be said for this possibility. It seems like somewhat out of left field on a superficial level, just because he's not the character one would usually think of for a role as prominent as that, not to mention the ramifications winning the seat would have for Bobby longterm - it'd literally give him a seat at the table as part of Arakko's governing body....but when you dig into it a little, it makes a lot of sense.

But I've already gone on and on at length and also I have stuff to do, so I'll get back to that at some other time if people are interested in my thoughts on that.

[kcekada]

Oh Kitty. You definitely looked Jewish when you were drawn by John Byrne!