Astonishing Iceman #1 - Review & Spoiler Thread

[NewMutant]

The Marvel presentation that I posted in the preview thread spoke of Romeo as Bobby's boyfriend and they're apparently "an item". Which I don't quite like because I prefered the poly direction. I like them together and I like that there IS a bit of a reliance to Romeo's powers to help BObby with his own but...

How is the art ?

I mean Bobby kisses boys every recuse so I would imagine they are open if an item.

I'm not familiar with this artist but I would said its solid art. I would likely say I prefer it to the artists on Sina Grace's run. LV is a style of his own but this is more traditional.

[ChronoRogue]

Romeo brought Mr Omega level threat mutant who canÂ’t die with the power of empathy and Iceman canÂ’t function without him? Is that as bad as it sounds? Cause it sounds pretty damn stupid to me.

Yea, I'm not feeling this particular plot point either, but I won't lie I'm still not sold on Romeo so that probably doesn't help. I wish they were more of "slow-burn" romance, instead of how they've been handled so far. (it's been sporadic, not slow, there is a difference)

I do like Bobby's new ice palace and his ice golem, as well as him being more active in fighting against Orchis and their terrorism.

[Nicoclaws]

I mean Bobby kisses boys every recuse so I would imagine they are open if an item.

I'm not familiar with this artist but I would said its solid art. I would likely say I prefer it to the artists on Sina Grace's run. LV is a style of his own but this is more traditional.

Ah that's cool then ! More kissage !
I'm very curious.

[Journey]

So Romeo just be chilling in Bobby’s ice palace while he out here kissing other men? I mean **** i guess as long as he still comes home to him it’s okay.

[davetvs]

So Romeo just be chilling in Bobby’s ice palace while he out here kissing other men? I mean **** i guess as long as he still comes home to him it’s okay.

That was the most realistic part of the issue.

[RamaBird]

Yea, I'm not feeling this particular plot point either, but I won't lie I'm still not sold on Romeo so that probably doesn't help. I wish they were more of "slow-burn" romance, instead of how they've been handled so far. (it's been sporadic, not slow, there is a difference)

I do like Bobby's new ice palace and his ice golem, as well as him being more active in fighting against Orchis and their terrorism.

Yeah it makes Romeo feel forced and that’s an instant turn off. Was hoping Orlando would be better with a solo since his Marauders run was so crappy.

[Sutekh]

The only way I'm gonna like this Romeo's empathy holds him together thing is;

A) Bobby did get 'pulled back' from being unconscious and reform in response to Romeo's empathy, but is now just confused as to how it all works, having conflated what did happen with what has to continue happening, and it's all in his head. He just needs to believe in himself again. (Chorus sings, birds fly)

B) Romeo feels all helpless and stuff, watching Bobby 'die' and not being able to do bupkiss about it, and Bobby (after reforming) felt bad and is making him feel important, like his love is all that's (literally) holding Bobby together.

[Kingdom X]

Yea, I'm not feeling this particular plot point either, but I won't lie I'm still not sold on Romeo so that probably doesn't help. I wish they were more of "slow-burn" romance, instead of how they've been handled so far. (it's been sporadic, not slow, there is a difference)

I do like Bobby's new ice palace and his ice golem, as well as him being more active in fighting against Orchis and their terrorism.

Doesn’t help that Duggan had Bobby for a year and didn’t show Romeo with him once until the Gala. There was time to build that relationship post Unlimited series, but Duggan’s Bobby always seemed to consist of feats and the ocasional mention that he’s gay.

[Dante Milton]

I thought this was a disappointing and very quick read. If I wasn't already invested in Iceman and had read this as a newer reader, this issue would not have made me interested in picking up the next issue. Bobby's voice and dialogue are a bit off along with the overall tone of the book, which the art definitely didn't help with. I think it would make sense for Bobby to deal with a very difficult situation with humor, but after the trauma he endured I would expect it to feel more desperate or sardonic. I think it was a mistake to start from an outside perspective and not get any introspection or focus on Bobby until almost the middle of the issue and then when we finally do focus on him we get an emotionally empty info dump. I can see how the set up with Romeo could cause interesting friction between the two if I was invested in their relationship, but I am unfortunately not. And that's largely due to a complete lack of development for Romeo as an independent character, he currently exists only to be a love interest for Bobby which makes for a shallow, boring character. I want to like Romeo, but there's nothing there. The Orchis middle management antagonists are pretty boring and don't support the book's assertion that Bobby is a big, important target for them. The art is decent, but the facial expressions lack nuance, for most of the book Bobby is rendered with a bland smile, as though he is enjoying a picnic rather than fighting for his life. The book just feels very generic and bland right now, I love Iceman so I will support the book as long as they publish it, but I really hope it gets a lot better.

[Icefanatic]

I thought this was a disappointing and very quick read. If I wasn't already invested in Iceman and had read this as a newer reader, this issue would not have made me interested in picking up the next issue. Bobby's voice and dialogue are a bit off along with the overall tone of the book, which the art definitely didn't help with. I think it would make sense for Bobby to deal with a very difficult situation with humor, but after the trauma he endured I would expect it to feel more desperate or sardonic. I think it was a mistake to start from an outside perspective and not get any introspection or focus on Bobby until almost the middle of the issue and then when we finally do focus on him we get an emotionally empty info dump. I can see how the set up with Romeo could cause interesting friction between the two if I was invested in their relationship, but I am unfortunately not. And that's largely due to a complete lack of development for Romeo as an independent character, he currently exists only to be a love interest for Bobby which makes for a shallow, boring character. I want to like Romeo, but there's nothing there. The Orchis middle management antagonists are pretty boring and don't support the book's assertion that Bobby is a big, important target for them. The art is decent, but the facial expressions lack nuance, for most of the book Bobby is rendered with a bland smile, as though he is enjoying a picnic rather than fighting for his life. The book just feels very generic and bland right now, I love Iceman so I will support the book as long as they publish it, but I really hope it gets a lot better.

I agree with all of that except the criticism of the art. The facial expressions during the attack in San Fransisco were very well done, and I think the artist drew Iceman the way he was written, which isn't the fault of the artist. It felt fan-fic-y and breezy and mostly weightless except when it abruptly shifted to dire. Tonally the book is very much in line with Grace and Vecchio's runs, somewhere between sitcom and romcom, and thus it struggles with the same problems they had when trying to land beats outside of that. For fans who bailed on Grace's run and mostly skipped Vecchio's, this was a chance for a fresh start building off the momentum of the Gala events and aside from 'Clyde', it mostly fell flat.

[Til]

I thought it was an okay issue. Not bad at all, but it didn't really grab me, either.

I kinda felt bad for Romeo when Bobby was making out with that random dude in San Francisco. I guess he's fine with it though, since he's constantly monitoring Bobby's emotional state and didn't mention it when he came back to the Ice Palace.

[Alex_Of_X]

That was the most realistic part of the issue.

frfr

This issue felt...fine for what it was, but not a stunner. The opening battle was pretty, but not nail-biting. The cliffhanger was meh. spoilers:

bobby's gonna fight gases? really?

end of spoilers

The most interesting part--where he is with Romeo--was only a short single page. The only hint at more going on is in a hand-drawn data page? C'mon now lol

Carratu brought it, tho. Bring him onto Scarlet Witch with you, Steve. He's draw the best murderous lesbians this side of Pichelli

[Thundershot]

I like the issue better than I thought I would. I still can’t stand gay Iceman (why didn’t they just make him bi? He has like fifty years of experience with women.. now he’s the poster child for gay mutants, and that’s always been Northstar’s claim). I do like his fortress of solitude..

[lefthanded]

Yeah. I could see Bobby needing Romeo to help put himself back together initially, but why is he still somehow needed to keep him together? It's like the writers/editorial wanted the big death scene and then Iceman weaker as a lasting consequence and this is the best way they could make it work.

The art is great but the overall story and quality of the writing, some of it is cringe-inducing bad... Not even as good as Sina Grace but probably roughly on par with Luciano Vecchio or even a little below. Going into this I was hopeful for Orlando to deliver something of the caliber we use to get with Iceman, but sadly 3/10 sounds about right.

I agree that the handicap of not being able to be solid for too long without being near Romeo is too artificial. It is obviously just a way to have Iceman be super powerful but have an obvious kryptonite so he doesn't just curbstomp Orchis.

I thought this was a pleasant 6-7/10 comic ... BUT, in the context of Fall of X it doesn't really fit in with the tone laid out by Duggan's Gala/X-men issues. That makes it more like a 3-4/10 comic to me since it doesn't fit.

I'm not saying that everyone should be acting like Ninja Kitty Pryde, but the comics should at least be in dialogue with each other. This comic seems entirely divorced from the rest of Fall of X despite technically still being about Orchis vs Mutants.

[Cyclone_Ablaze]

The only thing I didnt really like is how he came back but itll be intriguing to see what Orlando does with this mini.

I thought it was a pretty Neat Idea. I'll admit it's a little disappointing to find out that Bobby didn't transfer his mind to Alaska, but EH. Oh well.