Iceman’s stand-alone comic series is coming back!
The first solo series for the character only lasted a year between 2017 and 2018. Marvel then canceled it after blaming its poor sales numbers. As such, many are surprised to see that the character is returning for another go at it.
While the first run saw Iceman coming out to his parents, exploring gay dating, and having his first gay kiss, this new run will see him fighting a mysterious villain.
Someone has been hunting the Morlocks, and underground society of mutants, and Iceman is taking it upon himself to find the murderer before a new mutant massacre happens.
On top of that, the first issue will have a guest appearance from famous X-man Bishop.
The series will be written by openly gay writer Sina Grace and drawn by Nathan Stockman.
In an interview with Marvel.com, Grace said that Iceman’s journey this time around will focused on his adventures and not as much on his personal life. That said, there will be moments of fun between him, his best friend Kitty Pryde, and the more serious Bishop.
“While he’s fine enough running a team, he knows it’s not where his strengths are best put to use,” he said.
“He’s still sorting out how he fits in this world when he discovers that Morlocks are disappearing in the sewers. What he uncovers in the catacombs is far more terrifying than he could have imagined. From there? Things get really bad.”
“I think they’re gonna [be] fun to have next to each other given Bobby’s new context,’ Grace said. ‘Exploring identity is a huge theme in this series, and Bishop’s a perfect character to have bounce off Bobby… not only ‘cuz he’s kind of more straight-laced than Iceman, but because he’s also this guy trying to establish himself in a world he’s not from. That’s something Bobby can relate to after having to come out to every single human being in his life.”
X-men character Iceman has had a tricky path in the past few years. In 2015, Marvel made the decision to turn his character gay. They did so by having a past version of him enter the modern timeline. Then, a past Jean Grey entered his mind and brought out the buried truth that he was gay.
After being forced to come to terms with his sexuality, adult Iceman came out to his friends, teammates, and family. The solo run series then showed Iceman adjusting to life outside of the closet while still doing his everyday superheroing.
We’ll see how this new run will build on that.
Iceman #1 will drop on September 12.
