Tumgik
#time displaced iceman
saintjudasi · 11 months
Text
Tumblr media Tumblr media
hes still my favourite
56 notes · View notes
samasmith23 · 8 months
Text
Iceman Almost Came Out as Gay Back in the 1990s
So prior to Brian Michael Bendis revealing Iceman (aka, Bobby Drake) was gay in the pages of his All-New X-Men run from 2015, apparently writer Scott Lobdell had planned to have Bobby come out of the closet two decades earlier but was unable to go through with his plans. Lobdell did however, lay the ground work for Bobby coming out during his time on the X-books in the mid-to-late 1990s.
Tumblr media
Specifically, during an encounter with Emma Frost back when she was still a villain, the former White Queen of the Hellfire Club briefly took control of Bobby’s mind and actually used his mutant powers in more creative ways than he ever had done before. Emma accurately pointed out that Bobby was intentionally holding back the true potential of his powers, and was using humor as a shield to mask his own insecurities due to his conservative upbringing by mutantphobic parents.
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
Writer Sina Grace actually followed up on this old plot point from the 90s during his Iceman solo-series which immediately followed Bobby being outed by the time-displaced Jean Grey in All-New X-Men. In addition to depicting Bobby becoming more comfortable with his sexuality and gradually out to his fellow teammates, ex-girlfriends like Kitty Pryde, and especially his bigoted parents...
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
...Grace finally allowed Bobby to fully embrace his potential as an Omega-Level mutant. Not only did Iceman singlehandedly defeat the unstoppable Juggernaut in combat after after overcoming his greatest fear by coming out to his parents, but he began using his powers in more creative ways than before such as constructing ice-shuriken and multiple ice-clones and kaju.
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
Furthermore, Grace also revealed in his run that yes, during that time Emma Frost had mind-controlled Bobby back in the 90s, she actually did learn that Bobby was gay. But unlike the time-displaced Jean Grey, Emma never outed Bobby’s closeted sexuality to him or anyone else, and instead respected his privacy due to her own tragic experiences with her older brother Christian Frost being forced into "gay conversion therapy" (aka, torture...) by their abusive father.
Tumblr media Tumblr media
Essentially, all of the people who try to argue that Iceman coming out makes zero sense or that it somehow "ignores/erases several decades of past continuity" (I'm looking at you homophobic Comicsgaters!) completely miss the fact that both Bendis & Grace were simply building upon the foundation that was already put in place by Lobdell back in the 90s! That’s NOT “ignoring or erasing several decades of continuity,” but the exact opposite!
And if you still need further proof that Bobby was always gay, just a reminder that during his very first appearance in X-Men (1963) #1 by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby, Iceman was the only person who was not acting like a horny jack-rabbit at the mere sight of the then-new student Jean Grey.
Tumblr media
In other words... Iceman was always gay even as far back as his inaugural issue! Suck it Comicsgaters!
334 notes · View notes
synergysilhouette · 3 months
Text
My rewrite of Iceman coming out
Tumblr media
As a gay man, I will loathe the way they made Bobby come out until the day I die. When the O5 X-Men come from the 1960s to the current time period, they go through changes--including Bobby realizing he's gay when Jean intrusively reads his mind and confronts him on it. I'm not here to argue whether he should or shouldn't have been retconned as gay (or how problematic it was to explain that his memory and feelings of this was locked away), but I did wanna say another way that they could've handled this. I'm not an X-Men expert, but people tell me it was coded for a while (whether deliberately or not), so let's explore that.
Tumblr media
Jean (young or current) is not involved. I hated her so much for her role in this. Reading his mind and then confronting him about it--whether in-character or not--was so disrespectful and out of line.
Tumblr media
2. It happens at different times and different ways for O5 Bobby and Present-Bobby. Let's start with O5 Bobby. During a heart-to-heart, Present-Bobby talks to his past self about his life and relationships up to this point, making O5 Bobby question his sexuality--though he doesn't immediately come out. Exploring 2010s New York as well as being exposed to a diverse group of people (in terms of race, religion, sexuality, etc.) makes O5 Bobby curious about exploring his sexuality, though this is made difficult since many aspects of gay culture would appear hypersexualized--and not just to us, but by his 1960's POV as well. It flusters Bobby and makes him even more concerned about coming out, worried about being seen as a degenerate. Eventually he musters up the courage to go out with a guy who can understand him wanting to take it slow (let's say Romeo) and they date until Bobby has to return to the future, rather than Romeo going through that portal and appearing to ghost O5 Bobby.
Tumblr media
3. Meanwhile, present-day Bobby sees his O5 self dating a guy, and it's jarring, to say the least. He suddenly feels self-conscious, and doesn't fully embrace his sexuality until after O5 Bobby is gone, having left behind a journal filled with advice and notes about how he felt in order to guide his present-day self. Similar to O5 Bobby, present-day Bobby still has jitters about gay dating--especially since he's been convinced that he was straight for a longer period of time and has even been in relationships with women. As annoying as him wanting to move across-country with Jonah was, I do like the idea that he was ready to move quickly in a new, healthy relationship, since I do imagine him going through even more trying times in the world of dating, namely because he's physically in his prime and has a reputation for himself, in contrast to his time-displaced counterpart.
And I was robbed of a true Daken/Iceman couple, but that's another post entirely. I'd like to see Bobby with Somnus or Pyro II again. Whaddya think? Was this a better idea than what we got from Marvel? You're free to say "no."
9 notes · View notes
farsight-the-char · 8 months
Note
im so curious what the damn pepperoni panel is
Okay so long ago (January 2013, 10 years go, dang) Brian Michael Bendis (he who fucked up modern Superman) was ruining X-men, and one of those things he did was "time displace" the original 5 X-men (Scott, Hank, Bobby, Warren, Jean) into the present, in his "All-New X-men" series.
In the 13th issue, this panel was published, which gets shared around a bunch as a meme.
Tumblr media
The "time displaced"/younger/naive Bobby Drake/Iceman making this comment, with the younger Hank Mcoy asking Professor Kitty Pyrde (Shadowcat) her option, which leads to the Professor giving this speech:
Tumblr media
About how words do matter, and Kitty's own experiences with antisemitism.
I feel the context is important.
....
This is one of the better written scenes in the run (Bendis's failures on X-men compounded as things dragged on).
14 notes · View notes
positivelybeastly · 5 months
Text
Plot Wishlist
General:
Any X-characters, but especially Storm, Shadowkat, Cyclops, Iceman, Jean Grey, Abigail Brand, Havok, Dazzler, Colossus, Mr. Sinister, Charles Xavier, Magneto, Sabretooth, et al.
Verse specific plots below.
Feline Hank:
Decimation/Utopia-era plots, perhaps including a PTSD recovery arc for Hank after his torture at the hands of Norman Osborn. Poor guy was literally having flashbacks at the drop of a hat and the best he got was a 'you're the rock, so idk just cope better' speech - would love to dive into this.
Fun, shippy things! Hank is a loveable fella, but utterly bereft of actual self-esteem - tons of ego and bluster, but self-esteem? Wrong house, miss - and I love to see him reconcile the often inflated mental portrait he has of others with his diabolical self-image.
Mutant cure. Hank has a vial of it just sitting in a freezer. All it takes is one particularly bad day.
Post-Intervention Hank:
Anything with any X-character, diving into the period of time between All-New X-Men and Krakoa. Hank screwed up, majorly, and his emotional state is ridiculously fractious - engage with him on this! Force him to change! Or let's have blazing arguments! Let's do both, fuck it!
Inhuman + Kang interactions! Hank was only with them for a short period of time in the grand scheme of things, but I dearly love that he made friends during his time here, and it breaks my heart that he felt like he couldn't go back after Inhumans vs. X-Men.
Avengers:
Defenders interactions! Especially Isaac Christians (Gargoyle), Patsy Walker (Hellcat) and Heather Douglas (Moondragon). I love this team - they're such a weird, kooky team of misfists and emotionally damaged individuals.
Threnody. I'm tired of talking about her as the first brick in the wall for Hank's downfall - let's talk about her as a character, let's engage with the situation, let's call Hank out, let's let him off the hook, let's do something with it!
X-Force:
Any and all members of the Quiet Council, perhaps a thread making sense of Beast's numerous karma houdinis. My portrayal of X-Force Beast diverges from the cartoon character you've seen in Percy's books, but I still want to engage with the situations he must've found himself in and write them like an adult. Let's get political, let's get complicated, let's get cruel, why not?
Any and all interactions where an old friend asks Beast what the hell he's doing and what happened to him. I just want someone to care that Beast has hollowed out his soul and decided it's easier to not care.
Irredeemable Beast:
Pretty much anything, but the tone of this verse suits Fall of X-themed plots and character development over all else. I have an in-progress fic about this verse that I'm working on - I can't tell you how overjoyed I'd be to talk about it with someone. Let's talk redemption, let's talk punishment, let's talk justice, let's talk masochism, let's talk death wishes!
Dark Beast:
Any Age of Apocalypse characters.
A duplicate Hank, tbh!
The guy's a stinker, abuse him, please.
Battle of the Atom:
Any of the time displaced X-Men, future X-Men, or members of the Jean Grey and Charles Xavier School faculty. This version of Hank is so broken and so tragic and so pitiable. Let's engage with that. Let's talk about the future, let's talk about optimism, let's talk about broken faith and mind control and hatred.
President Blaire. If you know, you know.
And obviously, all of the X-characters mentioned above, or hell, any member of the extended X-family, would be much loved as an intersection with all of these plots!
And keep in mind, if you aren't one of these characters, that doesn't mean any of this plot material is off limits to you! Message me, ask me, let's work something out. I crave good character dynamics, hmu. I want to write with you, or I wouldn't be here.
6 notes · View notes
docgold13 · 2 years
Photo
Tumblr media
365 Marvel Comics Paper Cut-Out SuperHeroes - One Hero, Every Day, All Year…
June 30th - Iceman
Robert ‘Bobby’ Drake was born in upstate New York.  A Mutant possessesg the X-gene, Bobby first discovered his special abilities at a young age when he found himself unable to stop feeling cold and shivering.  One day in his early adolescence, Bobby and a friend were attacked by a group of bullies.  Young Bobby panicked and accidentally encased his attackers in a block of ice.   Although these boys were ultimately unharmed, the people of Bobby’s town became terrified of the young Mutant.  They organized a mob and stormed his family home.   Fortunately, Bobby and his family were protected by the local sheriff and soon thereafter Bobby was enrolled in the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters.  There he could learn to better master his ice-generating powers.  Herein, Bobby chose the alias of ‘Iceman’ as his Mutant moniker.  
Along with standard scholastics, the Xavier school additionally taught Mutants to use their powers to act as superheroes as part of an effort to achieve greater harmony between the human and Mutant peoples.  Iceman became an X-Man, Xavier’s team of heroes.  Although he was the youngest member of the squad, his impressive powers made him a critical part of the team.  
Iceman would serve as part of the X-Men for a number of years.  Following his graduation he decided to venture out west with his teammate, The Angel, and together they formed the new superhero group called The Champions.  He would later join a The Defenders and thereafter X-Factor before ultimately returning to the ranks of The X-Men.  
His tremendous Mutant powers not withstanding, Bobby has frequently struggled with his confidence and esteem.  The traumatic events of his childhood, coupled with a turbulent relationship with his stern and overbearing father has caused Bobby to constantly question himself and not see himself as good enough; and this has interfered with his utilizing his ice powers to their full potential.  This matter have been further compounded by Bobby’s difficulty coping his sexuality.  Bobby realized that he is gay early on yet felt compelled to push the matter down and try to suppress his sexuality.  This resulted in a number of failed relationships with women… all adding to the young man’s consternation and self-doubt.  
Bobby met a time-displaced younger version of himself who had been brought to the present via time travel.  The younger version of Bobby was troubled by who his older self had become.  Seeing the his older self’s struggles motivated the younger Bobby to come out and accept his sexuality.  The older and younger versions of Bobby discussed this matter and it resulted in the older Bobby also embracing this part of himself.  
Bobby’s new sense of openness and acceptance of his being gay has had a remarkably beneficial effect on his mood and well being.  It has additionally helped him become more proficient and effective in the use of his powers, so much so that he has been identified as an ‘Omega Level Mutant,’ possessing abilities that could, impact and influence the ecosystem of the entire planet.  
Iceman has featured in a number of the Fox Films’ X-Men movies where the character has been prorated by actor Shawn Ashmore.  The Mutant hero first appeared in X-Men Vol. 1 #1 (1963).  
36 notes · View notes
lcstinthestars · 1 year
Text
Introducing Jean Grey 
Tumblr media
THE BASICS;
NAME: Jean Elaine Grey
ALIAS(ES): Jeannie, Marvel Girl, Phoenix 
AGE: Thirty-One
PRONOUNS & GENDER: Female She/Her
BIRTHDAY & ZODIAC: October 27th , Scorpio 
FACECLAIM: Lily James
AESTHETICS: unkept fiery red hair.  Comfy sweaters and hot coffee.  a broken thousand yard stare.  a genius mind shrouded with doubt and uncertainty.
A DEEPER LOOK;
BACKGROUND: Earth 616 canon.  I’m still refreshing my knowledge on some of Jean’s canon as I’m only human (and sadly not made of unlimited time to read comics) Here are some of the highlights. Jean’s mutation manifested itself after witnessing the death of her childhood best friend.  Her powers were later suppressed for her own good by Charles Xavier.  She was recruited for Xaviers School for Gifted Children and became one of the first X-men along side Cyclops, Beast, Iceman and Angel.  Under Xaviers tutelage their goal was to help bring a peaceful co-existence between humans and mutants.   The young team was displaced in time after being approached by a ‘Future’ version of Beast who needed their help to solve a doomsday level threat developing in the future.  Jean’s time traveling unlocked her telepathy a year earlier then when she was supposed to develop it in her original unchanged time line.  Here the team met future versions of themselves and Jean was blindsided with the realization her and Cyclops were together in the future.  (albeit Jean didn’t even recognize the personality of Scott’s older self.) Jean and her connection to the phoenix force created many issues in Jean’s life.  The two seemingly intertwined on a cosmic level.  Jean at many points was desperate to rid herself of it.  Warned by the ghost of her future-self, Jean tried to prevent herself from being bonded with it in the first place.  She was sent to meet a future version of herself, which happened to just be The Phoenix Force.  Impressed and desperate to change her future she tried to alter the timeline but was prevented by the watchers and returned to her own time.   Jean graduated from Xaviers school and would later return as a teacher after receiving her own degrees while away at college.  Jean became a vocal mutant rights activist and tried to find a way to live at peace with the Phoenix force who so desperately wanted complete control of her body.   The Phoenix force would eventually be corrupted into the Dark Phoenix by The Hellfire Club and Mastermind.  The Dark Phoenix would become a dark cloud over Jean’s future.  Jean wasn’t a killer but The Phoenix had no qualms and left a trail of death in her wake when she lost control.  After her last seperation from the Phoenix Force, Jean signed up for the program in hopes of changing her future once and for all. 
 WEAPONS: She is a weapon.  
POWERS/ABILITIES/SKILLS: Jean is an Omega Level mutant without her connection to the Phoenix force giving her Omega leve powers of Telepathy, Empathy, Telekinesis  
GREATEST STRENGTH: Her moral compass 
GREATEST WEAKNESS/FLAW: Mental Instability 
ONE FEAR: Never being good enough 
ONE HOPE:  She can be the person everyone always saw her as. 
HEADCANON(S):  Jean has a strong head about her, which has made her a powerful but wise leader in the past.   Jean is slow to trust but once she trusts you, she would break the world to keep you safe. Jean often struggles with the fact that she was never trusted with the full extent of her powers until way later in life then most mutants.  It makes her doubt herself and her abilities 
THE QUESTIONNAIRE;
HOW DOES YOUR CHARACTER FEEL ABOUT BEING DROPPED INTO THE CAMBRIA PROGRAM? ARE THEY EXCITED? SUSPICIOUS? CONFUSED? Relieved.  
WHAT DOES YOUR CHARACTER HOPE TO SEE THE MOST DURING THE CAMBRIA ONE’S JOURNEY? She hopes to make new discoveries and find her own way.  
IF YOUR CHARACTER COULD BRING ONE THING OR PERSON FROM HOME, WHAT WOULD IT BE? Storm. 
2 notes · View notes
thatsastepladder · 1 year
Text
So one of my favorite random bits of Marvel trivia revolves around the obscure character known as Cloud, from J.M. DeMatteis's run on The New Defenders.
Tumblr media
They're a sentient nebula who took the form of a pair of teens who they accidentally injured upon their arrival to Earth. Cloud started off preferring the female form of Carol Faber, developing the specific intentions of being in a form that Bobby Drake - Iceman - was compatible with as the two began to fall in love. But, at the same time, Cloud was also falling for Heather Douglas, Moondragon, and took Danny Milligan's male form to better suit that relationship.
Comic shenanigans happened that later led to Cloud returning to space and being exiled to Comic Book Limbo for thirty-plus years before showing up again in Al Ewing's Defenders miniseries.
A decade-plus after Cloud's last appearance, Moondragon would become a regular supporting cast member in Peter David's Captain Marvel run, focusing on the son of Mar-Vell, Genis-Vell and the human he'd been cosmically bound to, former Hulk and Captain America supporting player Rick Jones.
In that run, it's revealed that Rick's wife, Marlo Chandler began cheating on him with Moondragon, and that Moondragon was, in fact, a lesbian (or at the very least bisexual, given her prior attractions to Cloud's male form and Quasar):
Tumblr media
Similarly, another decade afterwards in Brian Michael Bendis's All-New X-Men, the time-displaced teenage Iceman is forcibly outed as gay by his similarly time-displaced teammate Jean Grey. Witness, an amazing example of reused art in Bendis comics!
Tumblr media
This change would translate onto the older version of the character (both coexisted at the time because of timey-wimey reasons) and would eventually turn him into a walking stereotype in the Krakoa era, but that's neither here nor there at the moment.
(seriously, will someone remember that Bobby's a CPA and get him a job at X-Corp? or at least give him personality traits other than being a Queer Eye reject?)
In light of these reveals, I find Cloud's storyline to be unintentionally hilarious, as they were taking the exact opposite form from what their romantic interests would eventually prefer. Poor nebula just wanted to find love...
5 notes · View notes
night-gay · 1 year
Photo
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
Into the Anthill pt 25 - Project B.I.G.
As well as being the lead researcher on the mysterious vault in the Avengers Mansion basement (which we’ll get to in The Crossing), Hank was working with Bill Foster on Project B.I.G., an initiative that he hoped could end world hunger by making crops larger. In their spare time Hank and Jan both finally got themselves some therapy, which they both absolutely needed. That said, Jan hired accredited help while Hank just rigged up a brain scanner to trap himself in an insect-themed nightmare to work his issues out.
Classic Hank.
🐜🐜🐜
Secret Defenders vol 1 #18-19
Bureau 18 contacted Giant-Man and Dr. Druid to solve a string of unusual insect-related deaths. Hank, Iron Fist, Iceman, and Archangel worked together to stop the insects and protect civilians while Dr. Druid fought Swarm.
Avengers West Coast vol 1 #102
Captain America called for the dissolution of the West Coast Avengers due to what he personally saw as failings on their part. After War Machine quit, the remaining 11 members in attendance put it to a vote. Cap, Black Widow, Black Knight, Hercules, and Vision voted to end it. Scarlet Witch, U.S.Agent, Sersi, Spider-Woman, and Giant-Man voted no. Crystal abstained. With the votes tied, Iron Man exercised his right to vote as an inactive member. With the resentment and lack of support they faced from the East team, he knew it would be pointless to drag this out any further and voted to disband them. Iron Man, Scarlet Witch, U.S.Agent, and Spider-Woman quit the Avengers immediately as a show of protest.
Avengers vol 1 #370-375, 378
The Avengers responded to a distress call from Lemuria. They were attacked by deviants immediately and placed under mind control by their brain-mines. Sersi was used as a pawn to lure in Kro and other rogue deviants in. While most of the Avengers were needed for Lord Ghaur’s plan to create a multi-species uni-mind, Giant-Man and Black Knight were extras and were instead forced into gladiatorial combat. Sersi was able to break Dane free of his brain-mine and shut down the uni-mind from the inside.
Hank ran tests on Dane’s brain to determine the extent of Sersi’s influence over him; the results showed that she had almost fully overtaken his will. Then Proctor and the Eternals arrived on the scene and Sersi left with Dane through a portal to another dimension to cure her madness. With that out of the way, Hank turned his scanner on himself for some much-needed psychoanalysis. In his mind, he was placed on trial by ants and charged with conspiracy to disrupt the insect community and treason against the state of his own mind. He was tormented by insectoid versions of his alter-egos, each one preying on his insecurities. He was able to overcome this by finally admitting to himself that he could never give up the life of a superhero.
Avengers Annual vol 1 #23
Loki and Hades devised a plan to kill Thor and Hercules by using Typhon as a pawn, but failed like they always do. Back home, Giant-Man and Vision engaged in some 1-on-1 training and fought a sentient glitch in Vision’s software.
Avengers vol 1 #382-383
Giant-Man, Black Widow, and Vision investigated the sub-basement of their new Avengers Mansion - an abandoned copy from an alternate timeline installed where theirs used to be - for any irregularities. Most of the mansion’s systems had lost power, and Hank’s instruments revealed what seemed to be a dense chunk of displaced time sealed into a vault that they could not open.
Marvel Double Feature… The Avengers/Giant-Man vol 1 #379-382
Janet spoke with her therapist, Dr. Rossin, about her recent exit from the West Coast Avengers. After a successful return to the fashion industry, she threw a Hollywood-character themed masquerade ball to celebrate. Her guests were horrified when A giant gorilla appeared outside the window (Hank dressed as King Kong with various congratulatory balloons). After the party Hank brought Janet to a secret garden where he and Bill Foster had begun Project B.I.G. (Biotechnically Induced Growth), an agricultural application of his Pym Particle research that aimed to end world hunger.
Hank received a call about giant insects in the Southwest and went off on his own to deal with them, running into trouble as Col. Manning of the Air Force tried to interfere. Hank was knocked out during the fight and Manning took him prisoner on the assumption that this was his fault. Captain America broke him out and brought him to Janet, who had begun to grow uncontrollably. Bill Foster, Ant-Man, Hawkeye, Tigra, and anyone else who’d ever been exposed to Pym Particles was also changing size, and anywhere he’d used the particles saw attacks from giant insects. All of this on the seven year anniversary of the day Janet became the Wasp to fight the Kosmosian that killed her father.
As Kosmosians began to invade Earth seeking revenge on Hank, he pushed his body’s limits and managed to grow to 60 ft while increasing his strength to match (exceeding the 25 ft limit he’d known as Goliath). On the ropes, the Kosmosian opened a portal and Hank went through, discovering Erik Josten (formerly the villain called Goliath). The Kosmosians were using his body’s Pym Particles to attack their targets on Earth, so Hank overwhelmed their systems with his own to keep them from invading again.
Minor/Cameo appearances from this period:
Spider-Man Unlimited vol 1 #3
Starblast vol 1 #1
Marvels vol 1 #2
Marvel Comics Presents vol 1 #152
Warlock and the Infinity Watch vol 1 #26-28
Quasar vol 1 #60
Daredevil vol 1 #327
Thunderstrike vol 1 #9-10
Captain America vol 1 #434
1 note · View note
libraryleopard · 2 years
Text
I think speculative fiction stories where queer characters are just allowed to exist and go on adventures in worlds that aren’t homophobic or transphobic are definitely great and necessary, but there is also something I find uniquely powerful about stories where characters come to terms with and confront their identities in part through science fiction or fantasy elements. Ash in Die facing a literal manifestation of her repressed gender identity, Bobby Drake in the Iceman solo series literally seeing his time-displaced younger self experiencing the openly gay teenage years he never got to have (and also arguably the Apocalypse Seed in Liu’s Astonishing X-Men feeding on his repression and internalized homophobia even though that was written before he came out as gay), Larry Trainor on Doom Patrol facing the negative energy spirit living within him at the same time he’s grappling with his history and internalized homophobia, Jess in Black Water Sister learning to face down gods and ghosts as part of a character arc that gives her the confidence to come out to her parents. Something something fantasy elements taking feelings and experiences and manifesting them as something literal and exterior that characters can face…
26 notes · View notes
bamfdaddio · 3 years
Text
X-Men Abridged: 1981
The X-Men, those back-to-the-future mutants that have sworn to protect a world that hates and fears them, are a cultural juggernaut with a long, tangled history. Want to unravel this tapestry? Then read the Abridged X-Men!
(Uncanny X-Men 141 - 152) - by Chris Claremont and John Byrne, Brent Anderson, Dave Cockrum, Jim Sherman, Bob McLeod and Josef Rubinstein
Tumblr media
While I also committed various fashion atrocities at the age of 14 (tye-die and fauxhawks, oh my), even Liberace would find Kitty’s outfits too much. (Uncanny X-Men 149; Uncanny X-Men Annual ‘81)
We dial back from the v. epic scope of the last few arcs. Instead, 1981 is just a lot of fun! We get:
Storm and Emma doing a Freaky Friday!
the X-Men vs. Magneto (again!)
A surprisingly effective Alien rip-off
An dystopian future! (OoOoOoOo)
Last year was the year of the Dark Phoenix, this is the year of Kitty Pryde. That’s not to say Jean’s death is swept under the rug: all throughout, we see her friends mourning her loss or remembering her fondly. (Scott even gets to have a demonic adventure about it.) But in general, Claremont puts Kitty in the forefront, fleshing out his YA-addition to the team. And what would a YA heroine be without a grim dystopia? Roll out the iconic Days of Future Past!
Tumblr media
To be fair, 2013 was a dark time for all of us: What Does the Fox Say somehow got to the top of the charts and I was still watching Glee. (Uncanny X-Men 141)
How cool would it have been to see a name like Jonothon Starsmore or Eva Bell on those tombstones?
Anyway, that’s Kate. Kate’s had it rough. Mutants are at the bottom of the foodchain, most X-Men are dead and only a small cadre of resistance fighters remain, Sentinels dominate, and while she is married to Piotr, her children have been murdered. Bleak. Luckily, the rebellion has concocted the plan to shunt Kate’s spirit back in time to prevent this awful future from happening. (You’ve seen Days of Future Past, the last passably good X-Men film, you know what’s up.)
Let’s do the time warp again! 1981!Kitty’s mind gets taken over by 2013!Kitty, who promptly tries to convince the X-Men that a new Brotherhood of v. Evil Mutants will try to kill Senator Kelly, a presidential candidate who tries to put the mutant menace on the agenda. (Mutants tend to blow stuff up when he’s around.) Since the X-Men recently took a literal trip to Dante’s Infero and also befriended a cosmic world-ending entity, they basically shrug and go: “Yeah, this checks out.”
Off to Washington they go (zoommm) and there, they happen upon the Baddest Bitches in Herstory:
Tumblr media
“How dare you hate mutants, senator Kelly! We’ll fix that by killing you!” (Uncanny X-Men 141)
This All-New, All-Different Brotherhood consists out of:
Destiny, a blind woman who can see the future. Definitely the eeriest member of this group. Badass lesbian, though that won´t be canon for years.
Avalanche. Greek who makes things shake. Is a long-standing member of the X-Men Rogue’s gallery, but rarely features in the spotlight. I think he got more characterization in four years of X-Men Evolution than he ever did in the comics.
Mystique. Shapeshifter. Ruthless and unhinged, the Cersei Lannister of the X-Men universe. Absolute legend, secretly the wife of Destiny, currently not as unhinged as she’ll be later. Immediately implied to be related to Nightcrawler: it’s the yellow-eyes-blue-skin-combo.
Pyro. Can manipulate fire, not create it. Absolute pillock, in all the best ways of the word. Originally intended as gay, but they decided to make him Australian instead. (?!)
Blob. Big, strong, immovable. We’ve seen him before.
One of the details in this fight I enjoy is that Storm is still struggling with her leadership, although she has a better grip on things than Cyclops:
Tumblr media
Wolverine then proceeds to use those iconic but deadly claws about twice per issue for the next, oh, forty years. (Uncanny X-Men 142)
While the X-Men fight the Brotherhood in the present, we cut back and forth to the future. There, the X-Men consist out of some familiar faces - Storm, Colossus, Wolverine - and some surprises: Magneto (in a wheelchair), Franklin Richards (son of) and an unfamiliar ginger girl called Rachel. (She’ll be important later.) We even learn (one of) Magneto’s names: this is the first time he’s canonically called Magnus.
One of the strengths of Days of Future Past lies in its brevity, the way it tantalizingly taunts us with a brutal but familiar future without giving away too much. It’s single-handedly responsible for all those dark future timelines the X-lines are so fond of which will eventually culminate in time-displaced grandsons from alternative dimensions and the impossibility of a succinct answer to the question: “Who’s Cable?” Too much of a good thing and all that.
Still, what Days of Future Past does so successfully is:
Put the idea of the mutant menace back at the forefront, hammering home the metaphor of mutants being a minority. Mutants being put in camps and being forbidden to breed should - regretfully - make us think of all too many real life equivalents. (Specifically, all of the imagery harkens back to the Holocaust.)
It starkly shows what happens should the X-Men lose, reminding everyone of the stakes. The X-Men are here for a reason: bridging the gap between mutants and humankind. If they fuck up, we end up with mutant concentration camps.
It helps that the X-Men in the future almost all die horribly: Franklin is incinerated, Storm is impaled… It's brutal stuff. The only one to survive is Rachel, who wonders if their plan actually changed the future or if they created an alternative timeline. (It did the latter, sorry ‘bout it, Rachel.)
In the present, Kate chases after Destiny, who trains a gun on senator Kelly. I always wondered how this works: if Destiny saw the future, she knew that killing Kelly would trigger a terrifying future. What in the current Marvel timeline made her decide that the Days of Future Past was better? Did she see her own death? Did she see the Onslaught-crossover coming? The Chuck Austen run? What was it?
In any case, time-anomalous Kate stops Destiny from killing Kelly and the future is safe! For now. Kate disappears, Kitty returns to her body and some of the Brotherhood are apprehended. All is well, for now.
After being a key figure in DoFP, Kitty is also the main character in the Christmas special, which is basically a straight up horror and a pastiche of the Alien-movie.
Tumblr media
Seriously, John Byrne still isn’t sure why he wasn’t sued by Ridley Scott for this. (Uncanny X-Men 143)
If you love Kitty Pryde? Read this issue. If you’re not convinced you like 80’s Kitty? Read this issue. It’s not continuity relevant and it’s basically Kitty playing the part of a Final Girl in a horror where she’s being chased by a demon, but it’s so good. It showcases all her strengths and her foibles. Kitty’s intelligent, cute (sometimes preciously so) and brave, but she’s also young, self-conscious and hot-headed. And it's not as if the other X-Men automatically adore her: Storm berates her all the time, she’s afraid of Kurt because of the way he looks (though she grows out of that) and she fights with Professor Xavier a lot. Moreover, she has a clever power-set for a young superhero who faces menaces on a daily basis: a thirteen year old who can go intangible is far less likely to have reality ensue on her and be dramatically offed because she's better at protecting herself.
I’m sure there are people who thought Sprite was hogging the spotlight, but I, for one, say she brings more to the table than, say, Angel. She’s not the Dawn Summers of this franchise.
Scott also gets a side quest. Poor guy can’t catch a break: first the love of his life dies, so he quits the X-Men, then he realizes he can’t do much else than be a superhero. He becomes a sailor on the ship of spunky captain Lee Forrester, is drawn into the sadistic plans of a demon unironically named D’Spayre and then shipwrecks in Bermuda with Lee.
The X-Men, meanwhile, are tormented by a team-up of Doom (who’s currently Latverialess and working on a comeback) and Arcade, that annoying crony. Locke, Arcade’s dom, has kidnapped the loved ones of the X-Men (Moira MacTaggart, Jean Grey’s parents, Illyana Rasputin and Amanda Sefton) in order to blackmail them into getting Doom to free Arcade. Apparently, Arcade accidentally insulted Doom and DOOM DOES NOT FORGIVE THAT FOLLY.
While the B-Squad (Polaris, Havok, Banshee and Iceman) goes to save Arcade’s hostages, the X-Men sneak into Doom’s castle. Well, except for Storm, who doesn’t give a single fuck and simply flies up to Doom, demanding an audience. Doom likes the cut of her jib and invites her to have dinner. (This is pre-Tinder, so this is a legit way of scoring a date.)
Tumblr media
If Storm has a flaw (I said if!), it’s got to be her atrocious taste in men. (Uncanny X-Men 145)
The X-Men find Arcade’s cell empty, while Arcade casually saunters up to Storm and says hi. Storm realizes too late that this is a trap: while the X-Men are all trapped in Saw-like traps, Storm is encased in ‘living chrome’.
If you remember she’s claustrophobic, you know why this is a bad move.
While the X-Men free themselves from their traps - Polaris hilariously has to deal with a murderous merry-go-round - Storm is slowly driven mad in her prison, triggering a worldwide tempest. (She causes Lee and Scott to shipwreck.) Under the threat of Wolverine’s claws, Doom releases Storm - or rather, unleashes her.
Tumblr media
“Instead of a Dark Lord, you would have a queen, not dark but beautiful and terrible as the dawn! Tempestuous as the sea, and stronger than the foundations of the earth! All shall love me and despair!” (Uncanny X-Men 147)
The memory of Jean brings Ororo back to herself and she starts undoing the superstorm she created. (If only climate change were reversed that easily.) Their confrontation ends by Storm easily forgiving Doom, because she apparently trespassed on his grounds without adequate cause.
Mkay.
All of Arcade’s hostages return to their homesteads, except for Illyana Rasputin, Piotr’s sister: she’s staying at the mansion for a while. Angel, who’s sort of been a part of the team since the Phoenix thing, has had it with Wolverine and his ‘tude, and decides to quit the X-Men : he doesn’t want to be a part of an outfit that has a killer like Wolverine on it. (Or maybe he’s just mad Claremont didn’t give him any storylines: his presence has been mostly pointless.) It’s too bad he left before Kitty started experimenting with her outfits: I bet he would have loved her ugly-ass costumes.
Equally inconsequential is the introduction of a brand new character, who then proceeds to disappear from the narrative for the rest of the year:
Tumblr media
Black Tom has tried to kill you at least twice, but him sending you a long-lost daughter doesn’t give you pause? Ugh, Sean, you deserve Moira. (Uncanny X-Men 148)
Intrigued by Theresa? TOO BAD, WON’T SEE HER AGAIN ANYTIME SOON.
Another new character is the lonely, decidedly mutant looking Caliban, who can sense “people like him” and is on the lookout for companions. Like many lonely people who try and grasp at friendship, he decides to overshoot his shot and ruin the night of Storm, Kitty and Jessica Drew at a Dazzler concert. Because he tries to kidnap Kitty, the girls react a trifle aggressively. When they realize their mistake - the eerily pale Caliban is a simpleton rather than a menace - he’s already fled. No mention is made of the Morlocks yet!
There’s also another dull annual where the X-Men team up with the Fantastic Four to save Arkon’s dimension from the Badoon and yaaaaawn. Far more interesting is the landmark issue #150. Slowly, through the adventures of Scott and Lee Forrester, Claremont has been setting things up for the return of a favorite villain. While the X-Men investigate Magneto’s old base in Antarctica on a hunch of Professor X and tangle with Garruk, Scott and Lee survive Storm’s tempest, only to wake up next to a strange island that seems to have been raised from the ocean.
It’s apparently some ancient citadel from a long forgotten civilization with a fondness for squid statues. (I don’t know man, I’ve never been to the Bermuda Triangle, maybe this is just super-accurate.)The tentacles make Lee Forrester feel very amorous, but before Scott can tell her he is way too repressed to just have sex with an attractive someone he’s known intimately for a month or two, Magneto saves his ass by revealing he, in fact, raised this island from the seafloor.
Oh, Magneto. So extra.
My ambitious little mutant demagogue then proceeds to take the entire world hostage, showing how much he’s grown from the pompous, raving madman from the sixties. (Sure, Magneto is still a bit of a madman, but increasingly, he starts being on the right side of history.)
Tumblr media
“I’m trying to make Magneto more sympathetic.”
“Just put him on a page with some bigger villains who are less noble, like the Vanisher, Count Nefaria, or…”
“Reagan, Thatcher and Brezhnov?”
“Er.” (Uncanny X-Men 150)
It’s obvious Magneto is being pivoted as a more noble villain, codified into the well-intentioned extremist we know and love today. Not only do we get the first hints at his past, fleshing out his motivations, he’s also not wrong. Humans are historically not great at taking care of the planet or each other.
When the Russians call his bluff and launch nukes at Magneto’s new island, he quickly disarms them. His retribution is swift and ferocious: the entire citadel is a machine that massively amplifies his powers. He sinks the submarine that launched the missiles, condemning the entire crew to death, and he casually erects a vulcano in a Russian city in Siberia.
Damn. Not messing around this time.
Despite his good intentions, Magneto is still definitely in the wrong: not only because of his methods, but as Scott points out: if Magneto unifies the world under his kind of benevolent dictatorship, all of that will simply fall apart as soon as Magnus dies.
In a way, Magneto is just as big a dreamer as Charles is: Charles believes in peace and integration, whereas Magneto believes his iron fist will be enough to make a perfect world happen. Both of them ignore the reality that acceptance is difficult and messy, because you’re trying to change essential human nature: the fear of the other. Magneto believes in big, sweeping gestures that will fix the world in move, while changing the world is also boring, hard work. One step forward, two steps back. Magneto just wants to leapfrog to his ultimate goal.
The X-Men fly over the citadel, returning from Antarctica, and their plane crashes into the ocean. (Magneto does not brook planes over his territory, humans!) The Professor is also nearby, looking for Scott with Moira, Peter Corbeau and Carol Danvers. The X-Men sneak onto the island, but to their horror, their powers are nullified by some machine of Magneto. They reunite with Scott, who formulates a plan to thwart the would-be ruler of the world.
While the rest of the X-Men go to trash the machine, Storm, Kitty and Lee infiltrate the control chamber where Storm finds a sleeping, shirtless Magneto. Once again showing her terrible taste in men, she is not weak in the knees at the sight of a sleeping Magnus: instead, she contemplates killing him.
Storm knows how dangerous he is, but she also knows that he’s a great man who’s fighting for ideals, no matter how misguided. She hesitates too long: Magneto stirs, suspects an attack and tosses her out of the window, to her death.
Magneto quickly undoes the sabotage the other X-Men have wrought to his machine. A fight erupts. Storm, meanwhile, has managed to grab hold of a ledge. She crawls back up and smashes an important-looking computer, restoring everyone’s powers.
The battle turns grim, but Scott sends Kitty away to wreck Magneto’s machinery. She sneaks off, following Scott’s orders and destroying both Magneto's power-up device and all of his plans by phasing though the computer circuitry. Magneto senses this and furiously gives chase. Overcome by rage, he attacks Kitty and disrupts her phasing power with a magnetic bolt, seemingly killing her?
Tumblr media
Everything about this story beat is great: mama bear!Ororo, mournful Magnus and even the fact that Kitty’s godawful outfit serves a narrative function: highlighting to us (and Magneto) just how young she is. The fact that Kitty’s Jewish is just icing on the cake. (Uncanny X-Men 150)
And thus, the softening of Magneto commences. 1981 might be a year with wildly varying narratives, but it has given us at least three enduring legacies to the X-Mythos: a new kind of Magneto, a fondness for dystopian futures and the character of Kitty Pryde, who's really come into her own this year.
Ugliest Costume: Kitty! Purposefully, but still. Best costume, by the way, goes to Destiny, with her creepy, creepy golden mask. Just imagine this lady casually strolling across a battlefield, eerily calm and collected, dodging everything you throw at her. Awesome design.
Best new character: I usually pick one character - what good is having a shared award when declaring the best of anything? - but this year, it’s going to one of my favorite couples: Mystique and Destiny. Can’t wait to see more of them.
Most audacious retcon: Blob somehow retroactively becomes a member of the original Brotherhood, which is not what happened. Ever weirder is Xavier pondering that he never met Magneto before his attack in X-Men #1, while their cordially adversarial relationship rooted in a youthful friendship would soon become a cornerstone of the X-Men.
What to read: Uncanny X-Men 141 - 143 and 150 - 152
88 notes · View notes
Text
Tumblr media
Robert 'Bobby' Drake (Iceman)
Gender: Male
Sexuality: Gay
Teams: Marauders (Currently), X-Men (Formally), Excelsiors Squad (Formally), Defenders (Formally)
Family: Madeline Drake (Mother), William Drake (Father).
Notes: Came out after a time displaced version of himself came out.
3 notes · View notes
synergysilhouette · 1 year
Text
3 Ideas I have for a new X-Men Show
Tumblr media
Krakoa era--This could be a universe of it's own, with X-Men, X-Men: Red, Legion of X, Excalibur, Immortal X-Men, the New Mutants, etc. Perhaps start with X-Men to ease the audience into it, using a familiar roster at first before a more comic-accurate roster, with Storm going to Arakko and Nightcrawler founding the police force.
Tumblr media
X-Men Gold--Maybe I'm biased because this is around where I started reading comics. The roster would probably replace Old Man Logan and Prestige with Wolverine and Jean to avoid confusing audiences with their backstories. It'd be nice to also include Gambit, Iceman, and Rogue in the roster, especially if we do the wedding arc, which was SUPER fun to me!
Tumblr media
X-Men Blue--I'm unsure if I'd go the time-displaced mutant route of "All New X-Men" or if I'd just reimagine their origins in modern day, but maybe make them college age. Probably the latter, given that it gives me XME vibes and makes it a bit less complicated. While I like Jimmy, I also like Daken and X-23, but they all pretty much have the same power. Laura would help the female/male ratio, and seeing Daken seduce Bobby would make for a fun ship...plus we could see several young X-Men in modern day. I imagine the villains could be Raze and Charles Xavier II, Mr. Sinister, Ahab, and others, given Magneto is always used as the main villain. I know it kind of moves away from the MLK and MX vibes, but perhaps there's a way to pivot back to that.
17 notes · View notes
jedimusings · 3 years
Text
Tumblr media
Was that [AUSTIN ABRAMS]? Oh no no, that was just [BOBBY DRAKE], a [CANON CHARACTER] from [MARVEL]. They are [TWENTY TWO] years old and [ARE] aware that they are not actually from Washington DC. Too bad they can’t stray from this city for long.
hello all! here’s a lil something about bobert!
where we’ve been 
bobby has a pretty long comic history that I’m not going to write out here because there’s a wiki for it BUT i’ll give a selective rundown. I haven’t decided where exactly i’m pulling him from, but this isn’t time-displaced bobby- he is main universe bobby. and he has some memory (with some gaps) up until the end of the first Iceman comic run. SO:
his mutation emerged in his early teens, and he tried his best to hide it for as long as he could. his family new that something was going on, but assumed he could hide it and it would go away. 
bobby’s mutation is that he can generate, manipulate, and fully control ice, snow, and cold temperatures. a lot of the time he will turn himself into an actual iceman (or a snowman!). bobby is considered an “omega level mutant” with... a lot of potential for when he believes in himself/gets creative. as a result of his main power, he also has several others like: ice clone generation, manipulating water, etc. etc. 
when his powers did emerge, bobby was chased around town by an angry mob, where he was eventually put into custody for his protection. this was where he was recruited by scott summers to join the x-men! bobby drake is the youngest of the original five x-men, this is a pretty large part of his identity and something i plan to explore. 
he’s left and joined other mutant related teams several times, and then been a member of many x-teams since he originally joined. he lost his powers before, he got them back. he’s the x-men’s accountant and a teacher at xavier’s school. he’s saved the world several dozen times. the world he’s from hasn’t always been kind to mutants and he still manages to stay lighthearted and makes jokes, and keeps saving them over and over despite all of that. 
where we are
bobby has been in the city for probably less than a week.
he does not have a job but will probably find something in accounting while hero-ing on the side while he figures things out. 
his memories are here and there- he remembers most of his former teammates
wanted connections:
a roommate!
tinder matches (as an aside bobby is gay so keep this in mind!) 
new friends!
a long term love interest (we love angst here)
maybe someone he helps out as iceman! 
maybe someone from the marvel universe that he doesn’t know well but becomes friends with!
maybe new hero friends from dc or other forms of superhero media!
4 notes · View notes
itsiceicebobby · 3 years
Text
Tumblr media
statistics:
name: robert louis ‘bobby’ drake age: 28 faceclaim:  chris wood alias: iceman  powers/skills: thermokinesis, cyrokinesis, hydrokinesis, molecular moisture inversion,  alliance: the x-men threat level (out of ten):  7 history file  (link wiki):  [x]  notable changes from 2012 to the timeline they were pulled from: in his original timeline, his younger self visited his older self and it finally came out that bobby drake has been gay. i still don’t understand that, so i’m getting rid of that plotline from him entirely. bobby has been openly gay since his younger days at the institute. last memory before ending up in nyc, 2012: being hungover in the x-mansion
questionnaire:
How are you feeling? Physically and mentally.“ ” i actually felt the feeling of being cold for a few seconds after i woke up. mentally, i need to get back to you on that one because it’s a long answer.” Where are you living? The same place you lived in 2012, or displaced to a random apartment? Explain to the best of your ability. ” in these condo-like apartments in brooklyn. my parents own a bunch of properties and now i’m finding myself reliving my late 20s again. as much as i love the x-men, i don’t think i can move into that mansion right now.” What do YOU think we should do about the situation at hand? Try to go back home? The original mission of stopping Thanos? Rewrite the entire story? ” that sounds like a job for the avengers. we have our own exponential problems. they have the resources to do whatever they want. the x-men don’t have access to the same technology that can detect problems in the universe. besides, i don’t remember being called to the final battle. i’m going to figure my life out and hopefully do a lot better this time.” What will you DO about the situation at hand? ” i guess working when I have to actually do work. when you don’t live in the x-mansion you have to actually do adult things like pay bills and live. but. i will do whatever i can to help. just don’t expect me to take charge.” Is there anything that you think needs to be done? ” figure all this out is the obvious answer. but i should probably find the x-men that are...here. If need be, would you be willing to team up with the government and SHEILD to recoup and help the situation at hand? ”absolutely not. we’ve had to deal with organizations screwing us over all the time. SHEILD i’d only consider if they really really needed me. which in that case, i want nick fury to beg.” What are your worries? ” i’m worried that i’ll have to repower myself overtime. i’m unfortunately not in my prime anymore and i don’t know why.” What do you think are the pros about this situation? ” anyone that talks about machines and science in a way that the vast majority of people don’t understand. just don’t ask me.” Anything else?
2 notes · View notes
docgold13 · 2 years
Note
Oh yeah speaking of Inhumans Romeo recently returned in that Iceman Infinite series.....Apparently he aged up to as "part of the superhero Buisness".....oi.
Wait, what? Romeo was 16 or so dating the time-displaced O5 Iceman… now he’s hanging out with adult Iceman? That doesn’t sound kosher.
10 notes · View notes