Category: comics

X-Men: The End of The World (1994)

Previous Posts: Introduction | Chapter 1: Lee/Kirby Era Part 1 | Chapter 2: Lee/Kirby Era Part 2 | Chapter 3: The Roy Thomas Era (1966-1968) | Chapter 4: The End of the Silver Age (1968-1970) | Chapter 5: Origins and Flashbacks Part 1 | Chapter 6: Silver Age Flashbacks Part 2 | Chapter 6.1: Voices of Pride | Chapter 7: X-Men: First Class Vol 1 | Chapter 8: X-Men: First Class Vol 2 Part 1 | Chapter 9: X-Men: First Class Vol 2 Part 2 | Chapter 10: The Hidden Years | Chapter 11: X-Men on Hiatus (1970-75) | Chapter 12: The Champions Part 1 (1975-76) | Chapter 13: The Champions Part 2 (1977-78) | Chapter 14: The College Years (1978-83) | Chapter 15: The New Defenders Part 1 (1983-84) | Chapter 16: The New Defenders Part 2 (1984-85) | Chapter 17: The End of the New Defenders (1985-86) | Chapter 18: X-Factor Part 1 (1986) | Chapter 19: X-Factor – Mutant Massacre (1987) | Chapter 20: X-Factor – Fall of the Mutants (1987) | Chapter 21: X-Factor – Inferno Prologue (1988) | Chapter 22: X-Factor: Inferno (1989) | Chapter 23: X-Factor – Judgment War (1989) | Chapter 24: X-Factor – X-Tinction Agenda (1990) | Chapter 25: X-Factor – Endgame (1991) | Chapter 26: X-Men: Blue and Gold (1991-92) | Chapter 27: X-Men: Dirty Thirty (1993)

After the flood of books last year, 1994 is a much more sedate time for the X-Men. But while the pace of the stories slows down quite a bit, this turns out to be a key year in the development of Bobby’s character, thanks to a kick in the pants from Emma Frost. But before we get to that, let’s start off with something silly:

Marvel Swimsuit Special #3 (January 1994)
No writer credited; various artists

I don’t usually cover the pinup books, and the Marvel Swimsuit Specials always felt vaguely icky to me, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out this spread which appears in the 1994 special, which I came across because it’s included in the Legion Quest Hardcover.

Bobby’s smile couldn’t be wider with Warren’s dick pressed against his head. And check out the caption:

“Even a simple contest like the Earth sport known and “Chicken Fighting” takes on new underlying meanings rich with subtle nuances when the X-Men are involved…” *Ahem.* Indeed.

 

Uncanny X-Men #311 (April 1994)
Writer: Scott Lobdell
Artist: John Romita Jr.

When Beast knocks out the mansion power while attempting to make repairs following Magneto’s EM attack in X-Men #25, Sabretooth escapes and Bishop has to recapture him. Meanwhile, the power blip causes the comatose Emma Frost to psionically attack Iceman, who happens to be guarding her.

Jubilee and Iceman have some cute banter off the top when she tries to get him to take her to the local screening of Rocky Horror Picture Show (in January?!) that’s reminiscent of the teasing relationship he had with Boom Boom in early X-Factor. But being Jubilee, she kind of goes for the jugular in mocking him for his recent break-up with Opal, which leads him to get introspective about the fact that he’s not like “every other hot-blooded young male.” He recognizes that he was the one who threw all the obstacles in the way of his relationship with Opal, but can’t quite bring himself to articulate why. He sadly concludes that maybe he’s just not destined to be happy, which feels less melodramatic and more genuinely sad knowing what he’s actually going through.

 

Uncanny X-Men #312-313 (May-June 1994)
Writer: Scott Lobdell
Artist: Joe Madureira

While Storm, Yukio, and Gambit fight the latest iteration of the Phalanx in New York, Emma Frost wakes up from her coma in the body of Iceman.

We get yet more evidence of the super-platonic relationship between Storm and Yukio in the middle of the fight.

Meanwhile, after Jubilee has a mild freakout at Beast for cracking jokes about Bobby’s unconscious state, Banshee gives her a talk because he knows how important their “friendship” really is.

 

Uncanny X-Men #314 (July 1994)
Writer: Scott Lobdell
Artist: Lee Weeks

Emma Frost, awake from her coma in Iceman’s body, escapes the X-Men to go searching for the Hellions unaware that they all died in Uncanny X-Men #282.

There’s precedent for Emma switching bodies – she did it to Storm in Uncanny X-Men #151-152, and Jean switched minds with her in Uncanny X-Men #281-283. What’s new is the gender-swap angle, which is fairly underexplored in this issue. Unfortunately, Bobby doesn’t actually get to do anything in this story, as it focuses on Emma’s search for her students in order to better set-up Generation X.

The story does play into Lobdell’s ongoing story about Bobby seriously underperforming his potential, as Emma is able to use his powers far more effectively than he ever did, which is the opposite of how these stories usually go. Most shockingly, a Frost security guard shoots a hole straight through Bobby’s chest and it causes no damage. Later she can melt and flow like water, indicating just how far Bobby’s ability to transform completely into ice/water should have come.

As we’ll see, this issue also kicks off a long-simmering subplot about Emma Frost holding secrets over Bobby that many fans at the time interpreted as her threatening to out him.

 

None of the X-Men appear in Uncanny X-Men #315, in which the Acolytes hold a trial for Neophyte, the member who betrayed them to the X-Men in issue #300. Iceman skips X-Men #31-35, in which Psylocke learns what really happened to her and Revanche dies, Sabretooth tells Rogue how he and Gambit first met, the X-Men sneak into Mr. Sinister’s base and destroy his genetic samples, and Cyclops and Phoenix return from the future and fight-one off villain Sunset Grace in the most hideous costumes imaginable.

For that matter, Iceman also skips X-Men Unlimited #4-7, in which Mystique reveals she’s Nightcrawler’s mother, Professor X and Lilandra break up, the Summers family help to render Sauron into an animal-brained pterosaur, and Storm and Gambit fight Candra. He also misses X-Men Annual #3, in which Shinobi Shaw uncharacteristically tries to seduce Storm into his new Hellfire Club (his previous attempt on Archangel being unsuccessful).

 

“Phalanx Covenant – Final Sanction”
Wolverine #85, Cable #16 (September-October 1994)
Writer: Larry Hama, Jeph Loeb
Artist: Adam Kubert, Steve Skroce

Then comes “Phalanx Covenant,” the big crossover event that introduces Generation X. The X-Men are booted out of their own books while a scratch team of Banshee, White Queen, Sabretooth and Jubilee save the new kids in Uncanny #316-317, and X-Men #36-37. The X-Men were all kidnapped before the story begins and Wolverine, Cyclops, Jean Grey and Cable go to rescue them in this two-parter. Iceman is among the rescued in Cable #16, but he doesn’t even have a line. Ultimately, with the help of the Phalanx’ human leader Steven Lang, the X-Men trick the Phalanx into destroying all of their outposts on earth, while in the other part of the crossover, X-Factor, X-Force, and Excalibur stop the Phalanx from signaling to the Technarch (their parent race) to come assimilate the planet. A coda establishes that the Technarch are interested in earth anyway, which may be part of the story that Hickman was building up to in the current comics, 25+ years later.

 

Uncanny X-Men #318 (November 1994)
Writer: Scott Lobdell
Artist: Roger Cruz

In yet another trailer for Generation X, Jubilee and Banshee leave for the new school, while the mansion is rebranded as the “Xavier Institute for Higher Learning.”

Iceman gets a three-page subplot where he confronts Emma for answers about how she was able to use his powers so much more effectively than he ever has. She responds that “we both know the reason you’ve been afraid to develop your powers over the years” before Bobby cuts her off. After making him admit that he’s an “ineffectual loser” and that he wants respect and to be in control, she says it’s entirely up to him to learn how to do it and storms off.

While Emma is in prime bitch mode in this scene, she actually has multiple motivations for her treatment of Iceman here. First, because she knows how powerful Iceman is, she’s upset that he’s proven relatively useless over the years. After all, he was at the Hellions massacre in Uncanny X-Men #281-282 – if he had accessed his potential, he may have saved her students. Second, as we’ll learn several years down the line, her beloved older brother Christian was gay and proud, and their abusive father sent him to a conversion therapy institution that caused him severe mental illness. Rather than having compassion for Bobby’s struggle, she clearly sees him as weaker than her brother who stood up to their bigoted father.

Speaking of dads… this outfit is pure homophobia, Scott.

Secret Defenders #18-19 (August-September 1994)
Writer: Tom Brevoort, Mike Kanterovich
Artist: Bill Wylie

Dr. Druid’s Secret Defenders trick Iceman and Archangel into helping them defeat the sentient Nazi bee collective Swarm, since they fought him once before back when they were in the Champions.

Secret Defenders was a short-lived attempt to revive Marvel’s non-team of superheroes, originally with the high concept that Dr. Strange would recruit a new random team of heroes for every story. After the first year, that idea was change into Dr. Druid and a small core cast but with regular guest stars. Unfortunately, as this issue handily illustrates, the book often struggled with figuring out things for the all the guest stars to do.

It’s reasonable enough that Druid would want help from heroes with experience fighting Swarm, but why does he have to trick Iceman and Archangel into helping them? For that matter, why is he reaching out to two guys who are in New York when Swarm is in Houston? Seems like they would’ve spent a long time commuting.

Then, when they arrive, they don’t even see Swarm, who’s defeated by Druid’s sidekicks Cadaver and Shadowoman. Iceman at least helps Hank Pym stop a nuclear explosion by super-cooling a big piece of Kirby tech while he complains about his love life. But what is Archangel contributing?

 

X-Men #38 (November 1994)
Writer: Fabian Nicieza
Artist: Andy Kubert

In a series of vignettes around the mansion, the X-Men catch a breath after the big crossover.

Bobby tries to turn to his best friend, sometime lover, and “gorilla my dreams” Beast for some comfort after Emma messed with his mind and threatened to out him, but Beast is initially to busy making breakthroughs in his Legacy Virus research.

So instead Bobby heads over to the pool where he pranks Rogue, who’s trying to get some time to herself to take her mind off her troubles with Gambit. Rogue is in no mood for Bobby’s shit and lays into him verbally, prompting Bobby – performing the role of rom-com gay best friend to a T – to call her out on how miserable she’s been acting since the Gambit miniseries last year (where, unbeknown to anyone else, she accidentally-on-purpose absorbed his ex-wife’s memories). He challenges them both to work out their own problems on their own. This is actually Bobby and Rogue’s first substantive scene together and it’s quite a basis for the friendship they’ll develop over the next year or so.

Finally, Bobby manages to pull Beast away from his work with a self-pitying routine. It’s safe to say that Hank’s not planning on any butt play after that big meal though.

 

Uncanny X-Men #319 (December 1994)
Writer: Scott Lobdell
Artist: Steve Epting

Bobby takes Rogue to dinner at his parents’ house in Long Island.

We already covered the flashback to Bobby’s youth ages ago, but there’s a lot to unpack in this issue.

Rogue instantly can tell Bobby’s nervous about seeing his dad, but doesn’t quite know him well enough to know what’s up yet. It helps that Mr. Drake appears like a supervillain and opens by tauntingly calling them “lovebirds.”

 

It’s never quite clear why Bobby brings Rogue along. He does go to pains to emphasize that they’re just friends. On the other hand, even Bobby’s father makes a point that Bobby brought a beard to dinner (have we ever seen Bobby with facial hair yet?). Bobby says Rogue volunteered to drive him because she needed the time away from Gambit to clear her head – but, uh Bobby can drive himself, can’t he?

Bobby takes the opportunity to tell Rogue that Gambit’s trash, because he’s being the good gay friend. But the sheepish way he tells her, like he knows he’s guilty of lying to his own girlfriends, says a lot too.

Bobby’s never dated an Italian girl on-panel, unless Terri Sue Bottoms was Italian on her mother’s side.

And the fireworks finally come out at dinner when Mr. Drake chides Bobby for never bringing home a “normal girl.” Interestingly, Bobby responds by challenging his father to define both terms. It seems they both know what this is really about, even if neither can quite bring themselves to say the word gay.

Bobby storms out, but it’s Rogue who has the last words, and this is queen ally shit right here.

 

Marvel Holiday Special 1994 (1st and 6th stories)
Writers: Kurt Busiek, Karl Bollers
Artists: James Fry Sal Buscema

We covered the Marvel Holiday Special 1994 back when we covered the Silver Age inserts – but in the framing device, Beast and Iceman are being Christmas humbugs but rush off to New York to stop Metoxo the Lava Man from kidnapping shopping mall Santa Clauses. They eventually remember encountering him in the Silver Age and help him surprise his kids with Christmas presents.

And then there’s a “’Twas the Night Before Christmas” parody about the Starjammers showing up for Christmas morning, and Bobby’s there too.

 

Bobby skips X-Men #39, which is a strange spotlight issue where Adam-X the X-Treme (look, it was 1994) rescues Cyclops’ grandfather from a plan crash. This was meant to be part of an aborted story that would reveal Adam was the third Summers brother – Nicieza would finally wrap this up in X-Men Legends #1-2 in 2021.

Bobby also misses the Rogue miniseries, a sequel to last year’s Gambit, in which Belladonna and Candra try to get revenge on Rogue by attacking the boy who’s been in a coma since he kissed her when they were kids; and the Bishop miniseries, in which Bishop tracks down the last escapee from his era, Mountjoy.

 


“Legion Quest”
Uncanny X-Men #320-321, X-Men #40-41 (January-February 1995)
Writers: Scott Lobdell, Mark Waid, Fabian Nicieza
Artist: Roger Cruz, Andy Kubert, Ron Garney

Legion wakes up from his coma, no longer suffering from his vaguely defined mental illness and suddenly more powerful than ever, and he decides to go back in time to kill Magneto before he can become a block to Xavier’s dream. But when he accidentally kills Xavier instead, the entire universe is destroyed and replaced with the “Age of Apocalypse” reality. Yes, this is a seven-part prelude to a forty-part story.

Legion woke up in X-Factor #108-109, where Mystique tried to kill him in revenge for his killing Destiny way back in Uncanny X-Men #255. After receiving reports from X-Factor that Legion was awake, Storm, Jean, Iceman, Psylocke, Bishop and Jean go investigate, and all but Jean end up sucked into the past along with Legion. Unfortunately, the trip scrambles all their minds and leaves them amnesiacs wandering through Tel Aviv during the period when Xavier and Magneto were coworkers at a mental hospital there.

The remaining X-Men eventually recruit Cable and activate his latent (and never since mentioned again) time-travel powers to send him back to remind the X-Men who they are so they can stop Legion, but they fail.

Storm points out that Bobby is suddenly more powerful than he’s ever been, because his “subconscious barriers” have fallen. I wonder if a spell through amnesia might’ve made him less self-conscious about his homosexuality? After all, he’s spent three weeks in the gay capital of the Middle East. In his thought balloons, we see he thinks “This is what I wanted isn’t it? More power, better control over my abilities – to play with the big boys, right?” Bobby later describes it as “I saw things differently – looked with myself – and at the world in a way which I never had before.”

If Bobby did indeed have a revelation here, it unfortunately gets undone in X-Men: Omega, the final chapter of “Age of Apocalypse,” in which Bishop stops Legion before killing Xavier, which sends the X-Men back to the present and the timeline specifically heals over, undoing everything that happened in their time-travel trip.

Bobby skips Cable #20, in which the other X-Men huddle together and wait for the end of the world. The circumstances make everyone a little nostalgic and get some characters to make some big reflections and confessions. Hank muses about how he’s given up pleasures of the flesh in pursuit of science while he contemplates the “pulchritudinous Archangel.” For his part, Warren stops by to tell Hank he’s been his best friend, though he emphasizes that he’s just started dating Psylocke in a bit of a ‘no homo’ way.

 

At this point, the entire X-Men line was put on hold for four months and replaced with books set in the “Age of Apocalypse” timeline. Here, the X-Men are formed by Magneto, and are proven ineffective when Apocalypse starts his conquest of Earth a decade early, because the fight in “Legion Quest” made him believe the mutants were already arising. It’s one of the high points of the X-Men in the 90s, though when I was collecting, this was the point when all my friends jumped off. And looking back, I can’t blame them. 1994 was a rough year for the X-Men fan. The X-Men barely appear in their own books while they’re put on hold to launch other titles and events. Sister titles like X-Factor and Excalibur lacked regular creative teams for much of the year. Generation X launched and before it even had a real story it was sucked into the “Age of Apocalypse” event. And the next four months were going to put all the regular stories on hold while you were told to buy a 40-part story? It really feels like a year of wheel spinning and consumer milking. On top of that, the individual issues were becoming unbearably expensive – especially with the switch to glossy paper and the constant special edition prints, and the exchange rate in Canada. But boy did they miss out!

I’m not going to cover the entire event in depth here, on the basis that the AOA Ice-Man (Bobby picks up a hyphen) is technically a different character. But there are still hints of the development planned for his mainstream universe counterpart throughout the story. His earliest appearance in AOA is in X-Men Chronicles #1 (the book that replaced X-Men Unlimited), which told the story of Magneto’s X-Men’s first adventure. Bobby replays his silver age role by being a bit of a gross flirt with new student Rogue (subbing in for Marvel Girl), but a more-than-friendship with Quicksilver is also implied.

Later, in X-Men Chronicles #2, Ice-Man has a chat with Quicksilver about how much he dislikes Pietro’s girlfriend Storm, then has a couple odd moments where he jokingly flirts with Gambit when it’s clear that Rogue is about to dump him.

Ice-Man goes “sploosh” thinking of all the tip he’s taken from Gambit.

Over in his main title, Amazing X-Men, Fabian Nicieza generally portrays Ice-Man has being more powerful than his mainstream counterpart, continuing the story of Bobby generally underperforming his potential. For example, it’s said that Ice-Man has the power to teleport himself and others by turning people into water vapor. All of this is consistent with Bobby’s power levels being tied into his acceptance of his sexuality. There’s a brief moment in Amazing X-Men #1 where his teammate Exodus (generally portrayed in the mainstream universe as a deeply religious Christian from the Middle Ages, which shouldn’t have changed in this timeline) makes a snide comment about how Bobby isn’t normal. It’s not immediately clear what he’s referring to.

Ice-Man wishes he could quit you.

He also appears briefly in Astonishing X-Men #1-2 and 4 before joining the assault on Apocalypse’s fortress in X-Men: Omega. Ice-Man doesn’t appear in any of the sequels or prequels that came out after the crossover, but he does turn up years later in Uncanny X-Force Vol 1, where he crosses over into the mainstream universe, does a heel turn and is seen in a harem with a bunch of female sex workers before he is finally killed in Uncanny X-Force #24. So it’s not clear that this version of the character ever came out.

Elsewhere in the X-Books:

  • X-Factor mostly spent the year mourning Multiple Man with fill-in creators
  • Wolverine wandered the world trying to figure out if he could be a hero without his adamantium, and nearly murdered Sabretooth when he was left guarding him during “Legion Quest.”
  • X-Force dispatched most of the Upstarts, then learned Sunspot was somehow the new leader of the MLF, while Cable investigated Acolytes, Morlocks and new Dark Riders.
  • Excalibur rotated through a new team, and revealed that Moira had contracted the Legacy Virus somehow (per 2019 retcon, she was a mutant)
  • Generation X just got started in time to be cancelled, but introduced Emplate and Penance

Where to find these issues: The X-Men issues are collected across the Phalanx Covenant and Legion Quest Omnibuses. Legion Quest is also collected in the Age of Apocalypse Omnibus, which has all of the AOA story, minus X-Men Chronicles, which is the Age of Apocalypse Companion Omnibus. The Secret Defenders issues are collected in Deadpool and the Secret Defenders, possibly the most misleadingly titled cash-grab collection Marvel’s ever released. The Holiday and Swimsuit specials have never been reprinted and aren’t on Marvel Unlimited.

Next time: The universe gets back to normal, Iceman takes Rogue on a roadtrip, and Onslaught arrives.

Chapter 22: X-Factor – Inferno (1989)

Previous Posts: Introduction | Chapter 1: Lee/Kirby Era Part 1 | Chapter 2: Lee/Kirby Era Part 2 | Chapter 3: The Roy Thomas Era (1966-1968) | Chapter 4: The End of the Silver Age (1968-1970) | Chapter 5: Origins and Flashbacks Part 1 | Chapter 6: Silver Age Flashbacks Part 2 | Chapter 6.1: Voices of Pride | Chapter 7: X-Men: First Class Vol 1 | Chapter 8: X-Men: First Class Vol 2 Part 1 | Chapter 9: X-Men: First Class Vol 2 Part 2 | Chapter 10: The Hidden Years | Chapter 11: X-Men on Hiatus (1970-75) | Chapter 12: The Champions Part 1 (1975-76) | Chapter 13: The Champions Part 2 (1977-78) | Chapter 14: The College Years (1978-83) | Chapter 15: The New Defenders Part 1 (1983-84) | Chapter 16: The New Defenders Part 2 (1984-85) | Chapter 17: The End of the New Defenders (1985-86) | Chapter 18: X-Factor Part 1 (1986) | Chapter 19: X-Factor – Mutant Massacre (1987) | Chapter 20: X-Factor – Fall of the Mutants (1987) | Chapter 21: X-Factor – Inferno Prologue (1988)

Boy it’s been a while, but we’re finally at the next big chunk of Bobby Drake’s history: The “Inferno” story. Unfortunately, although Iceman appears throughout the massive story, he really doesn’t have a lot to do in it. To be honest, it was hard to work up enthusiasm to write about this era. You’re forewarned.

“Inferno” holds an important place in X-Men fandom, but more because of the consequences of the story than because it’s any good. I’m going to summarize it here before we begin.

Colossus’ 6-year old sister Illyana was kidnapped to Limbo (back in Uncanny X-Men #161), where she grew up, discovered her mutant powers, and eventually overthrew its demon lord and became ruler (Magik miniseries). Her second-in-command Sym is resentful, and after being exposed to the technovirus in a New Mutants story, he thinks he has the power to overthrow her and then lead an invasion of earth. So, in order to enact his plan, he sends his henchman N’astirh and a bunch of demons to earth to kidnap mutant infants that can be used to open a portal. While there, they distract all the heroes with demon magic that causes a heatwave, transforms inanimate objects all over Manhattan into man-eating demons, and for good measure, unleashes the X-Men’s dark sides. There is never an explanation of why Sym can send N’astirh and the demons to earth before the portal is opened.

Because they need to rope in Uncanny X-Men and X-Factor they also apparently want a backup plan, they also tempt Madelyne Pryor into becoming the Goblin Queen, by unleashing her latent psychic powers and promising to find her missing son, Nathan Christopher (Uncanny X-Men #235-239). N’astirh believes that if the original portal fails, they can still open one by sacrificing Nathan because he’s so powerful. It’s never entirely clear what they need Madelyne for, since N’astirh’s the one who finds the baby and has magic powers of his own. In the course of the story, we finally learn Madelyne’s origin: she was a clone of Jean Grey created by Mr. Sinister, who only came to life when Phoenix died (Uncanny X-Men #137). Phoenix attempted to return the portion of Jean’s soul that it stole from her (Uncanny X-Men #101, Classic X-Men #8), only for Jean to reject it due to the horror of learning what Phoenix did in her name. So Phoenix put that soul into Madelyne. The whole thing ends with Madelyne dying, Jean reclaiming that part of her soul, and consequently, the memories of Phoenix and Madelyne. The whole thing was meant to be a cover for Scott’s abandonment of her, by explaining that in a way Madelyne was both actually Jean and also a villainous plot to corrupt him.

Structurally, the whole story ends up being strangely episodic. First the New Mutants defeat Sym, then the X-Men and X-Factor defeat N’astirh, then Maddie, then Mr. Sinister. It also suffers from jarring tone shifts from issue to issue and page to page. On the one hand, it’s a horror story about the corruption of a little girl, the revenge fantasy of a spurned wife, and a horror tale about child-eating demons. On the other hand, it’s a story where anthropomorphized fire hydrants and mailboxes make wise cracks and bad puns as they chase down civilians and lisping demons hunt children with an enchanted viewfinder. It doesn’t help that the whole thing is colored in bright primaries that undermine the whole “demon night in Manhattan” vibe the story seems to be going for.

The takeover of Manhattan also stretched the “Inferno” story into a crossover that impacted virtually every Marvel title in 1989. Fortunately, most of these stories are inconsequential two-and-three-parters where the heroes fight anthropomorphized objects. The only real exception is Web of Spider-Man, which introduced the new Hobgoblin. And luckily, Iceman doesn’t appear in any of those other issues.

 

X-Factor #33 (October 1988)
Writer: Louise Simonson
Artist: Walt Simonson

The Alliance of Evil – remember the all-queer team of mutant rights activists we were told are bad guys? – attack X-Factor live on the news to protest the Mutant Registration Act, which was a long-running subplot in 1980s X-books. Meanwhile, as part of the set-up for “Inferno,” New York is in an unprecedented heat wave and inanimate objects are coming to life and attacking people.

Iceman’s main contribution to the plot is being snotty about accompanying the kids on a clothes shopping trip. They all suddenly need clothes because X-Factor is transferring them to an actual school, which we’ll see in the X-Terminators mini. The kids rightly assume that Iceman’s just upset because (his former lover) Beast is still in a coma after saving his life from Infectia. By the end of the issue, Beast is awake in his familiar blue ape form but with his intelligence restored, and Bobby seems a little disappointed he’s all furry again.

In the end, Freedom Force – that other team of mostly queer mutants who work for the government and are therefore the bad guys – swoop in and arrest the Alliance and compel X-Factor to register. Beast does, since his identity is already public knowledge from his time as an Avenger. Cyclops, Marvel Girl, and Iceman register using only their mutant names in protest (Iceman’s identity is already at least sort of public knowledge from his time in the Defenders, but everyone seems to forget that). And Rusty – the only student old enough for compulsory registration – refuses to register but says he will voluntarily turn himself in for investigation of the crimes he’s been charged with.

Meanwhile in subplots, Nanny and Orphan Maker debut, kidnapping some mutant children, and Cameron Hodge gets a new suit of armor to fight Archangel.

 

X-Terminators #1 (October 1988)
Writer: Louise Simonson
Artist: Jon Bogdanove

At their new private schools, X-Factor’s former wards learn of a demon plot to kidnap mutant children and set out to stop it.

Iceman’s only contribution to this story is that he’s in the scene where Rusty turns himself into the naval police, and he escorts the older kids to Phillips Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire. Incidentally, Rictor and Boom Boom seem to age up quite suddenly around this time period – whereas they were only 12-13 when they debuted a couple years prior in publishing time, they’re now portrayed as being older high schoolers, and that’ll persist through their move to New Mutants in a couple months’ time.

This issue is also the debut of Whiz-Kid, who only made a few more appearances after the Inferno crossover and faded into obscurity. He’s recently resurfaced in Sword (Vol 2) with a decidedly queer look, though he has not officially identified as such yet.

Iceman doesn’t appear in the rest of this miniseries, which crosses over with the early New Mutants chapters of Inferno and ends with the older kids joining the New Mutants while Artie and Leech stay in school with Whiz-Kid.

 

X-Factor #34 (November 1988)
Writer: Louise Simonson
Artist: Walt Simonson

Cameron Hodge kills Candy Southern and Archangel kills Hodge, but not before Hodge makes a deal with N’astirh that grants him immortality. Meanwhile, Nanny and Orphan Maker intercept a list of locations of mutant infants Hodge was sending to N’astirh and vow to protect them. And Cyclops and Marvel Girl head to the orphanage where Scott grew up because Scott’s suddenly remembered that’s where Destiny told him he might find his missing son (back in X-Factor #29 – father of the year over here).

Iceman doesn’t appear in this issue because he’s over in X-Terminators #1, and Beast is busy helping the Avengers in the finale of “The Evolutionary War” in Incredible Hulk #350 and Avengers Annual #17.

I would have skipped this issue, but it does include a scene where N’astirh flat out calls bullshit on Hodge’s claim that he always hated Angel and asserts that he actually worshipped and loved him. No kidding. Add one more to the list of X-Factor’s queer villains.

 

X-Factor #35 (December 1988)
Writer: Louise Simonson
Artist: Terry Shoemaker

Cyclops and Marvel Girl find Scott’s son Nathan Christopher in a sub-basement of the orphanage where Scott grew up and end up fighting Nanny and Orphan Maker, who want to kidnap the mutant infants kept there for themselves.

Iceman’s only contribution to this issue is a short scene at the beginning where he and Beast are rescuing civilians from inanimate objects that have come to life and are terrorizing Manhattan.

We found out Mr. Sinister had Nathan in Uncanny X-Men #239. The orphanage is undefended because, according to one of N’astirh’s demons, he’s led the Marauders to a different fight in Uncanny X-Men #240 (actually, in that issue, the Marauders say Mr. Sinister sent them to set up shop in the Morlocks’ Alley… perhaps it was N’astirh in disguise). Still, the orphanage appears to have a full staff of “zombie” workers who don’t notice anything going on around them. Unfortunately, Shoemaker’s art fails to sell any of the horror of what this should look like.

Nanny has a whole team of brainwashed tween henchmen including Jean’s missing niece and nephew, continuing the simmering subplot of her missing sister. Though it’s implied that Joey and Gailyn are mutants, we never see them use powers and they’ve never been affirmatively confirmed as such. They were eventually killed in the “End of Greys” story (Uncanny X-Men #467).

While they all fight, N’astirh’s demons make off with Chris and a bunch of other infants for the portal ritual.

 

X-Factor #36 (January 1989)
Writer: Louise Simonson
Artist: Walter Simonson

After Iceman and Beast save a bunch of people from an anthropomorphized subway train, X-Factor regroup just in time to see N’astirh open his portal to Limbo (in X-Terminators #3 and New Mutants #71) and the demon invasion proper begins.

The major subplot this issue is that Iceman helps Hank get back together with Trish Tilby, who is at first put off by Beast’s sudden change in demeanor now that he’s got his fur, intellect, and sense of humor back. Must have been hard for him to serve his ex-boyfriend up like that.

Angel rejoins the team, wanting revenge on the demons that powered Cameron Hodge to terrorize him.

 

X-Factor #37 (February 1989)
Writer: Louise Simonson
Artist: Walter Simonson

Although the actual demon invasion was stopped in X-Terminators #4 and New Mutants #72-73, X-Factor have to deal with N’astirh’s backup plan: having Madelyne sacrifice her and Scott’s son to open the demon portal.

Iceman, Beast, and Angel mainly spend this issue standing in the background as Madelyne explains her origin and motivations to Cyclops and Marvel Girl.

 

Uncanny X-Men #242 (March 1989)
Writer: Chris Claremont
Artist: Marc Silvestri

Madelyne tricks X-Factor and the X-Men (who have been corrupted by the demon magic) into fighting each other until they team up to defeat N’Astirh.

Wolverine recognizes something that triggers a “pain” memory in Angel’s scent. This is one of a handful of hints around this time that Apocalypse was involved in giving Wolverine his adamantium skeleton, which were never followed up on.

Dazzler and Longshot check out of the fight to go fuck. Eh. Demon influence?

Iceman plays a big role in the fight and is instrumental in destroying N’Astirh by freezing him and the Empire State Building (just like he did last year in X-Factor #27). But again, this story isn’t really his.

 

X-Factor #38 (March 1989)
Writer: Louise Simonson
Artist: Walter Simonson

X-Factor and the X-Men team up to finally defeat Madelyne Pryor. And with Madelyne’s death, the Inferno is finished and Manhattan returns to the status quo.

Iceman appears throughout this 41-page issue, but doesn’t even have a line of dialogue,

 

 

Uncanny X-Men #243 (April 1989)
Writer: Chris Claremont
Artist: Marc Silvestri

With the demons defeated, Mr. Sinister tries to tie up loose ends by erasing Jean Grey’s mind to destroy the information about him she’s absorbed from Madelyne. When that fails the X-Men and X-Factor finally go after Mr. Sinister at the X-Mansion, where they find out he’s been hiding.

Iceman only has two lines of dialogue in this issue, while he’s fighting a demonically transformed Blockbuster.

 

X-Factor #39 (April 1989)
Writer: Louise Simonson
Artist: Walter Simonson

The X-Men and X-Factor defeat Mr. Sinister. Though it appears Cyclops kills him, he’ll be back in a couple years explaining he faked his death.

Sinister explains how he’s been manipulating Cyclops since he was a child, but not why. We’ll eventually learn his motivation is that he met a time-travelling Cyclops and Jean Grey in the 19th century (The Further Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix miniseries) and became convinced that their progeny would be a weapon to take down Apocalypse if necessary (although his rivalry with Apocalypse never really went anywhere either).

Iceman has two lines of dialogue in this issue.

 

X-Factor Annual #4 (third story)
Writer: Mark Gruenwald
Artist: Jim Fern

Two FBI Agents are tasked with explaining what was happening during the Inferno story, and eventually get around to asking X-Factor. They decide to convince the FBI that the entire story was a hallucination caused by a “hypno-ray” deployed by AIM. Very little to worry about here, although it does introduce a dangling plot thread about a demon that managed to stay behind on earth, never again followed up on.

Bobby doesn’t appear in the other stories, two of which are part of the “Atlantis Attacks” crossover, and the other is a Magneto and Doctor Doom short.

 

X-Factor #40 (May 1989)
Writer: Louise Simonson
Artist: Rob Liefeld

After attending funerals for Madelyne Pryor and Candy Southern, Iceman takes Artie, Leech, and Taki back to school, leaving the rest of X-Factor to take the mutant infants from “Inferno” to Washington, DC where they’re told the government will return them to their parents. Weird that X-Factor is holding onto them for so long and also weird that they have to be taken to Washington when most of the children were stolen from New York and Nebraska. Also weird that no one questions that the government claims to be returning children that were stolen from an orphanage to their parents, relayed by Blob with an ominous grin. This would be addressed twenty years later in New Mutants Vol 3, where we learn the government was planning to use them to invade Limbo).

Anyway, Iceman’s trip to school means he’s not there for the fight against Nanny and Orphan Maker, who are trying again to kidnap the “Inferno” babies (as we’ve seen, “Iceman isn’t there for the story” is a running theme through this era of X-Factor). X-Factor stop them, and also rescue Nanny’s Lost Boys, including Jean’s niece and nephew. Jean says she’ll continue to look for her sister, but it actually will never come up again, until she’s suddenly confirmed dead in X-Men Vol 2 #36.

Freedom Force show up to collect the babies and Lost Boys, and tell X-Factor that they’ve recommended that Rusty is released on his own recognizance until he stands trial.

 

Where to get these issues: All of these issues and more are in the X-Men: Inferno Omnibus, and have been reprinted in softcover. They’re also available on Marvel Unlimited.

Next time: We’ll dive into the Inferno aftermath with the “Judgment War” year, and oh look, Bobby gets a storyline for the first time since he was put in this book!

Chapter 3: The First Roy Thomas Era (1966-1968)

Previous Posts: Introduction | Chapter 1: Lee/Kirby Part 1 | Chapter 2: Lee/Kirby Part 2

Starting with X-Men #20, Roy Thomas takes over as writer and a noticeable change in tone occurs. The book becomes more interested in its own and Marvel’s wider continuity – unsurprising, since Thomas is part of a generation who grew up reading, rather than creating Marvel Comics. Unfortunately, this whole period is also characterized by a long string of stories that have nothing to do with the X-Men’s core concepts, as the X-Men spend fight cast-off villains from other books. It’s telling that during his whole run, Thomas only creates three new mutant characters (Banshee, Warlock, and Changeling).

The silver age camp is also toned down quite a bit — there’s a lot less knowing fun in these issues. For Iceman, this means quite a bit less of the ambiguous campy dialogue, no more scenes of him helping Warren get un/dressed, and more attention to the subplot with his “girlfriend,” Zelda the waitress. Still, there’s some notable moments in this long, character-defining run.

Thomas wrote the book from #20-44, and then again from #56-64, and #66. This article will cover Thomas’ first run, with the balance of the 60s era covered next week.

X-Men #20-21 (May-June 1966)
Writer: Roy Thomas
Penciler: Jay Gavin (Werner Roth)

The X-Men fight off Lucifer’s latest plan to conquer earth, and we learn how Professor X became handicapped.

I don’t have much to say about this story, but I’m gonna post some panels and let you judge whether Iceman comes across as gay.

 

This is the first time Iceman (the teenage boy who hangs out at coffee shops in plaid suits) comments on a villain’s design taste. Thirty years later, a stray comment from Emma Frost about his taste in interior design in Uncanny X-Men #331 will renew fan debate about Iceman’s sexuality.

 

X-Men #22-23 (July-Aug 1966)
Writer: Roy Thomas
Penciler: Werner Roth

The X-Men fight Count Nefaria, who has taken the city of Washington, DC hostage for $100 million, along with the Eel, Plant Man, Unicorn, Porcupine, and Scarecrow.

There are two stories where the X-Men fight Count Nefaria and a quintet of Marvel villains, and this isn’t the good one, but anyway…

Xavier once again sends the X-Men on vacation, and Hank and Bobby are thrilled to head out to Greenwich Village. It bears repeating that this has to be read differently in a post-Stonewall MCU (although obviously the neighborhood was already known for queer bars in 1966). Indeed, the first person Beast meets when looking for Vera in the Village is a gender-non-conforming person named Waldo (who isn’t upset at being mistaken for a woman so much as for being bothered by a man). Anyway, Bobby is continuing to lay it on thick, calling Zelda the “girl of my life.”

As Iceman heads off to investigate the villains alone, he muses that he was looking forward to “two weeks in New York, seeing plays and movies – and of course, Zelda.” Interesting that Broadway is the priority over the girlfriend, no?

Later, wandering Central Park alone at night, he fights the Unicorn and “the irresistible might of [his] power horn.” Go on and tell us more about where you’d like to stick his horn, Bobby.

The narrator misidentifies Iceman as “Bobby Blake” on page 14 of #22.

 

X-Men #24 (September 1966)
Writer: Roy Thomas
Penciler: Werner Roth

Jean leaves the school to start studying at Metro College, and the X-Men fight the Locust.

Possibly interesting continuity trivia: Jean’s college boyfriend Ted Roberts, who appears in a few issues before being dropped as a plot, was explained away as being Mastermind in disguise in Ed Piskor’s (non-continuity) X-Men: Grand Design book. That doesn’t work with this version having a famous brother, but it’s an interesting idea. It also has nasty implications around sexual consent, and most X-Men writers have wisely steered well clear of making the female characters victims of telepathic sexual coercion and assault.

You may notice I struggle with some of these issues.

X-Men #25-26 (October-November 1966)
Writer: Roy Thomas
Penciler: Werner Roth

The X-Men fight El Tigre.

Nothing remotely of interest here, unless you’re curious to see the whitest Latin American stereotypes ever committed to the pages of Marvel Comics.

 

 

X-Men #27 (December 1966)
Writer: Roy Thomas
Penciler: Werner Roth

Mimic rejoins the team and the Puppet Master tries to take over the X-Men (again, after Fantastic Four #28).

Not much to see here either. Iceman and Mimic snipe at each other a lot, but then, Mimic is an incredible jerk in the Silver Age, so you can’t really blame him.

Minor continuity trivia: Beast mentions Angel’s “mutant recuperative powers,” something that will never be mentioned again until Chuck Austin gives him healing blood powers around 2002.

Also, Jean can sense Mimic’s regained his powers, suggesting either her telepathy is starting to come back, or silver age writers struggle to tell the difference between telepathy and telekinesis.

 

X-Men #28 (January 1967)
Writer: Roy Thomas
Penciler: Werner Roth

The X-Men, including Mimic, fight Banshee and the Ogre, kicking off the Factor Three story.

Iceman and Mimic continue sniping at each other, but again, Mimic is being completely obnoxious to everyone. Mimic’s dialogue in this issue is quite something. He describes his and Cyclops’ leadership of the X-Men as “ramrodding that kooky crew,” and he describes himself as feeling like a “tossed salad.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Let’s also take a moment to enjoy how fabulous Ogre’s character design is.

Also, it has to be pointed out that mythological banshees were female. Sean Cassidy taking on this identity assumes at least a little gender play. (The real story is that Stan Lee nixed the idea that Banshee could be female because he didn’t think female villains worked, and this is partly why the total number of female mutants in Marvel Comics doesn’t reach double digits until 1980).

Whatever this fetish is, I never want to see it again.

 

X-Men #29 (February 1967)
Writer: Roy Thomas
Penciler: Werner Roth

The X-Men fight the Super Adaptoid and Mimic leaves the team.

You get the sense Roy Thomas doesn’t really care about the whole ‘mutant’ concept of the series, given how rarely the main themes of the series crop up in this part of his run.

Anyway, the issue opens with the X-Men ice skating on a pond, which prompts Iceman to compare himself to Olympic medalist Carol Heiss. Just pointing out that at publication time, the US Men’s figure skating team had also medaled in every Olympics since 1948.

Mimic loses his powers in the battle and is not seen again until Incredible Hulk #161 during the hiatus years.

 

X-Men #30 (March 1967)
Writer: Roy Thomas
Penciler: Jack Sparling

The X-Men fight the Warlock, who claims to be the real Merlin and an immortal mutant. (But years later is revealed to be neither, in Incredible Hulk #210).

Nothing at all. The X-Men are fighting a Thor villain this month.

 

 

 

 

X-Men #31 (April 1967)
Writer: Roy Thomas
Penciler: Werner Roth

The X-Men fight the Cobalt Man.

Professor X is playing matchmaker with Jean and Scott, a theme that we’ll see recur a bit more in X-Men: First Class, and which we may have seen back in Strange Tales #120.

Beast wonders to Iceman whether they can trust the Mimic with their secret identities now that he’s returned to college. Iceman believes they can trust him. But is it just their superhero/civilian identities that they’re worried about?

Later as he’s getting ready for their double date, Hank has a private moment where he resents the efforts he has to go to in order to fit into the normal world. As he puts on his oversized socks and shoes, it’s clear he resents this human drag he has to wear in order to have a heterosexual relationship, and would rather stay at the mansion with his mutant buddies. We’ll have to keep an eye on Hank McCoy.

Once again the date is cut short by the mission, and the ever-patient “girlfriends” just take it in stride.

Wondering why the X-Men are still at a school even though they graduated in issue #7? Angel explains to his new girlfriend Candy Southern that they’re now taking college courses at Xavier’s. This thread was never really mentioned again until it was picked up in X-Men: First Class, but it makes more sense than them all just bumming around the mansion through their early twenties.

Nothing much else to report here as the X-Men’s story gets hijacked to fight an Iron Man villain.

 

Strange Tales #156 (May 1967)
Writer/Penciller: Jim Steranko

The X-Men make a cameo hearing a ransom call from Hydra.

Hey, I said this was going to be comprehensive.

 

 

 

 

 

X-Men #32-33 (May-June 1967)
Writer: Roy Thomas
Penciler: Werner Roth

The X-Men fight the Juggernaut.

Iceman turns 18 and poor Zelda throws a party for him at the Coffee A-Go-Go. He doesn’t exactly jump at the invitation to dance with her, and when Warren shows up with his new girlfriend Candy Southern, well, this happens.

 

On one reading, Bobby is making a joke about how he’d like to find a girl as hot as Candy – which still works as his over-the-top cover. On another reading, he’s expressing what he’d do to get a guy like his former dress-up doll Warren.

The X-Men bust up a motorcycle gang that ride their bikes into the club to terrorize them because Zelda turned their leader down for a date. I guess she prefers the sensitive type. Afterward, Bobby walks her home and they share their first moment of physical affection since they started dating when Bobby was still 16. It looks like how I kissed that girl at sleepaway camp to prove to the guys how straight I was. He’s practically grimacing. Nevertheless, cherish this kiss! It’s the only one you’ll see Bobby put on another person for over a decade (sorry, spoilers!).

Anyway, in the end, Dr. Strange points the X-Men toward the magical doohickey that will get rid of Juggernaut, while Factor Three kidnap the Professor.

 

X-Men #34 (July 1967)
Writer: Roy Thomas
Penciler: Dan Adkins

The X-Men fight Tyrannus and Mole Man.

Absolutely nothing of importance happens in this issue of Fantastic Four that the X-Men happen to be wandering through instead of rescuing the Professor. Still, years later, it gets a follow up in X-Men: The Hidden Years.

 

 

 

X-Men #35 (August 1967)
Writer: Roy Thomas
Penciler: Dan Adkins

The X-Men fight Spider-Man after Banshee gives them some unhelpful advice to find Factor Three. Nothing particularly important happens here, except for this panel of Iceman hoping to take Spider-Man from behind with his big pole.

And check out Iceman’s sassy little pose here.

 

 

 

 

X-Men #36 (September 1967)
Writer: Roy Thomas
Penciler: Ross Andru

The X-Men scramble to find cash to afford plane tickets to Europe so they can rescue Professor X, and end up fighting Mekano.

Another bizarre issue where the X-Men fight a character who belongs in Iron Man. Again, very little of interest here. We learn that Bobby and Hank can juggle. A scene where Iceman puts up no resistance as he’s arrested by a pair of cops could be a rough Tom of Finland pinup.

 

X-Men #37-39 – first stories (October-December 1967)
Writer: Roy Thomas
Penciler: Ross Andru

The X-Men finally catch up to Factor Three and attempt to thwart their plan to trick the US and USSR into nuclear Armageddon, but end up getting caught. Finally, the X-Men team up with Factor Three to stop their Mutant Master, who turns out to be an alien from Sirius. Then Jean gives the team new uniforms she’s designed (X-Men Unlimited #42 later establishes that Xavier designed Jean’s new look). Iceman’s look changes slightly with boots and gloves under his ice.

Probably the most important thing about this story is the first real look at the Changeling, who only has a short run in the 60s before dying, but went on to enduring popularity in the 90s cartoon as Morph, and again under that name in the “Age of Apocalypse” story and in Exiles. He recently turned up alive again on Krakoa. The AoA version certainly defied gender norms in a way that predicted the anything-that’s-funny sexuality of later Deadpool portrayals, but we’ve never had an outright statement that he’s queer. Still, look at these costumes!

 

X-Men #38 – backup story (November 1967)
Writer: Roy Thomas
Penciler: Ross Andru

The “Origins of the X-Men” back-up strips begin, this time with a strip explaining how Xavier came to work with the government to set up the X-Men. This strip doesn’t really stand up to much scrutiny – even at publication date, having Xavier claim that he had become a recluse in Westchester ever since Juggernaut was buried alive in Korea was incorrect – we knew that he had at least spent years travelling in Asia, where he met Lucifer and became crippled. Next month: Cyclops!

 

 

X-Men #40 – first story (January 1968)
Writer: Roy Thomas
Penciler: Don Heck and Werner Roth

The X-Men fight Frankenstein’s monster, who turns out to be an alien robot.

This is a pretty awful issue, let’s be honest. It’s X-Men vs. Frankenstein, and it’s only a fight at all because no one thinks to just let Iceman freeze the robot again, like it was found in the Arctic at the beginning of the issue. Of minor interest, in 2011 we’ll meet Maximilian Frankenstein, one of the Hellfire Kids, who claims to be the last living descendent of the real Dr. Frankenstein (the Marvel Universe line being that the Shelley book is a fictionalized account of real events).

 

 

X-Men #41-42 – first stories (February-March 1968)
Writer: Roy Thomas
Penciler: Don Heck and Werner Roth

The X-Men fight Grotesk, and “Professor X” dies, but we eventually learn it’s the Changeling.

When a subway they’re riding with their girlfriends Zelda and Vera is derailed, Hank and Bobby investigate and find Grotesk, the sole survivor of an underworld kingdom that was annihilated in a nuclear test. Grotesk plans to destroy the world in revenge somehow.

When Bobby returns, his dialogue with Zelda sure seems coded to me.

 

He claims that when the subway was stopped, he “did what any red-blooded all-American boy would do when he’s alone in a darkened train with the love of his life! Namely, I went looking for a match!” Not untrue – he found a match with Grotesk! But also, we could say that throughout his relationship with Zelda he’s been looking for a better match, couldn’t we? Zelda brushes all of this off like a good clueless girl in love with her gay best friend: “If you big strong mystery men say you have to go, Vera and I will believe you! But if I ever find out you’re two-timing me…” To which Bobby responds “What I’ve got waiting for me isn’t half as cute as you – honest!” Let’s read this as Bobby lamenting that he doesn’t have a boyfriend, yet.

The death of Professor X fake out is pretty sloppily handled too. After starting to set up that Xavier is acting strangely, Roy Thomas has him use his mental powers, wear a rubber mask, and the narration specifically says he’s using his mechanical braces to walk. Ah well. Grotesk also dies here, but turns up again in other Marvel books years down the road.

X-Men #39-42 – backup story (December 1967)
Writer: Roy Thomas
Penciler: Don Heck

The “Origins of the X-Men” covers Cyclops, who runs away from his orphanage when a crowd attacks him after he uses his optic blasts to save someone’s life. He falls in with the criminal Jack O’Diamonds. In the end, Cyclops realizes he’s an insane threat, and Xavier has Cyclops kill him with a vibration device. Xavier brings Cyclops back to the mansion where he gives him an X-Men uniform and visor. In a 90s retcon we’ll learn that Amelia Voght is living at the mansion at the time, and left Xavier in protest when he showed up with Scott. It’ll be interesting to see what happens when Jack is resurrected on Krakoa.

 

X-Men #43 (April 1968)
Writer: Roy Thomas
Penciler: George Tuska and Werner Roth

The X-Men bury “Xavier” and Jean announces she now has telepathic powers (later, Bizarre Adventures #27 establishes she was always telepathic, but that Xavier put blocks on those powers to protect her from childhood trauma. He removed the blocks right before he “died”). Responding to a command in Xavier’s filmed will, the X-Men go looking for Magneto on his island and promptly get caught.

This begins a crossover with Roy Thomas’ other book Avengers, picking up on a story thread in Avengers #47-49, in which Magneto and Toad escaped the Stranger’s prison planet, then kidnapped Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch to attempt to reform the Brotherhood. They explicitly decide they don’t need Mastermind. That story is also the first time Magneto storms the UN demanding recognition of a mutant nation. One wonders what the mutant nation would look like, given that thus far we’ve only seen fewer than 20 mutants in the entire Marvel Universe. This will eventually pay off thirty years later when the UN hands Magneto Genosha in the aftermath of the “Magneto War” storyline, and sets a precedent for future mutant nation stories, including Providence, Utopia, Tian, and eventually Krakoa.

There’s also a back-up feature that explains how Cyclops’ powers work.

X-Men #44 – first story (May 1968)
Writer: Roy Thomas
Penciler: Don Heck and Werner Roth

Angel flies off to ask the Avengers for help, and on the way stumbles into the Red Raven, an obscure Golden Age character.

Even readers in the 60s must’ve thought this issue was crap. All the narrative momentum of the Magneto story stops for this side mission that exists to reintroduce a terrible Golden Age character. The Red Raven is an awful concept: a human baby who’s raised in a society of bird people who live on a floating island in the sky, who somehow doesn’t even understand that he’s not a bird person, and he’s keeping all the bird people in suspended animation to prevent them from attempting an attack on the United States to take over the world. And it’s played completely straight. Later stories establish that the character in this issue is actually a robot, not the real Red Raven and I’m way too bored to dig any further.

Iceman is unconscious throughout the lead story, but the backup strip begins his three-part origin tale, which I’ll cover next week, since it’s written by Thomas’ replacement Gary Friedrich.

X-Men #45 – first story (June 1968)
Writer: Gary Friedrich
Penciler: Don Heck and Werner Roth

Cyclops escapes and spends the issue fighting and arguing with Quicksilver about mutant rights, and then the Avengers show up. Not bad for what it is, and the appearance of the Black Panther in the final panel marks this as the first time a person of color appears and is rendered as if they are a person of color in X-Men. Iceman is still unconscious through the lead story.

 

 

 

Avengers #53 (June 1968)
Writer: Roy Thomas
Penciler: John Buscema

The X-Men and Avengers fight (the Avengers win, basically), and then unite against Magneto. Toad, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch turn on him and flee, leaving Magneto to fall to his apparent death in the ocean. Iceman doesn’t really say or do anything in particular in this issue.

This story is expanded upon in Domination Factor: Avengers #2.4, an Avengers/Fantastic Four crossover miniseries that features the two teams time-travelling to major events in their history. I haven’t tracked it down and it’s not on Marvel Unlimited.

Where to find these stories: The X-Men Epic Collection Vol 1 includes issues #20-23. Vol 2 covers #24-45, and Avengers #53. Unless otherwise noted, all issues mentioned here are on Marvel Unlimited.

Next week, the origins of Iceman, Beast, and Angel, Iceman gets a new “girlfriend,” and the original run of X-Men comics ends with some of its best issues.

Chapter 1 – The Lee/Kirby Era Part 1

Previous Posts: Introduction | Chapter 1: Lee/Kirby Era Part 1 | Chapter 2: Lee/Kirby Era Part 2 | Chapter 3: The Roy Thomas Era (1966-1968) | Chapter 4: The End of the Silver Age (1968-1970) | Chapter 5: Origins and Flashbacks Part 1 | Chapter 6: Silver Age Flashbacks Part 2 | Chapter 7: X-Men: First Class Vol 1 | Chapter 8: X-Men: First Class Vol 2 Part 1 | Chapter 9: X-Men: First Class Vol 2 Part 2 | Chapter 10: The Hidden Years | Chapter 11: X-Men on Hiatus (1970-75) | Chapter 12: The Champions Part 1 (1975-76) | Chapter 13: The Champions Part 2 (1977-78) | Chapter 14: The College Years (1978-83) | Chapter 15: The New Defenders Part 1 (1983-84) | Chapter 16: The New Defenders Part 2 (1984-85) | Chapter 17: The End of the New Defenders (1985-86) | Chapter 18: X-Factor Part 1 (1986) | Chapter 19: X-Factor – Mutant Massacre (1987) | Chapter 20: X-Factor – Fall of the Mutants (1987) | Chapter 21: X-Factor: Inferno Prologue

Stan Lee and Jack Kirby launched the X-Men in September 1963 with a bang, but the series never really developed the sort of fandom their other Marvel creations did. And while these early issues lay the groundwork for the sorts of stories that would eventually propel the series to mainstream success, you can tell it’s still very sketchy at this point.

So this is where Iceman makes his debut. And while it’s almost certain Lee and Kirby didn’t intend for him to be gay, these issues also lay down a lot of scenes that support a reading of him being gay, so there’s a lot to unpack here.

This entry covers the first 10 issues of X-Men, where a lot of Iceman’s basic character is developed. As this is the only period of the series where the main characters are high school students and portrayed as novices, there are a lot of flashbacks and continuity implants to this era (notably in X-Men: First Class) but we’ll get to those in a future installment. But Stan Lee had the X-Men make guest appearances across the line in their first year, so there’s still a lot of content to cover.

Don’t worry, future entries won’t be this long.

X-Men #1 (Sept 1963)
Writer: Stan Lee
Penciler: Jack Kirby

It’s the first appearances of Magneto and the X-Men, including our man Bobby Drake, and he’s one of the few characters whose personality has been fairly worked out at this point. Stan Lee has said he intended Iceman to be like the X-Men’s version of the Fantastic Four’s Human Torch – the young, impetuous jokester. We see this play out with Iceman playing a prank on Beast, picking a fight with Angel, and dressing up as a snowman for a gag. Iceman says he’s a “couple years younger” than the other guys, but he might not be as young as you think – Xavier says he’s 16.

Fans looking for queer subtext didn’t have to do a lot of work in this issue. When Jean Grey shows up at the mansion for the first time, Cyclops, Beast, and Angel are all tripping over themselves to ogle her, while Iceman walks away saying “A girl… big deal! I’m glad I’m not a wolf like you guys!” Later, as Angel flirts with her, Bobby interjects “Y’know something, Warren, if I had your line, I’d shoot myself!” On the one hand, it seems like Stan had intended Iceman to be just too young to be into girls. On the other hand… he’s 16. And look at the way Bobby is looking at Warren in this panel.

 

 

Incidentally, Jean doesn’t know Bobby’s gay yet, because she doesn’t have access to her telepathic powers at this point in her history. Xavier on the other hand… not only is he the strongest telepath in the world, he’s demonstrably unconcerned with ethical questions around using his powers. He almost certainly knows that Bobby is gay. But we’ll get back to that soon.

Understandably, lots of other stories have flashed back to X-Men #1 over the years. These include X-Men #138, X-Men: Legacy #208 and #214, X-Men Origins: Cyclops, and X-Men: The Wedding Album. None of these add anything terribly important to Bobby.

 

X-Men #2 (Nov 1963)
Writer: Stan Lee
Penciler: Jack Kirby

The X-Men fight the Vanisher.

Iceman has now developed a really awful “I love cold” schtick that’s reminiscent of Batman & Robin’s Mr. Freeze. By the end of the issue even Cyclops is groaning at the ice puns. In this issue, he hitches a ride in the back of an ice cream truck in a poor sight gag. He’s also a bit of a brat, attacking the other X-Men with snowballs for no reason. He calls Beast a gorilla and jokes about sticking him with a cactus. He picks fights with Angel and Cyclops.

Then he has a little jealous fit when Cyclops saves Marvel Girl from a Danger Room trap. I’ll say this though – he certainly doesn’t seem to be trying to impress Marvel Girl by mocking her damsel in distress routine. It reads more like he wants attention from the guys for being manly, or from competing with the older Cyclops.

I’ve always loved that Vanisher specifies that the $10 million ransom he demands from the government must be “tax-free,” as if he was gonna declare it on his Form 1040.

X-Men #3 (Jan 1964)
Writer: Stan Lee
Penciler: Jack Kirby

The X-Men fight the Blob and a bunch of carnies.

Stan has worked out the other X-Men’s characters by this point, but Iceman is still a brat picking fights with Beast and Angel.

We get another scene of the X-Men boys competing over who gets to team up with Jean on the mission. For the first time, Bobby seems really eager to be with Jean, or at least to beat the other guys to be with her. Stan likely intended this to be Bobby finally maturing into being a horndog, but we can read this as Bobby starting to play along to hide suspicions that he’s gay. To an extent, all his bratty behavior in this era can be read this way, as the other boys dismiss him as being basically a child. Anyway, when Angel “steals” Jean away for the team-up, Bobby puts on a good annoyed act for Scott and Hank.

Incidentally, all of the X-Men boys, including Iceman, are pretty awful about making cracks about Blob’s weight.

Tales of Suspense #49 (January 1963)
Writer: Stan Lee
Penciler: Steve Ditko

While flying over a Stark weapons factory, Angel gets caught in an atomic blast (!!) that makes him become evil. The now smarter and craftier Angel announces he’s quitting the X-Men and mops the floor with all of them in a fight. Professor X is terribly concerned that if Angel joins Magneto, the evil mutants will be unbeatable, so he calls in the Avengers to help track him down, but only Iron Man responds. Angel actually manages to run rings around Iron Man, and only comes to his senses when he sees Iron Man falling to his death. Angel and Professor X tell Iron Man they owe him a favor, which he cashes in almost immediately…

 

 

Avengers #3 (January 1963)
Writer: Stan Lee
Penciler: Jack Kirby

Iron Man interrupts a Danger Room session to ask the X-Men if they’ve seen the Hulk. Xavier says he’ll let him know, and asks him to leave. That’s it. It’s basically just a tour of the other titles for cross-promotion purposes.

 

 

 

 

 

X-Men #4 (Mar 1964)
Writer: Stan Lee
Penciler: Jack Kirby

The X-Men fight the Brotherhood (of Evil Mutants) in Santo Marco.

Also debuting this issue: Iceman’s arms akimbo pose! Somewhat overlooked in X-Men history, from this point forward, when artists have to draw Iceman in the background or in a group shot and he doesn’t have anything specific to do, he stands with his hands on his hips in a sassy little pose. As a visual signifier, it’s pretty key, and it pops up all over the place. Kirby gives us two such panels in this issue.

Finally annoyed by all Iceman’s attitude, Angel bullies a half-naked Iceman at the end of a Danger Room session. It may have been exactly the attention he was craving. Later, Iceman bursts in on Angel while he’s getting dressed for a mission, which becomes a bit of a running theme for them in the Lee/Kirby run.

This being the debut of the Brotherhood, it’s been the subject of a few flashbacks, notably X-Men: Legacy #209 and Avengers #234, but neither adds anything of consequence.

X-Men #5 (May 1964)
Writer: Stan Lee
Penciler: Jack Kirby

The X-Men fight the Brotherhood (again), and when they win, Xavier says they’ve all graduated.

Just look at Iceman’s facial expression when Warren, watching a track meet on TV, says “There’s the fella I wanted you to see! He’s bringing up the rear! Don’t take your eyes off him!” To be fair, Angel is throwing some very mixed signals here.

 

 

Strange Tales #120 (May 1964)
Writer: Stan Lee
Penciler: Jack Kirby

The Human Torch and Iceman meet by coincidence on a harbor cruise and stop some pirates led by Barracuda.

Johnny Storm reads in the newspaper that Iceman is “a frozen version of the Human Torch,” which, as noted, is exactly what Stan Lee had in mind.

Meanwhile at the X-Mansion, Iceman laments that “Whenever I get the nerve to ask Jean for a date, the Angel, or Cyclops, or someone beats me to it.” A convenient cover.

Xavier, who, remember, knows that Iceman is gay, suggests that Bobby go see the sights in New York. He may as well direct him straight to the Stonewall Inn. When we get to X-Men: First Class, we’ll see Xavier be a bit more pointed in setting up his students romantically. Iceman decides to go on a boat cruise around Manhattan, because “there are always lots of swinging teens on these cruises!” Maybe he just wanted to hang around the docks.

Once on the boat, Bobby’s thoughts race. “There are a zillion chicks, just as I hoped… But they’ve all got dates!” Let’s just play with some punctuation and conjunctions “There are a zillion chicks… Just as I hoped, they’ve all got dates!”

Bobby does flirt with a girl, who turns out to be Johnny Storm’s date Doris. But when she tells him she’s taken, he seems really curious about what makes her guy so special. Sounds a little jealous to me. Come on, you wanna see Doris and Bobby in some Will & Grace hijinks, don’t you?

After dealing with the pirates, Bobby slinks off, thinking to himself that “all those guys and their dates will have something to talk about for months.” Johnny laments that he would have liked to get to know Iceman better and remarks to Doris that he must have dozens of girlfriends.

Marvel Chronology Project has this between the pages of X-Men #5, but that has to be an error, because Xavier is catatonic until the end of that issue. Iceman and Human Torch go on to have several team-ups in the silver age and in modern stories set it the silver age, notably in X-Men: First Class Vol 2 #16, Fantastic Four Vol 6 #23, and Marvel Team-Up #23, all of which we’ll get to later.

 

Fantastic Four #28 (July 1964)
Writer: Stan Lee
Penciler: Jack Kirby

The Puppet Master and Mad Thinker mind control Professor X and have him order the X-Men to fight the Fantastic Four.

Nothing much important happens here except that the two teams meet in full for the first time. I do have to note that the contrast between Kirby’s art here and in X-Men is striking. There are interesting compositions, perspectives, and backdrops… X-Men is clearly not his priority title. To be fair he was drawing half the line at the time.

 

 

X-Men #6 (July 1964)
Writer: Stan Lee
Penciler: Jack Kirby

The X-Men and the Brotherhood try to recruit Namor.

Nothing of any importance for our man Bobby.

There’s a brief flashback to this issue in Avengers #16 (1964).

 

 

 

 

Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1 (July 1964)
Writer: Stan Lee
Penciler: Steve Ditko

The X-Men make a one-panel cameo to advertise their own book. Nothing of importance happens.

 

 

 

 

 

Journey Into Mystery #109 (Oct 1964)
Writer: Stan Lee
Penciler: Jack Kirby

Magneto send the Brotherhood off to find the X-Men, and then stumbles into a battle with Thor. The X-Men are off-panel for the whole story.

This is where Excalibur: XX Crossing goes, but we’ll come back to that in a future installment.

 

 

 

 

X-Men #7 (September 1964)
Writer: Stan Lee
Penciler: Jack Kirby

The Brotherhood tries to recruit the Blob.

Bobby and the rest of the original class officially graduate. Xavier takes a leave of absence to go fight Lucifer.

Bobby takes Hank to the (unnamed in this issue) Coffee A-Go-Go, “the coolest little coffee shop in Greenwich Village, with the dreamiest waitress!” That waitress is Zelda, who goes on to be Bobby’s pseudo-girlfriend for most of the sixties. But bear in mind, they go months at a time without seeing each other and never consummate their relationship. Bobby’s pick up line: “If you twist my arm, I think I could learn to like you.” No, Bobby, you can’t, and it would be illegal to offer or advertise services that suggest you can in the state of New York. They’re not even looking at each other in the panel. Bobby is also doing double-time trying to hide his homosexuality by wearing the ugliest fucking suit imaginable.

Coffee A-Go-Go is likely a reference to the Café Au-Go-Go, a nightclub under Andy Warhol’s Garrick Cinema from 1964-69. Stan Lee was probably thinking of it as a music and comedy venue that hosted the Grateful Dead and Joni Mitchell (among others), but the Garrick Cinema was also notable as the premiere screening location for Warhol’s very queer films.

Later at the X-Mansion, Bobby helps Warren get undressed, and gets so excited he freezes his own clothes off. Hmmm. That’s right, Jack Kirby drew Iceman getting hard while tearing off Angel’s clothes. Better cover it up by talking about your girlfriend.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Incidentally, this issue is also the first appearance of Bernard the Poet, who performs/grifts at the Coffee A-Go-Go. A non-continuity story from 2008 reveals he’s a mutant whose powers are related to his performance poetry, but in this issue he’s performing at the same time as a jazz combo so presumably no one can hear him if that is indeed true.

X-Men #8 (November 1964)
Writer: Stan Lee
Penciler: Jack Kirby

While Xavier’s away, Beast temporarily quits, and the team meets Unus the Untouchable.

Iceman adopts his familiar icy form rather than the snowman look for the first time.

After Beast rescues a child from a water tower, an angry mob attacks him and Iceman. It’s their first real experience with intolerance in print and it drives Beast to quit the X-Men (it doesn’t last). As we’ll eventually see when we get to the “Origins of the X-Men” backup strips, Iceman is already very familiar with violent intolerance, so he’d rather stick with the X-Men. By contrast, Beast has grown up with a relatively welcoming family and community.

But before he leaves, this is where a time-travelling Beast brings the original X-Men to the future in 2012’s All-New X-Men #1, and they stay in that era until the 2018 Extermination miniseries. That means between pages 6 and 7, the X-Men have lived 7 years of publishing time, and Iceman has come out and had his first boyfriend. But that story is written such that their memories of their time in the future are completely wiped until the moment the story catches up with their adult selves, so it need not concern us here. (Although, sidebar, the fact that other than Iceman, none of the adult X-Men were changed by their memories of their younger selves being in the future does seriously undercut the significance of that whole story).

X-Men #9 (January 1965)
Writer: Stan Lee
Penciler: Jack Kirby

The X-Men go to the Balkans to help Xavier fight Lucifer and end up fighting the Avengers first.

It’s not really a classic, but it is the first time the X-Men meet the Avengers as a team. Bobby seems to have been particularly excited to see Thor, staring longingly at him in one panel. When the Avengers leave, he laments “Too bad Goldilocks broke it up so soon! I was just getting warmed up!” I’m sure you were, Bobby. Bobby actually first met Thor in X-Men: First Class Vol 1 #7, but that story won’t come out for 40 years. 

Fantastic Four #36 (Mar 1965)
Writer: Stan Lee
Penciler: Jack Kirby

The X-Men attend the engagement party of Reed Richards and Sue Storm. For completists, Professor X and Cyclops also make a cameo out of costume in Fantastic Four #35, trying and failing to find mutants on the State University campus. Nothing of real consequence to the X-Men happens in either issue.

This is where the 2010 “First and Last” story from X-Men Vol 3 fits.

X-Men #10 (March 1965)
Writer: Stan Lee
Penciler: Jack Kirby

The X-Men visit the Savage Land and meet Ka-Zar for the first time. Bobby does seem more than a little impressed with Ka-Zar, who he refers to as a “muscle man” at one point.

Iceman’s bad fake flirting with Marvel Girl: “Terrif, Jeanie! If you had ice power you’d be perfect!” Uh-huh.

This is a good spot for a break. Next week, we’ll cover the second half of the Lee/Kirby era.

Next week, we’ll finish off the Lee/Kirby era of the X-Men.

Where to find these issues: All of these issues are available on Marvel Unlimited. The X-Men issues are collected in X-Men Epic Collection Vol 1 – Children of the Atom.