Astonishing Iceman is one of the first books to be published in the new Fall of X era set after the devastating party fouls of the 2023 Hellfire Gala. Iceman seems to have recovered from his run-in with Nimrod and is back doing heroics with the help of his inhuman boyfriend, Romeo.
We see that Orchis is willing to use anyone who fits the loose definition of mutant to lure Iceman into their crosshairs as they unleash nano sentinels on San Francisco’s Castro district. The nano sentinels turn any electronics they touch into killing machines. A laptop with giant teeth is seen terrorizing a crowd as Orchis apparently was inspired by Maddy Pryor and her man-eating mailbox.
SPOILERS AHEAD for Astonishing Iceman #1!
Once this situation in San Francisco is handled, Bobby retires to his Fortress of Solitude Southern Pole of Inaccessibility where Romeo is waiting, having been monitoring the situation from afar via what he describes as a holographic status bar of sorts. We learn how Bobby was returned to life and it’s an honestly sweet moment between Iceman and his boyfriend.
Orlando presents a modern approach to the flexible and sometimes messy mutant metaphor. Romeo as a non-mutant ally sees the persecution of mutants as an ideology that won’t be satisfied with just a mutant genocide. He knows solidarity with his fellow superhuman is the right thing to do and he is ready to do what he can. It has analogs in the real world, where some in the queer community are making noise about their efforts to distance themselves from the daily persecution of our trans siblings in a way that is disappointing and short-sighted. Romeo is not one of those people and we love him for it.
Carratu’s art is up to the challenge of portraying busy San Francisco streets and the desolate makeshift ice palace Bobby has established in Antarctica. There’s wonderful attention to detail in every panel. The first page is composed of social media apps and web pages, and the user interfaces of with are all painstakingly rendered with accuracy. The app logos or names might not appear but the different ways this moment in the story would be communicated via the various apps feels believable.
Orlando manages to bring Iceman back to life and establish what this solo title will be about while providing action and romance. The result feels a touch overstuffed but that will happen when presented with an omega-level task such as this.
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