Villain. Teacher. Headmistress. Superhero. Emma Frost has held numerous roles and titles throughout her publishing history. Created by Chris Claremont and John Bryne, the character first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #129, a seminal issue that kicked off the iconic “Dark Phoenix Saga”. In the issue, Emma Frost is introduced as the White Queen of the Hellfire Club, a secret society with a clandestine Inner Circle that works to influence global events to advance its agenda. In her early appearances during the “Dark Phoenix Saga” Emma and the Black King of the Hellfire Club, Sebastian Shaw, conspire with the mutant illusionist Mastermind to corrupt Jean Grey and manipulate her into becoming the Black Queen of the Hellfire Club.
In the subsequent issues and decades that follow Emma Frost went on to become an ally of the X-Men and a member of the team. In Grant Morrison’s New X-Men, we see Emma as a teacher and mentor to the student class at Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters, and a mother figure to the Stepford Cuckoos, a hive mind of identical quintuplets who all bear an uncanny resemblance to Emma. In this run, we also see the first occurrence of Emma’s diamond form, a secondary mutation that first manifests during the Genoshan genocide of sixteen million mutants orchestrated by Cassandra Nova. In addition to her roles as White Queen of the Hellfire Club, Headmistress of the Massachusetts Academy, and a teacher at Xavier’s school, Emma also served on the Quiet Council on Krakoa and as White Queen of the Hellfire Trading Company.
Exceptional X-Men by Eve L. Ewing sees Emma returning to her role of mentoring young mutants and helping them navigate their newfound mutant abilities. In this book, Emma has often clashed with the longstanding X-Man Kitty Pryde on how to mentor, train, and prepare Bronze, Axo, and Melee for what life is like as mutants in a world that hates and fears them. Emma and Kitty also have a history together, as Emma once tried to recruit Kitty as a student for the Massachusetts Academy. In Uncanny X-Men #151, Emma even went as far as telepathically influencing Kitty’s parents into approving the transfer of Kitty to the Massachusetts Academy. Emma’s relationship with Kitty also greatly developed in Marauders when Kitty was selected to be the Red Queen of the Hellfire Trading Company. After Kitty “Kate” Pryde was betrayed and murdered by Sebastian Shaw Emma was left distraught and devastated. Emma and Kate would later get their revenge on Shaw after Kate resurrects Krakoa.
One of Emma’s most consistent and character-defining qualities since her reinvention as a hero is her dedication and devotion to her students. Emma’s love and willingness to fight “for the children” is seen in Exceptional X-Men #9 when she defends her students against Mister Sinister, a wicked and conniving scientist who is obsessed with using mutant genetics to further his agendas. In this particular arc, Mister Sinister posed as a mutant named Sheldon Xenos to gain the trust of Axo to harvest his mutant genome for his malevolent purposes. While Emma is successful at repelling Sinister the encounter leaves her trapped in the consciousness of Mister Sinister. With their only telepath out of commission, Kitty allows Axo to be reconnected to Mister Sinister’s machine for his consciousness to connect to Emma so she can find her way back to her body and wake up again. Meanwhile, Kitty, Iceman, Bronze, and Melee battle Sinister’s thralls to give Emma and Axo enough time to escape Mister Sinister’s consciousness, in which they are tormented by a physical representation of a younger Nathaniel Essex/Mister Sinister from childhood.
Marvel
Overall Exceptional X-Men #10 is a brilliant Emma Frost-focused issue that demonstrates how far she is willing to go “for the children” and proves that she is a bonafide hero. The tender moments in the issue between Emma Frost and Axo highlight Emma’s humanity and empathy. Ewing perfectly captures what fans love about Emma: a fabulous and fashionable icon with cutting one-liners and an icy demeanor, but beneath that impenetrable diamond form exterior lies a beating heart bursting with love and adoration of her students. The issue also hints at the guilt and regret that Emma harbors over her past treatment of Kitty, with the hope that one day she can be worthy of Kitty’s forgiveness and that Kitty can fully accept and trust the new and “better” version that Emma has become since their initial encounter back in Uncanny X-Men #129. In addition to the rich character moments in this issue, Carmen Carnero delivers exciting and dynamic action sequences that showcase each character’s mutant abilities in fun and engaging ways.
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