Astonishing Iceman #2: Love Will Keep Ice Alive

Now that a large chunk of the Fall of X titles have come out, there seems to be a clear trend: The main hero/team takes saving the world into their own hands while a specific subsection of Orchis finds the means to destroy them societally and physically. Considering how many tiles are involved, this premise seems like it may get old; however, Astonishing Iceman #2 proves why this formula can work so well.

Much like Ms. Marvel: The New Mutant, Astonishing Iceman takes this Orchis threat and uses it as a staging ground for a deep character study, always maintaining that Iceman is the narrative’s focus. This keeps the stakes high in the grand scheme but more personal when this series is read in a vacuum.

Orlando scripts a fun and emotional story here for Bobby, bringing him back to his roots in his hometown of Long Island. One particular aspect of Bobby’s character here is his smile in the face of controversy and doom. Anyone in Bobby’s predicament, seeing his mother and bigoted hometown under attack by Orchis’ hitmen, would likely make severe mistakes, letting their emotions run out of control. Bobby does the exact opposite here, directly confronting those who demonized him way back in his origin and making amends with his mother. This characterization highlights what makes this series so unique, creating a series that seems to break the mold of what many would consider to be the formulaic plot line of modern comics.

With the first issue taking on most of the exposition, Astonishing Iceman #2 sees the creators taking on more of a creative, playful approach to this world, with artist Vincenzo Carratu truly creating a spectacle. This issue is full of top-notch art, from the creative design of Bobby and Romeo’s ice castle to the fun fights between Iceman and the Elements of Doom. The best section has to be the fight between Iceman and Helium, where Helium is launched into space in a truly remarkable display of Iceman’s powers. This has all the fun of a blockbuster movie, which is made even better by the letters from Travis Lanham. Lanham’s use of onomatopoeia maintains its consistency from the first issue, giving these action scenes another level of oomph and making everything seem even more unbelievable. Carratu and Lanham bring these action set pieces to the forefront of the reader’s attention, making them very memorable.

Javier Tartaglia’s skills as a colorist deserve a shout-out here, with him being able to do the unthinkable, making ice look dynamic. Often, Iceman is portrayed as just shooting blasts of ice that look like snow, something that is referenced at the beginning of the issue. Here, Tartaglia captures the transparency of ice, depicting the sun’s light going through, making Iceman’s powers look cooler than just white blasts.

This also works well as he colors Helium similarly to how the snowier Bobby has looked in the past. This thematically shows how much Bobby has grown since his inception, tying well into how Orlando gives this character a unique voice.