ICEMAN #1
"The Iceman Cometh"
Recommended (7/10)
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Marvel Comics
Writers: Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning
Artist: Karl Kerschl
Colors: Color Dojo
Letters: Chris Eliopoulos
Editor: Mike Marts
Price: $2.50 US/$3.75 CAN |
I've enjoyed some of Abnett and Lanning's work in the past (Resurrection Man comes to mind), but overall, their scripts have been pretty hit-or-miss with me. I read another X-Men tie-in they wrote -- X-Men: Magik -- and it disappointed, so I didn't have high hopes for this latest effort. I was pleasantly surprised. The plot may be basic, but it still drew me in, and Kerschl's manga-inspired art is a lot of fun.
Bobby Drake, also known as the X-Men's Iceman, receives a mysterious summons to Hong Kong, where he seeks out an old girlfriend who's kept a secret from him. She's got a problem, one her employer -- Winterbrand Technologies -- is helping her solve. It turns out that Bobby holds the key to the solution, though. Meanwhile, a couple of powerful and deadly metahuman children are sent to give the frosty mutant a hard time.
Kerschl -- along with Color Dojo -- conveys the fantastic nature of the title character's powers quite well. Iceman's powers are always visually interesting and a lot of fun, and that's reflected in the art as well. However, Kerschl also captures the appropriately reflective tone that's overcome Bobby Drake in light of the events that unfold in this script.
The greatest strength of this book is Bobby's reaction to a life-changing revelation. Forget the mutant powers or futuristic technology. The real story in this first issue is how Bobby deals with a truly human situation. We've all imagined how we'd deal with normal developments in human life... marriage, parenthood, even the deaths of loved ones... but we can never be certain of how we'd react. Bobby's emotions and words in this book rang true.
The basic structure of the plot is rather familiar, even cliched. Hero is summoned to exotic locale to help old friend, but it turns out to be a trap or more than he expected. On the surface, there's nothing really special about the writing, but there's an intangible, elusive quality at play that appeals at me.
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