| � Character Spotlight: A Study In Ice - Iceman in the comics Real Name: Robert Louis "Bobby" Drake First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #1 Group Affiliations: current: Uncanny X-Men; former: Original X-Men, Champions, Defenders, X-Factor, X-Terminators, X-Men: Gold Team, The Twelve, Cataclysm Keys Powers: By condensing moisture, Robert Drake can create, control, and manipulate ice. Using the substance, such objects as slides, clubs, balls, and spikes can and have been made. Iceman can also transform into a being made simply of ice, without lungs, a heart, or any other vital organs. In the aforementioned form, food, water, and air are not needed to survive. With some help, Bobby has been able to break apart and pull himself back together, as well as turn to mist and merge with water to cross it in an instant. As an Omega class mutant, his powers have vast potential that may be seen in the coming years. When one thinks of water, he probably doesn't think 'ordinary,' but he should. Because it exists everywhere on Earth at all times, it's nothing special. It can be found everywhere, and, at its core, it's always the same. Sure, there may be salt and/or chemicals in the liquid, but that doesn't change the fact that it's water. H2O. Plain. Average. Ordinary. Basic. Simple. Water. Even typhoons and monsoons are simply water; their fierceness has more to do with wind than the fluid itself. The droplets are still what makes up the vast majority of the world. And, what's ice more than solidified water? As his name would, therefore, imply, Iceman is the most ordinary of the X-Men. His outward appearance reveals as much. At a meager 5'8", Bobby isn't anything impressive, especially when standing amid a crowd of characters all taller than 6', as many of his associates are. Given that most of said people look like bodybuilders, a man who weighs only 145 pounds can only be considered fit and athletic at best. Plus, Drake has brown hair, albeit light, and blue eyes: one of the most common combinations for characters in comics. Because of his appearance, the second X-Man can and has led a normal life outside of the mansion; he's one of the few people who's actually had a vocation and a desk job. Accounting may very well be one of the most boring, tedious tasks out there, and that's just why it works for Bobby: there's nothing spectacular about it. It's just number crunching. Boring Monotonous. Simple. Basic. Ordinary. Similar to his job is his name: Robert "Bobby" Drake. The number of Bobby's, let alone Robert's, in the world is astounding, for hundreds of Bobby's can be found in each state of America alone. Not only that, Robert was listed as the most popular name given to boys at one point in time. Drake, as a last name or a first, is much the same: commonplace and easy to find The combination of Robert and Drake probably occurs in great numbers, given their frequent use. That, in turn, makes this Bobby Drake just one out of many and all the more plain. And, Like most people, Robert has had trouble in the dating world. Girlfriend after girlfriend has come and gone-- some winners, some losers, some in between. It's very rare to find true love the first time out of the gates, let alone the second, third, fourth, or fifth. Love is trial and error. Some people just have poor lucky at the game, and Bobby is one of them. As any man would, he merely tries his best to make the most of the relationships. It's not always his fault they don't last; it's just the way things work. Being a hero who has shoddy luck at love just makes the man all the more human...and ordinary. The only thing that truly separates the former Champion from the rest of mankind is his mutant power. Even that unique ability portrays his lack of remarkableness, though. On his own, the mutant's control of his gift has always been decidedly average. Originally, he may have been able to make various items, like rockets and ladders, from ice, but he was merely coated in a sheath of frozen liquid. Not until his powers were boosted first by Loki, then by Mikhail Rasputain, then by Emma Frost, did the frosty fighter realize just how impressive his powers could be. As any commoner would do, Bobby simply settled for whatever level of control he originally had, not wanting to push himself because he was content with being average. Now that Iceman has full control of his abilities, thanks to the events in X-Men Forever, he's even more lax in their use, it seems. Instead of being the flashy powerhouse that most comic characters generally are once they have immense powers, Drake has reverted to normalcy and walks among crowds, a god in human guise among his lessers but equals. With his powers under control, the cold warrior can literally live the dream because, as an ordinary man with powers, he's always been grounded in reality and being less than extraordinary. If it weren't for his powers, Bobby Drake would be living a normal life, making a decent amount of money in a regular job, and quite possibly enjoying every minute of being a regular Joe. In the end, Iceman is simply water. |
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