I love it when characters get solo series, even if they’re short. It’s an opportunity to go into their thoughts, personal life, relationships (duh!). In other words, we get to walk in their shoes for a few issues or follow them like a documentary crew, you choose.
Now if you get just the right writer, you can really bring out the colors, and if you get an awesome artist, you might just say what needs to be said.
Bobby needed a solo run especially after coming out (more like being outed), because he had things to say, and I’m glad the editorial team listened to the character.
I had no idea what I was gonna get with this run, and picked it at random, let’s say for the cover, because you never pass on a run with a Kevin Wada cover.
Let’s go, Iceman!
What is it about?
Boy, does Bobby have a lot of stuff going on. It’s about him, it really feels like following Iceman through his daily struggles, and he has a lot of those. If I had to pick a comic book that’s dealing with self search and self acceptance, a book that would be a good fit for the modern days, this would be it.
It deals a lot with parent-child issues. We all know that Bobby’s parents are infamously bigoted, and unlike many other characters’ families, they’re still around. So imagine being a full time hero, and still having to visit your fam, and suffer through nonsense small talk while carefully navigating through what you all know are dangerous topics. We all have a few: career, relationships, even political views. So yeah, whether you’re in your 20s or 30s, Bobby is perfectly relatable.
Iceman’s solo run also focuses a lot on him dealing with being outed to his teammates, old friends, and eventually, coming out to his parents. It’s a tough matter on its own, but then add his family dynamic into the mix, and you get a time bomb.
And of course, after that there’s the attempt to build relationships, when your job is not only demanding (with a lot of overtime and traveling), but dangerous for you and potentially to anyone involved with you.
That’s what it’s about, and it’s in fact, exactly the thing I love most about X-men. Daily life.
Characters
What’s the best thing about characters and frankly, writing in this run? Sina Grace nails it, showing us everyone and everything the way Bobby experiences it. My favorite panel must be Bobby walking into a room and texting to his then boyfriend, while noticing the chatter around him. If it’s not yet iconic, it should be.
And we get all the necessary cameos too. Even a few seconds with another character give you full on background, if not textually then emotionally for sure.
It’s very fresh, because to me it seemed like Sina Grace speaks Bobby really well, which gives us a five out of five result.
Art inside and out
If you take both runs, and there were two (2017-18 and 2018-19), you deal with 5 different artists, and all of them are equally good. It’s a colorful joy to read both runs.
But then Wada’s covers, they really bring it to the next level. So if you get a chance, get them in print, because trust me, you want to look at this in print.
Who should read it?
I’d normally pick a group that this is best for, or say that anyone would enjoy the run. But in this case, I’d say that everyone should give it a try. It’s super fun, it’s touching and emotional, and for some of us it’s educational as well.
