A big moment for an X-Man this week in All-New X-Men #40 by Brian Michael Bendis.
A member of the team comes out as gay or was he forced out by a teammate abusing their mutant power?
The debate is on and Marvel Editor-In-Chief Axel Alonso is revealing the reasons behind the decision to make this character gay.
Before we continue…
You may have already seen the leaked pages or seen it revealed on social media but just in case here’s a…SPOILER ALERT!
If you have not read All-New X-Men #40 stop reading now.
Seriously.
Ok.
Here it comes.
One final warning in 3.
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Bobby Drake, the original Iceman, is gay. The original Jean Grey confronts him. The telepath says his remarks about women are to overcompensate for the fact that he’s gay.
When I say “original” let me clarify. Iceman is one of Xavier’s first students who is a fan-favorite, wise-cracking X-Man with several failed relationships with women including Kitty Pryde and Mystique.
When Bendis took over the X-franchise, he had Beast bring the original five X-Men into their future and our present.
So this young Bobby Drake from past is wondering how can he be gay when his older future self is not? (Us too.)
How did the idea of Iceman being gay evolve?
“Well, Brian wrote it into a script,” Alonso, Editor-in-Chief of Marvel Comics told MTV News. “He’s been teasing at it for a while, he sent it on in to his editor, who in turn sent it to me, and we started a discussion.”
“It was our subsequent conversations about what the next story would be that really sold me,” Alonso continued. “This is a character with decades of history, and one who we’ve seen falter on the romantic stage — more than once. So the seeds were always there.”
Bobby becomes one of the few GLBT Marvel heroes. Alonso commented on what this revelation will mean to the character.
“We look at this as being one shading of who he is,” Alonso said. “I think, personally that it is going to deepen the character, and humanize him even further, and make for fascinating stories. By that I am not saying you are not going to recognize Bobby Drake anymore. If you were a fan of Bobby Drake before, if you cared about him, I think this will draw you closer to the character, not push you away from him.”
Alonso said Bobby’s story will continue in Uncanny X-Men #600, the milestone issue is the final one of the acclaimed Bendis run. Bobby is the second X-Man to come out during the Bendis era. Benjamin Deeds (aka Morph) was a new student of New Xavier School who revealed he was gay to teacher Emma Frost while on a training mission.
One of the ongoing stories with the modern Iceman has been his learning to tap into his power. He’s been called an omega level mutant but was always comic relief on the team. Ironically it was strong women like Emma Frost possessing him and later a dangerous attraction to Mystique (she was just using him) that enabled Bobby to evolve and really tap into the full potential of his mutant power.
With the time twist and this week’s revelation, Bobby Drake will be learning about his identity and his potential all over again but in a very different and personal way.
By Editor