The writing, by versatile comics writer, artist and writer/artist Sina Grace, is on much surer footing. (The image above, by the way, is from Kevin Wada, who draws many of the covers, not Vitti or one of the interior artists.) There’s a pretty notable example near the climax, where Iceman uses his freezing-stuff power in what sounds like a pretty unique way to single-handedly defeat the unstoppable X-Men villain Juggernaut, but the art is just a picture of the two in a vague pose. It doesn’t help that the art, in addition to its lack of cohesion, doesn’t always tell a readable story. The resultant story thus lacks a consistent look or style, and never even has a chance to establish itself visually, let alone differentiate itself from all the other X-Men books, let alone Marvel superhero books or superhero books in general. There are five artists credited for working on the five issues collected within, and primary artist Alessandro Vitti only draws every other issue, with fill-in artists cobbling together the alternating issues. (Jan.One need not get farther than the table of contents to see a warning sign. Unfortunately, this is expected to be the first of only two volumes, as the series was canceled, but the buzz around the writer and the rarity of a standalone volume featuring a gay superhero make this well worth picking up, despite the looming cutoff. The writing speaks to challenges faced by many readers, and lifelike artwork slyly conveys Iceman’s emotional turmoil, even in seemingly calm moments between battles. Despite all this, Bobby has a bigger and more worrisome problem: coming out to his critical parents. He’s dedicated his life to fighting supervillains and helping other mutants accept themselves ever supportive, he preaches to a young woman he rescues, “You never know how far your powers will take you, if you believe in yourself.” His temper is tested as Iceman when he’s confronted with a group of violent religious zealots, a new mutant with unique powers (and ego to match), and fan-favorite villains Daken and the Juggernaut. Bobby, the everyday face of the ice-throwing hero, realizes that even in a contemporary world where both mutants and LGBTQ identities are widely accepted, coming to terms with being gay is a challenge.

With expressive artwork, fluid narration, and quirky dialogue, this welcome volume puts X-Men’s Iceman in the spotlight.

Iceman vol 1 thawing out