Bobby Drake, the member of the X-Men known as Iceman, has been getting the spotlight quite a bit in the last few years, and it’s been a joy for fans of the merry mutant superhero. While he is a founding member of the group, he’s sometimes has been relegated to the background or pushed to the side entirely. However, with a couple of different miniseries in the past decade and him coming into his own as an Omega-level mutant, Bobby has increasingly become a fan favorite, especially during the recent Krakoa line of X-books.

During the Krakoa Age, comic creator Luciano Vecchio both wrote and provided art for the Marvel Infinity Comic Marvel’s Voices: Iceman miniseries. The story focused on Bobby as he takes a break from his role on Krakoa and delves into his personal and private life as one of Marvel’s premiere mutants. I spoke with Luciano Vecchio about the conceit of the miniseries, his history with the character, Iceman’s larger place in the Marvel Universe, and what the superhero means, both to Vecchio as a creator and as a hero as a whole person.

We’re big fans of Luciano Vecchio here at FreakSugar and his work on Marvel’s Voice: Iceman is amazing and well worth the read! Give it a look if you want to see a fan-favorite X-Man get the love and care he deserves.

 

 

Editor’s note: This interview was conducted earlier this year. Due to technical issues, we had trouble getting the interview to post. Now that has been resolved, we are publishing the interview in full.

FreakSugar: How did you become involved in Marvel’s Voices: Iceman?

Luciano Vecchio: Even though I am primarily an artist, I have my creator owned work as writer/artist and was also given the chance to write my own stories Marvel’s Voices #1 and Marvel’s Voices: Pride 2021. After that, my editor Sarah Brunstad offered me the chance to write and draw an Iceman mini for the new Infinity Comics format, and I jumped at the opportunity.

FS: What can you tell us about the tale where we find Bobby?

LV: This is an exploration of Bobby as a solo superhero, the coolest of them all! And as such we find him taking a break from Krakoa and living his own adventures in LA, with a rise in popularity after terraforming Mars. He’s now comfortably exploring his gay life not just with lovers but with friends and as a public figure. While the pressure of living up to the potential of being an Omega-Level mutant is always around.

FS: Prior to these stories, what has been your experience and history with Iceman as a fan?

LV: The Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends cartoon was part of my early childhood and my first exposure to the character, and though I always liked him, he often came through as the comic relief or a minor character in a group dynamic. His coming out in All New X-Men and especially the solo series written by Sina Grace had a big impact on me as a creator because reading it made me realize that was the kind of story I wanted to do, that was the cultural battle I wanted to pick. And rereading Bobby’s previous published history under this new light puts so much in perspective and makes him a rich, somewhat tragic character.

FS: Iceman is a key mutant figure: he’s one of the first X-Men and he’s incredibly powerful. How does that impact his place in the X-universe and your story?

LV: On a more intimate level, X-Men are family, and for someone who went through so much personal change in recent years, living around the people you grew up with can make you repeat behavioral patterns of your old self, and the social role you had around them. I think that often happens to Bobby so he needed to take some distance and see the X-Universe but also the world and himself from another perspective.

FS: You’ve mentioned that this story will focus, in part, on Iceman’s love life. What can you tell us about that?

LV: We finally find Bobby in a position where he can explore his love and sex life fully and with confidence. I don’t think Iceman’s love life story would be a classic finding The One and be happy ever after. He provides a chance to explore how chaotic and complicated and tender and supportive the relationships of a gay adult can be. And I wanted to take a closer look at the bonds he’s formed with the men he loved/s, like Romeo and Christian Frost, what makes them connect, and what they mean to each other.

FS: What is one thing that you feel is particularly important in understanding Iceman?

LV: Writing this story, the element that to me defines Iceman as a character, that was so far a bit underplayed because it’s recent, is aligning the experience of the time displaced young Iceman with our adult Bobby as they are the same character with the same timeline. Can you imagine going through the painful process of coming out of the closet in your teens, finding your strength and self-worth, falling in love, and then repressing those memories and going through your adult life back in the closet? It has to hurt so much, it has to be traumatic, in a way that to me explains a lot of who Bobby is and how he acts. Now, he’s complete, and that is relatively new.

FS: Do you approach his look differently than he’d appear in a team book?

LV: Yes, I asked myself how would I draw him if this was a big time solo book, and that required him to read as his own character beyond being part of a team system. With his own superhero costume, his own logo, and trying to find what makes him visually iconic through the ages.

FS: Is there anything else you want readers to know about this story and what it means to you?

LV: This series means a lot to me as a creator, this is the first time I get the chance to write a mini and it feels like presenting myself to the world all over again. I won’t overshare but writing this story helped me with some personal processes, and I hope that is ingrained in the work and resonates with readers. So far the reception and love I got from the first two episodes has been overwhelming and I’m super grateful, I hope you enjoy the rest!

Marvel’s Voice: Iceman is on sale now from Marvel Comics.

From the official issue description:

Beloved creator Luciano Vecchio writes and draws an Iceman tale that’ll melt even the coldest of hearts! Bobby Drake has had a big year, and after helping terraform the entire planet of Mars, he’s out to explore what his Omega potential truly means. Kicking off Marvel Comics’ commemoration of Pride month, MARVEL’S VOICES: ICEMAN is a four-part series that celebrates life, love, and all the beautiful complications in between.