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While Iceman’s choice of a kissing partner for New Year’s Eve is a bit unconventional, it makes for a poignant moment in this digital comic.
As an Omega-Level mutant, Iceman’s mutant power gives him total mastery over ice and snow, so it’s no surprise that he’s a fan of the winter holidays. The Infinity comic Mighty Marvel Holiday Special: Iceman’s New Year’s Resolutions (by Luciano Vecchio and VC’s Joe Sabino) shows Bobby Drake in Times Square waiting for the ball to drop on New Year’s Eve. When an ice demon from another dimension crashes the scene, Iceman uses his Omega-Level ice powers to defeat him, and then celebrates the coming of the new year with a kiss. But he doesn’t kiss his current paramour Christian Frost, his ex-boyfriend Judah, or even a random person in Times Square. Rather, Bobby Drake’s New Year’s kiss is with… Bobby Drake.
No, it isn’t an instance of alternate universes or time-displacement. Iceman uses his ice powers to sculpt an ice statue of himself, and kisses it on the lips to ring in the new year. Although this might seem strange or even pathetic, it’s actually a very powerful gesture of self-love and serves to foreshadow what might be coming next in Iceman’s future.
During their fight, Ikthalon the ice demon sees into Iceman’s soul and notes that he is afraid of change. Ikthalon seeks to freeze time so that the future never comes, and given Iceman’s fear of change, he sees Iceman as a compatible vessel through which to achieve his goals. Though Iceman defeats him, the X-Man is left pondering whether Ikthalon is right and he really is frozen in place, unable to change and grow as a person. He realizes that despite having come out as gay and starting a new chapter of his life, he has reverted back to being stagnant, the way he was his whole life. In some ways, Ikthalon was right.
This realization prompts Iceman to decide that he must change things in the new year. His New Year’s resolution is to focus on his own needs and continue changing and evolving, the way a mutant should. For all his life, he has hidden in the background, always helping others but rarely acknowledging his own wants and needs. He was too afraid to accept who he really was and allow his life to truly progress. Even after coming out, he found it all too easy to slip back into his old habits. This confrontation with Ikthalon helps Iceman understand that he needs to be more open to change going forward.
By kissing an ice statue of himself, Iceman shows that he is going to start putting himself first. It’s a silly and self-aware gesture that is very characteristic of the comical mutant, but it is also very poignant. Iceman spent many years hating himself and beating himself up over failing to live up to other’s expectations of him. It is wonderful to see him display love and acceptance for himself as he makes his New Year’s resolution.
At the very end of the comic after the credits are the words “Iceman will return.” This indicates that Iceman may be starring in some upcoming comics in 2022. Regardless of where he shows up next, it will be interesting to see him make good on his New Year’s resolution.
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