Review by Frank Plowright

Out Cold is among the batch of projects released in the wake of Hellfire Gala: Fall of X, as the X-Men’s society of Krakoa collapses, and it deals more directly with the fallout of the Orchis organisation’s attack than many others.

Bobby Drake was nearly killed by Orchis, so takes their plan to eradicate all mutants very seriously, while they’ve spread the news of his death far and wide, so whenever he steps in to foil their ongoing actions it’s a public embarrassment. It seems a standard scenario, but Steve Orlando eventually pushes toward an interesting variation by having Orchis target Bobby’s hometown. Neither his parents nor their fellow residents have any love for mutants, yet he heads out to rescue them anyway.

In recent years Iceman has been retroactively characterised as sexually fluid, which felt forced in the face of years of contrary continuity, but a more representative Marvel universe is a good thing overall. However, Orlando sure sets a poor example with the end to his establishing sequence shown on the sample art. Would the same scene reconfigured as any number of straight heroes rescuing a woman and then charging in for a full liplock session be acceptable in 2024?

That mis-step apart, Orlando hits the right notes. Each of the five chapters is a separate, but connected story, and they involve aspects of Iceman’s past while also displaying novel methods of using the cold generating powers he has. He’s kept grounded through the presence of boyfriend Romeo in his Antarctic hideout, and artist Vincenzo Carratú ensures Iceman’s activities have the necessary dynamism. All in all, this is a solid superhero outing.