Summary
- Despite feuds and disagreements, Iceman's parents accepted him as a mutant and defended his rights, unlike other X-Men members' families.
- After the death of Iceman's father, his mother made an ill-timed comment, causing a major rift between them.
- News of Iceman's supposed death during Fall of X prompted his mother to actively support mutants and reconcile with him after he did in fact survive Orchis' attack.
The following contains spoilers for Astonishing Iceman #1, now available from Marvel Comics.
Iceman is very different from his fellow X-Men members, despite the prejudice and persecution he's suffered as a mutant, he has maintained a level of optimism that has caused him to stand out amongst his peers. It was this personality difference that allowed him to get along famously with superheroes beyond just the X-Men, developing bonds with Spider-Man, the Defenders and even The Fantastic Four.
But even he has had to struggle with a displaced relationship with his own family, as discovering Iceman's own mutant powers led to the X-Men to be swiftly ostracized from his hometown. But finally in Astonishing Iceman #2 (by Steve Orlando, Travis Lanham, Javier Tartaglia and Vincenzo Carratù), the Winter Warrior has been given the opportunity to rekindle his lost relationship with his mother, and it worked out far better than expected.
Iceman's Relationship With His Parents Was Complex
Iceman's relationship with his parents William and Madeline Drake was one that was often filled with feuds and disagreements. Iceman did not often see eye-to-eye with his parents, especially when it came to his future, with William wanting his son to grow up to be an accountant instead of someone that got into fights. This lead William and Madeline adamantly against his son's decision to become a superhero which ultimately lead to a massive fight which, according to Uncanny X-Men #319 (Scott Lobdell, Steven Epting, Dan Green, Tim Townsend, Steve Buccellato, Paul Becton and Mike Hicks), caused the family to stop speaking.
Despite this, Iceman was a remarkably lucky case as his parents were not so quick to abandon their son after the sudden mutant revelation. As is unfortunately the case within the Marvel Universe, most newly discovered mutants face scorn and abandonment, either out of fear or bigotry. William and Madeline still accepted Iceman as their son and in Uncanny X-Men #44 (Gary Friedrich, Roy Thomas, Werner Roth, Don Heck, John Tartaglione, George Tuska and John Verpoorten), his parents defended him from a lynch mob with his father being severely bludgeoned in the process. Iceman's parents also remained stout defenders of mutant rights even after their fights, to the point that both William and Madeline protested against notorious X-Men villain Graydon Creed when he attempted to start a bigoted political campaign in X-Men #58 (Scott Lobdell, Raplh Macchio, Bernard Chang, John Holdredge and Joe Roses).
Despite their harsh arguments, Iceman and his parents loved one another; something that cannot be said for other X-Men members such as Wolverine or Emma Frost, who were immediately shunned by their family as soon as they exhibited mutant traits. With William Drake's death in Marvel's Voices: Infinity Comic #2 (Luciano Vecchio and Joe Sabino), it felt inevitable that Iceman would soon get back in contact with him mother. Unfortunately, the death of William Drake only resulted in the two pushed further apart after an uncomfortable exchange.
Iceman's Last Meeting With His Mother Didn't Go Well
The death of William Drake nearly pushed the relationship between Iceman and his mother to a breaking point. Through a series of unfortunate events within Marvel's Voices: Infinity Comic #2, William began dying of an unknown sickness while in hospital and Iceman unfortunately arrived too late before his dad died. While Iceman was already feeling guilty enough about being too late to say goodbye to his father, an off-hand comment from his mother about how "mutants always seen to cheat dead, but humans can't" caused a major rift between the two. While it can be argued that Madeline was not intending to hurt her son with that comment, the ill-timed remark caused Iceman to leave his mother at the hospital and later leave his father's funeral early to sleep with his boyfriend, Romeo.
Neither party came off very well in the aftermath of William Drake's death, with both Iceman and his mother being in an extreme emotional state and prone to lashing out. This was the dire state their relationship was left in for almost a year, with neither one having the strength to reach out to one another. However, it was only through the apparent death of Iceman during 2023's X-Men: Hellfire Gala (by Gary Duggan, Adam Kubert, Luciano Vecchio, Matteo Lolli, Javier Pina, Russell Dauterman, Rubens B. Silva, Joshua Cassara, Kris Anka, Pepe Larrez, Rain Beredo, Ceci De La Cruz, Matthew Wilson, Erick Arciniega and Marte Gracia) that any action was taken to reconcile their relationship.
News Of Iceman's Supposed Death During The Hellfire Gala Reached His Mother
As would be expected of any mother, when news reached the public that Iceman had been melted to death by the villain Nimrod in the middle of the Hellfire Gala event, Madeline Drake was distraught. Yet what was even more shocking was the later revelation in Astonishing Iceman #1 (by Steve Orlando, Travis Lanham, Javier Tartaglia and Vincenzo Carratù) that her son had in fact survived his encounter with Nimrod and was now traveling across the globe to stop several anti-mutant terrorist attacks conducted by Orchis Agents as part of the wider Fall of X event. This immediately prompted a change for Madeline, who was so thankful to discover that her son was still alive that -- much like with Graydon Creed -- she began actively supporting the mutant side in their war against Orchis, despite the stigma she received from her hometown of Fort Washington because of it.
However, the frequent attacks Iceman was conducting against Orchis Agents throughout the first two issues of the Astonishing Iceman series eventually became too much for the bigoted organization to tolerate. Thus, Orchis was prompted to hire the supervillain team known as the Elements of Death to attack the superhero's home of Fort Washington. Team leader Helium was also assigned by Orchis to specifically target Iceman's very own mother. In Astonishing Iceman #2, the Winter Warrior returned home to battle Helium and save his hometown.
Given Iceman's status as an Omega-Level mutant, Helium was no match to the X-Man's overwhelming power and the mist-covered villain quickly found himself projected into orbit while frozen. With the day saved, Iceman and Madeline were finally able to reconvene, with both exchanging apologies for what had occurred after the death of William Drake. While Madeline did not always agree with Iceman's choice to become a hero, she declared that she never once believed the Orchis propaganda that claimed her son was a terrorist and told Iceman that he would always have her support from here on in.
Iceman Salvaged His Familial Relationship
As previously stated, X-Men and heathy familial relationships rarely pan out, with nearly every member of the X-Men having some form of troubled relationship with their family. In many cases X-Men members have been disowned by their family or downright hunted by them with the intent to kill. One of the most notorious cases is the relationship between Nightcrawler and his mother Mystique; while Nightcrawler was still an infant his mother attempted to kill her own son after realizing that his father was the demon Azazel. In modern day, Nightcrawler has been forced to battle his mother on multiple occasions after Mystique joined the Brotherhood of Mutants and while the young X-Man claims to have forgiven his mother, the two were never on good terms.
Wolverine and his brother Dog were also victims of abusive parents, explicit in the six-issue Wolverine: The Origin miniseries. Rogue was ostracized by her abusive aunt after her parents died only to be adopted by the equally abusive Mystique who would frequently emotionally manipulate her. Not even the leader of the X-Men Professor X avoided negative familial relationship, despite him own charismatic character. While his parents loved him, Professor X's two siblings Juggernaut and Cassandra Nova have both independently sworn to kill their brother.
Ultimately, Iceman is a true anomaly within the X-Men mythos, as he had parents who not only supported him as a proud mutant, but also managed to reconcile with their son after what little grievances they did have with one another. Although he was never able to properly say goodbye to his father, Iceman can remain confident that William would have been proud of him, something that most other X-Men yearn for. Hopefully, the Winter Warrior continues to affirm his positive relationship with his mother, because when it comes to the superheroing career, one's family is always a target for supervillain attacks, making family something precious that must be held onto for as possible.