Review: Orchis makes things personal in ‘Astonishing Iceman’ #2
Catch up with a review of the previous issue.
PUBLISHER’S PITCH
HOME IS WHERE THE HEARTBREAK IS! The bait is set for BOBBY DRAKE as the ELEMENTS OF DOOM target his hometown! Terrorizing the town that raised ICEMAN - but to what end? They say you can't go home again, but if Iceman can't save the day, he might not have a home to return to!
REVIEW
It feels like Orlando is trying to write a version of Bobby that he’s yearned to see in comics while still maintaining Bobby’s established character arc within the Krakoan era. His script attempts to thread the line between Bobby’s fun and carefree personality with the emotional weight of childhood trauma and Orchis attacking his mother and hometown, but it fails to land either. At times Bobby comes across disassociated from others around him and unable to empathize without turning to a joke.
Bobby easily saves his mother from Orchis’ attack and the two have a conversation addressing Bobby’s childhood and how his mother failed him. It’s meant to be the emotional hook of the issue but it’s one-sided from his mother’s perspective and we see little-to-no reflection from Bobby. His interactions with Romeo are equally as underdeveloped. While Romeo’s feelings for Bobby are clear, Bobby appears to only be able to express their relationship in innuendos or double entendres.Maybe we’ll see that it was intentional due to an inability to show emotion after being reanimated, but right now there’s a real lack of emotional depth to Bobby on display.
The serialized nature of Iceman dealing with random Orchis goons is also off-putting. Nothing feels like a struggle for Bobby and it’s coming across as if Orchis is putting their D-List plans in place to defeat the Omega-level mutant. I don’t buy it.
Vincenzo Carratú and Java Tartaglia elevate the mediocre plot with their art. The action sequences are the star of the show, especially Bobby’s fight against Helium. I’m loving how the two are depicting ice and snow in various situations.
FINAL VERDICT
I’m finding it hard to get invested in this series. There doesn’t appear to be a strong narrative connecting the first and second issue together other than Orchis is hunting Iceman, but they’re hunting every mutant. Orlando hasn’t shown me why Iceman needed his own series yet. The first issue also gave hope that we might get a more nuanced look at Bobby & Romeo’s relationship since Romeo is how Bobby was brought back to life, but it still feels hollow after the second issue.
RATING: 6/10
