Bobby Drake, better known as Iceman in the X-Men series, is gay. Brian Michael Bendis, who wrote the latest issue (No. 40) of “All-New X-Men”–in which Iceman is “outed”–said he hoped it wouldn’t be a big deal. He didn’t quite get his wish. After tweeting that he “wanted the issue to come out and just be. no press. no sensational headlines. no leaks. oh, well…” he quickly found out that wasn’t happening. Sadly Bendis had to tweet this, too, after the news broke:
its so weird! the most awful homophobic people on twitter all JUST joined this afternoon. what are the odds? 🙂
— BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS (@BRIANMBENDIS) April 22, 2015
The cleverly executed outing occurs when Iceman gets caught calling out a female character’s “hotness”–and it’s pretty clear he’s overcompensating for some closeted feelings. Jean Grey takes him aside, asking “Why do you say things like that?” Iceman is probably the most recognizable of all comic book characters to identify as gay. Unpleasant, irresponsible Internet reactions aside, X-Men and Marvel have broken new ground that can’t be unbroken.
