Tag: dc comics

Top 5 Ice Powered Comic Book Characters

Top 5 Ice-Powered Comic Book Characters

Published on by KyraLeave a comment

Hey, hey! Kyra Kyle here. For those of us in the northern hemisphere, today is the first day of winter. Let’s celebrate by listing the Top 5 Ice-Powered Characters in comic books.

5: Ice (DC)

The first of several DC Comics characters on this list, Ice is the successor to the Ice Maiden. Tora Olafsdotter is the product of Norwegian experiments with Ice Maiden, hoping to replicate her powers. Tora’s arrival in the human world led the original Ice Maiden feeling superfluous. Ice Maiden returned to Norway, while Tora took up the name Ice and joined the Justice League International. She’s had an off-again, on-again relationship with Guy Gardner and developed a friendship with a heroine named Fire.

4: Captain Cold (DC)

Leonard Snart, Captain Cold, started life as a gag villain, but over time, Cold has become an impressive DC Universe villain. Snart grew up in an abusive household and turned to a life of crime. He developed a cold gun. The gun has extraordinary power. It can create temperatures to absolute zero. He can freeze objects (and people), create ice patches and icicles, and create a “cold zones” which can slow down anyone, including the Flash.

Snart is one of the founding members of the Rogues. He’s joined the Ice Pack (a group of cold-powered supervillains) and the Secret Society of Super Villains.

3: Killer Frost (DC)

There have been two women who bore the Killer Frost moniker. Crystal Frost was a scientist working in the Arctic when an accident gave her the ability to generate extreme cold. She became a supervillain, but her powers were slowly killing her. In an attempt to save herself, she consumed the heat of Firestorm and died.

Following Crystal’s death, her friend Dr. Louise Lincoln became Killer Frost. She recreated the accident that gave Crystal her powers and sought revenge on Firestorm. Able to transmute heat to cold and create gusts of wind and structures made of ice, Killer Frost has teamed up with villains like Captain Cold (who we saw in our previous entry) and Mr. Freeze, who happens to be our next entry.

2: Mr. Freeze (DC)

Dr. Victor Fries (originally a mad scientist Mr. Zero) is another DC villain who began life as a joke villain. The 1990’s Batman: The Animated Series recreated him as a sympathetic villain in its Emmy-winning episode “Heart of Ice.” Mr. Freeze has a sad story behind his frozen smile. His wife Nora fell terminally ill. Dr. Fries dedicated himself to cryogenic research to save her. The head of the corporation funding Fries’s work shuts down his project, and Victor fights them to save his wife. A fight ensues, which results in Victor turning into Mr. Freeze.

Freeze can only survive in sub-zero temperatures. To survive, Victor built himself a cryo-suit. He also developed an ice gun (powered by diamonds) and pursued a life of crime. Freeze’s gun can freeze objects and people, while his suit gives him increased strength and durability. Combined with his intellect, Mr. Freeze is a formidable foe.

1: Iceman (Marvel)

Iceman Bobby Drake started as the youngest member of the original X-Men. Most fans ignored him; he was the Spider-Man of that early X-Men team, cracking jokes and acting as the conduit for younger X-Men readers to view the team through.

Fast forward a couple of decades, and Bobby made his weekend appearance on Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends. I know it’s hokey, but I still enjoy watching this Saturday Morning cartoon on Disney+. Little did I, or any of those early readers of X-Men, know that Bobby may be one of the most powerful mutants. Iceman is an Omega-level mutant. As a frame of reference, Magneto is also an Omega-level mutant. Yikes!

Iceman can become ice in an organic form. By doing this, he can change his size and size, becoming an enormous ice man. He can also add spikes of ice on his knuckles or other body part, becoming a living weapon.

Hello, Winter! Let us know who you would add or remove in the comments. And wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.

Top 5 Underrated DC Comics Villains

Top 5 Underrated DC Villains

Published on by JimLeave a comment

Hey, hey! Kyra Kyle here. We’re doing something very different this week and posting a much older post by our resident Star Trek Geek, Jim Plath. He shared his Top 5 Underrated DC Villains years ago, and I just found the copy. Sorry about that, Jim. Without further ado, here is the Top 5 Underrated DC Villains.

This one ended up being trickier than I expected. When you start digging, you can make a case for just about any villain of Batman’s not named Joker, Ra’s, Deathstroke, or Superman’s not named Lex, Doomsday, Darkseid, or Brainiac. Here’s my list though.

5) Cheetah:

You could make a case for just about any DC female villain not named Harley Quinn these days, but given that she’s really an anti-hero now, she might not make the list anyway. Cheetah’s history with Wonder Woman is pretty front-and-center in Wonder Woman’s current arc, and it’s doing wonders for drawing attention to her sympathetic qualities. As a character, she’s tragic, and as a villain, she’s got Wonder Woman’s durability and the speed of, well, a cheetah. That makes her a worthy adversary for a good portion of the Justice League.

4) Brother Eye

The OMACs/Brother MK1/Brother Eye have been used similarly to Marvel’s Sentinels. They’ve been involved in some great Justice League stories over the years, played a pivotal role in Infinite Crisis and Final Crisis, and always generate hefty stakes.

3) Mongul

Mongul is something of an ersatz Darkseid. In fact, that’s most likely why he’s underrated. Like a lot of characters, his backstory changes slightly here and there, but he’s proven himself a threat to each member of the Justice League individually, and given them a run for their money as a group. He even once destroyed Hal Jordan’s hometown of Coast City.

2) Psycho Pirate

With the power to affect people’s states of mind, he probably gets passed over too often for villains like Scarecrow, but Psycho Pirate’s powers are broader. He’s been shown to mollify hostile characters, even pacify Bruce Wayne and Jim Gordon. It isn’t always about fear with the Psycho Pirate.

1) Vandal Savage

When it comes to men made untouchable to father time, the bulk of the spotlight goes to Ra’s al Ghul these days. Some of that is the influence of the Arkham video game franchise, and the Christopher Nolan Dark Knight trilogy, but another factor is Savage is far more powerful. There just aren’t many DC heroes who can make a match for him, so he doesn’t get as many shots at the bigtime.

Do you agree with Jim’s list? Who would you add or remove? Let us know in the comments. And wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.