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Iceman Reviews 5-6 (sorta)

So I finally read Iceman 5 and 6.. and I rolled my eyes a bunch and was just generally annoyed with everything in both issues. The whole series thus far has been a train wreck and I finally figured out why I was hating it so much..

The Iceman comic is a canned with dialogue seemingly swiped word for word from various sources coming out book. Iceman as a superhero, his history, and everything else is just window dressing and to cover up that this is just a really stereotypical coming out book. It has all the tried and true staples that play out exactly as you'd expect.

For those of you that haven't read a coming out novel, here is how they go: Guy struggles with and comes out to friend(s), guy comes out to family or society and is  initially rejected by one or both and eventually someone who rejected him (either family member or a member of the society) will magically love and respect him for no real reason, and guy meets perfect boyfriend who will be the perfect absolute amazing guy that will love him forever. This is Iceman. And it's just dull. I read a ton of these books when I was studying Young Adult literature and they're just so bad. They're bad not just because they're often not well written (as Iceman is not.. with tons of cliches and canned dialogue), but because they create this fantasy drama of coming out that eventually everything turns out OK. And that's not how it always works out and you certainly won't always meet the perfect romance right after coming out (in fact, most people don't because they don't really know who they are yet). It also sets the expectation that you come out once and then you're done.. and that's not how it works at all. But really the biggest issue ultimately with these books? They're dull and predictable and after you've read one, you've pretty much read them all. That's not to say that some writers have done some different and interesting things with them (there are a few), but most of them... they're pretty standard drama fare.. and Iceman does nothing new or different, adds nothing to the dialogue even with the fact that Bobby Drake is a 30 something mutant when all this is happening. It's just.. meh.

So.. ultimately this is a typical coming out story so it's probably great for an LGBTQ kid who wants to come out or in a situation where coming out is bad. It may give them strength and courage and deal with some of their issues and that's great.. but it may also give them completely unrealistic views of how things work too and that may not be helpful. I can't really recommend this book, but I hope it does something for someone, but it's clearly not written for me or well most comic book and X-Men fans. It's written for a really small audience..

If you want better LGBTQ comics, there is a whole list of recommendations for Pride Month broken down by various LGBTQ groups as different people in the mix may want different things. Check those out. But for gay teen, I'd have wished I had Midnighter and Backstagers when I was that age..

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