The X-Men's Iceman has just thrown shade at the Justice League. The X-Men group known as the Marauders have styled themselves after pirates, traveling the globe and liberating mutants who have been identified as at risk. They are led by Kate Pryde, the Red Queen of the Hellfire Trading Corporation, and they've already proven they pack quite a punch.
In part, this is because they include some of the most powerful mutants on Earth. Take the example of Iceman, a confirmed Omega-level mutant who could literally plunge the world into a new Ice Age if he so chose. Amusingly, for the first time, Iceman is working alongside the pyrokinetic mutant who simply 0 and appropriately - goes by Pyro. The two mutants have traditionally been on opposing sides of the Xavier-Magneto schism, but now they work side-by-side. In a preview for Marauders #19, by Gerry Duggan and Stefano Caseli, they prepare to go to war against criminal forces on the island of Madripoor.
It seems Pyro and Iceman have decided they should be collectively referred to as "The Two," a riff on the name given to the five mutants whose powers work together to allow the X-Men to conquer death. Kate can't resist asking just where this codename has come from, and Iceman explains there is a simple reason for it; "Listen, if we called ourselves 'Fire and Ice,'" he retorts, "nobody would take us seriously." It's a line of dialogue that will amuse avid comic book readers, especially those who are familiar with the two Justice League members called Fire and Ice. And Iceman is right; the heroes in question did struggle to get villains to take them seriously.
DC and Marvel may technically be competitors, but in truth, the rivalry is quite a pleasant one, to the extent that both publishers have hinted their rival's realities are part of the same Multiverse. This joke really shouldn't be seen as Marvel doing anything other than having a friendly chuckle at the relatively unoriginal codenames, that essentially meant Fire and Ice were destined to work together if only for the sense of narrative irony.
It's been a long time since Fire and Ice have been regulars in a DC comic, and hopefully, Marauders #19 will serve to remind readers, writers, and even DC as a publisher that the two exist. Their codenames may not have been great, but Fire and Ice were a fun duo, and it would be great to see them return to the Justice League.
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April 05, 2021 at 05:14AM
