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Ice (character)

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For the character Sigrid Nansen, see Icemaiden.
Ice
Ice, art by David Nakayama.
Publication information
PublisherDC Comics
First appearanceJustice League International #12 (April 1988)
Created byKeith Giffen (writer)
J. M. DeMatteis (writer)
Kevin Maguire (artist)
In-story information
Alter egoTora Olafsdotter
SpeciesMetahuman
Team affiliationsJustice League
Global Guardians
Cadre
White Lantern Corps
Justice League International
Black Lantern Corps
PartnershipsFire
Icemaiden
Abilities
  • Cryokinesis

Ice (Tora Olafsdotter) is a fictional character, a comic book superheroine in publications from DC Comics.

Publication history

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Created by Keith Giffen, J. M. DeMatteis, and Kevin Maguire, she first appeared in Justice League International #12 (April 1988).[1]

Ice is a separate character from Icemaiden, although the two are similar in appearance, group affiliation, and powers. When Icemaiden first appeared, she had blue skin and pointy ears, and was named Sigrid Nansen. When the character joined Justice League International, the comic book creators believed that her real name had never been given but they were mistaken.

After Ice is killed, the original Icemaiden joins the Justice League. A backstory revealed that she is the first Icemaiden, and quit the Global Guardians when Tora appeared.

A new origin was revealed in Justice League: Generation Lost #12 (2010), written by Judd Winick and art by Fernando Dagnino Guerra.

Fictional character biography

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Origin

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The princess of an isolated tribe of magic-wielding Norsemen, Tora Olafsdotter has the natural ability to create and manipulate ice.

In the Danish graphic novel Superman: A Tale of Five Cities, Superman and Lois Lane visit Oslo and encounter Ice (Isjomfruen), a local superhero, and her sister Ice Flower (Isblomst), in the famous Frogner Park.

Revised origin

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A different origin was presented in Justice League: Generation Lost. It has not been revealed in what respects this story replaces Tora's original history.

In the Justice League: Generation Lost story, its revealed that when Tora's family are Romanifolket and when Tora began displaying her cryokinetic ability, her father became desperate to hide it from the rest of the clan known as the Is Bygd, because he feared that Tora's grandfather, the head of the clan, would consider her the chosen one, the return of a goddess. Furthermore, he was concerned that his father would use Tora for criminal activities. Tora was then trained by her father to stay calm to control her metahuman but one day, while playing soccer with some other girls, one got angry at her and began hitting Tora, which resulted in Tora using her powers to fend her off. This happened while Tora's family, including her grandfather, were close by. Because of this Tora had to flee with her parents and sister to Germany. When Tora was 13, her grandfather tracked them down and tried to take her by force, with the aid of his men. To defend herself, Tora's father told her to make it cold. She was reluctant, but after seeing her father being beaten, she lost control and unleashed her powers, causing the death of several, among them her own father.[2]

It was this event, which she repressed due to the dissociative trauma tied to her accidental patricide, along with the result of the training to stay calm and her father's dying wish that she prevent herself from interacting violently with others that caused Tora's shy personality.[2]

Global Guardians

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When an engineer named Rod Schoendienst discovered the ice people, he made a pact with the King that allowed Tora to leave their kingdom. After Rod introduced Tora to Doctor Mist and the Global Guardians she joined the team as the second Icemaiden.[3] Soon after, she became friends with Beatriz DaCosta (aka Green Flame). After the Guardians lost their U.N. funding in the wake of the Justice League's reformation as the Justice League International, Beatriz talked her into walking up to a JLI embassy and asking for a job. Remarkably, in the wake of Black Canary's resignation and the abduction of several members, the short-handed JLI took them on.

Justice League

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Green Flame and Icemaiden

Ice's personality is a mix of girl-next-door wholesomeness and innocent-abroad naiveté, which served as a contrast to the impulsive, libidinous traits of her friend and teammate Fire. The two change their names from Green Flame and Icemaiden to Fire and Ice.[4]

Ice serves with the Justice League International for years, during which she dates Green Lantern Guy Gardner.[5] She also battles her brother Ewald, who attempts to seize the throne following the death of their father, King Olaf. After being killed by the Overmaster, Ice makes minor appearances as a ghost.[6][7][8][9][10][11][12]

Resurrection

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In Birds of Prey, Barbara Gordon and the eponymous group discover Ice unconscious within a Rocket Red exosuit.[13] After she and the Birds of Prey defeat the criminal Kerimov, Ice returns to the United States and reunites with Fire.[14][15] In Final Crisis, Ice is infected by the Anti-Life Equation and turned into a Justifier.[16]

Blackest Night

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In Blackest Night, Ice is transformed into a Black Lantern due to having been previously deceased.[17] She attacks Guy Gardner before being defeated and cured via White Lantern energy.[18][19][20]

Generation Lost

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Ice appears as one of the central characters in Justice League: Generation Lost, a maxi-series that takes place during the wider "Brightest Day" storylines. At the start of the series, Ice is recruited as part of a massive group of superheroes tasked with hunting down the JLI's founder and Ted Kord's murderer, Maxwell Lord. During an encounter with Max at the Justice League's former New York headquarters, Ice is rendered unconscious alongside Fire, Booster Gold, and Captain Atom. The former Justice League members awake to discover that Lord has used his mental abilities to erase his existence from the minds of every single human on the planet, save for those present at the embassy. and the others.[21] After trying to talk to Guy and tell him what has transpired, Tora discovers that Max has mentally influenced the world into believing that she had attempted to murder Guy shortly after the events of Blackest Night, thus ruining any credibility she has.[22]

Ice, Fire and new Rocket Red arrive at a robotics labs only to be confronted by the Metal Men, who are being controlled by Professor Ivo.[23] Ice loses control after nearly being beaten to death, causing her costume to become ripped and turning her skin and hair into living ice.[24] Ice nearly kills the entire team, but as the repressed memories involving the truth about her origins began unlocking themselves and overwhelming Tora, she began calming down as she remembers her father's dying wish. After Ice returns to normal, she becomes sorrowful when she realizes what she had done.[2] Later, she explains her origin to Fire.[25]

The New 52

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In September 2011, The New 52 rebooted DC's continuity. In this new timeline, Ice is recruited as part of the new U.N.-sponsored Justice League International.[26] She appears to still have some sort of existing relationship with Guy, though it is not expanded upon.[27]

Ice appeared in the 2022 12 issue maxi series Human Target series by Tom King and Greg Smallwood where she was the primary love interest and secondary lead in the series. The series follows the Human Target as he investigates who poisoned him and tried to poison Lex Luthor with the primary suspects being the Justice League International.

In Absolute Power, Ice loses her powers to Amanda Waller's Amazo army. After the Amazos are defeated, Ice and Fire regain their powers, but have them swapped.[28]

Powers and abilities

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In addition to being a proficient hand-to-hand combatant, Ice can project in various forms and quantities of ice and snow through her hands. She can create platforms of ice upon which she can skate. Before her initial demise, she was powered-up mysteriously (later revealed to be the result of the Overmaster). She was able to generate larger amounts of ice and snow, and gained super strength and the ability to fly. After her resurrection in Birds of Prey, Ice's powers seem incredibly destructive, expelling people from the building she's in as she awakens with bright white eyes, and conjuring a massive icy figure before her as well as causing a blizzard.

Other versions

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In Tangent Comics (taking place on Earth-96 of the Old Multiverse and Earth-9 of the New Multiverse) Ice is a female supervillain with cryo-kinetic powers and a member of the Fatal Five.

In the future continuity of Justice League 3000, Ice has become long-lived. Her sheer number of years has installed a darker mood and have caused her contribute to less heroism. Her original mindset comes back when she encounters Beatriz.

In other media

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Television

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Ice as seen in Batman: The Brave and the Bold.

Film

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Ice appears in The Death and Return of Superman, portrayed by Chloe Dykstra.[31][32]

Video games

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Merchandise

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  • At Toy Fair 2007, Mattel announced Fire and Ice action figures would be released as part of the Justice League Unlimited line.[34]
  • A figure of Ice with her Global Guardians suit was released as part of a DC Direct Justice League International set designed by Kevin Maguire.

References

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  1. ^ Cowsill, Alan; Irvine, Alex; Korte, Steve; Manning, Matt; Wiacek, Win; Wilson, Sven (2016). The DC Comics Encyclopedia: The Definitive Guide to the Characters of the DC Universe. DK Publishing. p. 148. ISBN 978-1-4654-5357-0.
  2. ^ a b c Justice League: Generation Lost #12 (October 2010)
  3. ^ Greenberger, Robert (2008). "Global Guardians". In Dougall, Alastair (ed.). The DC Comics Encyclopedia. New York: Dorling Kindersley. p. 138. ISBN 978-0-7566-4119-1. OCLC 213309017.
  4. ^ Justice League International #19
  5. ^ Justice League America #71
  6. ^ Justice League America #80
  7. ^ Justice League America #81 - #85
  8. ^ "WiR – Mark Waid responds". Unheardtaunts.com. Retrieved 2011-01-16.
  9. ^ Guy Gardner: Warrior #25 (November 1994)
  10. ^ Showcase '96 #7
  11. ^ JLA Annual #2
  12. ^ JLA Classified #7 (2005)
  13. ^ Birds of Prey #106 (July 2007)
  14. ^ Birds of Prey #107 (August 2007)
  15. ^ Checkmate (vol. 2) #16
  16. ^ Final Crisis #1–7 (July 2008 – March 2009)
  17. ^ Blackest Night #1 (September 2009)
  18. ^ Blackest Night #5 (January 2010)
  19. ^ Green Lantern Corps (vol. 2) #46 (March 2010)
  20. ^ Blackest Night #8 (March 2010)
  21. ^ Justice League: Generation Lost #1 (May 2010)
  22. ^ Justice League: Generation Lost #2 (May 2010)
  23. ^ Justice League: Generation Lost #10 (September 2010)
  24. ^ Justice League: Generation Lost #11 (October 2010)
  25. ^ Justice League: Generation Lost #15 (December 2010)
  26. ^ Justice League International (vol. 2) #1 (September 2011)
  27. ^ Justice League International (vol. 2) #2 (October 2011)
  28. ^ Aguilar, Matthew (October 2, 2024). "DC Reveals Big Superhero Powers Twist in Absolute Power Finale". ComicBook.com. Retrieved October 28, 2024.
  29. ^ a b c "Ice Voices (DC Universe)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved October 28, 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
  30. ^ "USA Weekend article". Whosnews.usaweekend.com. 2010-09-17. Archived from the original on 2012-07-16. Retrieved 2011-01-16.
  31. ^ Lamar, Cyriaque (February 4, 2012). "In this semi-drunk movie about Superman's death, Elijah Wood is Cyborg Superman". io9. Gizmodo Media Group. Archived from the original on February 28, 2021. Retrieved February 4, 2019.
  32. ^ Trumbore, Dave (February 3, 2012). "Chronicle Writer Max Landis Vents About The Death and Return of Superman". Collider. Retrieved February 4, 2019.
  33. ^ Eisen, Andrew (October 2, 2013). "DC Characters and Objects - Scribblenauts Unmasked Guide". IGN. Retrieved October 4, 2024.
  34. ^ Collin David (2008-11-14). "Toy Fair 2007 : Mattel | Collectors' Quest". Collectorsquest.com. Archived from the original on 2011-07-06. Retrieved 2011-01-16.
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