Ice (comics)
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- For the first Icemaiden, see Icemaiden
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Ice (Tora Olafsdotter) is a fictional character, a superheroine in publications from DC Comics. Created by Keith Giffen, J. M. DeMatteis and Kevin Maguire,she first appeared in Justice League International #12 (April 1988).
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[edit] Publication history
Ice is a separate character from Icemaiden. The two are often confused due to their similar appearance, group affiliation and powers, as well as the fact that they were originally the same character. When Icemaiden first appeared, she had blue skin, pointy ears and the name Sigrid Nansen. When the character joined Justice League International, the comic book creators believed that her real name had never been given but were mistaken (it was revealed in the Global Guardians entry in Who's Who in the DC Universe).
Years later, after Ice was killed, the "original" Ice Maiden (Sigrid Nansen) joined the Justice League. Also a backstory was created that she was the first Icemaiden and had quit the Global Guardians when Tora appeared.
[edit] Fictional character biography
[edit] Global Guardians
The princess of an isolated tribe of magic-wielding Norsemen, Tora Olafsdotter has the natural ability to create and manipulate ice. She joined the Global Guardians as Norway's member (replacing Icemaiden Sigrid Nansen) after they promised to protect her people, but after the Guardians' UN funding was withdrawn in the wake of the Justice League's reformation as the Justice League International, her friend Green Flame (later Fire) talked her into walking up to a JLI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.
[edit] Justice League
The comic's writers later admitted[citation needed] having brought her into the League with the intention of killing her off within a year, but were surprised by how popular she quickly became, and decided to keep her. Ice's personality was an amusing mix of girl-next-door wholesomeness and innocent-abroad naiveté, which served as a contrast to the impulsive, even libidinous traits of her friend and teammate Fire. As a kind of duo, her friend and she had changed their names from Green Flame and Icemaiden to Fire and Ice.
Ice served with the Justice League International for years (remaining with the American branch even after a European branch was opened), occasionally dated Green Lantern Guy Gardner and even expressed an open crush (albeit unrequited) on Superman after he joined the team. Ice was even present at Superman's unfortunate death (in Superman #75). She was one of the few Justice Leagers still standing after Doomsday, Superman's killer, had torn through the team.
Her original editorial fate caught up with her and she was killed by the Overmaster while under his mental influence. Mark Waid, who wrote those issues, has admitted that that was a mistake on his part. [1]
Before her untimely death, Ice displayed enhanced powers. This was after a battle with her brother, who had tried to conquer Ice's homeland.
[edit] Ghost appearances
Ice has appeared on several occasions since her death.
In Showcase '96 #7, Fire and Cruiser are involved in an accident which leaves them cold, tired and snowbound. They swap their life stories, and as she begins to drift into unconsciousness, which would be fatal following her concussion, Fire sees a vision of her late friend Ice, who helps her decide to live. It is not revealed if Ice was a ghost or a figment of Fire's imagination, but Fire awoke to a warm burning fire and she and Cruiser had traded sitting positions.
Ice's spirit once again appears in JLA Annual #2. She and several other deceased JLA members are resurrected by Felix Faust. In the end, she sacrifices herself again to save the JLA from his dark magic, and recites the same final words she spoke when killed by the Overmaster.
Either the spirit or an illusion of Ice appeared in I Can't Believe It's Not The Justice League, in which she was (possibly mistakenly) damned to Hell or a dimension similar to Hell. After Fire and Guy Gardner negotiate her release, Fire looks behind to see that Ice is following while they leave, which violates Hell's Orpheus clause, causing Ice's spirit to vanish. Together Guy Gardner and Fire mourned the again-lost Ice, even though they had never been entirely certain that this manifestation was really her. It is implied that Ice vanished to Valhalla.
[edit] Resurrection
In Birds of Prey, Barbara Gordon's team, on mission in Azerbaijan, discovers Ice unconscious within a Rocket Red exosuit which they wrest from the possession of an underworld figure, Kerimov. With Kerimov hiring the Secret Six to transport the exosuit, the Birds of Prey and Secret Six would come to blows after Big Barda and Huntress capture it. Kerimov plans to use "the resurrection of a goddess" to manipulate the Russian people by playing on their superstitions about "ice princesses", and to use her great power to make himself a powerful ruler. Creote awakens the lifeless Tora. However, an enraged Ice unleashes her wrath upon both the Birds of Prey and Catman's Secret Six; she seeks to avenge her own murder. Huntress' mention of Guy Gardner in addition to a hard slap brings Ice back to her senses, while Deadshot dispatches Kerimov (who, as her savior, retained some influence over Tora). Eventually, Ice leaves the country in the company of the Birds of Prey.
She later meets up with Fire at a facility belonging to the United Nations-affiliated intelligence service Checkmate, as they talk about old times and try to catch up on the current ones.
Although Ice is currently in the care of Fire and Checkmate, she has ventured out on occasion, helping Earth's heroes during the Sinestro Corps War. In the aftermath of the war, she was reunited with former love Guy Gardner, but Tora asked for more time to figure out what her resurrection meant before falling into a relationship. Guy agreed, and proposed that they simply begin their relationship anew.
[edit] Powers and abilities
In addition to being an above-average hand-to-hand combatant, Ice can, at will, project in various forms quantities of ice and snow through her hands just enough to down an opponent. 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 controlling the weather to some degree, by causing the beginning of a blizzard far stronger than those known in that area.
[edit] Other media and versions
- Ice starred in the 1997 live action made-for-TV movie pilot Justice League of America. She was played by Kimberly Oja. In this version she was a meteorologist who gained her powers from exposure to the villain's weather-control machine. She also began a relationship with the Atom.
- Ice and Fire have both made several appearances in the Justice League Unlimited animated series, though only Fire had speaking roles. Fire and Ice are often seen together in the animated series, as is the case in the comics. Ice's costume is a leotard with an iceberg insignia on the chest. She sports short, white hair.
- At Toy Fair 2007, Mattel announced Fire and Ice action figures will be released as part of the Justice League Unlimited line [2].
[edit] External links
- Cosmic Team Profile
- Cosmic Team Profile II
- JLA Watchtower Profile
- JLU Animated Profile
- The Unofficial Ice Biographynl:Ice (DC Comics)
pt:Gelo (DC Comics)
