Brian Michael Bendis Discusses Iceman Coming Out in X-Men Comic

Over the last couple of days we've been hearing a lot about issue #40 of All New X-Men, in which Iceman comes out of the closet. This news came from some pages of the comic being leaked to the public, which we reported on yesterday. In response to the leak, Brian Michael Bendis, writer of the comic, spoke with CBR to talk about the choice.

The first thing he talked about was the fact that this reveal wasn't supposed to be a big deal.  They didn't make a point to mention it in solicits or anything. Bendis said:

"Here's the thing, and some will believe me and some won't. I think if you really paid attention to the solicits, we mentioned nothing about the subject. We didn't do a cover asking, "Which X-Men is coming out?" We didn't do anything like that, because we agreed that it was best to let the story speak for itself."

That aspect was just a small part that came out from a bigger story. He goes on to say that it was just a special moment between the characters of Bobby and Jean. It had no pre-hype and none of the comic stores were made aware of anything. The same thing could be said about the Utopians who will play a more major role down the line. Brian just wanted these things to be surprises to readers without all the hubbub:

"You and I have talked about how, wouldn't it be nice if you went to the comic store and not everything was ruined? So on top of what's going on with Bobby, I didn't want anyone to know who the Utopians were. I just wanted to let it happen without any sensationalism."

It is unknown who the leaker is; it's speculated it could be anyone who had contact with the pages before their release and took some crappy pictures with their phone. Mr. Bendis goes on to talk about how many of the opinions are split about whether Bobby Drake coming out of the closet is completely out of the blue or if there are hints to Iceman's sexuality in previous comics leading up to this one:

"Yes! That's the funniest conversation online. We have some people going, "What on Earth are you talking about? Where did this come from?" Then there are other people who weren't surprised at all. Already on Tumblr, and I'm not going to repost them until later in the week, people have posted a road map of panels of things that Bobby has done over the last 50 years that prove the point that I thought was obvious, and many others did too."

He then says that many more questions people have about Bobby's sexuality, both young Bobby and old Bobby, will be answered in the issues to come.

So here's the headline: This isn't the final statement on Bobby's very unique story. And it is not a universal statement on sexual identity, it's Bobby's unique one. The other portions have already been written and are being produced as we speak. Before I leave the X-Men on "Uncanny" #600, more layers will be peeled off of this, including what this means for older Bobby. I think we address all the big questions.

It seems that whatever decisions are made, Marvel stands behind Brian Michael Bendis, which is great to hear. I myself have read the comic, and it is fantastic. Not just that one part either. It shows the aftermath of a few different issues that have taken place since the big Black Vortex arc. If you haven't read that, go check it out. It also sets up a really cool new story with characters from the past. Plus the art by Mahmud Asrar is beautiful. He really nails facial complexities and sincerity.

One thing from the interview that strikes a chord with me is the issue of leaks. It seems that as we live in this modern world, there are many blessings to being able to receive information quickly and succinctly — however, there is a cost. With leaks and news spreading so quickly, unless we hermit ourselves away, we lose spontaneity in our entertainment. We lose moments of real surprise. It happens in comics, movies, and even TV series. There is a certain joy that comes from watching or reading something as a whole that you just don't get when things are spoiled for you. Those are just some of my own thoughts, but seriously, this comic is awesome and has so much more to offer than just those pages. Please check it out. 

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