[Character of the Month] Ice

Ice

Created by: Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis, & Kevin Maguire

First Appearance: Justice League International (1987-1989) #12

Strengths/Abilities: Ice Generation (more traditionally), Fire Generation (currently)

Famously best friends with the Brazilian hero Beatriz da Costa aka Fire, the Norwegian hero Tora Olafsdotter joined the Justice League alongside her friend after their former team the Global Guardians lost UN funding. Despite this being her debut, Ice quickly became a mainstay of the team. She slotted into the team dynamic well as a sweet and kind woman in a team without terribly many other female members. Of particular note is her relationship with her team member Guy Gardner, who she dated at least a few times despite the contrast of their personalities. Admittedly they didn't always get along perfectly, but there were surprisingly few bumps in their relationship.

That is, until Superman joined the Justice League as their new leader. Ice strongly admired the champion of truth and justice, causing Guy to get hit with a major bout of jealousy. After Superman's death, however, things swiftly changed for the hero of frost: she returned home to Norway, where her father was king of a small kingdom. After his death, Ice became embroiled in a conflict with her brother Ewald for the claim to the throne. She defeated him with the help of the Justice League, but unfortunately that victory would not last long; Ice would be killed in the next major Justice League crossover event, Judgment Day.

It would take over a decade for Ice to be resurrected in the pages of Birds of Prey, and once she did she reunited with her old Justice League friends in the wake of Blackest Night, during which she had become a White Lantern. She worked to track down her old boss Maxwell Lord after everyone except a subset of the former Justice League had lost their memory of who he was, and she also got a new retconned origin where she accidentally killed her father.

Recently, Tora also spent some time in Smallville with Bea in their first series as a duo and fought a monster from her past known as Crave. After Absolute Power, her powers also swapped with Bea's so that she now generates fire; it remains to be seen how long that will stick for the duo!

Recommended Reading

• Justice League International/Justice League America

• Justice League: Generation Lost

• Fire & Ice: Welcome To Smallville

CotM artwork by Kevin Maguire

CotM Voting: "Cold As Ice"

Voting Breakdown:

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