Cold Comfort is the fifteenth episode of season three of X-Men: The Animated Series.
Plot[]
At a storage depot while two guards argue about how hot it is a man freezes a security camera and is able to sneak past a laser grid. The temperature drops from 84° to 30°. The door then freezes over with ice and it shatters to reveal a man made out of ice standing there. He then freezes the guards. However, one of the guards is able to activate an alarm before totally being frozen.
The next day at the Xavier Mansion, Professor X and Jubilee are working on a piece of equipment in the War Room. As Xavier tells Jubilee that they need to get a part to fix it Jubilee is eager to fly on of their jets. However, Xavier stops her and says that she is not authorized to fly a jet solo. Just then an alarm in the War Room activates and tells Xavier that a military storage depot is being attacked by a mutant. A picture of the mutant then appears on the screen and Xavier is shocked to learn that it is Bobby Drake a.k.a. Iceman who is attacking the military depot.
Professor X then telepathically communicates with the X-Men and tells them to assemble at the Blackbird. As the X-Men get onto the Blackbird, Professor X orders Jubilee to stay at the mansion and prep the infirmary. While in the air Professor X tells the X-Men of what is going on and Cyclops begins to complain that Iceman is still a troublemaker. Beast then explains to Wolverine that Iceman was once a member of the X-Men but left the team. Professor X then tells Wolverine that Iceman was always making mischief but he was never a criminal. Cyclops then berates Xavier for always defending Bobby Drake.
As the Blackbird lands Cyclops, Wolverine, and Beast get out to capture Iceman. At that moment Iceman is fighting the guards at the military base. Iceman is able to escape them and is then confronted by Beast. However, after learning that he was sent by Charles Xavier, Iceman fires a beam of ice out of his hands which hits Beast. As Iceman runs off he is tackled by Wolverine. However, Iceman freezes Wolverine in ice. Cyclops then arrives and shoots Iceman with his optic blast [1] and sends him into a wall which knocks him out. However, the X-Men are attacked by the soldiers guarding the storage depot. Cyclops uses his communicator to tell Xavier of their situation. Xavier then uses his Cerebro unit on the Blackbird to create an illusion of monsters. In terror the soldiers flee and the X-Men take Iceman (who is unconscious from Cyclops' blast) to the Blackbird.
The next day at the mansion, Xavier demands to know what Iceman was doing at the government base. However, Iceman refused to tell him. Jubilee then asks Beast what happened between Iceman and Professor X because she had never seen Xavier that angry before. Wolverine then tells Jubilee that Iceman likes to question authority. Iceman and Cyclops start to fight but they are stopped by Xavier. Iceman then starts to leave but Professor X activates a force field that traps Iceman. Xavier then tells Iceman to trust him. However, Iceman replies that he trusted them once but he can't anymore.
Wanting to know more about what happened between Iceman and the X-Men, Jubilee looks at the files on one of the X-Men's computers. Jubilee then watches a video file and says to herself that Iceman is cute. Just then Wolverine walks in and Jubilee asks if he knew Iceman. Wolverine answers that Iceman quit before he joined and that he has heard that Iceman is reckless and warns Jubilee to stay away from him. However, Jubilee replies that Bobby kind of sounds like Wolverine.
At that moment Iceman continues to try and break free from the force field but fails. Beast then brings Iceman some food and asks why he attacked the military base. Jubilee then walks up and secretly listens to their conversation. Beast then asks where Lorna is. This makes Bobby mad and shouts that Lorna has nothing to do with what he did. Jubilee then begins to wonder who Lorna is. Beast tells Iceman that he is his friend and that he just wants to help him. Iceman then opens up and tells Beast that he tried to do what Professor X wanted but it was never enough to please him. Iceman continued to say that after Lorna Dane almost died on a mission he left the team and Lorna com with him. Bobby and Lorna lived as a normal couple. However, they started to argue. Lorna believed that they should use their mutant powers in the fight for mutants rights while Bobby wanted to stay out of the fight. When Bobby arrived at her apartment one night to apologize he saw that her place had been broken into and Lorna was nowhere to be found. As Bobby looked around he found a piece of paper with the name Kirby Glen written on it and went looking for her there. Beast tells Iceman that he must trust Xavier but Iceman again refuses to. As Beast leaves the room the force field is deactivated much to Iceman's surprise. Just then Best remembers that he forgot to give Iceman a book and returns to give it to him. However, Beast discovers that Iceman escaped.
Iceman and Jubilee then go to the storage depot. However, as they get past the gate they are captured. At that moment the X-Men are on their way in the Black Bird to find Bobby. Cyclops believes that Iceman captured Jubilee and he swears to get payback. However, Beast and Wolverine believe that Jubilee helped Iceman escape because she felt sympathy for him. Xavier blames himself for Bobby turning out the way he did. The X-Men then arrive at their destination and start to search for Iceman in the government base.
As Jubilee and Iceman awake in the warehouse they discover that they are tied to the chairs they are in. However, Iceman is able to free himself and Jubilee. Wolverine then breaks down the door and tackles Iceman. Cyclops then walked in and angrily ordered Jubilee to tell him why she helped Iceman. Jubilee answered that he and Professor X were too busy condemning him that they couldn't see they he needed help. Cyclops refused to believe this. However, Professor X heard what Jubilee said over Cyclops' communicator and then tells Cyclops that Jubilee was right.
As the X-Men start to leave they are attacked by a group of mutants. Iceman gets Jubilee away from the fight but he is followed by the mutant named Strong Guy. Cyclops then fights the mutant known as Haovk but both Cyclops and Havok are surprised when their powers (both fire energy blasts) don't affect each other. Beast is then attacked by a mutant named Wolvesbane and Iceman continues to fight Strong Guy. At that moment Wolverine is attacked by a mutant named Multiple Man who has the power to create duplicates of himself. Professor X then goes into the warehouse and telepathically communicates with the X-Men and tells them to switch opponents because the mutants they are fighting apparently know the limits of their powers. The X-Men do as Xavier says and are easily able to defeat them. As Iceman asks Strong Guy where Lorna Dane is. Forge then steps forward and says shows Lorna to the X-Men. However, Lorna flies over to Havok when she sees that he is injured. As the fighting stops Forge tells Professor X that they are a team of mutants that was formed by the U.S. government and that they are called X-Factor. However, Professor X says that he works closely with the government that he was was never told of them. Wolverine believes that the government is now training mutants to kill mutants. However, Forge tells him that their mission is to help mutants not to harm them. Xavier then asks why they were attacked and Forge answers that the X-Men broke into their training camp. Iceman then ran up to Lorna and asked her what she was doing with them. Lorna then answers that she was recruited by X-Factor and that they made it look like she had been abducted because Iceman would have tried to stop her from joining them. Lorna then tells Iceman that she is in love with Havok and that she broke up with Iceman because he lost touch with the idea of using his power to help people. The X-Men then tell X-Factor that they hope to finish their fight some other time and leave.
That evening the X-Men return to the mansion. Xavier invites Iceman to rejoin the X-Men. However, Iceman tells Professor X that he has not changed and that he would still drive him crazy. Iceman then leaves with Jubilee hoping that they will see him again.
Cast[]
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Cedric Smith | Professor X / Charles Xavier |
| Cathal J. Dodd | Wolverine / Logan |
| Norm Spencer | Cyclops / Scott Summers |
| George Buza | Beast / Hank McCoy |
| Alyson Court | Jubilee / Jubilation Lee |
| Denis Akiyama | Iceman / Bobby Drake |
| Marc Strange | Forge |
| ? | Havok / Alex Summers |
| Terri Hawkes | Polaris / Lorna Dane |
| ? | Multiple Man / Jamie Madrox |
Cameos[]
- Marvel Girl
- Magneto
- Super-Adaptoid
- Henry Peter Gyrich (Photo on a Daily Bugle newspaper)
- J. Jonah Jameson (Byline on a Daily Bugle newspaper)
- Strong Guy
- Quicksilver
- Wolfsbane
Trivia[]
- Outside the warehouse at the beginning of the episode there is a sign that says "Kirby Glen, Storage Depot No. 1917", this is a reference to Jack Kirby, the co-creator of the X-Men comic books. 1917 was the year Jack Kirby was born.
- The creatures that Professor X creates as a mental illusion resembles an alien race from the X-Men comics (and enemies of the X-Men) called the Brood.
- According to Beast the force field that Professor X used to trap Iceman was created from technology they found on the Shi'ar ship that they discovered in the Morlock tunnels. The X-Men found the Shi'ar ship in the Morlocks tunnels in the episode Out of the Past, Part II.
- In the comics Lorna Dane goes by the code name, Polaris. She is never called Polaris in this episode.
- In Iceman's memories Xavier is shown in a normal wheelchair instead of his hover chair.
- The newspaper with the headline, "Mutant Crisis!" is an issue of the Daily Bugle, which Peter Parker works for. The editorial is written by the editor-in-chief of the Daily Bugle, J. Jonah Jameson.
- Just like in the comics Cyclops and Hovok's powers do not affect each other (possible because they are related). In X-Men: The Animated Series, Cyclops and Havok apparently never learn that they are brothers.