6) THANK YOU

We thank club members Danny Sichel, Keith Braithwaite, and Cathy Palmer-Lister for their contributions to this afternoon’s programming. A nod, as well, to all of our contributing participants, and everyone who helped to plan and run this meeting. Finally, of course, we thank all of you who joined us here on ZOOM; don’t forget to comment on today’s get-together (www.MonSFFA.ca).

7) NEXT MONTH’S MEETING:

The club meets next on Saturday, March 8, from 1:00PM-5:00PM! On this occasion, we return to our downtown meeting locale, Groundhog Science having assured us that we will enjoy an early spring! So beginning in March, club meetings for the remainder of the year will unfold as in-person and concurrently, online events! We hope to see you live and in person at our March 8 meeting, or if you’re from out of town, online via ZOOM. MonSFFA meets downtown in the Maisonneuve Room of Le Nouvel Hotel, 1740 Rene-Levesque Ouest (corner St-Mathieu).

8) SIGN-OFF

Thank you, all, for taking part today. We appreciate the enthusiastic involvement of our members, and we hope you will all join us again next month!

9) ONE LAST THING!

Thinking of the frosty weather still, we leave you, today, with our list of…

The Top Dozen Superheroes and Supervillains with Wintery Powers!

1) Iceman (First Appearance: X-Men, 1963) – An Omega-level mutant and mainstay of Marvel’s X-Men titles, he was co-created by comics legends Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. A founding member of the X-Men, Bobby Drake, or Iceman, has the power to instantly lower the temperature of ambient water vapour, rendering his surroundings cold, and manipulating ice as an offensive weapon or defensive shield.

2) Killer Frost (First Appearance: Firestorm, 1978) – In conjunction with the superhero Firestorm, three women have taken on the name Killer Frost in DC Comics publications, beginning with Crystal Frost in 1978, who was succeeded by her friend, Louise Lincoln, in 1985, and finally, bright, young S.T.A.R. Labs scientist Caitlin Snow assumed the role in 2013, in due course dropping the “Killer” to become, simply, Frost. Supervillains all, Snow’s iteration of the character eventually reformed and joined the Justice League of America. Powers include heat absorption and transmutation into surges of cold, the ability to produce and direct intense blizzards that quickly freeze a target, and to generate and throw ice projectiles, or create ice armour. Fan favourite Danielle Panabaker portrayed Snow in The Flash and other popular “Arrowverse” television adaptations.

3) Mr. Freeze (First Appearance: Batman, 1959) – Originally appearing as Mr. Zero, this DCU supervillain is a foe of Batman’s. An unnamed scientist developing an ice-gun, his physiology is altered by an accidental cryogenic chemical spill, which leaves him constrained to living in sub-zero temperatures in order to survive. He fashions a special air-conditioned suit that allows him to operate in normal environments, and forms a gang of jewel thieves. His name was later changed to Mr. Freeze after the character had been adapted for the Batman TV series (1966-1968) under that appellation. A later incarnation introduced him as Victor Fries—pronounced “Freeze”—a brilliant expert in cryogenics who seeks to successfully freeze his terminally ill wife until a cure for her condition can be found. He turns to crime in order to fund his efforts.

4) Captain Cold (First Appearance: Showcase, 1957) – A nemesis of the Flash, Leonard Snart is a career criminal who devised a unique gun capable of expelling blasts of cold and ice, instantly freezing solid his targets. Donning a snowsuit and special goggles, he embarked on a crime spree, declaring himself to be Captain Cold! He uses his gun to create slippery stretches of ice on which the Flash may slip, or to slow the Scarlet Speedster’s movements with an inhibiting coating of ice. He has joined forces with a variety of other supervillains over the years, and also tangled with the below-mentioned superheroines Fire and Ice.

5) Ice (First Appearance: Justice League International, 1988) – Tora Olafsdotter is a Norwegian superheroine and member of Justice League International who exercises a magic-infused ability to create and manipulate ice. She was formerly Icemaiden as one of the Global Guardians, an international superhero team, along with her Brazilian friend, Beatriz da Costa, alias Green Fury, and later Green Flame. When the Global Guardians lost their U.N. funding and closed down, the two joined JLI as Fire and Ice.

6) Blizzard (First Appearance: Tales of Suspense, 1963) – An adversary of Iron Man’s, the supervillain Blizzard was initially dubbed “Jack Frost” in newspapers before he assumed the name Blizzard. A scientist obsessed with immortality and cryonics, he worked for Stark Industries until he was fired for attempting to steal secrets from Tony Stark’s vault. Courtesy of a special, cold-generating battle suit he had developed, and later refined with funding from Stark’s rival, Justin Hammer, he is able to discharge freeze-rays, and create and shoot ice projectiles. There have been several other versions of Blizzard in subsequent Marvel comics series.

7) Snowman (First Appearance: Batman, 1981) – The offspring of a union between Katrina Kristin and a Yeti, the Snowman is a superpowered criminal of great strength and ice-and-snow-controlling ability who manages to blend into Gotham City society as star athlete Klaus Kristin. But Bruce Wayne is suspicious of him and, as Batman, investigates and tracks him to Austria, where the two engage in a fight on the ski slopes, with Batman prevailing and Snowman falling into an abyss. The Caped Crusader later encounters his foe again, in the Himalayas, where he discovers that Snowman is dying as a consequence of his hybrid nature, and compassionately allows him to be with his Yeti father in the final moments of his life.

8) Frozone (First Appearance: The Invincibles, film, 2004) – Lucius Best, alias Frozone, is the coolest superhero on Earth! The best friend of super strongman Mr. Incredible and family, he is a supporting character in Disney-Pixar’s animated Invincibles superhero satires, and serves to spoof ice-controlling superheroes like Iceman.

9) Ymir (First Appearance: Journey Into Mystery, 1963) – A Stan Lee-Jack Kirby creation based on the Frost Giants of Norse mythology, Ymir is an antagonist of the Mighty Thor. A thousand-foot tall immortal deity, he is possessed of great strength and endurance, and can project an extreme and lethal cold. Able to regenerate himself from as little as a shard of ice, he is immortal and carries a huge icicle, which he wields as a club.

10) Sub-Zero (First Appearance: Blue Bolt Comics, 1940) – A Venusian sent to Earth on a mission of first contact, his spaceship crash-lands near Salt Lake City after passing through a comet, which has transformed him into an iceman whose touch freezes anything. Ice-coated and in pain, he manages to extricate himself from his wrecked ship and finds local scientists, who expose him to experimental gamma radiation, returning him to his normal humanoid form while retaining his power to freeze things. He is able to shoot blasts of ice from his hands, freeze a localized area, and whip up gusts of cold air to create cyclones. Teaming up with fellow superheroes Blue Bolt and Twister, and taking on a young Inuit boy as his sidekick, he uses his superhuman abilities to fight crime.

11) Polar Boy (First Appearance: Adventure Comics, 1963) – A character created at the suggestion of a reader, he hails from the extremely hot planet Tharr in the DCU’s 30th century. The people of Tharr possess the innate “cryokinetic” ability to generate cold in order to counter their world’s unrelenting heat. Thus is Polar Boy able to produce, and project, a freezing chill. His application to join the Legion of Super-Heroes was rejected, however, prompting him to found and lead the Legion of Substitute Heroes.

12) Jack Frost (First Appearance: U.S.A. Comics, 1941) – A Golden Age superhero published by Marvel forerunner Timely Comics, he was one of future Marvel luminary Stan Lee’s earliest creations, in collaboration with artist Charles Wojtkoski. This hero’s star shone but briefly, however. Eclipsed after just four issues by a new hero, Captain America, he would make only a few more appearances. He is notable in that his powers were the template for those of Iceman, a character envisioned by Lee over 20 years later!