The series, set in the shared Marvel Universe, is part of the wider X-Men franchise and is tied to the Krakoan Age saga running through those books. It follows directly from the 2023 Hellfire Gala special, which launched the new Fall of X arc.
At the start of the Krakoan Age arc, Earth's superhuman mutants, long hated and feared by normal humans, founded their own nation and built a utopia on the living island of Krakoa. Iceman, one of the founding members of the X-Men, is an omega level mutant with almost unlimited powers, and was one of Krakoa's defenders.
Now, after an attack by the anti-mutant extremists Orchis, Krakoa is devastated and abandoned, humanity mistakenly believes that Orchis are heroes, and it's more dangerous than ever to be a mutant. Luckily, Iceman is here to protect humans and mutants alike. Unluckily, the Orchis attack very nearly killed him - and he's not fully recovered yet...
The first issue was released August 02, 2023.
Astonishing Iceman contains examples of the following tropes:
- And Then What?: This trope is pretty much discussed by Romeo who is Genre Savvy enough to know that when Orchis eradicates mutants, it won’t stop there. Then they’ll go after Inhumans and all super heroes, and then they’ll keep going. Romeo wants to put an end to Orchis so there isn’t an And Then What?. Romeo's fears are proven correct when it's shown that one of Orchis' agents is already hunting down some Inhumans under the assumption that they will become Orchis' next target once mutants have been eliminated.
- Back from the Dead: Mr. Clean, the Church of Humanity operative who massacred the London Morlocks, is somehow back and now working for Orchis.
- The Empath: Romeo has the ability to sense emotions. It’s how he found and reconstituted Bobby.
- Ice Palace: Bobby has made one in the South Pole where he lived with Romeo.
- An Ice Person: Bobby, the Iceman, who is an Omega level mutant with ice powers.
- Man of Kryptonite: Orchis tries to kill Iceman by sending Helium, the Unfreezable Man. Bobby gets around this by sealing him in ice and then sending him into space.
- Not Quite Dead: Although he melted at the Gala and seemed quite dead, Bobby’s mind was actually scattered and Bobby even says he felt dead.
- The Power of Love: Due to their emotional bond, Romeo was able to seize the fragments of Bobby's consciousness until he reached the Arctic where Bobby could construct a new body for himself.
- Taking You with Me: Mr. Clean tries to blow himself up alongside Iceman in the final issue. It's unsuccessful, though the attempt left Bobby incapable of fully reforming for the foreseeable future.
