Icicle
(Joar Makent part #2)
Sequence
This is the second half of the profile. It was split so it’s not too big for smartphones.
It should be read after the first half, of course.
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History – the Silver Age
In 1961, Silver AgeSuper-hero comics from the late 1950s to the early 1970s super-hero the Flash (Barry Allen) discovered the existence of a parallel Earth. The 1940s DC Comics heroes and villains were still active and thriving there.
This parallel reality was called Earth-2, with Allen’s native Earth being Earth-1.
The heroes of two Earths established cordial contacts. The Justice League of Earth-1 and the Justice Society of Earth-2 would later share cases.
In 1963, the Fiddler escaped from prison – along with the Wizard and Icicle. He then accidentally discovered how to play super-speed vibrations. These allowed him and his accomplices to shift to Earth-1.
Crisis on Earth-One ! Crisis on Earth-Two !
They met a trio of Earth-1 villains – Chronos (David Clinton), Felix Faust and Doctor Alchemy (Albert Desmond). All six forged an alliance across two realities, called the Crime Champions.
After building dimensional transporters based on Fiddler’s discoveries, the Crime Champions could elude pursuit at will. They’d simply vanish from Earth-1 to Earth-2 – or the other way around.
They also could freely spend their loot, since the Earth-2 villains were unknown on Earth-1. And vice versa.
They also captured the Flashes of both Earths, since they were the only heroes who could cross over. The Crime Champions then built a small base in the vibrational void between the two Earths.
Among other exploits the Icicle repelled Hourman (Rex Tyler) and Dr. Fate (Kent Nelson). He then left with a fortune, vanishing to the other Earth.
Crime Champions
The Earth-2 trio couldn’t resist the easy pickings available on Earth-1. They decided to rob Las Vegas by disguising themselves as the Earth-1 Crime Champions.
They also challenged the JLA. Their plan was to catch the heroes by surprise – using deceit and extensive magical preparation by the Wizard.
It worked, and the JLA was forever locked into their own headquarters.
However, the Leaguers used magic to contact the JSA’s Flash (Jay Garrick). The Society came in and broke the Wizard’s spell.
Team-up
Working together for the first time, the two teams went after the Crime Champions.
Doctor Fate located Icicle on Earth-1. But Icicle used his gun to trigger a downpour, then caught Fate into a huge mass of frozen rain.
However, Fate melted the ice. Icicle was swept by the massive rush of water and knocked unconscious.
The Crime Champions almost regained the upper hand. They had a contingency spell that was activated when the two Green Lanterns (Alan Scott and Hal Jordan) attempted to save the two Flashes. But the villains were eventually defeated by the combined forces of the JLA and JSA.
History – the Modern Age
Makent continued his scientific work in jail. He developed a technology for super-conductors that he called “warm ice”.
It is presumably in the early 1970s that he founded a company to commercialise those.
Makent Enterprise became huge. It seemingly became the equivalent of Intel for the DC Universe. That made Dr. Makent far richer than he ever was as a criminal.
Winter inside
Makent married one Marie MacDonald – possibly during the 1960s.
He had two sons – Donald Makent, who’d have children of his own, and Cameron Makent. Whether the two men were born of Marie Makent is unrevealed. Donald seemed older than Cameron by at least ten years. This would mean that Donald was born in the late 1950s and Cameron in the early 1970s.
The birth of Cameron Makent killed his mother through hypothermiaWounds inflicted by exposure to cold.
Dr. Makent quickly determined that repeated exposure to his cold ray technology has had an effect on his son (and possibly Cameron’s mother). That resulted in a mutated offspring, who developed powers over cold during birth.
Dr. Makent soon deserted his second son. He left the pale-skinned and white-haired boy adrift in a miserable existence.
Father and son would forever remain estranged. However, Cameron adopted the Icicle identity when his father died.
Adνеrtisеmеnt
Fatal birth
There are timeline conflicts about the death of Cameron’s mother. And the account about Cameron’s birth seems to ignore the existence of Donald.
This profile uses Donald’s apparent age (late 30s to mid-40s) in his 1991 appearance to postulate that he was the firstborn. This makes it possible that Marie Makent was both his and Cameron’s mum.
The clearest account of Cameron Makent’s mother’s death during childbirth places it not long before the Crisis. Perhaps 1984.
Our timeline uses publication time instead, and assumes that Cameron was 16 or 17 when he appeared for the first time.
The 1970s
In 1975, the Injustice Society (with a roster identical to the 1948 one) was briefly spotted during a plot by Cary Bates . This Earth-Prime writer had been transported to the DC Universe. He then went evil and super-powered.
Whether this episode occurred post-Crisis is unrevealed.
By the next year, the Icicle was the chairman of the Injustice Society. His roster was :
- The Wizard.
- The Fiddler.
- Solomon Grundy.
- The Thinker (Clifford DeVoe).
- Brain Wave (Henry King, Sr.).
Subterranean subterfuges
After allying with Ayrn the Underlord’s subterranean civilisation, Makent observed the Justice Society for weeks.
This exposed a weak point. Hourman (Rex Tyler) came out of retirement and rejoined. But he couldn’t be trained to operate the security systems right away, allowing the Icicle to ambush him.
The Injustice Society took Hourman and Wildcat hostage, then challenged the JSA. Their goal was to lure them close to their subterranean allies.
This plan mostly worked, but the Injustice Society underestimated the might of Power Girl (Kara Zor-El). She flattened the powerful Ayrn and thus foiled the plot.
Still, Hourman took weeks to recover from Icicle’s cold ray. And Wildcat was left with minor brain damage.
1977
On pre-Crisis Earth-1, in 1977, Icicle crossed over from Earth-2 to join forces with Captain Cold (Leonard Snart) and Minister Blizzard. This frigid threesome was secretly working for the Shadow Thief (Carl Sands).
A side effect from the Shadow Thief’s equipment triggered a glacial winter in Ecuador. But that only partially delayed the Justice League of America, who eventually stopped the criminals. Semi-recent Earth-2 immigrant Black Canary (Dinah Drake-Lance) twice defeated Makent.
The 1980s
In 1980, Icicle reunited what he could of the Injustice Society. He contacted the Fiddler, and freed the Shade from prison. They then committed large thefts to fund their activities.
However, the trio did not seem sustainable. All three men saw themselves as the leader.
The mini-Injustice-Society was then forced into servitude by the spectre of Darkseid. The ruler of ApokolipsA Fascistic alien world dominated by major baddie Darkseid had been destroyed during a clash with Orion, but could still operate as a ghost.
Evil lives again
The three men proved to be excellent agents. They kidnapped the gods of New Genesis and deported them to Apokolips.
They then directed the construction of a giant machine at the North Pole of Apokolips, which was powered by the Fiddler. This resurrected Darkseid.
However, Icicle was then defeated by Orion and Power Girl (ouch).
Once the villains had served their purpose, Darkseid blasted them with the Omega Effect. However, he teleported them into an Apokolips prison rather than kill them outright.
Apparently, Icicle and the rest fled mere hours later as Earth heroes freed captured New Genesis gods.
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Return of the Crime Champions
The Crime Champions returned in 1983.
However they disagreed about who should lead. They thus organised a competition inspired by the 1948 “patriotic crimes” contest.
- Chronos and the Fiddler worked to steal the Pyramid of the Sun in Mexico .
- The Wizard and Felix Faust worked to steal Stonehenge .
- Dr. Alchemy and Icicle worked to steal the Great Pyramid.
- Their last member, the evil Johnny Thunder of Earth-1, took control of the Thunderbolt of his Earth-2 counterpart. He then captured most members of the JSA and JLA.
The heroes thus lacked manpower to stop the competition. Icicle and Alchemy defeated the Red Tornado and the Huntress (Helena Wayne).
However, the whole plan was derailed by Johnny Thunder of Earth-2. He regained control of the Thunderbolt, and the Crime Champions came undone.
Back in Opal
Soon after that, Icicle attempted to fight Starman in Opal City. However, he ended up fighting the Star-Spangled Kid (Sylvester Pemberton) wielding Starman’s rod.
This job seemed to be a favour to Shade. Perhaps Shade got Icicle out of prison in return for Dr. Makent challenging Opal City’s defender.
During that fight Icicle was visibly older and slower, but still strong.
History (final chapters)
It was presumably after this case that Joar Makent decided to reform.
He “helped people” (his words) in an unrevealed manner. Perhaps he used his technology for benign (medical ?) purposes.
Free will and testament
Some months later the sky became red. Dr. Makent realised that a multiversal crisis was taking place.
He therefore recorded a video will in case humanity made it through.
Dr. Makent considered his descendants to be worthless crooks, and his wife’s side of the family to be even worse. Thus, he willed them as little as possible.
To twist the knife and reaffirm that he was reformed, he willed half his wealth to a super-hero. He chose the Flash, as he considered Jay Garrick to be a good man.
Since he feared casualties during the looming Crisis, he specified that the money would go to whoever was wearing the Flash cowl.
Redemption at the end of everything
During the Crisis on Infinite Earths, the Icicle was part of the army of super-villains commanded by Lex Luthor of Earth-1, and Brainiac. One assumes that he served against his will – as nobody believed that he was reformed.
Along with Captain Cold and Ocean Master, he defeated Aquaman (Arthur Curry) and Mera. However, Vixen (Mari McCabe) defeated him during a counter-attack.
The villainous forces recovered Icicle. Makent was then part of the time-travelling commando led by Luthor. They went back ten billion years to stop Krona from performing his fateful experiment.
Icicle was one of the three known attackers who reached Krona’s lab, along with Mirror Master (Sam Scudder) and Maaldor. However, all three were killed by the security systems.
Lineage and glitch
Within months, Icicle was succeeded by his son Cameron. This bitter criminal wore an identical costume and had power over cold.
Furthermore, Cameron was a member of Injustice, Unlimited. This was a successor team for the Injustice Society once led by his father.
For a time, it seemed that Dr. Makent had been retconnedMaking changes to a character or story after the factout of existence. He was one of the characters whom the Psycho-Pirate (James Highwater) encountered during his delirium about the continuity reboot.
After life
However, soon after this glimpse, Makent was confirmed to have existed. He was trapped in a bleak afterlife.
There, he joined forces with several other villains, looking for a way out. He did not tell them that he was no longer a killer and a thief.
The dead villains were led by the Iron Major. Their numbers included :
- The Electrocutioner (the first Buchinsky brother).
- The Top (Roscoe Dillon).
- The second Clayface (Matt Hagen).
- The original El Papagayo.
Haunts
They clashed with Dove (Dawn Granger), Hawk (Henry Hall) and the Titans West as they tried to escape through a portal accidentally opened on Earth.
Still trying to prove that he was reformed, Icicle feigned collaborating – but betrayed the villains.
A powerful ghost, General Jeb Stuart of Haunted Tank fame, confirmed that Makent was sincere. He forced local demons to let Makent go.
The former Icicle could thus walk toward a better afterlife, located among mountains far in the distance.
Legacy
In 1991, Dr. Makent was declared legally dead and his will executed on. The man wearing the Flash cowl was by then Wally West.
The Icicle’s family was furious to learn of how the Makent fortune was to be distributed. This sentiment that did not improve as the elderly Dr. Makent mooned his descendants at the conclusion of his video testament.
Joar Makent’s assessment of his descendants was on the money. James Christie, who had been disowned by Donald Makent, took an old Icicle suit and gun. He murdered his father, then used an ice mask to have Donald’s body look like James’. This misled suspicions for a while.
He also murdered Archibald Perry (Dr. Makent’s attorney), then nearly killed his own sister and the butler.
Doyle
James was stopped by his sister Doyle, who took the last spare costume and cold ray gun to help the Flash.
Doyle Christie established herself as an adventurer of sorts, the third Icicle.
Nothing is known about her career, though. It may have been short and/or low-key.
New Earth, eh?
A 1998 flashback (on post-Zero-Hour New Earth) shows Icicle among the enemies of a nascent Justice League.
Personality
Dr. Makent was a ruthless criminal.
He was driven by greed and a sense of superiority derived from his high intelligence. That made him a cold-blooded murderer who took pleasure in outwitting authorities.
During the Golden Age, aircrafts often featured in his plots. While he never demonstrated exceptional piloting skills, one suspects that he was an aeronautics enthusiast.
He was much later also described as a technophile.
Evolution
The Icicle changed over time :
- His later appearances were markedly less murderous.
His son Cameron noted that his father seldom killed anyone. After all, he could just freeze them up with no lasting effects. - His Mercenary Motivation faded over time to become a Thrill one. At first Icicle demanded to have the money he felt entitled to. But it seems that he found it easy to profit from his crimes, and he eventually became rich thanks to his technology.
- With his Mercenary side becoming less relevant, he mostly wanted to be a dashing criminal clashing with famous heroes.
Quotes
“Clever ! But I’m not through yet ! I can still hit this statue with my gun !”
“Hourman and Dr. Fate did their best, but were no match for my icy nerves !”
“That stupid General Galazar ! Did he think I was in this for the peanuts he promised me ? The Icicle is after bigger game !”
DC Heroes RPG
Tell me more about the game stats
Golden Age Icicle
| Dex: 03 | Str: 02 | Bod: 04 |
| Int: 08 | Wil: 07 | Min: 04 |
| Inf: 04 | Aur: 04 | Spi: 04 |
| Init: 017 | HP: 040 |
Skills:
Evasion (Ranged only): 06, Gadgetry: 09, Scientist: 11, Thief: 05, Vehicles (Land, Air): 04, Weaponry (Cold ray gun): 06
Advantages:
Language (Norwegian), Lightning Reflexes, Scholar (Physics, Cold ray technology), Stroke of Genius (Cold ray technology).
Connections:
Underworld (Low), Injustice Society members (Low).
Drawbacks:
Secret Identity, MPR (Dr. Makent wore glasses. He likely was farsighted).
Motivation:
Mercenary/Thrill.
Occupation:
Criminal scientist.
Wealth:
008
Equipment:
- INSULATED SUIT [BODY 06, Cling: 01, Cold immunity: 08, Limitation: Cling only works on ice].
- Cold Ray Gun Mk1. This is the version of the Cold Ray Gun used during the 1940s. [BODY 04, Friction control: 04, Glue: 10, Ice production: 11, Paralysis: 06, Suspension: 06, Weather control: 05, R#2, Bonuses & Limitations:
- All Powers are Contingent Upon Ice Production.
- Glue and Ice Production are both capped by the mass of water available. E.g., producing 12 APs requires a hundred tonnes of properly-place water. Raw cold attacks aren’t limited in this way.
- Friction control only to lower friction.
- Paralysis has Multi-Attack 1.
- Suspension can be Combined With Paralysis (but can only be used in this way).
- Weather Control cannot make the weather hotter.
- Weather Control is only active as long as the ray is shot at the sky over the area . Normal weather will gradually reassert itself when this stops.].
- Cold Ray Gun Mk2. This is the weapon used from the 1960s to the Crisis on Infinite Earths. [BODY 04, Friction control: 08, Glue: 11, Ice production: 12, Paralysis: 06, Suspension: 06, Weather control: 05, R#2, Bonuses & Limitations:
- All Powers are Contingent Upon Ice Production.
- Friction control only to lower friction.
- Paralysis has Multi-Attack 1.
- Suspension can be Combined with Paralysis (but can only be used in this way).
- Weather Control cannot make the weather hotter.
- Weather Control is only active as long as the ray is shot at the sky over the area. Normal weather will gradually reassert itself when this stops.].
- The cold ray technology might have been usable for mind control (Control: 07). This is neither clear nor well-established. Furthermore, Occcam’s RazorA logic rule about favouring the explanation involving the fewest entities suggests that it was a Thinker device that was used, rather than a cold ray.
- It could also be used to create “ice masks” disguising a dead person in the likeness of another. ”Ice masks” were only seen twice. How they work and what they do exactly is unrevealed. But they fooled even competent superheroes like Alan Scott or Wally West as long as they had no reason to examine the body.
Design Notes
The AP of Cling in his costume give its sole gripping power, but not enough to handle the Icicle’s weight. Thus, he cannot use Cling on vertical or inverted surfaces.
The APs of Suspension on the Cold Ray Gun also emphasise that frozen people can be just thawed back to life.
Freezing a mass of ice in the sky and having it fall on an unsuspecting target usually means a Blindside Attack.
Winter’s little helpers
Early on Icicle had — as was the style of the day — three costumed thugs helping him.
These guys had standard mob associate stats (from the stock criminals writeups.org article). They were armed with the basic .45 handgun.
Makent outfitted them with cheaper versions of his costume – something like [BODY 04, Cling: 01, Cold immunity: 04]. The costumes seemed chiefly there for aesthetic reasons and to protect the thugs from exposure caused by proximity to Makent’s gun. The Cling AP allowed the thugs to walk on ice, though they were visibly clumsier than their boss.
One of these three men was apparently a competent pilot (Vehicles (Land, Air): 04). Icicle decided to capitalise on that in style. The quartet drove around in a sail-plane equipped with ice skis. The Icicle shot his gun at the ground in front of the plane to form a frozen path to skate on.
(What provided the motive power is, at best, mysterious. Not to mention the issue of steering).
One of the Icicle’s mobsters, D.P. Treecher, became the butler of Makent’s sister-in-law when his employer went straight. He used the name P.D. Bertie.
Captain of industry
After founding Makent Industries, Dr. Makent’s Wealth steadily rises. It may have been as high as 014 at the time of his death.
After Makent Industries boosted his Wealth, Dr. Makent built an ice cave under his mansion. It held numerous trophies and mementos. It was somewhat like the Batcave (including some high-tech equipment), albeit with a lot more ice.
There also were large golden statues of many JSA members. The cave may thus also have held JSA memorabilia.
DC Adventures RPG
Tell me more about the game stats
Icicle I — Averaged PL 7.2
| STR | STA | AGL | DEX |
|---|---|---|---|
| 00 | 02 | 02 | 03 |
| FGT | INT | AWE | PRE |
| 01 | 07 | 03 | 01 |
Powers:
“Cold Ray” technology ● 4 points ● Descriptor: Skill
Enhanced Intellect 4 (Limited 1 to his cold technology).
Devices:
Insulated suit ● 6 points (Removable) ● Descriptor: Technology
– Immunity 1 (Environmental cold).
– Impervious Protection 8 and Impervious Enhanced Fortitude 8 (both Limited 3 to Cold).
– Special soles — Movement 1 (Sure-footed, Limited 1 to icy surfaces), Movement 2 (Wall-crawling 2, Limited 1 to icy surfaces, Limited 1 (works on steep inclines but not vertical or inverted surfaces).
Cold gun MkI ● 30 points (Easily Removable) ● Descriptor: Cold Ray technology
– Shoots a wide beam — Ranged attack 2, Precise Attack (Ranged Concealment), Takedown.
– Cold beam applications (Array):
- Sweeping cold beam — Environment 2 (Extreme cold with a 30 metres radius).
- Sweeping cold beam — Environment 1 (Impede movement by 1 Rank using ice with a 15m radius).
- Focused cold beam — Ranged Cold Damage 11, Feature (-3 Ranks of Burst Area).
- Entrap in ice — Ranged Affliction 10 (Resisted by Dodge, break-out done with Strength or Effects with a heat descriptor, Cumulative, Effects – Hindered & Vulnerable, Defenceless & Immobilised, Paralysed & Asleep) w/Feature (Paralysed & Asleep targets are in suspended animation) and Feature (-3 Ranks of Burst Area).
- Ice structures — Create 10 (Limited 1 – needs a mass of water weighing as many Ranks as the Ranks of Create).
- Affect weather — Environment 10 (-2 Perception over a 8km radius through snow, hail, sleet, etc.) Linked w/Feature (lowers temperature through the area, but not significantly in game terms).
Replaced by the MkII Cold Ray Gun during the 1960s. The Mk2 version costs 33 points – it has one more Rank of Affliction, Create and Damage, and its Environment effect to impede movement impedes by 2 rather than 1. Furthermore the Create effect is no longer Limited.
Combat Advantages:
Defensive roll 2, Evasion 1, Improved Initiative, Ranged attack 3.
Other Advantages:
Benefit 2 (Independently Wealthy), Contacts, Language 1 (Norwegian).
Skills:
Athletics 3 (+3), Close combat (Unarmed) 2 (+3), Deception 1 (+2), Expertise (Criminal) 4 (+11), Expertise (Physics) 11 (+18), Insight 6 (+9), Perception 7 (+10), Persuasion 1 (+2), Ranged combat (Handguns) 2 (+8), Stealth 5 (+7), Technology 11 (+16), Vehicles 3 (+6).
Offence:
| Initiative +6 |
| Unarmed +3, Close, Damage 0 |
| Cold gun +10, Ranged, Damage 12 or Affliction 11 (assuming Mk2 gun) |
Defense:
| Dodge | 10 |
| Fortitude | 6 |
| Parry | 3 |
| Toughness | 4/2* |
| Will | 4 |
* Without Defensive Roll.
Complications:
- Identity Dr. Makent was soon unmasked but latter subplots involved hiding his past or being mistaken for a criminal.
- Disability Dr. Makent seemed farsighted.
Powers Levels:
- Trade-off areas Attack & Effect PL 11, Dodge/Toughness PL 7, Parry/Toughness PL 4, Fort & Will PL 5.
- Point total 135. Abilities 38, Defences 15, Skills 28, Powers 4, Devices 39, Advantages 11. Equiv. PL 9.
Notes:
Early on the Icicle had some Minions – three basic thugs with handguns and weaker versions of his costume.
Much later in his career his Benefit (Wealth) rose to 3 then 4, and he built a Headquarters.
Source of Character: DC Universe through the decades – chiefly pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths Earth-2.
Helper(s): Darci ; the stats in Mayfair’s World At War, by Mr. Ray Winninger.
Writeup completed on the 23rd of January, 2012.