When the air becomes stale and chilly on a moderate day in Gotham City, odds are, Mr. Freeze is nearby. Once, Victor Fries was a well to do scientist and allegedly a loving husband. Now, he is mostly known for his sociopathic temperature checks on the citizens of Gotham. Often, he claims his coldhearted deeds are all for the sake of his true love. Yet, what if I told you everything he's done is completely backwards? Hear me out below.
Three States Of Matter
First of all, the character took over four decades to define. Back in 1959, the original incarnation of the character premiered as a dastardly thief by the name of “Mr. Zero.” In those simpler days, an uncomfortable amount of villains were born out of accidents, suddenly becoming villainous opportunists. In contrast, their heroic counterparts suffer similar tragedies but choose to help others instead. Consequently, Mr. Zero was already working on a nefarious gun before his accident, which just so happens to explode, forcing him to rely on extreme cold for survival. To this day, it is unclear why a scientist would require a gang of thugs to build a freeze gun for anything but mischief.
Still, the character would make it into 1966's Batman adaptation with the new permanent moniker of “Mr. Freeze.” Freeze inherits Zero's tragic backstory in exchange for a nifty menagerie of heat and cold based weapons. Notably, this version of the character would perpetually change actors, names, hair length, and oddly eyebrow color. Furthermore, the zany 60s allowed the character to embrace an eccentric camp attitude. Incidentally, his inconsistency would eventually melt away with the iconic melodramatic iteration in Batman: The Animated Series. By the time we get to Schwarzenegger in Batman & Robin (1997), his gimmick becomes fairly one note from that point on.
The Hypocrite's Oath
Today, Freeze's backstory is virtually straightforward. Usually no different from the Emmy Award winning “Heart Of Ice,” Victor engages in a life of crime for the sake of his extremely ill wife Nora. Typically, his mode of thinking surrounds stealing resources he may need for her treatment. Ironically, his choice of care is to freeze her until he finds a cure. Which, if we were being realistic, probably kills her. Yet, some argue that Freeze isn't all that bad. Even considering the implications that all he really needs is funding, his actions reflect him as an unrepentant monster.
Alas, his fundamentally paradoxical nature is the root of the problem. For instance, why his name is Mr. Freeze and not “Doctor Freeze?” One likely implication is that his practice in cryogenics or medicine isn't licensed. Clearly, he doesn't uphold the Hippocratic oath or the welfare of his “patients.” Yet, Batman is written to consistently bargain with Freeze as an intellectual. Honestly, it isn't just a tactic to pacify him either. Bruce Wayne habitually supplies the madman with whatever he needs, genuinely believing in his research.
I Heard You Were Chill
Frankly, even if I buy Freeze's dilemma, he's still shooting innocents with a freeze ray. Hypothetically speaking, his entire premise could benefit from minor reinvention. Victor's accomplishment in cryogenics could involve patenting cryogenic resuscitation. That way, writers can limit his specialty to cryogenics. Then, Freeze can focus on what he does best and kidnap other doctors and professionals who can do what he can't for his wife. Think desperate blue collar “John Q,” but with a sci-fi hook. This is partly what makes One Bad Day: Mr. Freeze compelling to read before its sickening revelations.
In spite of my criticism of the semantics of his name and expertise, Freeze remains one of Batman's more cerebral and dramatic foes across DC Comics media. Personally, the most effective Freeze stories like Tom King’s “Cold Days” or Gotham Central’s first arc, “In The Line Of Duty,” focus on the dark realities of the character. Additionally, the New52 temporarily reinvents Freeze as a delusional and obsessive stalker freezing female victims. Later, writers utilize his cryogenic technology as a key element in the preservation and awakening of Talon assassins in Scott Snyder’s The Court of Owls.
Deep Freeze
In a very real sense, writers want to find characters and I.P. they can exploit over and over. To that end, repeatedly milking Victor's story has understandable appeal. In fact, most fans tend to love Freeze. His iconic snowsuit, piercing red goggles, and fishbowl remain powerful symbols regardless of the interpretation. Truly, as the Bat symbol endures as an icon for justice, so too do images of Victor Fries instantly call up ideas of loneliness and cold logic. However, like most comic book villains, his development is perpetually evergreen. At least outside temporary status quo changes where Nora dies, emerges as a villain, or leaves him. Usually in that order.
At his core, the modern day Mr. Freeze chills us because of his relatable motivations. In particular, the character is based on the concepts of unrequited love and loss. The cold isn't just a metaphor for the death of emotion, but its unhealthy preservation. To be candid, Freeze totally represents our inability to let go of the ones we love. Alternatively, Batman understands what it’s like to live with loss. While Victor freezes those moments in time, both are simply prisoners to the fear of loss. That said, I still consider him a psycho with a gun looking for excuses to hurt others.
In Conclusion
Both on and off the page, I believe the character is still a work in progress. It took decades to even find a name and purpose for the character, and it hasn't changed very much since. While there are several silly attributes to the character, there are an abundant amount of deep aspects as well. Including but not limited to, his fascinating attachment to his wife, or his stoic demeanor. Somehow this goofy character has become one of Batman's scariest rogues, and still garners sympathy time and time again. Overall, Mr. Freeze is unchangingly simple, but maybe that is just the way fans like him: frozen for all time.
