As King in Black brings the Savage Avengers and X-Men together, Conan the Barbarian helps one of the strongest mutants realize their true power.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Savage Avengers #19 by Gerry Duggan, Kev Walker, Scott Hanna, Java Tartaglia and VC’s Travis Lanham, on sale now.
While the Savage Avengers usually deal with threats like the ancient evil sorcerer Kulan Gath, the team has had to refocus its efforts to the symbiote invasion that’s taking over the Marvel Universe in the King in Black crossover. Though the Savage Avengers might be scattered far and wide during Knull’s invasion, they have all managed to survive so far, in no small part thanks to the allies they’ve found along the way.
While teaming up with Deadpool and some X-Men in Savage Avengers #19, Conan the Barbarian just pushed Iceman, one of the all-powerful Omega-Level mutants, to unleash his inner Frost Giant.
After escaping from prison, making a pact with a symbiote and attempting to rob the Hellfire Club’s mansion, Conan and his crew find themselves facing down Iceman, Bishop and Calisto. The trio of mutants hadn’t come looking for a fight, but Conan certainly gave them one after smashing Iceman to pieces with his sentient symbiote sword. The shocking defeat is short-lived of course, as Iceman almost immediately picks himself up to be put back together. Conan is stunned by this feat of endurance by what he believes to be a Frost Giant, and the Barbarian is even more impressed after Bobby offers his own haymaker to the Cimmerian.
Before things can escalate, Bishop steps in to offer the three intruders a chance to earn some of the Hellfire Club’s cash, hiring them to help recover Cyclops and Storm from Knull’s clutches. It’s a good opportunity, even if the task is nearly impossible. Conan knows that the group has a secret weapon just waiting to be unleashed, however, and he reminds Bobby Drake just what the X-Men veteran is really capable of.
The Knullified Cyclops and Storm are both far more than the ragtag group of heroes are able to handle, forcing a tactical retreat. Dragons circle above while Storm and Cyclops both launch vicious assaults on their friends and teammates, making their only exit a straight shot down. Back to back with Bobby in the fray, Conan tells his new ally that they can’t get to the ground safely, but that they could bring the ground to them. He tells Bobby that is a Frost Giant, and it’s about time to start acting like one.
The confused Cimmerian might not be right, but he still inspired Bobby to summon an avalanche to carry them to the streets below safely. This puts enough distance between them and their Knullified friends to make an escape, but the symbiote dragons have followed close behind. Thankfully, Bobby still has plenty of tricks up his sleeve, mostly in the form of massive spikes just waiting to tear through Knull’s army.
Although he hasn’t always acted like it, Iceman has long been one of the most powerful mutants around. As an Omega-level mutant, Bobby Drake is one of the few mutants alive who could actually reshape the world if he saw fit. But as one of the more laid back members of the X-Men, it’s rare that Iceman unleashes his powers in such an incredible display of strength and violence, although it’s most certainly useful here.
While the rest of the team retreats, Iceman holds off an entire horde of symbiote dragons by himself, a feat that only a small handful of Marvel heroes could accomplish. Even once the others have made it back to the mansion safely Bishop is certain that Bobby hasn’t yet lost his one-man war against Knull’s forces, underscoring how much faith he has in his fellow mutant’s powers, too. While Iceman might be one of the X-Men’s resident jokers, Conan still helped the mutant remember how much of a powerful threat he can really be.
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