As we head into the winter season with everything getting colder, why not take a look at DC’s cooler villains? Why not make you hate me with some really ice puns? Well sit back, chill out, as we enter a winter wonderland of danger with some ice-themed supervillains. Who better to start this off than with Killer Frost! She’s been making a comeback thanks to video games and cartoons. Let’s slide right into this chilling villain. Ice puns.
The first Killer Frost was Crystal Frost, because reality loves an easy in, who was training to be a scientist at the same school of one half of Firestorm, Martin Stein. She fell in love with Stein but his cold rebuff was not well received. She would accidentally get locked into the thermafrost chamber (imagine Doctor Manhattan’s tranformation but with cold instead of atoms) where she survived but as a sort of heat-vampire who could project cold and ice. Able to absorb the heat from others, Crystal took vengeance on all men as vengeance toward Stein. The 70s were so progressive. She’d go on to fight Stein’s heroic alter-ego, Firestorm, many times until she absorbed too much of the heat he radiated and died from the overdose.
This sad death would not be the end of the villain known as Killer Frost. Crystal’s friend and colleague, Louise Lincoln, decided that her friend’s legacy would live on, taking on the same transformation as Crystal and gaining her powers. Her career as Killer Frost would last much longer to the detriment of anyone who liked not being flash frozen.
Louise would prove to be quite cold and calculating in her role as a villain. Mercantile in her behavior she’d at one point save Lois Lane from contract killers only to attempt the hit herself for the money. How did she try this? Something cold, right? Oh yes, very cold, TIED TO TRAIN TRACKS! Classic. She failed but that’s a really straight up villainous thing to do.
The career of Louis as Killer Frost had many adventures, liker selling her soul for more power, freezing several islands of Hawaii, dating a fire-based villain (come on, that’s funny, you could say their relationship was pretty steamy), and teaming up with Mr. Freeze, Icicle, and Captain Cold (what a cool party) to take down Batman and Superman. She even got cancer and tricked the new Firestorm into curing her with his powers. Firestorm can just cure cancer? I hate him forever now for just not doing that. He also totally reversed his procedure to stop her return to crime. Dude, there are way better ways of stopping a criminal that don’t involve giving them cancer. What the heck, Firestorm?
She’d return to the realm of supervillainy cancer-free due to who can keep track of all those things? She was also now in a relationship with Mr. Freeze. The two of them start killing people to garner the attention of Firestorm so Louise could trick him into space so she could attempt to absorb the sun. I guess Louise had better control than Crystal, cause dang. Firestorm stops her along with Batman is able to take both Freeze and Louise into custody. Sadly, Louise was just using Freeze and never loved him, how cold-hearted.
In the New 52 we now have two different Killer Frosts. Though possibly just one within the near-future. Lauren Fontier is a terrorist who attacks the school that the future Firestorm is attending and is transformed in the same event that creates Firestorm creates Killer Frost.
The other Killer Frost is Dr. Caitlin Snow (It’s no lie) is a scientist at S.T.A.R. (Scientific and Technological Advanced Research) Labs. She’d go to work on a thermodynamic engine in the Arctic and when attacked by H.I.V.E. (Hierarchy of International Vengeance and Extermination) agents and ends up transforming into a heat vampire. Upon meeting Firestorm she learns his energy blasts can heal her temporarily, but when he is declared dead she loses hope on surviving. Now that’s just a cold snap to reality.
There you have it, 4 Killer Frosts, mostly just Louise though. She’s great. She’s in cartoons and video games a lot lately if you want to see her running around on your TV sets. I always liked her ball gown looking costume. So I’ll see you in two weeks for some more cold-hearted villains. Chill.
Dr. Alexander Bustos
drbustos@comicattack.net
