Welcome to another special installment of Adventure(s) Time, a look at animated heroes of the past. This week, we'll address a question raised a few years ago by one of the most influential animators of the past 30 years. But, really, he seems to have a point of view on this topic that's not shared by most of his fans. And if you have any suggestions for the future, let me hear them. Just contact me on Twitter.

In 1992, an episode of Batman: The Animated Series titled "Heart of Ice" revamped the origin of Mr. Freeze, a villain who was previously dismissed as a lesser entry in the Dark Knight's rogues gallery. He was so minor, in fact, that Batman editor Denny O'Neil ordered him killed off in the comics.

The new origin saw Mr. Freeze re-imagined as Doctor Victor Fries, a scientist toiling to cure his wife Nora of a mysterious condition. An incident with Fries' employer had Fries doused with the chemicals used to cryogenically keep Nora alive, leaving him with a condition that requires him to exist only in subzero temperatures. While the episode doesn't explicitly state this, it's not off-base to assume Nora Fries also died in this incident, since she was removed from the cryogenic treatment. That would help to explain why Fries returns as Mr. Freeze, determined to gain vengeance against his employer.

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Although the producers toyed with the idea of allowing the episode to be their final say on Mr. Freeze, the popularity of the character virtually guaranteed that he would be back. (I looked at one of his return appearances just last week.)

When Warner Bros. selected Freeze as the lead villain in 1997's Batman & Robin film, played by still-a-huge-star Arnold Schwarzenegger, the decision was made to have Freeze serve as the main villain in an animated Batman film too. The result is Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero, one of the nicest pieces of animation to feature this version of Batman.

Years later, in 2017, the great Back Issue magazine devoted an issue to Batman: The Animated Series' 225th anniversary. The topic of SubZero is discussed, and Bruce Timm, one of the chief creative minds behind the DC Animated Universe, presents an interesting point of view. Since he was already busy with producing the new Superman: The Animated Series, Timm wasn't available to also work on Sub-Zero. He doesn't trash the film but indicates a fundamental disagreement with one plot element. Says Timm:

The one story point that always kind of sticks in my craw is that they brought Mr. Freeze's wife back to life. That's something that I never would have done, because in my head, she was dead. She wasn't just like, preserved and on ice... she was dead! So to me bringing her back to life, even though they did it for poignant reasons...it kind of made sense in the story they were telling, but it was -- well, that's kind of like Mr. Freeze's whole thing, is that his wife is dead. He froze emotionally because of it and everything. Well, now, if she's back to life, it's like "Well, now what is he?" So that was weird.

Timm also notes the movie created a problem when adapting the Batman Adventures' famous 1994 Holiday Special comic. Most of the issue became the 1997 episode "Holiday Knights," but the piece entitled  "White Christmas" is noticeably missing.

"White Christmas" is a memorable Mr. Freeze story, featuring a story from Paul Dini and pencils by Glen Murakami, another two key figures in Batman: The Animated Series. The plot has Freeze uncharacteristically breaking out of his cell, leading Batman to chase the despondent doctor throughout Gotham on Christmas Eve.

The story draws parallels between Batman's own loss and the one that motivates Freeze's actions to this day. Murakami's art is also an impressive homage to both Timm, designer of the show's Batman, and Mike Mignola, creator of Mr. Freeze's animated design. Seriously, if you've never read the Holiday Special and are a fan of the animated Batman, do yourself a favor and check it out.

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As Timm told Back Issue:

For instance, in the "Holiday Knights" episode, we really wanted to do that Mr. Freeze story that we had done in the comics. And we couldn't, because the whole point of that story was that Nora Fries was dead, you know, and, well, no, she's not dead anymore, so that story is no longer canon.

And while Timm is correct that SubZero is the first time Nora is explicitly referred to as alive, there is an episode of the show predating SubZero that needs to be addressed.

Mister Freeze Batman the Animated Series

The 1994 episode “Deep Freeze” has Mr. Freeze released from Arkham by crazed, aging Walt Disney-esque billionaire Grant Walker, who seeks to freeze the world and recreate it according to his own design. Batman and Robin infiltrate the Walker's underwater city of Oceania and confront Mr. Freeze, who has sided with Walker.

And why is Freeze willing to serve Walker? Because the billionaire has obtained the cryogenic chamber that houses Nora Fries. Though the earth will be destroyed, Freeze believes the price will be worth it. At least he'll be with his precious Nora again. Some viewers were taken aback by the revelation that Nora's still around, but "Heart of Ice" never explicitly stated she was dead, so there's wiggle room.

So, how do we reconcile Timm's opinion of SubZero's seeming retcon with this story? Given that Timm co-wrote that episode with Paul Dini, it certainly doesn't seem like he forgot the episode. This leaves us with only one real option -- the Nora we see throughout “Deep Freeze” is dead!

It doesn't seem as if anyone who watched the episode thought Freeze was pining away for a corpse inside that glass case. (I've yet to see any fan make that claim.) But apparently, there's an entire episode of Batman devoted to Mr. Freeze submitting to a lunatic's mad scheme, merely to be reunited with a corpse. To look at some of the imagery from that episode, it's like Freeze is expecting to use Nora's corpse as the centerpiece of his living room set.

Dark, dark stuff. Or maybe just an example of a creator not keeping his own canon straight. But Timm certainly seems adamant about this, doesn't he?

So that’s all for now. Until next time, check out the G. I. Joe novels I wrote for the Kindle Worlds project for free over at Smashwords.

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