The team behind Icon and Rocket: Season One discusses the killing of a real-life figure in the new Milestone Comics book.

CBR spoke to Reginald Hudlin and Leon Chills about the new series, which sees Icon kill Jefferson Davis, the leader of the Confederacy. "I grew up reading comic books where superheroes would stop bank robbers," Hudlin said. "Banks, which are FDIC protected, right? What were they doing? They were just protecting the property of rich people. They weren't really solving problems."

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"The point of Icon and Rocket is that they solve problems," Hudlin continued. "And we see what happens when you solve real problems. What are the consequences of that? Who would object to that? We ask the question of what would happen if superheroes started solving real problems, and in the process, Icon is showing Rocket how the world really works. Whether it's stopping drugs in Rocket's neighborhood or stopping slavery, it's the same thing. People just want to be left alone to live their lives in peace, but there's always someone who refuses to allow them that peace and insists on exploiting them. And when you stand up against the exploitation of other people, huge forces are going to be marshaled against you. That's the Black experience, not just in America but around the world."

Chills went on to discuss how inevitable the moment was given Icon's position: "Has there ever been a Black superhero who had powers but was a slave? I think once he realizes and comes into his powers he's going to do something about what's going on around him."

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"If you look at the book, Icon says, 'Me and mine are safe. Anybody who makes it here is safe.' He was willing to try coexistence. But the slave owners refused to accept it because they couldn't bear the thought of free Black people," Hudlin said. "So he said, 'Okay, I tried to accommodate you, which was more than you deserved. But you can't bear the thought of Black freedom. Fine. Now I'm going to free everybody.'"

Icon and Rocket: Season One #2, by Reginald Hudlin, Doug Braithwaite, Andrew Currie, Brad Anderson, and Andworld Design, is on sale now from DC.