Outstanding. Tragic. Moving. That's how I described Heart of Ice the first time I watched it as a kid. Or rather, I would have done if my vocabulary was advanced enough to say anything passed "that was wicked!" Even as what, a six or seven year old, I found the backstory of Mr Freeze incredibly poignant. What was previously a gimmicky and generic villain from Batman's vast rogue gallery had been transformed by writer Mike Mignola (also the creator of Hellboy) into the definitive Mr Freeze story.
The result of Mignola's work was a tragic figure whom you can't help but feel sorry for, in a scientist who is driven by desperation to revive his wife, who has a terminal illness and he's therefore placed her into a coma. The business man who is in charge of the works catches wind of this work and, out of greed, demands the operation to be shut down. There is a clash between Victor Freeze and the businessman, resulting in the death of his coma-ridden wife and a disfigurement of Freeze, whereby he can now only survive in sub-zero temperatures and has therefore created a suit to help him survive. In what is one of the better revenge stories in the Batman universe, Freeze, armed with a gun that turns things to ice, sets out to avenge his wife's death and freeze the entire city of Gotham.
This Emmy-winning episode was enough to elevate Mr Freeze to the elite level of Batman's nemeses, side by side with the likes of the Joker and Two-face. Where Freeze is special though is the sad backstory. There are many 'little moments' in this episode that I remembered from my childhood: The villains leaving a man behind, Batman sneezing in the Batcave, and Victor Freeze's dejected cries of "Nora! Nora! Noraaaa .!" The music was also as-per-usually fantastic and the dialogue ("revenge is a dish best served cold") superb.
The result of Mignola's work was a tragic figure whom you can't help but feel sorry for, in a scientist who is driven by desperation to revive his wife, who has a terminal illness and he's therefore placed her into a coma. The business man who is in charge of the works catches wind of this work and, out of greed, demands the operation to be shut down. There is a clash between Victor Freeze and the businessman, resulting in the death of his coma-ridden wife and a disfigurement of Freeze, whereby he can now only survive in sub-zero temperatures and has therefore created a suit to help him survive. In what is one of the better revenge stories in the Batman universe, Freeze, armed with a gun that turns things to ice, sets out to avenge his wife's death and freeze the entire city of Gotham.
This Emmy-winning episode was enough to elevate Mr Freeze to the elite level of Batman's nemeses, side by side with the likes of the Joker and Two-face. Where Freeze is special though is the sad backstory. There are many 'little moments' in this episode that I remembered from my childhood: The villains leaving a man behind, Batman sneezing in the Batcave, and Victor Freeze's dejected cries of "Nora! Nora! Noraaaa .!" The music was also as-per-usually fantastic and the dialogue ("revenge is a dish best served cold") superb.