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William Drake

William Drake

Father of Bobby Drake, better known as the X-Men's Iceman.

Name:
William Drake
Publisher:
Real name:
William Robert Drake
Aliases:
  • William Robert Drake
Birth date:
None
Gender:
Male
Powers:
  • Intellect
  • Longevity
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Origin

William Drake was a very strict man whom lived happily with his wife Maddie Drake and their son Bobby. He is an accountand and raised his family in the suburbs of Long Island.

Creation

William Drake was created by Gary Friedrich and George Tuska and first appeared in The (Uncanny) X-Men Vol.1 issue 44 (1968).

Major Story Arcs

A Mutant Son

At first William Drake had great problems with his son being a mutant. He was mad at him for being a mutant and hoped to conceal it for the neighbours. However, when Bobby was chased down by an angry mob of townspeople, he protected his son from harm and later send him to Xavier's school for Gifted Youngsters in hope of letting him cope with his mutant powers. William and his son never had an easy relationship. This came to a heat when he frowned upon his son's relation with an Asian girl, telling Bobby she wasn't good enough for him. He also admitted to still have problems with his son being a mutant.

Operation Zero Tolerance

At the hospital with Iceman
At the hospital with Iceman

While Bobby thought his dad hated him, it turned out that, when mutant-hating hysteria broke loose during Operation Zero Tolerance, William defended his son and tried taking down the sponsor behind Zero Tolerance, Bastion. He paid dearly for that, being beaten up by two of his body-guards, nearly dying. But once and for all, Bobby knew how his father really felt about him, despite his problems with him being a mutant. William eventually recovered from his wounds and now lives a peaceful life again with his wife.

Bobbie's Coming Out

Some years later, William and Maddie's son Bobby came to terms with himself and revealed that he was actually gay. William was shocked that his son, whom has had many girlfriends over the years, made this revelation about himself. At first he was very hesistand of this, even being angry at Bobby for coming up with another way to shock his parents. Eventually though, even though it was difficult for him, he accepted Bobby for who he was. He and Bobby spoke lots about this and came to terms.

Some week later, William and Maddie met with their son Bobby as well as the younger time-displaced Bobby, which caused a strange scene. William seemed to prefer his 'younger son' more then his real one during dinner, which again caused some strife between the father and son. Eventually William told Bobby that he would always be his son and he loved him more dear then anyone.

Powers and Abilities

William is not a mutant like his son and possesses no special powers, but has above-average strength for a man his age.

Issues

May 1968

July 1968

January 1984

December 1984

February 1985

June 1985

June 1992

July 1992

October 1993

January 1994

December 1994

April 1996

November 1996

January 1997

June 1997

June 2000

July 2000

September 2000

January 2001

February 2001

December 2002

January 2003

March 2003

June 2003

August 2005

January 2010

September 2013

October 2013

August 2017

Volumes

1963

1972

1981

1984

1991

1993

1998

1999

2001

2003

2004

2010

2017

2018

2019

2022

2023

Authors

Friends

Enemies