The Icicle

Personal Data

Joar Mahkent. Husband of Anna MacDonald Mahkent. Father of Cameron Mahkent ( Icicle II ). Grandfather of Doyle and Donald Christie. 

Residence: Usually Mobile; familial estate maintained on Mahkent Sound in unknown city 
Occupation: Professional Criminal, formerly Physicist with specialty in cryonics 
First Appearance (Golden Age): All-American Comics #90 (October 1947) 
First Appearance (Post-Golden Age): Justice League of America #21 (August 1963) 
Pre-Crisis Fate: Slain by Krona during Crisis 
Post-Crisis Fate: Still dead 

History

Joar Mahkent was born somewhere in Europe, most likely during the 1910s. He was educated in Europe and obtained a doctorate in physics. A rising star in cryogenic technology, Dr. Mahkent was invited to America in 1947 to present his work. Arriving by ship, onlookers were shocked when the vessel was suddenly frozen solid. Covering the story as Alan Scott, Green Lantern also witnessed this event and quickly investigated in his costumed identity. In the ocean liner's stateroom, Green Lantern was shocked to discover Mahkent, shot to death. An immediate suspect was Lanky Leeds, a notorious gangster who had been traveling the same ship as Mahkent. Shortly after the discovery of Mahkent's body, a costumed criminal named the Icicle appeared and committed a series of brazen robberies using a freeze-ray gun. Assuming Leeds was the Icicle using Mahkent's technology, Green Lantern engaged the villain. Ultimately, the Icicle was defeated and unmasked, revealing not Leeds but Mahkent. Mahkent, it was revealed, had been accosted by Leeds in his cabin aboard the ship, but he had overcome the gangster and slain him. Using his cryonics technology, Mahkent created the illusion that Leeds's dead body was his own. He then assumed the identity of the Icicle and used his technology for crime. Faced with a long jail sentence, the Icicle appeared to commit suicide, diving from the top of a skyscraper into a Gotham river (All-American Comics #90).

As is often the case, the Icicle survived his apparent suicide. Later in 1947, the Icicle was contracted by General Galazar of Perumba, a small nation in South America. Galazar planned to stage a coup d'etat and required super-powered assistance to complete the crime. The Icicle suggested that Galazar jam radio broadcasting during the coup, to prevent the government from summoning outside assistance. To perform this task, the Icicle was instructed to kidnap someone with the necessary expertise. Remembering Alan Scott from his previous outing in Gotham City, the Icicle kidnapped the radio personality during, ironically, a radio dramatization of the Icicle's original encounter with Green Lantern. Returning to Perumba, Scott was informed of his role in the affair, and the Icicle set out to spread discord through the South American nation. Once he was unceremoniously stashed in a closet, Scott assumed the guise of Green Lantern and defeated his captors. He then set out to find the Icicle, who was creating a blizzard (a weather phenomenon never before seen in Perumba) in the country's capital city. Battling atop a volcano, the Icicle defeated Green Lantern and bound his hands together. Leaving the hero inside the crater, the Icicle returned to find General Galazar in control of the government. Unbeknownst to either Green Lantern or the Icicle, Doiby Dickles and Secret Service Agent Lorna Dawn had followed the Icicle when he left Gotham City. They arrived just in time to rescue Green Lantern. In the meantime, the Icicle betrayed the general and raised the national treasury on a pillar of ice, where he could loot it at his leisure. As Green Lantern returned to the scene, the Icicle beat a hasty retreat in his private plane, only to be captured by Green Lantern. He was then returned to Gotham, where he was convicted and sentenced to prison (All-American Comics #92).

By 1948, the Icicle had escaped and was contacted by the Wizard to join the second incarnation of the Injustice Society of the World. In the Injustice Society's first case, the Icicle stole a prototype US Navy airship and used it to lift the Washington Monument off its base. His theft was interrupted by Green Lantern, but the Wizard had planted a post-hypnotic suggestion in the mind of all the current JSA members. With a snap, Green Lantern released the Icicle and assisted him in the theft. The Harlequin (a secret agent who had been masquerading as a criminal herself) and Black Canary eventually freed the JSA members; the Injustice Society members, including the Icicle, were captured and sent to prison (All-Star Comics #41).

In 1951, the House Un-American Activities Committee forced the JSA into retirement. Because he was a "recreational" criminal, the Icicle became bored without super-powered opponents. After a final battle with still semi-active Starman (Starman vol. 2 #46), the Icicle retired as well.  In the mid-1950's, he married a woman whose name has not been revealed. Unfortunately for her, expsoure to his earlier models of cryonics had altered Mahkent's genes and his first-born son developed an extremely cold-based physiology that killed his unknowing mother and he came to term. Mahkent abandoned the child in a local hospital and never looked back (revealed in Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E #0, Secret Origins of Super-Villains 80-Page Giant #1). Sometime later, he married Anna MacDonald, an heiress to 19th-century whaling magnate Elias MacDonald. He founded Mahkent Industries and built a fortune in computer technology and cryogenic super-conductors. He and his wife had undetermined number of children and at least two grandchildren (revealed in The Flash vol. 2 #56).

In 1963, the Icicle came out of retirement to join the Wizard and the Fiddler in a new criminal group, the Crime Champions. Using the knowledge he had gained of Earth-1 from his previous encounter with the Flash, The Fiddler helped the trio escape to Earth-1. From there they staged a crime wave on Earth-2 and then retreated to Limbo. Pursuit of these criminals led to the first meeting between the JSA and its Earth-1 counterpart, the Justice League of America. The Icicle, the Wizard, and the Fiddler, although allied with three criminals of similar interest on Earth-1, were defeated by the combined teams (Justice League of America #21-22).

The activities of the Icicle for the next ten years remain unknown. At some point in the 1970s, he and the Mist slew the Invisible Hood, a World War II-era hero thought to have been killed in the war (revealed in Starman vol. 2 #1). In 1975, he again joined up with the Injustice Society of the World but was defeated, along with the rest of the ISW, by the JLA and JSA (Justice League of America #123-124). Annoyed with their continued failures under the Wizard's leadership, the Icicle re-formed the Injustice Society under his own leadership in 1976. Through unknown means, the Icicle had acquired knowledge of the alarm system at the JSA’s headquarters, and bypassed it while the JSA was away. Having kept the building under surveillance, the Icicle was aware of Hourman's recent return to the group. The Icicle used Hourman's ignorance of the new security system to slip into the JSA's headquarters and severely injure the hero. He then allowed his Injustice Society comrades into JSA headquarters, where they defeated Wildcat and assaulted the rest of the JSA members when they returned. Challenging the JSA to rescue their hostage, the Injustice Society members split up. The Icicle and the Thinker made a stand on a small island in the Persian Gulf, with the captive Hourman. The two villains were confronted by the Flash, Hawkman, and Doctor Fate, and defeated as a matter of course (All-Star Comics #63-66).

By 1977, the Icicle had escaped confinement and joined Earth-1 criminals Minister Blizzard and Captain Cold in another foray to freeze a small South American country. By creating a miniature "Ice Age" in Ecuador, the three villains distracted the JLA long enough to stage a crime spree in Gotham City. The capture of the three villains by the Earth-1 counterparts of Wonder Woman, the Flash, Green Arrow, and Black Canary failed to end the trouble in Ecuador, leading to the true mastermind who had hired the three cold-based criminals: The Shadow Thief (Justice League of America #139). The Icicle was presumably returned to jail on Earth-2 shortly thereafter.

In the early 1980s, the Icicle had again escaped prison and was committing crimes with fellow Injustice Society members the Fiddler and the Shade. The three were contacted by the spirit of Darkseid, Lord of Apokolips, to assist in his resurrection. The villains were successful, but Darkseid objected to the capture of Orion, his son, by the Injustice Society, and banished the trio to a holding pit. They were liberated by the combined forces of the JLA, the JSA, and the New Gods. The Injustice Society members then assisted in the liberation of countless captured residents of New Genesis and the ultimate defeat of Darkseid (Justice League of America #183-185). A few years later, the Icicle rejoined the original members of the Crime Champions in a crime spree organized by the Johnny Thunder of Earth-1, who had a more criminal bent than his Earth-2 counterpart (Justice League of America #219-220).

During the Crisis on Infinite Earths, the Icicle joined in the villainous strike force organized by Brainiac. Several villains traveled back in time to the laboratory of Krona, on the planet Oa, to prevent Krona from triggering the birth of the multiverse. The Icicle, Mirror Master, and Maaldor launched a direct assault on Krona's laboratory. The villains were caught instantly as they burst in, and immediately slain (Crisis on Infinite Earths #9-10). After his death, Mahkent's estate was enormous and required settlement. Through either his contact with the JSA or individual skirmishes that have never been recorded, the Icicle had developed a special respect for the Flash. As a result, he left half of his estate, a multi-million dollar sum, to whomever bore the name of the Flash. After the Crisis, Jay Garrick was in Limbo with the rest of the JSA, and Wally West was the only active Flash; therefore, West inherited half of the Icicle's estate. West used the money to form a special endowment named after his mentor, Barry Allen (The Flash vol. 2 #56-57). Mahkent's granddaughter, Doyle Christie, toyed with idea of becoming a second heroic Icicle (The Flash vol. 2 #58) but such has never materialized.

In the afterlife, Mahkent was cast in among several deceased villains such as Clayface and the Top. When the deceased villains attempted to escape hell at the expense of the second generation team of Hawk and Dove, Mahkent rebelled. In his last days, Mahkent had repented his criminal life and wanted only the peace of eternal rest. As he helped turned the tied against his criminal former allies, Joar Mahkent was granted a repreive and went to a restful repose in the hereafter (Hawk and Dove Annual #1)

Powers/Skills

The Icicle was an expert in cryonics, the study of cold and cold-based engineering. He designed several cold-based weapons, ranging from guns to devices integrated into his uniform. He possessed a thermally-lined suit that protected him from the effects of his own weaponry. In addition, the Icicle was a highly skilled pilot and navigator.

Weaknesses/Limitations

Without his weaponry, the Icicle had the same limitations of other men of his age and physical condition.

Golden Age Appearances

Post Golden Age Appearances

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