Emma Frost - Publication History

Publication History

From her initial appearance as the White Queen of the Hellfire Club, Frost appeared as an X-Men villain over the years. She frequently appeared in Uncanny X-Men and the original volume of the New Mutants alongside her Hellions.

In March 1986, Tom DeFalco, Mary Wilshire, and Steve Leialoha were the creative team for the four issue Firestar miniseries, where Emma predominantly appeared alongside her Hellions. This series showcased Frost as the main villain as she attempted to turn Angelica Jones into her own personal weapon.

After recovering from a coma and aiming to redeem herself upon the knowledge that her Hellions had been slaughtered, Frost played a pivotal role in the Phalanx Covenant, which saw her team up with Banshee, Jubilee, and Sabretooth in an attempt to save the next generation of mutants. This led to her becoming a main character of the spin-off series Generation X which began in November 1994 under the creative eyes of Scott Lobdell, Chris Bachalo, and Mark Buckingham. The series ended after over 75 issues (and several one-shots and miniseries) with Brian Wood, Ron Lim, Sandu Florea, and Randy Elliott ending the series. The series offered glimpses into her past before her days in the Hellfire Club, as well as introducing her sisters Adrienne and Cordelia.

After the series ended and all the X-Titles were revamped, in 2001 Frost appeared in New X-Men as a teacher for the mutant population of Genosha, which was then controlled by Magneto. After a Sentinel strike leveled the island nation, the X-Men found Frost amidst the rubble with a "secondary mutation" which hardened her skin to a diamond-like density. Using Frost as a character was suggested to writer Grant Morrison on his website by a fan. While Morrison initially had no plans to use her, the death of the character Colossus left Morrison with an opening. He created Emma's secondary mutation – a super strong diamond form – as a replacement for Colossus' powers and added her to the cast. Subsequently, Frost joined the X-Men. This would lead to her instigating an affair with fellow X-Man Cyclops, who was having marital difficulties with Jean Grey. This series also provided further glimpses into her past, introducing her father Winston Frost and her brother Christian.

In August 2003, writer Karl Bollers penned an ongoing series showcasing her origins titled Emma Frost. The series, which lasted for 18 issues, began during her days as a private school student and ended before her days as a Hellfire Club member. It expanded on the role of her father Winston and her brother Christian, also exploring the early days of her two sisters. Later Marvel issues would expand Emma's character history by depicting her as having past romantic histories with prominent Marvel characters, such as Iron Man and Prince Namor.

Under Joss Whedon and John Cassaday, Emma was featured in the third volume of Astonishing X-Men. She has been a major character in the ongoing series, specifically during its third arc, "Torn," in which the authenticity of her allegiance to the X-Men is explored. She also frequently makes guest appearances in other Marvel titles, New X-Men in particular. The reduced presence of X-Men founder and former headmaster Charles Xavier in recent years has intensified her importance as one of Marvel's foremost telepaths.