Iceman outed as gay in new 'X-Men' comic

Los Angeles: Bobby Drake, best known as Iceman, has been outed as a gay by telepathic Jean Grey in the current storyline of the 'X-Men' written by Brian Michael Bendis.

Marvel addressed the sexuality of the 'X-Men' founding member in the latest issue of the comic book, reported Ace Showbiz.

"There are thousands if not millions of stories of people who, for many different reasons, felt the need to hide their sexuality," Bendis said.

"The X-Men, with the conceit of time travel, give us a fascinating platform in which to examine such personal journeys. This is just the first little chapter of a much larger story that will be told," Bendis added.

In the "X-Men" movie series at 21th Century Fox, the frosty mutant was played by Shawn Ashmore. The character recently returned to the big screen through "X-Men: Days of Future Past". It's unclear if he will also be back for the next film "X-Men: Apocalypse". Marvel and Fox have been rumoured having a feud over the "X-Men" properties and other superhero characters.

Marvel bans their writers from creating new characters for "X-Men" graphic novels to avoid giving Fox more toy to play with on-screen. The studio is also expected to end "The Fantastic Four" before the movie reboot arrives in theaters on August 7.