( CNN ) He 's been part of a wildly popular superhero team since its very beginning . But there 's something we never knew about Bobby Drake , aka Iceman of the X-Men . Wednesday 's issue of `` All-New X-Men '' No . 40 reveals the truth : Bobby is gay . `` There are thousands if not millions of stories of people who , for many different reasons , felt the need to hide their sexuality , '' Brian Michael Bendis , who wrote the issue , said in a statement to CNN . `` 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 . '' Iceman 's outing happens in an unusual manner . In the `` All-New X-Men '' storyline , members of the X-Men team travel to the past , as younger versions of themselves . Mind-reading mutant Jean Grey ( also an X-Men original ) asks Bobby why he calls women `` hot , '' when she knows he is gay . In comic book pages provided to CNN , Bobby does n't immediately acknowledge that she is telling the truth . The character of Iceman is perhaps best known for his appearances in many of the `` X-Men '' films , as well as the 1981 animated series `` Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends . '' The `` X-Men '' series of comics have long been progressive in terms of diversity , with a black female character , Storm , appearing in the 1970s , and the first gay mainstream comic book character , Northstar ( who later married in the pages ) . DC Comics has also had prominent gay characters in recent years , like Batwoman and the original Green Lantern of Earth 2 . Catwoman recently came out as bisexual , and Harley Quinn is portrayed that way as well . Bendis further shared his thoughts on Twitter about the attention surrounding the story when it leaked on Tuesday : `` i swear on my dogs , i wanted the issue to come out and just be . no press . no sensational headlines . no leaks . oh , well ... ''
`` X-Men '' original character Jean Grey `` Iceman '' Drake is revealed to be gay in latest issue . `` All-New X-Men '' No . 40 has psychic Bobby discovering Drake 's sexuality . Iceman has been in Marvel Comics for over 50 years .