Cold Comfort - Bat-May

"Cold Comfort" closes out the trilogy of episodes that Mr. Freeze appeared in, and it's the only time we see him in The New Batman Adventures. How well does this send-off hold up? Find out now!

Cold Comfort is the third episode of The New Batman Adventures. It is notable for introducing Mister Freeze to the new series and continuing the story that ended in the movie Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero. However, this episode features a stark contrast with Mister Freeze's portrayal from Batman: The Animated Series, as this new version has turned evil for the sake of it.

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[TetsuShima]

The role of Mr Freeze in the DCAU is perhaps the most fascinating of all, considering that his development arc encompasses, not only episodes of various series, but even an own movie too. This episode is the main proof of that, as it ends in a cliffhanger that would not be resolved until the episode "Meltdown" of Batman Beyond. It is quite curious to watch all the episodes and the movie about Mr Freeze in a row, since watching them all together gives the feeling of watching a good single very long movie

[marcusyates]

Mr. Freeze: "Search your hearts for the thing you value most, then despair, for I have come to take it from you."

[autobotproductions]

the reason for Bruce's lack of lighter voice and lack of empathy toward Freeze can be explained as the years of dealing with super villains and mad men taking their toll on Batman, wearing him down and making him more cold hearted. At least, that's what I've heard

[thefanwithoutaface]

5:41 I actually asked Kevin Conroy about that when I spoke to him a few years ago. I believe he said is was mainly to reflect how the series was much darker at this point and having Bruce talk in a lighter, more playful tone was too jarring.

[adriannaranjo]

Mr Freeze is the Spiderman of DC, in the fact that he can never be happy

[shainewhite]

This was a much darker episode than I expected.
There was even that shocking twist that I'll never forget.

[nigel_saxon]

I think at this point in the series in universe Bruce was slowly becoming more detached from his "Bruce Wayne" persona that he stopped putting in the effort to mask his voice

[justyouraveragejoe]

I remember reading one of the DCAU comics released after this series. In it, Nightwing and Batgirl were investigating the kidnapping of Nora's new husband. Freeze shows up and helps the duo bring the man home. The way Victor saw it, that was the man who Nora had chosen to be with. Her new husband was the one who made her happy. So he was willing to fight for that.

That is a way more interesting continuation of Mr. Freeze's character than this series gave us. I just wish we could have seen it on the show.

[TetsuShima]

Even though the design Freeze had in the TNBA was pretty badass, we must admit that Mike Mignola's original version of Freeze was the best. Imagine how epic the animation of BTAS would have been if the great Mignola had been encouraged to design all the characters

[BjossiAlfreds]

Meltdown from Batman Beyond is a must watch. Freeze gets one hell of an entrance in his suit.

[RedDragonM]

I have a theory...Bruce not really changing his voice while he was in public has to do with how things have changed...With Dick, the world itself, his relationships, he was becoming more and more Batman...and less Bruce Wayne. He was becoming more obsessed with his holy mission....and this to me is what that toll was taking.

[Handlelesswithme]

There’s actually a reason Kevin Conroy dropped the Bruce Wayne voice

It was to give subtle development that he is giving more support to Batman then to Bruce wayne

Basically like he is turning a little more hard boiled

[Lowkeylie]

I’m glad that we saw Victor one more time in the DCAU.

Such a tragic and nuanced character deserved a better send off, and I’m glad he got it.

“Believe me… You’re the only one that cares.”

[NubileReptile]

This episode contained my go-to example for why I felt that The New Batman Adventures had lost something compared to the original series.

Both this episode and the original Mr. Freeze episode have a comparable situation: one of Mr. Freeze's minions is partially frozen by an errant blast from Freeze's gun. The minion pleads for help, but is ultimately abandoned without a second thought by Mr. Freeze, highlighting how cold he is, so to speak.

But then consider the differences. In the original episode, the thugs Mr. Freeze has hired are horrified at leaving their friend behind, and do so only very reluctantly while he pleads to not be abandoned. The man is ultimately saved by Batman, who is shown putting him in a water tank to melt the ice around his legs. The entire affair portrays this random mook with a surprising amount of humanity.

In this episode, by contrast, the other minions aren't hired thugs, but sexy girls in completely impractical parkas that double almost as mini-skirts. Why are they following Freeze and dressing like that while working for him? Who cares? They exist for fanservice. The one who is frozen asks for help but is abandoned by the other girls without a backward glance, and is never seen or mentioned again by anyone. Certainly Batman makes no effort to save her.

I don't know. It felt like the perfect example of the show losing some of its humanity and becoming more over-the-top in a way that put me off.

[thefanwithoutaface]

Cold Comfort aka "And you thought things couldn't get worse for Mr Freeze."

[saphcal]

him losing his body feels like it goes against his previous episode and how he was meant to be "immortal". it really implied that his body wouldnt/couldnt deteriorate...

[wstine]

0:54 "What killed the dinosaurs?! THE ICE AGE!"

[BlueDog]

I do like the idea of Fries' body slowly breaking down from his condition. For anyone who hasn't played the game Arkham city, Fries is shown without his suit in one scene and you can see parts of his body succumbing to frost bite. Him just being a head in this was a bit too much, I think. Maybe they could have said, he knew his body was breaking down and he didn't want his wife to watch him die and that could be why he avoided her.

[OmnicidalClown]

I really hate how Mr. Freeze was portrayed in this episode. I don't mind the idea of a version of Freeze that's filled with nothing but despair, but the problem is story that happened before this episode, Sub-Zero.

While I wouldn't say Sub-Zero is a good movie, it did give Mr. Freeze what he needed, a moment of happiness. Seeing him being so desperate to get his wife cured, too the point where he's willing to kill someone who has the same blood type as Nora, (AKA Barbara Gordon, ) especially since his wife was literally at Death's door, you can feel the desperation Freeze was going through. And then at the end of the film, we see an injured Mr. Freeze watching a news report of Wayne Industries curing his wife, while a single tear rolls down his eye, it was a powerful moment. The movie then ends with him, along with his two polar bears, walking away with a strong sense of satisfaction of Mr. Freeze finally getting what he got.

But then Cold Comfort comes in and literally throws all of Freeze's character development out of the window. Now granted, there is some justifications as, because of the conditions of Freeze's body, it began to deteriorate. It ended up getting so bad that he's literally nothing but a head in a jar before doctors can save him. I will admit that that part is tragic, especially since he's now less human than he already is. The problem stems to what he decides to do with his condition. Instead of doing to more sensible thing by visiting his wife, try to improve himself, or maybe even try to find ways to help others, Freeze decides to make everyone feel the same despair he feels by freezing and destroying the things that made a person feel the happiest, and then dropping a bomb that would create a new ice age for Gotham. This essentially turns Mr. Freeze from a sympathetic criminal to a monstrous terrorist.

Needless to say, I hate this episode for what they did to Mr. Freeze. I like the new design, but I can't stand how his character development was butchered. And they made Mr. Freeze a very petty and selfish person.

[DawnOfTheOzz]

Mr. Freeze: You were just a boy when you lost your family. But you keep trying to create a surrogate family for yourself. To destroy you, I need only destroy that. Perhaps your-
Tim Drake: Oh come on, Elsa. Can't you just let it g-?
Mr. Freeze: If you finish the rest of that sentence, I will freeze you on the spot.
*One moment of silence later*
Tim Drake (singing): Let it Let it
*Mr. Freeze coldly ice-blasts Tim*
Mr. Freeze: You have no idea how much I hate that song.