Polite Dissent

15 Responses to “ Forgotten Drugs of the Golden Age: The “Just In Case You Run Out of Ice For A Party” Drug ”

1. lilacsigil
   August 26th, 2010 at 12:54 am
   

   Maybe it’s testosterone and raises the freezing point of the artificial water just a bit?

2. Jon
   August 26th, 2010 at 5:08 am
   

   Never mind those questions; this is the one that will keep me awake tonight:

   What condition is it meant to cure?

   Apart from being alive, that is.

3. Sean Duggan
   August 26th, 2010 at 7:33 am
   

   You know, I could potentially see it as a cryogenic preservative (”Jim is pretty badly injured and we don’t have the resources… hey, you still got that artificial ice pill? Yeah, that should put him in deep-freeze quickly enough that ice crystals won’t form in the tissues”) or perhaps just a very quick way of icing down a sprained ankle.

4. Mike Blake
   August 26th, 2010 at 8:16 am
   

   Obviously someone at his hospital was the inventor of Ice-9, featured in Kurt Vonnegut’s CAT’S CRADLE.

5. Dr Archeville
   August 26th, 2010 at 9:11 am
   

   It’s a treatment for Victor Fries, to quickly cool him off in case his suit cracks & he overheats?

6. Scott
   August 26th, 2010 at 9:18 am
   Official Comment

   Sean,

   Now that you mention it, the Legion of Super-Heroes had a “freeze pill”, maybe Dr. Fate is just a couple of centuries ahead of his time.

7. Fred
   August 26th, 2010 at 10:24 am
   

   So many questions… The ice is sharp enough to cut rope? The prescription doesn’t need to be ingested to work? Or he did ingest it and it caused the ice, I don’t know, to seep out of his pores and through his clothes? Without killing or seriously injuring him? And how could he ingest the prescription with that gag in place? How, with that gag, is his speech balloon not just a random string of mumble mumble mumble?

   And Ice-9 may be the most terrifying thing Vonnegut ever dreamed up.

8. Fred
   August 26th, 2010 at 10:26 am
   

   And how does this help him escape? Even if it cuts the ropes, isn’t he then just frozen in? Does he have to wait for the artificial ice to stop growing or melt? Will it?

   Aargh. This way lies madness.

9. Lazarus Lupin
   August 26th, 2010 at 11:53 am
   

   ok ok, but the funny part is that it is prescription. This isn’t some wonder science. He went into what amounts to rite aid and said I need me some artificial ice pills.

10. Fred
    August 26th, 2010 at 1:02 pm
    

    The over-the-counter version just gives you a slight chill.

11. Leeman
    August 26th, 2010 at 7:42 pm
    

    So what’s he supposed to do after he’s freed himself? “Hooray! I’ve cut the ropes, but now stuck in a ice pit filled with murdeously sharp icicles and getting hypothermia”?

12. Bryan L
    August 27th, 2010 at 9:43 am
    

    Fred’s covered all of my questions except one:

    How does Fate see out of that mask? The holes are on his forehead.

13. Lazarus Lupin
    August 27th, 2010 at 3:42 pm
    

    it’s MAGIC

14. Teresita
    August 27th, 2010 at 3:43 pm
    

    Maybe when is about 40ºC outside,it chills you from within.No airconditioning needed,right?

15. Matthew Rossi
    August 27th, 2010 at 4:07 pm
    

    Maybe Doctor Fate is just a Kurt Vonnegut fan? Has some Ice 9 laying around in pill form.

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