Icon resembles a strong, large African American man with short cropped black hair; he only hides his eyes behind a domino mask. He wears a red tunic with crossed black bands and a golden ring in the center, black pants, and a large green cape.[6] The back of his cape features a thin golden circle with a stylized "I" in the center.[4]
History
Early life
Arnus arrived on Earth as an infant in 1810.[1] At some point later in his life, he established himself in Dakota City[7]and became a lawyer.[8] He met a young girl, Raquel, who convinced him to become a superhero[4]in May 2010.[9]
Icon was considered for membership during the meeting of the Justice League, though Green Arrow jokingly said that Superman's only reason for nominating him was a belief that Icon might be another Kryptonian.[6]
With the other inductees into the League, Icon was welcomed to the Hall of Justice and given an official membership pass. He had hoped to talk to Rocket, but inside the Hall, he found that she and the other protégés were gone.[4]
The Team captured three escaped felons, and brought a case they had to Batman. He showed its content to Icon, who concluded that the biotech samples were partly alien, though he was not sure of its origin. When Batman left to analyze them at the Watchtower, Rocket apologized for leaving him earlier. Icon accepted, and was glad they had both found teams in which they belonged.[4]
The moment the trio made it back to the Watchtower, the Team ambushed them with cure-tech. Doctor Fate was tagged, but Icon managed to destroy the other two chips. Rocket had another ready for him. She put it on him, and he collapsed.[12]
Being experienced in intergalactic tribunal law, Icon volunteered to travel to Rimbor with the six Leaguers accused of crimes to defend them before the High Court.[14]
L-Ron showcased an image of Icon to Despero, as one of Earth's most powerful beings that could challenged for a match. However, he moved on to other prospect contenders, due to Icon's absence from the planet.[15]
The High Court of Rimbor found the Leaguers guilty as charged. When Miss Martian, Superboy and Adam Strange arrived with evidence of their innocence, Icon told them they had arrived too late.[17]
Icon presented the new evidence to the reconvened court. The Tribune expected more. Superboy and Miss Martian attempted to convince him of the future benefits of delivering a fair verdict in the high-profile case.[17]
Icon and the others awaited the court's decision. The Tribunal returned and found the League innocent, ordering their release. M'gann, Conner and Adam left Icon to finish up and headed back to Earth.[17]
Icon and the freed Leaguers walked Rimbor's streets when holographic messages from Vandal appeared, warning all aliens against invading Earth. To back-up his threat, he flew the Warworld on a close pass of Rimbor.[17]
The League arrived at Mount Justice, Icon among them. The mountain was in ruins, and Superman wondered whether they were already too late. Members of the Team arrived, acting as a welcoming committee. Aqualad assured them that the crisis had passed, but not without loss.[17]
Powers and abilities
Energy blast: Icon can shoot blue beams of energy from his hands.[12]
Super strength: Icon exhibited his strength as he caught and stabilized a crashing helicopter.[10]
Abilities
Legal Knowledge: Icon accompanied the six leaguers to Rimbor to act as an advocate because he had experience with intergalactic trial law.[14]
Appearances
Background information
Icon is a hero originally from Milestone Media. He first crossed over with the DC Universe in the Worlds Collide event, and the universes of Milestone and DC were fully merged after the Final Crisis.
Arnus of Terminus is an alien who accidentally landed in a southern state in the early 1800s. He copied part of the DNA of the slave who found him and acted as his mother, and eventually formed his own identity: Augustus Freeman. As generations passed, he would suddenly disappear, and his "son" would pop up; Icon currently goes by "Augustus Freeman IV". In his civilian life, he is a lawyer, and a social conservative following the line of thought of Booker T. Washington. After a gang of street punks raided his house, he was forced to use his powers. One of the kids, Raquel Ervin, persuaded him to become a hero, and she became Rocket.