Unless the ice pet has been fixed very recently then animate stone is tougher and does more damage. Jack should be doing heaps of damage, but once he pulls out his sword he no longer uses his blasts or freezing touch*
*I haven't checked this since about i14 so it might be fixed, but I kinda doubt it.
Other than that earth is generally a superior control set to ice, but ice isn't bad by any stretch.
Earth's Animate Stone a/k/a Rocky a/k/a Stoney a/k/a Poo Man became superior to Ice's Jack Frost when Seismic Smash was added to replace the mallet attack. Seismic Smash has a mag 3 hold (the pet version). It used to be that Jack's hold was one thing that arguably made him better.
Rocky is a lot tougher than Jack. He can tank for you, and adding Sonic Shields to him pretty much makes him close to invulnerable. Jack brings a slow aura instead of that toughness. Both of them now cycle their attacks quite well, and are more effective than they once were.
Personally, I prefer the Earth set over Ice, and I've played them both to 50. I have started up several Earth controllers with different secondaries, but I don't have nearly as much interest in making another Ice Controller. Earth has awesome ranged AoE controls, plus the -Defense makes Blasters cry for joy and makes it easy for any team to handle higher level content. An Earth Controller + a Fire or Arrows Blaster + almost any other teammates is a formula for success. Take a look at my Earth/Rad guide for a lot of info on Earth, even if you ignore the Rad stuff. If you look in the guide section, there is a guide on Earth/Sonic . . . I haven't seen one on Ice/Sonic.
I prefer my Ice controller to be built for melee, using Arctic Air instead of Shiver. That is one unique thing about Ice Controllers -- you have a choice about their playstyle by your choice between two powers. AA mitigates about 70% of melee damage, so I play my Ice controller as a tank groupee ... following right behind the tank/scrappers, throwing out controls to make them better. You could choose to play your Ice controller from range, using Shiver to slow everything down . . . but I feel that Earth is a better ranged controller.
LOCAL MAN! The most famous hero of all. There are more newspaper stories about me than anyone else. "Local Man wins Medal of Honor." "Local Man opens Animal Shelter." "Local Man Charged with..." (Um, forget about that one.)
Guide Links: Earth/Rad Guide, Illusion/Rad Guide, Electric Control
I'm torn between an Ice/sonic and an Earth sonic. I've played with Earth before but never to 32. I've never had an Ice troller before. Now i'm set on Sonic for the secondery, and i know it has shields to use on the pet, and that nice debuff aura thing too. Now how would the sonic stuff help out each pet. I know next to nothing about the ice pet, havn't seen one in ages. I know that the Earth pet is better than he used to be.
I have to say I am leaning towards Ice, but i don't want to commit until I know for sure that the combo will be nice.
So any advice on ICE/SOnic or Earth/Sonic is welcome.