Image Comics 2018
Written by W. Maxwell Prince
Illustrated by Martin Morazzo
Coloured by Chris O’Halloran
Lettered by Good Old Neon
Chocolate, vanilla, existential horror, drug addiction, musical fantasy…there’s a flavor for everyone’s misery. ICE CREAM MAN is a genre-defying comic book series featuring disparate “one-shot” tales of sorrow, wonder, and redemption. Each instalment features its own cast of strange characters, dealing with their own special sundae of suffering. And on the periphery of all of them, like the twinkly music of his colourful truck, is the Ice Cream Man—a weaver of stories, a purveyor of sweet treats. Friend. Foe. God. Demon. The man who, with a snap of his fingers—lickety split!—can change the course of your life forever.
Now all I knew about this was, well nothing. I came into this blind, not even having read the above description and trust me I was floored by this! Now that I understand that this isn’t going to be an ongoing thing but each one being a stand alone story like the Twilight Zone with a more detailed horror slant to it well I am even more impressed. First thing first the idea that the Ice Cream Man is going to be the host of these stories and occasional actual participant is fantastic because there’s something about that in this day and age of stranger danger hiding in plain sight is horrifically frightening. Also it’s kind of the perfect cover and tool to introduce us to the stories we’ll encounter.
Maxwell (hope he doesn’t mind me calling him that) has started this series off beautifully as the narrative has an almost innocent quality that is totally belying a sinister feel. The way he’s structured the book is phenomenal as we see it flow through the pages with just the right amount of thrills, chills and revelations. I mean c’mon the whole scene at the police station was just a kind of generalisation of the town and what we can expect from this book with th3e kind of people that inhabit it. So yeah from opening to the last page I was hooked.
If you don’t know who Martin is then you’ve been living under a rock he’s got a slew of incredible books under his belt and his attention to detail and the weight of his linework are just so gosh darn impressive. He and Ryp are among those artists working today whose work just seems to be that much more elevated in that they feel so unique, different and ultra detail oriented. The use of page layouts here with how we see the angles and perspective in the panels showcases that strong eye for storytelling he possesses. Plus oh my the backgrounds, I love backgrounds, and to see them in use here is marvellous. Also there really is a nice sense of realism to one animal and great use of imagination and creativity in another so yeah the work is great.
The narrative boxes that we see during the opening sequence which gives us a more detailed informational session, the kind we should see on Animal Planet, was something that I hope we’ll see used often throughout this series run. Smart, informative and something a great tension builder and learning tool that I will always be a fan of. Just tack on another element that I wasn’t expecting but is one that we should most assuredly see more use of.
By the way this is an oversized issue for regular price and you just can’t beat something like that for the sheer quality of storytelling that we’re getting. Never before have we seen this kind of plethora of books that are vying for your attention and also deserve it. It is almost like an embarrassment of riches of which there are no wrong choices but if you like horror, if your a fan of the Twilight Zone then you need this one!