Comic Info
Comic Name: Ice Cream Man/Image 30th Anniversary
Publisher: Image Comics
Writer: W. Maxwell Prince
Artist: Martin Morazzo
# of Issues: 4
Release Date: 2022
Ice Cream Man #30
Reprints Ice Cream Man #29-32 and Image 30th Anniversary Anthology #3 (April 2022-September 2022). Loss and life are explored as Corey says goodbye to his friend William Parson. A scientist tests an experimental drug called Neuramaze but discovers he might be caught up in his own controlled test. Warren Williamson welcomes a child name Blossom into his life as Blossom watches her father age as she grows. Doug Metsker is placed in rehab and battles the demons within him.
Written by W. Maxwell Prince, Ice Cream Man Volume 8: Subjects & Objects is an Image Comics anthology series. Following Ice Cream Man Volume 7: Certain Descents, the collection features art by Martin Morazzo and a short story originally collected in Image 30th Anniversary Anthology #3 (May 2022) which serves as a prequel to Ice Cream Man #32 (September 2022).
I love Ice Cream Man. The style of the writing, the uniqueness of each issue, and the interlocking nature of the comics makes it a comic worth reading…and continuing to read. Ice Cream Man Volume 8: Subjects & Objects is no different in that sense.
Sometimes you run into a weak issue of an anthology, and Ice Cream Man has suffered from that on occasion. This entry has four stories that are solid and there is no weak entry. All of them provide a different style of storytelling, and they are both absurdity and touching…often at the same time. It deals with some real issues like addiction and death, but it also plays with how those issues are dealt with.
Ice Cream Man #32
The series also continues to have the strange world being built by Prince. The characters in this volume appear in other stories and Prince often has enough forethought to set-up future stories. It becomes a puzzle that doesn’t entirely make sense (like the Ice Cream Man #31 which technically jumps all over in time but is primarily based in present day), but it does make sense in the context of Ice Cream Man.
The story is also aided by the eerie art by Martin Morazzo. It feels a bit like Lapham’s Stray Bullets in that there is a basic nature to the art, but also a surreal look as it dips in and out of dreams and visions. Morazzo also has a lot of fun inserting previous issues into current issues, and it would be interesting to hear how Morazzo and Prince work together on this.
Ice Cream Man 8: Subjects & Objects is another good entry into a good series. What started out as one of my bright points in COVID has turned into one of my favorite books. While I do support the purchase of individual issues, I think Ice Cream Man is better served as a whole rather than each issue…but feel free to take it one scoop at a time.
Preceded By:
