Ice Cream Man Vol. 1 by W. Maxwell Prince

Series: Ice Cream Man (Vol. 1)
# of Pages: 144
Publication: June 26th, 2018
Source: Library E-Book
Genre: Fantasy/Horror
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Chocolate, vanilla, existential horror, 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 installment 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 colorful 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.

I was so happy when I was able find a copy of the first volume of this comic through my library’s subscription of Hoopla. I saw the cover and synopsis when I was scrolling through the newly released comics and graphic novels on Goodreads. Ice Cream Man is a twisted and rather disturbing take of the man that is supposed to provide the community with sweet treats. Instead this version of the ice cream man preys on the insecurities of humans and uses it to kill and I assume claim their souls. While it was confusing at first, I think I got the gist of the story.

The plot is divided into 4 separate stories of characters who have lost ambition, drive, or have been manipulated in some form or fashion. Through the ice cream mans manipulation they either kill other people or kill themselves. I won’t go into much detail because of spoilers but the moral issues laid out within each issue is pretty interesting. I found the plot hard to follow at some points because I wasn’t sure how the ice cream man played a part, but when I kept reading I think I began to understand how he turns the life of people up side down by preying on their insecurities whether it’s loss of fame and fortune, drug addiction, abandonment, etc. he’s always there to make the matters worse and force people to make decisions that they are ultimately incapable of making due to serious self esteem issues.

The artwork was intriguing. I wish I could describe how the faces are drawn but I can’t so I’ll just have to include some pictures. For the most part it’s simplistic but ultimately captures the dread and fear of all the people who encounter the ice cream man. I also love that bright colors were used to illustrate the scenes involving the ice cream man. It illustrated a unique connection to the wide colors and variety of ice cream that an ice cream man can serve. It was twisted to be honest but I’m pretty sure that’s the point of the entire comic.

While I wanted to give the comic five stars, I felt as though parts of it were too disjointed and presented some issues in reference to my understanding the text in its entirety; however, I did enjoy it and I’m looking forward to see what the next volume has to offer.