Advance Review: ‘Ice Cream Man’ Vol. 9 Shifts From Horror To The Human Condition

From a couple of hobos riding the rails to a man willing to be swallowed up by a whale to find his missing daughter, Ice Cream Man Vol. 9 pulls few punches.

This collection collects the last four issues of the anthology series and is presented in a way that explores the human experience as opposed to trying to out-and-out scare the reader. In fact, instead of frightening you, these tales are more likely to depress you as they deal with humanity and its foibles.

The first story is purportedly about series writer W. Maxwell Prince. This version of the scribe (or is it the real Prince) wants to tell only happy stories about nice things happening to good people. But every time he tries to tell an uplifting story, the tale turns dark. He wants his main character to be happy and meet a nice girl and save a pedestrian who is run over by a car. But, for whatever reason, Prince just can’t write that kind of story.

The second story, the weakest of the book, deals with two train stowaways who are trying to survive as they make their way from town to town living off of what they can find in the dumpsters. Their meager existence is disrupted when a third man, Vicious Vin, gets involved. Instead of a relatively quiet existence, the trio now finds themselves in the middle of an armed robbery. The situation only devolves from there. Prince’s script here is more difficult to relate to, but artist Martin Morazzo nails the look of the younger hobo, masterfully depicting his thousand-yard stare and sunken eyes.

Prince gets meta again in the third tale about a would-be author who is working on the most important book in the history of the world – The Book of Necessary Monsters. In it, he describes such terrifying beasts and phenomena as the Gum Dream, the King Spider and the Time Suck. Meanwhile, the writer (in the story, not Price – we think) feels some grief for ignoring his son, whom – he repeatedly reminds us – has a problem with his jaw necessitating that his food be cut into small pieces. The story’s payoff very much keeps in line with the series’ dark tone.

The collection ends with quite a fish tale. A father is distraught by his daughter pulling a Jonah and disappearing into a whale’s gullet. He’s also as focused on revenge as Moby Dick’s Ahab, even quoting the infamous literary character. So the fisherman takes out a small rowboat in search of his white whale. (This one is black, though, thanks to Chris O’Halloran’s coloring.) The entire creative team shines in another story as much about failed parenting as anything else.

Prince has really come into his own with this title as well as his limited series Swan Songs. While Ice Cream Man started off as a horror series, it’s evolved into something bigger and more meaningful. In the process it’s become necessary reading each month.

Ice Cream Man Vol. 9 will be available for purchase on September 20, 2023.