Advance Review: The Figglybumps Go To War In ‘Ice Cream Man’ #37
by Tom Smithyman
It’s the Big One. The War to End All Wars. The battle of… the Figglybumps and the bob-bots? And isn’t it just the cutest thing ever? The cutie-wootie Figglybumps are defending their homie-womie of Adoraville from those evil-weevil baddies.
That’s the kind of saccharine language you’ll find in the latest issue of Ice Cream Man. The Flight of the Figglybumps is a fictional unpublished story from author Brian, which was unearthed by siblings Grace and Michael, following their brother’s suicide. The issue moves back and forth between the battle between the furry creatures and the robots as well as the emotional battle with Grace and Michael as they grapple with their brother’s death and thoughts of the afterlife.
It’s no exactly an uplifting tale, though readers have come to expect fairly dour stories from writer W. Maxwell Prince. This one, though, seems to lack a lesson. Brother and sister debate whether suicide is an automatic ticket to Hell – even though they are both atheists – while Gigglywinks and his girlfriend Fluffykins say their goodbyes against the backdrop of war. Interesting story? Kind of. Is there a point to it? Not so much.
At least artist Martin Morazzo gets to have fun with drawing the furry marshmallows that are the Figglybumps. It’s as if some of Dr. Seuss’ characters went to war. Only some of these creatures, like General BubblyStraw, swear like…well sailors.
Morazzo gives the general special attention, honoring him with an entire splash page where he hilariously has a helmet, a gun, and a marshmallow-laden bandolier. Another spread shows the final battle against the bob-bots. It’s not much of a spoiler to reveal that the fight doesn’t go well for the furry friends.
The Ice Cream Man creative team has been on a roll lately, so we’ll give them a pass for this chapter. But only die-hard fans of this anthology series are going to want to pick up this oddly-toddly issue.
Ice Cream Man #37 will be available for purchase tomorrow.
Overview
This usually reliable anthology series hits a rare snag with this issue. It tries to be too cute – literally – and instead gives off a sickly-sweet vibe. Enough of one to cause diabetes.
