Advance Review: ‘Ice Cream Man’ #44 Skewers Those Horrific Corporate Performance Reviews
by Tom Smithyman
Overview
Forget serial killers and zombies! This issue deals with one of the most horrifying ordeals that most regular people face – the dreaded corporate performance review. Anyone who works in just about any job will read this issue with a smirk and a fair dose of anxiety because it rings true – more or less.
Overall
9/10Ahhh that dreaded annual corporate rite – the performance review!
It’s the opportunity for your manager to finally screw up the courage to say all those things he or she has been too scared to mention over the course of the year. Where you suddenly learn why you’re not being promoted, or even worse, why your services will no longer be required by your corporate overloads.
Talk about horror!
So it’s no surprise that the anthology series Ice Cream Man finally tackles this tortuous ritual. Of course, this being Ice Cream Man, little is as it seems.
Poor Craig has had quite the quarter when he is summoned to the top floor of his company headquarters. Most of his work colleagues don’t like him. His wife is literally having an affair with the mailman. And Craig seems stuck in his middle-management job – or maybe even about to be canned.
Under writer W. Maxwell Prince’s skilled pen, we get glimpses into how Craig has handled that stress and what his bosses – a devilish CEO and his slavish lackey daughter – think of his performance. Of course, this being Ice Cream Man, nothing is really as it seems.
Anyone who has ever dealt with corporate bureaucracy and politics will recognize what Prince is skewering here. (For example, the name of Craig’s company is The Holt Center for Nondescript Corporate Activities and Discreet Manufacturing.) In fact, for those of us who have endured less-than-ideal reviews, this issue may induce PTSD or a mild panic attack.
Artist Martin Morazzo lends his own brand of horror to this story. We instantly recognize exactly what kind of man Craig is by Morazzo’s depiction of the balding, middle-age nobody. And occasionally he throws in a little clues to help readers understand Craig’s mental condition – or lack of it.
Ice Cream Man may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but for those of us who have actually lived life, there’s plenty in this series to enjoy – or at least appreciate.
Ice Cream Man #44 will be available in comic shops and on digital platforms July 23rd from Image Comics.
