Advance Review: The Craziest Thing You’ve Ever Heard In `Ice Cream Man’ #34
by Tom Smithyman
Overview
While readers may have difficulty connecting with the characters in this story, they will likely understand some of what they have been through thanks to some evocative imagery from artist Martin Morazzo.
Overall
8/10What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever heard?
It’s a question that keeps coming up between two homeless men who find shelter on a train in the most recent issue of the horror anthology series Ice Cream Man. Is it the ability to capture a slice of the sun in a bottle? How about the vampire that poses as a homeless man? Maybe it’s the train conductor dressed as, well as an ice cream man. As fantastical as they seem, all of them come true by the end of the issue. That’s appropriate for this series.
The story, written by W. Maxwell Prince, deals with two train stowaways – one young, one a bit older – 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.
While interesting, this isn’t Prince’s best story. It is difficult for most readers to be able to relate to hobos, so the emotional connection that Price has created in many of the other issues just isn’t there. That said, the idea of a tramp fits in well with an ice cream man dressed in a 1950s-era uniform and hat.
While artist Martin Morazzo gives the characters sparce details, he masterfully depicts the thousand-yard stare and sunken eyes of the younger hobo. The script may not provide much in the way of background for these characters, but Morazzo’s pictures are worth pages of exposition.
And that may be the craziest part of this whole story.
Ice Cream Man #34 will be available for purchase on February 22, 2023.
