 |
| Ice Cream Man | |
|---|---|
 Cover to Ice Cream Man #1 | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Image Comics |
| Schedule | Monthly (Jan 2018 – April 2018) Irregular (July 2018 – present) |
| Format | Ongoing series |
| Genre | Horror Dark comedy Anthology |
| Publication date | January 2018 |
| Creative team | |
| Written by | W. Maxwell Prince |
| Artist(s) | Martin Morazzo |
Ice Cream Man is a semi-anthological dark comedy horror comic book series that premiered in 2018 from Image Comics.
The series is a anthological horror comic series of very loosely connected stories that share a common link- a seemingly normal ice cream man named Rick (who is later revealed to be actually called Riccardus), who possesses inexplicable dark powers which he uses upon unsuspecting people. Rick's role in each issue ranges from protagonist to brief cameo, but appears most often as a supporting character. Rick's nemesis Caleb, a man dressed in an all black cowboy outfit, sporadically appears in the series trying to thwart Rick's plans.
The stories range from bleak and graphic horror to light comedy, but have grown increasingly surreal as the series goes on- issues often incorporate gimmicks into their format (e.g. three stories being told simultaneously with each page containing one panel of each, or an issue meant to be reread backwards).
Since its debut the series has received positive reviews. On the review aggregator, Comic Book Roundup, the series averaged a rating of 8.5 out of 10 based on a sample of 150 critics. [1]
In October 2018, it was announced an adaptation of the series was in development at Universal Cable Productions. [2] In February 2020, it was announced the series had been picked up by mobile streaming platform Quibi. [3] With Quibi's shut down in December 2020, the fate of the series was mostly undetermined. [4] However, in January of 2021 W. Maxwell Prince mentioned that the series is still in production. [5] In September 2024, it was announced Screen Gems had acquired the rights to the series with Alfred Gough and Miles Millar writing the adaptation. [6]
| Title | Collected material | Published date | ISBN |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ice Cream Man, Vol. 1: Rainbow Sprinkles | Ice Cream Man #1–4 | 20 June 2018 | 9781534310865 |
| Ice Cream Man, Vol. 2: Strange Neapolitan | Ice Cream Man #5–8 | 12 December 2018 | 9781534308763 |
| Ice Cream Man, Vol. 3: Hopscotch Mélange | Ice Cream Man #9–12 | 12 June 2019 | 9781534312265 |
| Ice Cream Man, Vol. 4: Tiny Lives | Ice Cream Man #13–16 | 24 December 2019 | 9781534313767 |
| Ice Cream Man, Vol. 5: Other Confections | Ice Cream Man #17–20 | 8 September 2020 | 9781534315976 |
| Ice Cream Man, Vol. 6: Just Desserts | Ice Cream Man #21–24 | 29 June 2021 | 9781534317277 |
| Ice Cream Man, Vol. 7: Certain Descents | Ice Cream Man #25–28 | 23 February 2022 | 9781534319301 |
| Ice Cream Man, Vol. 8: Subjects & Objects | Ice Cream Man #29–32 | 26 October 2022 | 9781534323223 |
| Ice Cream Man, Vol. 9: Heavy Narration | Ice Cream Man #33–36 | 20 September 2023 | 9781534399839 |
| Ice Cream Man, Vol. 10 | Ice Cream Man #37–40 | 20 November 2024 | 9781534397286 |
| Title | Collected material | Published date | ISBN |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ice Cream Man: Sundae Edition, Vol. 1 | Ice Cream Man #1–12 | 3 August 2022 | 9781534321823 |
| Ice Cream Man: Sundae Edition, Vol. 2 | Ice Cream Man #13–24, HAHA #6, and Ice Cream Man Quarantine Comix Special | 14 November 2023 | 9781534398191 |