Ice Cream Man
ICE CREAM MAN
AN ANTHOLOGY OF EXISTENTIAL HORROR
W. MAXWELL PRINCE · MARTÍN MORAZZO
Image Comics · 2018–Present
🍦 11 VOLUMES · 44 COLLECTED ISSUES
45 Main Issues Published · Series Ongoing
Approximately 1,430 Collected Pages
Writer: W. Maxwell Prince
Artist: Martín Morazzo
Colorist: Chris O'Halloran
Genres: Psychological Horror · Surrealism · Existential Horror · Dark Fantasy · Weird Fiction · Anthology
Publication Status: ONGOING
🍦 ABOUT THE SERIES
Ice Cream Man is a critically acclaimed horror anthology created by W. Maxwell Prince and Martín Morazzo.
Behind the colorful appearance of a seemingly ordinary neighborhood ice cream vendor lies a disturbing world of psychological terror, existential despair, supernatural manipulation, and surreal nightmares.
Each issue generally presents a self-contained story involving ordinary people confronted by extraordinary circumstances. Their experiences range from tragic and unsettling to darkly humorous, grotesque, and profoundly philosophical.
A mysterious Ice Cream Man repeatedly appears at the edges of these stories. Sometimes he is a passive observer, sometimes a manipulator, and sometimes an apparently omnipotent force capable of transforming reality itself.
His true nature remains ambiguous: a supernatural entity, a demon, an embodiment of suffering, or something far more difficult to define.
Recurring characters and gradually revealed connections suggest that the seemingly independent episodes may belong to a larger, deeply disturbing narrative.
The series explores addiction, depression, grief, memory, loneliness, family relationships, mortality, and the absurdity of human existence.
Its experimental storytelling employs unusual narrative structures, silent sequences, unreliable perspectives, metafiction, visual puzzles, and radical manipulations of the comic-book medium.
Beneath its deceptively cheerful imagery, Ice Cream Man offers an unsettling examination of human suffering and the fragile boundaries of reality.
📚 THE COMPLETE PUBLISHED COLLECTION
11 TRADE PAPERBACK VOLUMES
01 — RAINBOW SPRINKLES
2018 · 128 pages · Issues #1–4
Four stories introduce the mysterious Ice Cream Man and his unsettling influence on ordinary lives.
Addiction, musical fantasy, broken relationships, and supernatural horror establish the anthology's central themes.
02 — STRANGE NEAPOLITAN
2018 · 128 pages · Issues #5–8
Stories involving a falling man, a wordless experiment in three parallel narratives, a young girl and her dead friend, and a series of suburban emergencies.
The enigmatic connection between the Ice Cream Man and the dark cowboy Caleb becomes increasingly apparent.
03 — HOPSCOTCH MÉLANGE
2019 · 128 pages · Issues #9–12
Four strange tales explore the American frontier, psychological suffering, obsession, and the terrifying possibilities of human imagination.
Additional revelations expand the mythology surrounding the Ice Cream Man.
04 — TINY LIVES
2019 · 128 pages · Issues #13–16
Four stories focused on individuals struggling with desperation, isolation, and the desire to escape their circumstances.
The supernatural intrudes upon fragile human lives in increasingly disturbing ways.
05 — OTHER CONFECTIONS
2020 · 128 pages · Issues #17–20
A grotesque superhero satire, an exploration of failing memory, instructions for becoming a ghost, and a twisted reinterpretation of familiar children's stories.
06 — JUST DESSERTS
2021 · 120 pages · Issues #21–24
Four experimental horror stories examining suffering, survival, and the emotional consequences of ordinary human experiences.
Narrative structures and visual techniques become increasingly unconventional.
07 — CERTAIN DESCENTS
2022 · 128 pages · Issues #25–28
Four stories involving physical and psychological decline, including an aviation disaster, family history, and the disturbing fragility of the human body.
08 — SUBJECTS & OBJECTS
2022 · 136 pages · Issues #29–32
Four experimental narratives examine subjective experience, scientific experimentation, death, addiction, and the nature of personal identity.
09 — HEAVY NARRATION
2023 · 136 pages · Issues #33–36
An unusual mixture of divided narratives, unfortunate wanderers, imaginary monsters, and a journey into the belly of a whale.
The collection continues the series' experimentation with the relationship between words and images.
10 — IMPERIOUS WRECKS
2024 · 136 pages · Issues #37–40
Stories of apocalypse, artificial communities, and the manipulation of time.
Includes the two-part "Decompression in a Wreck," an ambitious experiment exploring time, narrative compression, and the relationship between prose and sequential art.
11 — HORROR, HORROR
2025 · 136 pages (Image Comics listing)
Issues #41–44
Four stories examining the nature of horror itself.
Includes a supernatural espionage story, a haunted-house narrative, an anthology of one-page horror stories written by celebrated guest creators, and a deeply unsettling workplace performance review.
Among the guest writers are Grant Morrison, Patton Oswalt, Matt Fraction, Kelly Sue DeConnick, and others.
🆕 UNCOLLECTED MAIN ISSUES
ICE CREAM MAN #45
April 15, 2026
"The Window in the Back of the Apartment"
A voyeuristic, Hitchcock-inspired tale involving an observer watching the lives unfolding behind neighboring windows.
Not yet included in a trade paperback.
ICE CREAM MAN #46
Scheduled: December 23, 2026
Not yet published as of October 19, 2026.
✨ SPECIAL PUBLICATIONS
ICE CREAM MAN PRESENTS: QUARANTINE COMIX SPECIAL
2020
An anthology of short comics originally created during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Included in Sundae Edition, Volume 2.
ICE CREAM MAN: THE MORTAL COIL SHUFFLE
2025
An experimental narrative presented as a deck of 55 illustrated playing cards.
The cards combine to form a sequential story through an unconventional physical format.
Not part of the numbered main series.
ICE CREAM MAN #1: CHOCOLATE / VANILLA TWIST
October 2026
A black-and-white special edition of the original first issue with experimental cover artwork, remastered lettering, and a newly created short story.
Primarily a special reissue rather than a new chapter of the main series.
DECOMPRESSION IN A WRECK — DELUXE EDITION
2024
A special presentation of issues #39–40 with additional artwork and supplementary material.
The principal story is already contained in Volume 10.
📦 ALTERNATIVE COLLECTED EDITIONS
SUNDAE EDITION — VOLUME 1
2022 · 400 pages
Collects Ice Cream Man #1–12.
Equivalent to the first three trade paperback volumes.
SUNDAE EDITION — VOLUME 2
2023 · 456 pages
Collects:
- Ice Cream Man #13–24
- HAHA #6
- Ice Cream Man Quarantine Comix Special
Equivalent to trade paperback Volumes 04–06, with additional material.
Important: These are oversized hardcover reprints, not additional main story volumes.
📖 RECOMMENDED COLLECTION
Option A — Standard Trade Paperbacks
Volumes 01–11
Collects the complete main series through #44.
Option B — Mixed Hardcover Collection
Sundae Edition 01 (#1–12)
Sundae Edition 02 (#13–24 + extras)
Trade Paperbacks 07–11 (#25–44)
Both arrangements cover the same 44 main issues.
Additional Issue: #45, until a later collection is published.
✅ COLLECTION STATUS
First Published: January 17, 2018
Published Main Issues: #1–45
Collected Main Issues: #1–44
Trade Paperbacks: 11
Sundae Edition Hardcovers: 2
Final Storyline: Not yet published
Publication Status: ONGOING
Recommended Reading Order: Volumes 01 → 11, followed by uncollected issues in numerical order.