The anthology horror comic Ice Cream Man has been teasing upcoming involvement from some big-name creators in recent weeks, and now we know that this has led us to Ice Cream Man #43, which will feature one-page stories from some of the best writers in the comics industry.
Ice Cream Man co-creator W. Maxwell Prince will be joined on the issue by a group of writers including Grant Morrison, Patton Oswalt, Kelly Sue DeConnick, Matt Fraction, Jeff Lemire, Geoff Johns, Zoe Thorogood, Deniz Camp and Frank. Barbiere, each of whom will contribute one-page stories drawn by artists Martin Morazzo and Chris O'Halloran.
As a series, Ice Cream Man tells darkly comedic horror stories that center on a creepy ice cream man named Rick, whose involvement in people's lives often leads to disaster. The title was released in 2018 and has been published irregularly since then. He was recently cast in a film adaptation written by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar of Beetlejuice fame.
“In the Ice Cream Man anthology series, mysterious horror host Rick delivers bites of delicious terror in every flavor,” reads Image Comics' official description. “The genre-defying comic series features short stories of pain, wonder and redemption, and each installment features its own cast of strange characters, all facing their own special ice cream of suffering.
“And on the periphery of them all, like the twinkling music of his colorful truck, is the Ice Cream Man: a weaver of stories, a purveyor of sweets,” he continues. “Friend. Enemy. God. Demon. The man who, with a snap of his fingers (in the blink of an eye!) can change the course of your life forever.”
The list of writers joining Ice Cream Man #43 is essentially a who's who of comics' best writers. Grant Morrison, whose involvement was previously teased, is an especially exciting addition since they've rarely done much work in comics in recent years, but everyone on the list piques my personal interest. It will be great to see what the masters of the craft can do with a single page to tell their stories.
“How lucky are we? That some of comics' most beloved writers agreed (or you could say were tricked) into contributing to our edition of one-page horror stories,” says series co-creator W. Maxwell Prince in a statement. “Our modus operandi has always been compression: getting an entire story to fit on a floppy disk. But this is a whole new level and a whole new challenge. We hope you like our little stories and we hope even more that you appreciate our guests and their incredible brains.”
Ice Cream Man #43 will be out in January, with covers by artists Martín Morazzo and Chris O'Halloran, and a variant cover by Maria Llovet.
Ready for more thrills and chills? Check out our list of best horror comics of all time.