Ice Cream Man Volume 11: Horror, Horror

Ice Cream Man

by W. Maxwell Prince, Martín Morazzo (Artist), Chris O'Halloran (Artist)

(Wait…I’m AFRAID? No I’m not! Although—there ARE four more of those ICE CREAM MAN stories in this 11th volume...and those things always leave me feeling a little HAUNTED, as it were. Maybe I AM afraid. I mean, there’s a Graham Greene spy story with this ghastly bovine monster; a haunted house yarn full of microfiche; a special all-star entry featuring one-page stories by writers like Grant Morrison, Patton Oswalt, Matt Fraction, Kelly Sue Decconnick, and lots more. Oh, and lest I forget: Craig’s performance review! YEESH. You know what, I take it back—I am totally, unequivocally horrified. And yeah, maybe I don’t know exactly what that means,—but just look at the hairs on my arms…they’re standing up straight!).

Enjoy!

Collects issues #40-44

Genres: Horror, Comics, Graphic Novels, Graphic Novels Comics, Short Stories, Ebooks, Fantasy

128 pages, Paperback

First published September 17, 2025

About the author

W. Maxwell Prince writes in Brooklyn and lives with his wife, daughter, and two cats called Mischief and Mayhem. He is the author of One Week in the Library, The Electric Sublime, and Judas: The Last Days. When not writing, he tries to render all of human experience in chart form.

Reviews

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Still great after all this time.

I wonder how much longer the creators will keep this anthology going?

[Chris Greensmith · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Technically speaking, I'm a subliminal fae-influenced demi-god made of raw negativistic thought.
...but my friends call me Riccardus."

[Ed Erwin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this specifically for issue #43 which was nominated for an Eisner. That issue consists of a set of one-page horror stories. Cool idea, I guess, but I didn't actually 'like' any of them much.

Issue #41 was Ok, about spies in Cuba and something strange going on with cattle.
Issue #42 was about the idea that the real world is much more scary than any fiction. Which is true, but didn't care for it.
Issue #44 was about a guy getting a performance review right after he had a violent melt-down at work. The end was too obvious for me.
So, not my cup of tea, even though tea is, appropriately, a horrible drink.

[Jenna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ooh doggy, this was a rough one. This was his worst volume yet. I don't know if he's in a creative drought, but this felt derivative and uninspired. Usually I can find one story to enjoy out of the 3, but no luck this time. Each story was boring and weak. Maybe we should have stopped at the 10th volume if you're struggling to make good content. The middle comic was so awful and heavy-handed that I was actively rolling my eyes while reading. Are we really judging abortion, school shootings, and alcoholism (i think that was the last one) on the same scale? We completely took out Ice Cream Man's standard body horror and replaced it with real world substitutes. That took me out and I hated reading it. I read fiction for an escape, not a mirror. I was very disappointed with this volume and I'm unsure whether I'll continue the collection. What a waste of my time, dog.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many flavors of pain.

[Renato · Rating 4 out of 5]

Readers note: As of April 2026, this remains an ongoing series (with issue 45 coming out soon).

Which leaves me with a bit of whiplash as I thought volume 11 was the final outing.
I calibrated my reading experience expecting a crescendo, full expositions, loose threads tied up.

And when I did not get that, I further warped my reading experience to explain that I needed to be okay with Prince's blueprints for the end, leisoning off the disappointment centers of my brain to be able to 🎵 whistle away 🎶the uneneding apsect of this volume.

I think I am going to go away for a while, drown my non-sorrows in some Holt-Branded Cottage Cheese and think on this until the microspiders in my skull become macrospiders.

SPY STORY
An "Our Man in Havana" tribute (possibly). A story that focuses less on the corruptor Riccardus, and more on the corruption of our universe itself. Quite on point for the genre it was emulating.

HORROR HOUSE
If this was the final story in all of the Ice Cream Man franchise, I would be a happy camper.
It begins with a trigger warning that I am not sure was meant to be sincere or not.
A family inherit a house from a dodgy aunt, whose basement has three doors with the words "Horror" enscribed upon each. Each door leads to true horror, and I would have loved it if Prince just ended everything after this - as if to say "nothing I can write can compete with what this family has to go through" as each door is opened".

ONE-PAGE HORROR STORIES
This was fun, and quite varied given the narrative constiction of a single page.

PERFORMANCE REVIEW
Bureaucracy horror.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another volume, another four issues of Ice Cream Man to upset me.

The opening spy story is a clever way to try and tie together some of the bigger plot points that have appeared in various issues across the series, and yes, giant cow monsters can be terrifying and sad all at the same time.

The second issue is probably the standout for me this time around. Yes, telling us that the real world is the true horror isn't particularly new, but it's delivered in such a way that it's less a reminder and more of a sit-up-and-take-notice moment.

I wasn't a big fan of the jam session 1-page stories issue that followed. 26 unrelated stories, most of which don't really hit, even the ones by Prince himself. A bit of a disappointment.

And then we end on a so-scary-it's-funny performance review story, which again ties neatly into the bigger Ice Cream Man mythos, as well as hitting a bit too close to home (it's been Year End Review time for me at work).

3 outta 4 ain't bad.

[Kasper Kade · Rating 1 out of 5]

It's a big turn off for me when the author's political opinions are visible in their art. I never started reading this graphic novel looking for political cartoons. Reading is an escape for me. Anyone who reads this volume will come away with the author's views on a number of controversial issues -- none of which are explored with any depth. Just vague proclamations, some of which are pasted on top of real newspaper article copies. That to me, is akin to posting signs and scurrying for cover. Why bother to have a thought-provoking discussion when you just can scream your opinion in somebody's face, hide, and proclaim yourself the winner? I digress. What used to be a comic that offered chillingly refreshing flavors of horror has been left out in the sun to melt. The politics have spoiled the magic of its taste, except, of course, for the bloated ants that smell sugar and can't stop eating. No more ice cream for me.

[James De Leon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice spot to take a (short) break.

It was always going to be hard to top or even come close to the last volume, which I thought was the best one in the series. However, this is a good volume to stop until we get ICM back sometime in 2026.

- In Graham Greene , we get an MI6-like spy who stumbles across some dairy conspiracy in the middle of Cuba. I so want to see this character return. (good)

- Next is Horror House, where we get some classic horror mixed in with what I'm can be described by some as PoLiTiCs. Prince is letting us know, in no subtle ways, where he stands in social issues -for those who haven't noticed after 40+ issues. (pretty good)

- One-Page Horror Stories! is next, which is juuust as it sounds - one page stories. Some are okay, some are meh, some are pretty good. (okay)

- Lastly, we get Performance Review, which is the kind of messed up story we have come to love and dread from this series - there's every kind of despair thrown into the mix. (good)

[Ezma · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s another pretty good volume of the series, but something about Horror House really rubs us the wrong way. Like yeah, the real horror is the world today, but there has to be something more to say than “these things are happening and they suck”. There’s also a running theme in this volume where it seems like Prince is starting to revolt against the series being considered horror. Idk, it seems like some burnout is starting to happen and it’s leaking into the book in a way that doesn’t fully detract but it could definitely become a problem if it spirals more into “the world sucks, what’s the point?”

[Jiro Dreams of Suchy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m going to preface this by saying I do agree that trump is an absolute danger and a certified pest. My newsfeed is constantly filled with whatever mess he’s creating or whatever people are currently getting ragebaited over as a distraction (currently the WNBA). This comic has been so good at creating a sense of unease, it always feels dangerous and sick- it’s cerebral. This is the first time I said oh, ok. I think there is a great story to be told through horror about what is happening right now, this is not it. Hereditary is about family trauma- I didn’t want to just see a mom being abusive but I got the message- this is just too in your face.

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

After the rather muddled mess that was volume 10, this one has really rebounded with some of the best stories for some time. There's a spy story set in Cuba that involves some nefarious doings at a local dairy farm. A family moves into a haunted house and discovers "real" horror. A bunch of one-page horror stories from a wide variety of authors. And then the performance review from hell. And all featuring the outstanding artwork of Martin Marazzo. More of this, please.

[Will Cooper · Rating 3 out of 5]

This had one of the better "nothing is scarier than real life" stories in a bit.

[Alberto · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Nomad nimrod · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was not good.

[Samson Patton · Rating 5 out of 5]

“The problem is that the idea of horror - what we consider to be scary - is so complicated.” Great horror series that makes you question, shakes your conscious, and gives hope.

[Ferenc · Rating 3 out of 5]

3/5 - Graphic Novels
4/5 - Horror
2/5 - Short Stories

3/5 - Rating

[Only One · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love looking at Holt Dairy Corporation.

[Desten Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Scary

[Kyle Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not the strongest collection yet produced but still better than most things out there at the moment. Excellent stuff.

[Estefania Grajales · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nunca deja se sorprenderme esto 🤨

El guiño a Cortazar me tomó desprevenida 😂

[Litter Bug · Rating 3.5 out of 5]

Some cool ideas, not sure if all of them landed but I appreciate the exploration.

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Congratulations for the 2026 Eisner Award Nomination for Best One Shot Issue (Daniel Johnson won for his Absolute Batman 2025 piece). This, Ice Cream Man #43: “One Page Horror Stories,” by W. Maxwell Prince and others (Image) was my choice, a series of one-page horror stories written by Prince and some guests including the likes of Grant Morrison, Kelly Sue Deconnick, Matt Fraction, and Jeff Lemire, but none of them are as good as Prince here.

Ice Cream Man, Volume 11 (2025) by W. Maxwell Prince, artis Max Morazzo, and colorist Chris O’Halloran, remains one of the very best comics series out there. The bright bubble gum and popcorn and cotton candy colors belie the deep scary realities this series addresses, and in this one we face with rage and cynicism some of the worst horrors on the planet. Each of the three creator stories capture a certain level of anger and insight not quite seen before in this series.

The first one is a Graham Greene tribute spy story set in Havana, more than matching Greene’s political cynicism about the Brits (and the US) in the years before the Cuban Missile Crisis. The crisis Prince imagines involves a corporation named Holt that may be poisoning the US through
“retail terrorism” via the American dairy industry. It’s a Greene-level depiction of ugly Americans, a thriller/murder mystery, messing with these genres, the horror in the real life deregulation of safety rules we are facing here now. I love the tribute to the Greene novel I love, and I love the art. it ends abruptly, goes nowhere, but the point is made. Generally top notch.

Horror Story opens with a trigger warning, ha. But these triggers are about the real life horrors he interjects that are so much scarier to him than fictional horror with jump scares and ghosts in haunted houses that you can just walk away from: Overturning Roe v. Wade and the male-dominated politicians who in some states don’t even want exceptions in cases of rape and incest. THAT, Prince says, is very real scary horror. Or school shootings funded by the gun lobby insisting on assault weapons as our constitutional right, or climate change and the oil industry and their purchased politicians' irreversible scorching of the planet. As he says, it’s not just a formalistic horror comic experiment, it’s real and we need to be very afraid. This is not a new thing, to learn horrors in real life are always scarier than fictional stories, but it still hits hard, a good reminder. Prince joins Colbert and South Park and Saturday Night Life in taking on the present socio-political nightmare, and I’m glad for it.

Part three is a series of one-page horror stories written by Prince and some guests including the likes of Grant Morrison, Kelly Sue Deconnick, Matt Fraction, and Jeff Lemire, but none of them are as good as Prince here.

The fourth section, Prince story three, is about Craig’s nightmare Holt Corp. performance review send-up of corporate America where getting fired for anything is possible. Tapping into the continuing surrealist cosmic horror Ice Cream Man mythos.

[Chr*s Browning]

Another installment in comics' most hit-and-(mostly) miss anthology "horror" series, delivering what we've all come to expect from Prince and co. The spy story is comparatively strong, but from there it's a steady decline through the libbed-out meta "the real horror is our world!" of issue 42 (well yes, but so what? a deadline just staring you in the face while you read the news?), the fittingly scattershot one page horror flash fictions of 43 (mostly meh, with occasional amusing moments - it turns out Prince's new thing is scanning newspaper covers into his books now), and a new formal experiment tying together 44 (performance evals) but ending once more in the who cares/surreal mythology without a point that so many of these issues do when Prince has run out of ideas. Sure I'll keep reading, but I'm not really expecting it to ever go anywhere again.