TBT #21: Classic horror, anthologies live in ‘Ice Cream Man,’ ‘Return to Whisper,’ ‘Evolution’

ICE CREAM MAN #1. Image. Written by W. Maxwell Prince. Art by Martin Morazzo. Colored by Chris O’Halloran.

When it comes to horror, children of the late 80s/early 90s have a few touchstones. Obviously franchise titans Freddy and Jason. If your parents were TV movie fans, maybe Tim Curry’s Pennywise was able to permanently shape your opinion of clowns and/or sewers. Me? There was almost nothing creepier than the intro to the anthology series “Tales from the Darkside.”

The music. The voiceover. That inversion of colors at the end. It’s unsettling even thinking about it in the abstract. But that was the power of that series and its filthier and higher profile (near) contemporary, “Tales from the Crypt.” When that music hit or when the Cryptkeeper settled into his poisonous cackle, you knew you were about to be hit with some weird, off-kilter story. It probably had a moral. It might be violent. It was going to be creepy for sure. And more often than not, it was going to be good.

These anthology series — with a lineage that certainly dates back to “The Twilight Zone” and “The Outer Limits” — can be powerful vehicles for storytelling because each episode creates a new world with new rules. Anything could happen in an episode of “Tales from the Darkside,” so you never knew exactly what to expect. In all of my comic book reading, few series — if any — have given me the same jittery anticipation as those off key piano notes.

But that was before I read “Ice Cream Man” #1, a new series from writer W. Maxwell Prince, artist Martin Morazzo, colorist Chris O’Halloran and Image Comics. As a loosely connected anthology series with horror/supernatural themes, it’s unpredictable and unsettling. And while I’ll focus my attention here on #1, I can tell you issue #2 (a story of love, crime and addiction) is almost completely different narratively while still maintaining the same tone. This series is an achievement in design and imagination, and it is incredibly good.

The setup here is simple enough: We have a titular ice cream man — more Pennywise/malevolent presence than Cryptkeeper/narrator — who shapes (and often destroys) the lives of those he encounters. He, along with at least one other character, are common to each issue, as is their general setting in the same town. But other than that, the stories are new and self-contained. The first, a twisted spin on “Home Alone,” has a really nice mix of gore and black comedy (again, you can’t read this and not think of the contemporary television anthologies like “Tales from the Crypt), but the story in issue #2 is told with an almost poetic sense of desperation. Different. But the same.

Making the first issue work is certainly a team effort. Prince knows what he wants to do with this series, and he executes exquisitely. Marazzo brings the darker nightmares in #1 to life and grounds the more mundane elements. O’Halloran’s colors are bright and breezy, creating a real contrast with the substance of the book (which is by itself another one of the ingredients in this unsettling stew).

If you ever stayed up past your bedtime to watch one of those classic anthology series, you owe it to yourself to read this book. You won’t be disappointed.

“Ice Cream Man” #1, from W. Maxwell Prince, Martin Morazzo, Chris O’Halloran and Image Comics, goes on sale Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2018.

CULT CLASSIC: RETURN TO WHISPER. Vault. Written and created by Eliot Rahal. Illustrated by Felipe Cunha. Colored by Dee Cunniffe. Lettered by Taylor Esposito.

At some point in his writing life, Stephen King made the decision to set many of his stories in the same three Maine towns, Castle Rock, Derry and Jerusalem’s Lot, making that triangle one of the most terrible places to live on Earth. King also did things in other books like “The Dark Tower” series to create a sense that many of his works were connected in some way. It was his sandbox, though, and aside from various adaptations, no one else has gotten to play in any meaningful way with what King built.

Writer Eliot Rahal is building a sandbox too with his new project “Cult Classic” at Vault Comics. But he’s letting other people play with him.

In the opening to a new and creative creator-owned grand universe, Rahal introduces us to the Grave Robbers Society in “Cult Classic: Return to Whisper,” a book about a group of childhood friends who absconded with a treasure as kids and now must face the consequences as adults — all while members of the club are dying.

It’s a bit like “It” minus a scary clown with the addition of kids pulling a heist and later (as broken adults) trying to keep what they stole. As the story jumps between points in time, we see how delicately balanced it all is — Rahal juggles the whimsy and humor of youth with the spoiled dreams of adulthood. “When we come back as adults…” one kid says, “who knows what kind of people we’ll be.” It’s a powerful line that gets to the heart of “Return to Whisper” — a heart that seems to be full of regret.

The aesthetics are all on point — Dee Cunniffe’s rich, soaking colors, Taylor Esposito’s solid lettering and Felipe Cunha’s eye for detail make for a warm and engaging book. But the really interesting thing here is what comes next, both in issue #2 as mysteries on two timelines are pieced together and what else will happen in the “Cult Classic” universe. Maestro Mahal is doing something special here. I can’t wait to see what other people will build in his sandbox.

“Cult Classic: Return to Whisper,” from Eliot Rahal, Felipe Cunha and Vault Comics, goes on sale Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2018.

EVOLUTION #2. Image/Skybound. Written by James Asmus, Joseph Keatinge, Christopher Sebela and Joshua Williamson. Art by Joe Infurnari and Jordan Boyd.

“Evolution” #2 takes everything good about the first issue — the global scope, the grisly body horror — and makes it better as it continues three separate (but unavoidably connected) stories of a doctor, a nun and two young women who all find themselves confronted with a rapidly (and disgustingly) advancing change to the human species. The storytelling here is great on both narrative and visual fronts, with everything in the book content to only hint at the real horrors within.

The doctor’s story in particular intrigues me as we slowly start to see him come apart. Is it possible to be both driven mad and correct in your crackpot theories about a danger to the human race? That right there is a fun character to explore, and this is a fun book to read.

“Evolution” #2, from James Asmus, Jordan Boyd, Joe Infurnari, Joseph Keatinge, Christopher Sebela, Joshua Williamson and Image/Skybound, goes on sale Wednesday, Dec. 20.