Ice Cream Man #1 (2018): Horror Key Issue Guide

Most modern keys took hold within a few weeks, driven by a visible shortage. Ice Cream Man #1 works the other way around: an ice cream truck creeping along, a quiet launch at Image, then a reputation as a series apart that grew issue after issue. For a collector, that changes the question. It is not about guessing whether a demand spike will hit, but about knowing what the entry point of an anthology series that has already passed thirty issues is worth, with hindsight.

As always in this guide, only verified information (creators, issues, dates) is stated as fact; the analysis is our own, with no reproduction of protected pages or dialogue.

The issue: early 2018, Image Comics, Prince and Morazzo

Ice Cream Man #1 came out from Image Comics in early 2018, with a January cover date. The script is by W. Maxwell Prince, the art by Martín Morazzo, the color by Chris O'Halloran, and the lettering is handled by the Good Old Neon studio. Prince and Morazzo were not at their first collaboration: the duo had already worked together on an earlier series, which explains the visual and narrative consistency from the first pages.

The issue introduces the ice cream truck driver, the character who gives the series its title and is its only recurring presence. He is not a hero: he crosses American suburbia to a sugary jingle, and every encounter goes wrong in a way that Chris O'Halloran's acidic color makes even more disturbing. The first collected volume, which gathers the first four issues, is titled Rainbow Sprinkles, a name sometimes found as a label for the first arc.

What the issue sets up, at bottom, is a reading contract: a short story, largely self-contained, with a tone that swings between nostalgic childhood and horror with no way out. There is no great continuity mystery to solve in this first episode, which makes it an issue you can read without knowing anything about what follows.

The publishing context: Image in 2018

In 2018, Image Comics published a very broad catalog, where the major genre series held by their creators coexisted with a quantity of more fragile launches. At this publisher, authors keep their rights: a series like Ice Cream Man belongs to its creators, which conditions its longevity. As long as Prince and Morazzo want to continue it, it continues; no editorial management takes it over, relaunches it or closes it in their place.

Horror in single issues, in that period, was a solid genre but not a spectacular one on the secondary market. Readers of these titles often bought at neighborhood shops, by subscription, and in collected editions. An anthology launch, with no star character and no shared universe to promise, sold on the quality of its first pages and on retailers' word of mouth, rather than through an announcement effect.

That context explains why the issue did not see an immediate surge comparable to other independent launches of the decade. Its value built up more slowly, through the accumulation of readers.

Why this issue became a key

Three elements set this issue apart from a simple first issue of a series. The first is longevity: the series has continued well beyond its first arcs, and every extra episode makes the entry point an object that new readers try to complete. The second is the reputation of the format: a horror anthology where you can start anywhere, but where the readers who get hooked then want to go back to the source. The third is the presence of the title character, whose first appearance this is.

That last point needs nuance. The truck driver is the series' common thread, not a superhero character whose importance would be measured by appearances in other titles. His first appearance counts because the series exists and lasts, not because a universe depends on him. The key is therefore a series key, not a character key, and it should be bought in that spirit.

No screen adaptation should enter your calculation until it is truly in production: projects mentioned in the trade press do not always turn into filming, and an issue bought on a rumor is exposed to a pullback as soon as the rumor fades.

What moves the market value: print run, condition, cover

The market value of Ice Cream Man #1 is not settled, and that should be said frankly. A 2018 issue lacks the decades of transactions that allow a reliable curve to be drawn, and the series' publishing future, as long as it is not closed, influences the price of issue #1. What will move the market value, in order of importance, is the length of the series, the durability of its critical reputation, shop demand for the collected editions, and the possible appearance of a confirmed screen project.

The printing number is the first differentiating factor between two copies bearing the same title. A first-printing issue and a reprint carrying the same issue number do not have the same value, and the relative gap can be large. The second factor is condition: on a recent issue, the market expects a copy with no visible defect, and the loss of value from a small handling flaw is greater than on an older title.

Variant covers, finally, exist for launches of this period, but their distribution, their possible ratio and their exact print run vary from one edition to another. We cite no ratio here for lack of certainty: always check the listing against a reference source for the precise edition you are after.

Telling one edition from another

The basic gesture is to turn the issue over to its credits page. At Image, the block of legal notices states the printing number when it is a reprint, with a printing-number wording and sometimes a later print date. The absence of a printing mention is the mark of a first printing, but this rule assumes you actually read the page: a photo showing only the cover proves nothing.

Second landmark: the cover. A reprint often reuses a different illustration from the original cover, or the same one with a slightly altered color treatment, or a banner signaling the printing number. To tell the original, compare the copy with a photographed reference, being wary of screens that distort the vivid hues of Chris O'Halloran's work.

For the general mechanics of the difference between a first printing and a reprint, our first printing versus reprint comparison details the landmarks that hold across all American publishers.

Buying pitfalls

The first pitfall is confusing the single issue with the collected volume: Rainbow Sprinkles is a paperback that reprints the issue's content, it reads the same way but does not fall in the same value category at all. Some listings mix the two terms, deliberately or not.

The second pitfall is valuing an assumed condition. A recent issue often looks flawless to the naked eye and yet reveals, under raking light, a spine crease or a slight corner crush that changes the grading category. Ask for photos under side lighting, and compare the edges.

The third pitfall comes from the announcement effect around a series that people like. When an independent horror series finds an audience, sellers raise their price a notch unrelated to the object's real scarcity. An issue published by Image in 2018 is not rare in the sense of a sixties title, and you should check that the copy offered is truly the first printing before accepting a premium.

Neighboring issues that matter too

The following issues of the first arc, through the fourth, form the block that the first collected volume reprints. Their market value is lower than that of issue #1, but they concentrate the interest of anyone who wants to own the series from its origins. Beyond that, the episodes sell mostly one by one, depending on the stories they tell and their reputation among readers.

For those who collect contemporary horror published outside the two major houses, the natural comparison is with the other anthology or genre launches we follow in our feature on horror in a collection, and with the better-documented case of Something is Killing the Children #1, whose market value logic is very different: there, a first-printing shortage; here, a long settling in.

The reflex to complete a set with special issues and one-shots should stay measured. Some one-shots are published in a wider print run and resell poorly.

What grading changes

Grading a 2018 issue answers a precise question: is the copy truly flawless, and which printing is it? When the label states the printing number, it settles the main uncertainty of the purchase. When it states only the condition, it leaves the printing question wide open, which you will have to settle yourself by reading the credits page before paying.

The cost of grading weighs on the reasoning. Having an issue graded whose market value stays modest only makes sense if the hoped-for gap between the grade and the raw condition clearly exceeds the shipping, insurance and certification fees. For a title still being built like this one, prudence means grading only the copies whose printing number and condition you have verified, and avoiding systematic submission.

Finally, an already sealed copy is not necessarily better than a well-documented raw copy. What counts is the quality of the information that accompanies the object, and that is what you must be able to justify at resale.

How to track it in a collection

For an issue whose market value is not yet stabilized, good practice is to record more information than for an older title. Note the printing number read on the credits page, the cover reference, the condition observed at purchase and the acquisition date. In three or five years, this data will let you know whether your copy benefited from the series settling in or stayed at its purchase level.

Also separate, in your tracking, the series' single issues from the collected editions. They do not follow the same pricing logic, and mixing them would distort the reading of your collection. For a complete method of tracking recent launches, see our feature on modern comics from 2020 to 2026, which details common valuation mistakes, or browse our collecting guides.

Conclusion: an issue #1 to read before filing it

Ice Cream Man #1 is not a speculation key. It is an entry point into a series whose authors keep control, whose reputation was built slowly and whose market value depends on both longevity and the printing number. What can move it is known: the continuity of the series, shop demand, the quality of the copy, and, only if it becomes real, a screen production.

The reasonable course comes down to two gestures. Read the story before deciding to keep it as an object, then buy only a first printing whose credits page you have been able to read, with no imagined rarity premium. The rest is a matter of patience.

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