Ice Cream Man returns this week with a new one-shot adventure, and it’s steeped in Hitchcockian flair and references. It may have been nine months since the last issue, not counting the deck of cards, but it’s good to have the most creative series at form and function back. This week, the issue is titled “The Window in the Back of the Apartment,” an obvious reference to Rear Window, but be careful what you deem real when spying on neighbors.
Ice Cream Man #45 is an interesting read, and one that left me pondering its meaning for hours after putting it down. It’s a story that is filled with references to Hitchcock films on top of its central premise being a direct homage, if not a kind of adaptation. Between the central mystery, clever visualizations of camera work tied to the story, and a last line that you’ll hold internally for some time, if not ever, it’s an issue well worth trying out.
The story opens on a full-page splash of five apartments, each with its own identity. In one, an old woman waters plants; in another, a writer types at a typewriter; an opera singer belts out a song on her back deck; in an empty apartment; and finally, a man opens a fridge while his wife folds clothes in another room. On the very next page, we see our main character spying on these people with a zoom lens on a camera, and through his lens, we then see the Ice Cream Man communing with crows on the roof. Peculiar.
Talking to crows, totally normal!
Credit: Image
Through captions, we learn to know our main character, who is a spitting image of Jimmy Stewart from Rear Window, complete with a full cast on his leg and wearing pajamas. I’m not entirely sure why he’s such a replica of Jimmy Stewart from that film, but I do know that his first interaction with a blonde girlfriend is creepy. In that scene, she writes “faker” on his cast. Peculiar.
From there, we learn our protagonist isn’t necessarily honest, but soon he’s dozing off between a clever look at aperture sizes and how they relate to our own consciousness, and then he falls asleep. The rest of the issue plays with and against your expectations, from a crime of passion to a crime planned and covered up. This all culminates in a final conclusion that fully celebrates Hitchcock while leaning into a major twist.
While I can’t say the twist feels earned, it does lead to a lovely sequence playing with the comics form, as the main character talks directly to the reader. Through captions, he toys with us, making us follow sound effects in one panel and his captions in another. The final page left me wanting, but it also made me wonder if I just haven’t figured out what it all means. Either way, the entire issue challenges the reader, especially longtime comics readers who have read it all.
Ice Cream Man #45 delivers a haunting, experimental story that leans fully into Hitchcockian tension and the power of observation. The issue thrives on mood and structure, using the comics medium in creative ways to pull readers deeper into its unsettling world. While the twist may not land for everyone and the ending leaves room for interpretation, the journey is compelling enough to make it stick. This is a challenging, layered entry that rewards readers willing to sit with its ideas.
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