Haha #4
Image Comics
Writer: W. Maxwell Prince
Artist: Patrick Horvath
With only two issues left, W. Maxwell Prince has teamed up with Patrick Horvath for another engaging installment of Haha. Anyone who’s been reading Haha or Ice Cream Man will know what to expect from this issue. That is to say, they know it will be unique but that they will probably be a little heartbroken after reading it. Haha #4, however, might be one of Prince’s most uplifting books. I can’t help but wonder if that was a highly intentional decision for the sake of a fourth-wall-breaking joke.
I didn’t have many clear expectations about this series before its release but this issue is the closest to what I imagined it would be. It reads just like an issue of Ice Cream Man but about a clown doing parties and has a slight twist. In fact, reading it, I was reminded of one of the short stories from issue #19 of Ice Cream Man. Our protagonist finds himself up in the air, floating away, and only finds it mildly unusually. The two stories are, of course, different but the recurring metaphor makes me wonder what it means to Prince. This issue has a fairly clear meaning on the surface, it is one of Prince’s few books that ends on a mostly positive note. But it’s also an issue that begs for multiple readings so I’m curtaining the more I revisit it, the more I’ll get out of it.
As with the other issues of Haha, this issue brings a different artist on board. Patrick Horvath is on art and Good Old Neon on letters. Fans of Prince will be very familiar with Good Old Neon. He and Prince are an incredible duo, they definitely seem to understand each other’s vision. Horvath, however, might be less familiar, but know that the art in this issue is in good hands. The colored pencil style makes the more imaginative scenes feel like a student doodling in class. It matches the feeling of the story in a way that took me a couple of reads to appreciate.
Readers of Prince’s books will absolutely enjoy this issue and all of its oddness. Others with reservations on Prince’s often depressing stories will find this issue a little easier to swallow than some others. Suffice it to say, this issue is the most uplifting story in the series.
