We All Scream For Ice Cream!

Batman pop, but it tastes like it should be a Harley Quinn pop.

It’s summertime, and you know what that means. Conventions? Well...yes...but perhaps more importantly, confections! Summer means the return of the ice cream truck and a host of frozen confections that vaguely look like the characters we all know and love. Ice cream quality can vary greatly, and at the bottom of the quality ladder are found the frozen novelties made to look like our favorite characters. We haven’t tried them all, but here are our taste reviews for a small handful of them that can be found onboard any respectable Ice Cream truck.

Blue Bunny Batman Ice Cream Pop - Technically it’s a “water-based frozen snack“, not ice cream, but that’s the case with most of these Blue Bunny character pops. They don’t taste horrible, but calling this ice cream feels like a cheat. This Batman shaped pop looks cool, and the cherry flavor is refreshing, but there is a disconnect between seeing the brooding vigilante of Gotham with cherry gumball eyes. It looks like a Batman pop but tastes like it should be a Harley Quinn pop.

Popsicle Wolverine - This brings us to another oddball combo. The Popsicle “Extreme Sour Cherry” Wolverine pop. We’re not sure why an adamantium-laced Canadian with sideburns evokes a sour cherry flavor, but we’ll go with it. While this pop is hard to come by, we did have one, and munching on those cherry sideburns wasn’t half bad. Once you tear into it, the softened ice cream gives way to a melted face with frighteningly askew gum drop eyeballs. It’s fitting for a mutant we suppose.

Friendly’s Super Hero Ice Cream Bars - We know that crunch coated ice cream bars don’t have the same pizazz that they did decades ago, but it still caught my eye. This “blue and white vanilla ice cream coated in cookie crunch” really grabs your attention and it’s not a bad treat. Like most of these character pops, calling it ice cream is a stretch, but the coating actually has some texture to it. It’s not just a bunch of soft crumbs falling all over the place. The texture helps offset the lightness of the “ice cream” inside... but seriously, how is this ice water + flavoring still considered ice cream?

I guess the magic of superhero ice cream isn’t just in the flavors and colors; it’s in the way they connect us to our favorite heroes. For adults, these treats are a sweet trip down memory lane, recalling the days of childhood wonder. For kids, they’re a gateway to the fantastic realms of their beloved heroes. The next time you find yourself standing in front of an ice cream truck, pushcart, or gas station freezer, consider what unknowingly tugs at your heart strings. Sure, you might opt for an ice cream bar or rocket pop, but maybe you’ll reach for that character Popsicle that makes you recall moments of yesteryear past: sticky palms, running around the park, day dreaming of superheroes.