The Comic Book
Creature Cops: Special Varmint Unit is a creator-owned, three-issue miniseries being published by IDW Publishing in alliance with Comics Experience Publishing. It is also available as a trade paperback collection, and digitally via comiXology
The Story
In a world where gene-spliced, freakish animals are common, a ragtag group of Animal Control Officers deal with everything from vicious gator-snakes to cute panda dogs. These animal cops think they've seen it all, until they discover a nest of illegal hybrids that look like mythological griffins...and find themselves on the trail of a death cult with even darker plans.
Reviews
ICv2 - Confessions of a Comic Book Guy
"...a low key police procedural that's more invested in the day to day lives of its Animal Control Officers than the cool monsters. It's a near perfect first issue that makes me want to read more."
Rue Morgue magazine - Blood in Four Colours
Pedro Cabezuelo, of the slick U.K. horror magazine Rue Morgue, did a full-page article/interview on Creature Cops in the Jan-Feb Issue! To check it out in full, pick up issue #152 of Rue Morgue!
"...masterfully blends tension, mystery, politics and humor that not only makes for a great story, but also addresses some real world issues... It’s an awesome man-playing-god versus nature-gone-awry adventure...The art in Creature Cops: Special Varmint Unit is also top notch..."
COMIC CRUSADERS
"...one of the most original and well-crafted stories I have seen in comics as of late...at its core, [it's] a story about the human condition...The art in this book is excellent..."
WHAT'CHA READING
"...[it] doesn’t just rely on the concept, ...[Creature Cops] gives us a precinct full of cops who are interesting, flawed, heroic, dumb, gorgeous, too old for this sh@t, and all the other types of people you meet in a day. Not stereotypes mind you, people."
EXAMINER
"The artwork by Fernando Melek is incredibly effective at capturing all of the detail of the cops and the critters... 'Creature Cops' holds far more value for the comic buyer than most 'big two' comics do.... a police procedural with a twist, and that twist provides a world of opportunity for the imagination of both its' writer and artist."
FLICKERING MYTH
"...I’m intrigued to see where the story is going to go...The art from Fernando Melek is rather nice to look at throughout this comic, looking clean and well-drawn from panel to panel..."
"Anderson has a fresh take on animal-oriented comics that’s rife with the problems of today slathered in sci fi sauce....On the five-o front, Melek did a GREAT job. No person was the same..."
COMICSONLINE
"Fernando Melek’s art is visually appealing...Rob Anderson’s storytelling gets right into the meat of the story while still giving character development to its cast of supporting characters...If you are a fan of animals and the supernatural, then I would suggest checking [it] out..." 4.5 out of 5 stars!"
FANBOY COMICS
"...the bizarre nature of the gene-spliced critters keeps the surprises coming...each new varmint looked distinctly unique...It’s very well done...If you have a twisted sense of humor and like procedurals, I highly recommend Creature Cops: Special Varmint Unit to you."
COMIC BASTARDS
"Writing in this book is solid. Rob Anderson has created quite a cast of characters to work with...On the artistic side, Fernando Melek, Novo Malgapo, and Juan Romera (penciler, inker, and colorist respectively) do a fine job with the animals...this is an original story..."
The Creators
Rob Anderson
Writer
Fernando Melek
Pencils (#1-#3); Cover Pencils (#2-#3)
Fernando most recently was the artist on Avatar's Crossed: Wish You Were Here. He started his professional career in 2004 as an illustrator and comic book penciller, expanding later into webcomics, covers, calendar illustrations, character designs, and book illustrations as well. He was born in Tandil, a province of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Fernando currently works for local, national, and international clients, individually or with a team, on pencils, inks, and color. He is represented by Stone Tower Studio.
Novo Malgapo
Inks(#1-#3); Cover Inks(#2-#3)
In addition to being a talented inker, Novo is also a penciller and artist. He has worked on numerous independent comics, including the project Get Carly and issues of Zenescope's Grimm Fairy Tales.
Juan Romera
Colorist (Miniseries Interiors)
Juan Romera is both an artist and a colorist, who handled both those tasks on the Monkeybrain series Strange Nation. His work has also been published in many independent comics, including Ghost Telling, Negative Burn, Clockwork, Indie Comics Magazine, Gargoyle by Moonlight and many more. You can see his work at juanromera.com or he can be reached at JuanRomera@gmail.com.
E.T. Dollman
Lettering, Logos, and Design
E.T. is a freelance letterer whose work has appeared in FemForce for AC Comics and in numerous independent comic books. He is the letterer/designer on both Creature Cops: Special Varmint Unit and Rex, Zombie Killer. You can reach him at e.t.dollman@gmail.com.
Paul Allor
Story Editor
Paul is a comic book writer based in Indiana. His books include Strange Nation from Monkeybrain Comics and Orc Girl from Challenger Comics, as well as the upcoming Tet, from IDW/Comics Experience, and Past the Last Mountain, from Th3rd World Publishing. He has worked on properties such as GI Joe and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for IDW Publishing, and Pathfinder for Dynamite Entertainment. Paul is also the editor on Image Comics' Sheltered, as well as numerous independent comics, and is on the staff at Andy Schmidt’s Comics Experience. You can reach him at Paul@govtcomics.com or follow him on Twitter at @PaulAllor.
Andy Schmidt
Consulting Editor
Andy is a former Marvel and IDW editor, and founder of the online educational school, Comics Experience and its online community, the Creators Workshop. During his nearly six years at Marvel Comics, Andy edited such popular comic books as X-Men, X-Factor, Alias, and the Annihilation saga. At IDW, he managed properties such as GI Joe and Transformers. Follow him on Twitter at @ComicExperience.
Bobby Curnow
Consulting Editor
Bobby is a comic book writer and an editor with IDW Publishing. He is the writer of the creator-owned series Night of 1,000 Wolves. At IDW, he is currently the editor of properties such as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Godzilla, and My Little Pony. He is also an alum of Comics Experience writing courses. Follow him on Twitter at @thedisastrix.
Leandro Panganiban
Cover Artist (Issue #1)
Leandro is a comic illustrator and concept artist based in the Cebu, Philippines. His projects include The Urn, written by Patrick Kindlon and Carter Memorial with writer Brandon Van Hook. His work has also appeared in several anthologies including The Dead Future series, Tales from the Comic Experience and Reasonably Priced Comics to name a few. He can be reached at leandro.panganiban@gmail.com.
Kevin Volo
Colorist (Covers #1-#3)
Kevin is a freelance colorist as part of HI-FI Color's design team and has worked on several DC titles such as Action Comics, JSA, Nightwing, Booster Gold and Teen Titans. He is also the colorist for WHAM! published by Studio 407 and the colorist for Meteor Men published by Oni Press. Kevin also successfully Kickstarter-funded the webcomic Max & Thorne.