Creature Cops: Special Varmint Unit #1
IDW
Writer: Rob Anderson
Penciler: Fernando Malek
Inker: Novo Malvapo
Colorist: Juan Romera
I wasn’t sure what to expect when I heard the title, but I wanted to find out as fast as I could. The quick back story of how some years ago China began splicing animal DNA together to create these hybrid animal was something that made me smile and want to keep reading if only to find out more. So right out of the gates I was intrigued by this comic and excited to engage my imagination.
This comic introduces us to a reality that we can be comfortable with. The normal every day work day of an animal control unit that is full of the various personalities that fill out the employees. With that, the illustrations and coloring are normal and unexaggerated or overly interpretive, proportional and detailed; Enough so that each character can be identified by means other than their stereotyped personalities (the drunk, the rookie, the hopeless romantic). Right in the first pages we see this real world get creative and fun with the naming and visuals of these hybrid animals. Most are combinations that make sense or just seem wicked cool; gator snake, bear bull, and the hybrid that started it all panda dogs. I have to admit, I want a hybrid animal pretty bad after reading this comic.
Now it is entertaining enough to go from location to location as the SVU deputies collect and impound these combo animals, but there will of course be some story to be followed and that is brought to our attention as well as who the main characters will be. It is just like humanity to exploit and capitalize on this awesome scientific advancement as the project was originally just another marketplace to get rich off of. The duo-spliced animals still are subject to the terrible atrocities that effect animals now; neglect, hoarding and forced to fight, (if this story is a device to make those issues more on the forethought, I am OK with that). Other than seeing the multiple types of animals that were spliced together, the final one we see as the final page turns is straight out of mythology and really has me hooked. I can’t wait to enjoy more of this child’s imagination-like world that Rob Anderson, Fernando Malek and their team are setting up for us with this unique story and hybrid animal art.