Booknote: Creature Cops

Rob Anderson, Creature Cops: Special Varmints Unit. San Diego, CA: IDW, 2015. ISBN: 9781631403330. 


Genre: comics and graphic novels
Subgenre: science fiction, police procedural. crime drama
Format: e-book galley
Source: NetGalley

This is about a special animal control unit. From the publisher description:

"In a world where a rhino can be gene-spliced with a dog, freakish animals are everywhere, and the Creature Cops have to deal with them." 

The hybrid animals have an impact ranging from pets to gambling to agriculture. In the precinct, just when they think they've seen it all, there's yet another surprise. It is a neat premise to set up a police procedural/crime drama. Initially, things seem ordinary, but soon a murder happens, evidence surfaces of an illegal fighting ring for hybrids, and if that was not enough, there is a dark underground cult.

Like many cop stories, we get our stereotypes: the alcoholic veteran cop, the rookies, the tough sergeant, so on. In that sense, the story feels familiar. Still, we do come to care for the characters, and we discover they do have some depth. In addition, the action is great, and the story moves at a steady pace as the plot deepens.The art on this one is very good as well, especially in depicting the hybrids. We see quite a bit of imagination on display.

In the end, I really liked this one, and I hope the series continues.

4 out of 5 stars.

This book qualifies for the following 2015 Reading Challenges: