Fish Police
| Fish Police | |
|---|---|
Apple Press Marvel Comics | |
| Schedule | Monthly |
| Format | Ongoing series |
| Genre | Crime, comedy, funny animal |
| Publication date | June 1985 - 1991 |
| No. of issues | 26 |
| Main character(s) | Inspector Gill, Angel Jones |
| Creative team | |
| Created by | Steve Moncuse |
| Written by | Steve Moncuse |
| Artist(s) | Steve Moncuse |
| Inker(s) | Sam Kieth |
| Colorist(s) | Tom Vincent, Matt Webb (Comico only) |
| Editor(s) | Paul Nagy |
Fish Police is a comic book series by American cartoonist
Original Fish Police stories were published from 1985 to 1991. Sam Kieth (The Maxx) inked "a single panel and drew a 'Next Issue' pin-up".[2]
Story
The story centers Inspector Gill, a fish detective who, it is hinted at, had once been a human.[3] He is met by a female fish named Angel, who tells him that her uncle has developed a drug called Hairballs. The uncle, Calamari, meets Gill and tells him that he will trade Hairballs for his niece.[4]
Publication history
Fish Police started in 1985 as a
After issue #17, Comico went bankrupt. Fish Police was then acquired by
Apple published a six-issue spin-off, Fish Shticks, written by Moncuse and drawn by Steve Hauk, between 1992 and 1993. This series was more gag-based than the original.[5] In 2010, Moncuse began the work on a new Fish Police title, set 20 years after the end of the original.[1] IDW Publishing reprinted the first four Fishwrap issues in a trade in February 2011.[1] A new story written and drawn by Moncuse, titled "F.P.B.C.", appeared in Dark Horse Presents issue #22, March 2013.[7]
Issues
- Fish Police (Fishwrap Productions) — 12 issues (June 1985 - November 1987)
- Fish Police Special (Comico) — 1 issue (July 1987)
- Fish Police: Hairballs (Comico) Introduction by Harlan Ellison (October 1987)
- Fish Police (Comico) — 14 issues (April 1988 – June 1989)
- Fish Police (Apple Press) — 9 issues (August 1989 - Spring 1991) plus Issue 0 (1991)
- Fish Police (Marvel Comics) — 6 issues (October 1992 – March 1993) (Color reprints of the original 6 issues)
Critical reception
Slings and Arrows Comics Guide called the characters "pleasing" and the art a "clean, open style", but criticized the writing for being "like a glossy dramatisation of a blockbuster, specially designed not to be too upsetting or too taxing". The same publication called Fish Shticks "fresh, funny, and wonderfully human".[5] Harlan Ellison describes it as a series that "turns to gibberish when one attempts to codify it", praising Moncuse's writing style.[3] D. Aviva Rothschild, in Graphic Novels: A Bibliographic Guide to Book-Length Comics, called it "all idea and little execution", saying that "there are too many characters and too many threads of plot", although she praised Moncuse's art.[4]
Animated series
.References
- ^ a b c "Moncuse's "Fish Police" Are Back on Patrol". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved 13 May 2012.
- ^ "Moncuse's "Fish Police" Are Back on Patrol". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
- ^ a b Ellison, Harlan (1997). Edgeworks: The Harlan Ellison hornbook. White Wolf Publications. p. 354.
- ^ a b Rothschild, D. Aviva. Graphic Novels: A Bibliographic Guide to Book-Length Comics. Libraries Unlimited. p. 109.
- ^ a b c d e Frank Plowright, ed. (2003). The Slings & Arrows Comic Guide. Slings & Arrows, Ltd. p. 243.
- ^ "Three Former Comico Titles Find New Homes", The Comics Journal 129 (May 1989), pp. 13-14: about Fish Police, Trollords and The Trouble with Girls; and The Maze Agency, which had not yet found a new publisher.
- ^ "Dark Horse Comics Solicitations for March, 2013". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved 13 August 2013.
- ^ Tucker, Ken (28 February 1992). "Fish Police review". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 10 January 2010. Retrieved 17 May 2012.
External links
- Fish Police at Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on July 29, 2016.