Fish Police

Fish Police is a comic book series by the cartoonist Steve Moncuse. The plot centers on law and crime in a fictional underwater metropolis with the protagonist, Inspector Gill, trying to solve various crimes, often Mafia-related, while avoiding being seduced by the buxom Angel Jones. The comic featured several marine species as its characters, while the plots and dialogue were reminiscent of film noir.[1]

For the television series based on this comic series, see Fish Police (TV series).
Fish Police
Cover of Fish Police Fishwrap issue 2, illustrated by Steve Moncuse
Publication information
PublisherFishwrap Productions
Comico
Apple Press
Marvel Comics
ScheduleMonthly
FormatOngoing series
GenreCrime, comedy, funny animal
Publication dateJune 1985 - 1991
No. of issues26
Main character(s)Inspector Gill, Angel Jones
Creative team
Created bySteve Moncuse
Written bySteve Moncuse
Artist(s)Steve Moncuse
Inker(s)Sam Kieth
Colorist(s)Tom Vincent, Matt Webb (Comico only)
Editor(s)Paul Nagy

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 self-published black-and-white title by Moncuse through his own Fishwrap Productions. After 11 issues, the title was picked up by Comico in 1987, which reprinted issues 1–4 in a trade titled Hairballs, followed by color reprints of the publication's remaining issues.[5] Comico also printed a special prequel issue, and continued the series with number 12.

After issue 17, Comico went bankrupt. Fish Police was then acquired by Apple Press,[6] The new series continued the numbering begun by Comico, but the comic reverted to black-and-white. Apple published the title until early 1991, when the run ended with number 26,.[5] Apart from the main series, Apple Press printed a Issue 0 which featured an early draft of the stories seen in issues 1–5. In 1992–1993, Marvel Comics reprinted the first six issues again, again in color.[5]

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 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)

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 Bibiliographic 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 version
Main article: Fish Police (TV series)

Hanna-Barbera Productions adapted Fish Police into an animated television series that was first broadcast on CBS in 1992,[8] lasting only six episodes over one season. The show was cancelled after only three episodes; the remaining three episodes have never been shown in the US. Fish Police had a decidedly more mature tone than most other animated Hanna-Barbera series, with episodes often filled with innuendo and cases of mild language. It also featured several stars' voices, including Ed Asner, John Ritter, Tim Curry, Hector Elizondo, Buddy Hackett, Megan Mullally, Robert Guillaume and JoBeth Williams.

References
  1. "Moncuse's "Fish Police" Are Back on Patrol". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved 13 May 2012.
  2. "Moncuse's "Fish Police" Are Back on Patrol". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
  3. Ellison, Harlan (1997). Edgeworks: The Harlan Ellison hornbook. White Wolf Publications. p. 354.
  4. Rothschild, D. Aviva. Graphic Novels: A Bibliographic Guide to Book-Length Comics. Libraries Unlimited. p. 109.
  5. Frank Plowright, ed. (2003). The Slings & Arrows Comic Guide. Slings & Arrows, Ltd. p. 243.
  6. "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.
  7. "Dark Horse Comics Solicitations for March, 2013". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved 13 August 2013.
  8. Tucker, Ken (28 February 1992). "Fish Police review". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 17 May 2012.
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