CRYPTID CORPS #1 REVIEW: THIS MONSTER SQUAD CAME READY TO THROW HANDS

WEPA! Cryptid Corps #1, published by Antarctic Press and Massive Publishing, throws Bigfoot, Mothman, a Wendigo, a Chupacabra, and the Lizard Man into an interdimensional military operation where everything goes sideways almost immediately. Writer Anthony Cleveland does not waste half the issue warming up the engine. The team gets its assignment, heads into hostile territory, and catches an ambush that turns the mission into a full-blown disaster. That is the hook. It works.

The issue follows an elite government unit made up of creatures pulled from different dimensions and folded into a secret defense program. These are not cute folklore mascots posing for a supernatural group selfie. They are trained operatives with different personalities, abilities, and reasons for serving. Some want freedom. Some want answers. Others just want to finish the job without getting stabbed in the back by the people supposedly calling the plays. Good luck with that, fam.

Cleveland gives the team enough personality to keep them from blending into one big pile of claws, wings, and military gear. Clark, the Lizard Man known as Lizzy, carries himself like the soldier trying to keep everybody focused while the whole mission is sliding toward a guardrail. Wendy, the Wendigo, is intimidating without needing to scream every five seconds. Chomp, the Chupacabra, brings a reckless edge, while Mothy and Beef provide two of the issue’s strongest visual presences. Beef is Bigfoot built like somebody crossed a tank with a Brooklyn nightclub bouncer. That brother enters a panel and suddenly everybody else looks underfed.

The dialogue between the squad members helps sell the idea that these characters have worked together before. They bicker, challenge orders, and react differently when things start collapsing. The banter occasionally leans heavily on exposition, especially while Cleveland is establishing the organization, the mission, and the various codenames. Still, the conversations usually keep moving, and the personalities come through. That matters because a team book lives or dies by chemistry. Nobody wants to follow five walking action figures who all speak with the same voice. Thankfully, Cryptid Corps avoids that problem.

The plot is straightforward in the best possible way. The Corps is sent after a dangerous tyrant named Cold, but their aircraft is intercepted before the operation can unfold as planned. From there, the issue becomes a fast mixture of aerial chaos, battlefield action, suspicion, and betrayal. Cleveland keeps the story focused on survival while quietly suggesting that the official mission briefing may be carrying more lies than a used-car salesman with three first names. The pacing moves fast. Real fast.

At times, it may move a little too quickly. The issue introduces the team, the government agency, dimensional travel, the enemy, the mission, and several personal conflicts while also delivering a major action sequence. That is a lot of luggage to cram into one trunk. A couple of character beats could have used another page to breathe, and readers may need a moment to remember every surname and nickname. Still, the comic never becomes confusing enough to ruin the ride. The objective is clear, the threat is obvious, and the issue ends with the team in a far worse position than where they started. That is exactly what a first issue should do. Introduce the players, wreck their plans, and give readers a reason to come back.

Max Bertolini’s artwork is the biggest selling point here. The character designs are strong, distinct, and immediately readable. Each creature has its own silhouette, movement, and physical attitude. Wendy feels tall and unnatural. Chomp looks wired and unpredictable. Mothy’s wings dominate the page whenever they open, while Beef carries the kind of mass that makes every punch feel like an insurance claim. Bertolini also knows how to stage action. The aircraft sequence has speed, impact, and a genuine feeling of danger. When the team crashes into combat, the panels become more aggressive without turning into visual soup. Bodies move with weight. Attacks connect. Characters do not simply pose while explosions happen behind them. That may sound basic, but trust me, plenty of action comics forget the action part.

The layouts keep the eye moving cleanly across the page, even when several characters are fighting at once. Bertolini uses angled panels and shifting perspectives to create momentum, but he does not sacrifice clarity just to make the page look busy. You always understand who is attacking, who is getting hit, and where the danger is coming from. Claudio Nunes brings serious energy to the colors. The icy blues, harsh purples, glowing portal effects, and bursts of orange make the issue feel cold, alien, and violent. The colors also help separate the sterile government locations from the hostile environment surrounding Cold’s forces. Mothy’s brighter wings become an instant focal point during crowded sequences, while explosions feel hot enough to singe the edges of the page.

Rob Jones handles the lettering, and his work keeps the heavy dialogue and battlefield noise under control. The balloons guide the reader naturally through crowded scenes, and the sound effects hit hard without covering Bertolini’s artwork. That balance is important in a comic where somebody is either talking, fighting, crashing, or plotting on almost every page.

The biggest weakness is that the issue sometimes tries to deliver too much information while the action is already running at full speed. A few explanations feel more like briefing notes than natural conversation. The villain also remains more threatening than fully developed at this stage. Cold looks dangerous and clearly has a larger plan, but readers will need later issues to see whether he becomes a memorable antagonist or just the angry man standing behind the army. For now, though, the threat works.

More importantly, the betrayal at the center of the story gives the book something stronger than a simple “monsters fight soldiers” premise. The team is not only battling an outside enemy. They are questioning the organization that recruited them, the promises they were given, and whether this so-called final mission was ever intended to end with them coming home. That tension gives the action some bite.

Cryptid Corps #1 is not trying to reinvent military science fiction. It is trying to deliver a wild team of legendary creatures, throw them into a deadly mission, and make readers care when everything falls apart. On that level, it succeeds. The issue is fast, fun, visually powerful, and packed with enough monster-on-monster violence to satisfy anybody who picked it up because Bigfoot was carrying military hardware on the cover. The story could slow down in a few places, and some of the exposition needs a smoother gear shift, but the creative team has built a squad worth following. This book came to fight. Mission accomplished.

CRUSADERS SCORE:
4/5

Writer: Anthony Cleveland
Illustrator: Max Bertolini
Colorist: Claudio Nunes
Letterer: Rob Jones
Creator and Editor: Anthony D Grate
Cover A: Max Bertolini and Claudio Nunes
Cover B: Erwin J. Arroza
Publisher: Antarctic Press / Massive Publishing