Image Comics Adds TCG Character Cards and Holofoil Chase to Creature Corps Launch

Image Comics is turning the December launch of Creature Corps into a comic book and trading card crossover, with collectible TCG-style character cards, a holofoil chase and a polybagged booster bundle arriving alongside the first issue. Creature Corps, the new ongoing series from writer Curt Pires and artist JOK, launches December 2. Image Comics has now revealed three of the character cards collectors will be able to chase through the series: Gleaver with artwork by Bjorn Barends, Regalleaf with artwork by Dalton Rose and Drakazoid with artwork by Martin Simmonds.

Two additional cards are being kept secret until release day, giving the initial Creature Corps trading card lineup five revealed or planned character designs. Image says the surprise cards are being saved for readers to discover when the comic reaches stores.

The cards are being tied directly to the comic’s Cover B booster bundle. Creature Corps #1 Cover B is a JOK Booster Bundle Variant that comes polybagged with a secret cover for Creature Corps #2 and a random Creature Corps TCG card. Image is also teasing the possibility of pulling a holofoil chase card, adding another layer for collectors beyond simply obtaining each character design.

That format gives Creature Corps a collecting structure that deliberately echoes the creature-battling craze that inspired the series itself. Pires described Creature Corps as his biggest and wildest project yet, combining a dark take on childhood creature-battling properties with oversized issues, trading cards and contributions from a larger group of comic creators. The first issue is priced at $4.99.

The story begins in 1999, when a break in time brings creatures from a devastated future into the present. Humanity quickly turns battling the creatures into a massive commercial sport known as Creature Corps. At the center of the series is Dusty Gotem, who became the Creature Corps world champion at age 14 before walking away from the competition. Seventeen years later, a time quake leaves his mother injured and facing major medical bills, forcing Dusty to reunite his old team and attempt to become world champion again.

The trading cards are only one part of a broader collector-focused launch. Creature Corps #1 will be released with a large assortment of covers, including the standard JOK Cover A, the Booster Bundle Cover B, a Jarret Hartnell cover, a Japanese Video Game Magazine variant by JOK and a blank sketch cover. Other options include covers by Tyler Kirkham, Flops and Jae Lee, along with several incentive variants. The lineup includes a JOK Absolute Batman homage offered as a 1:25 copy incentive, a JOK Japanese Virgin Foil at 1:50, a Flops Cornerbox Variant at 1:75 and a Jae Lee Virgin Gold Foil variant at 1:100.

Image is also planning numerous retailer-exclusive variants featuring artists including Ito, Monkeymouth, Donghee Kim and Vincenzo Riccardi. The publisher is advising collectors interested in those editions to check with their local comic shops and add Creature Corps to their pull lists.

The collectible component is expected to continue beyond the first issue. Image’s listing for Creature Corps #2 also describes a Cover B Booster Bundle containing a secret polybagged cover and a random Creature Corps TCG card, again with a chance at a holofoil chase card.

Each issue will additionally include an ongoing backup anthology called The World of Creature Corps. Image says contributors will include Franklin Jonas, Jordan Blum, Timmy Heague, Fred Kennedy, Stefan Tosheff and Juanse Eslava, with more creators still to be announced.

Creature Corps #1 goes on sale at comic book shops December 2.