''O.C.T.: Occult Crimes Taskforce'' is an American four-issue

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

mini-series In the United States, a miniseries or mini-series is a television show or series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. Many miniseries can also be referred to, and shown, as a television film. " Limited series" is ...

about the

eponym An eponym is a noun after which or for which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. Adjectives derived from the word ''eponym'' include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Eponyms are commonly used for time periods, places, innovati ...

ous team of

fiction Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying character (arts), individuals, events, or setting (narrative), places that are imagination, imaginary or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent ...

police officer A police officer (also called policeman or policewoman, cop, officer or constable) is a Warrant (law), warranted law employee of a police, police force. In most countries, ''police officer'' is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. ...

s. It was created by actress

Rosario Dawson Rosario Isabel Dawson (born May 9, 1979) is an American actress. She made her feature-film debut in the 1995 independent drama '' Kids''. Her subsequent film roles include '' He Got Game'' (1998), '' Josie and the Pussycats'' (2001), ''Men in B ...

, writer David Atchison and illustrator

Tony Shasteen Tony may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tony the Tiger, cartoon mascot for Frosted Flakes cereal * Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer * M ...

. Dawson also lends her likeness to main character Sophia Ortiz.

Publication history

The series debuted in ''O.C.T.: Occult Crimes Taskforce Heroes Con Preview'' #1, published in June

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

by 12 Gauge Comics. ''O.C.T.: Occult Crimes Taskforce'' #1 debuted one month later after a move to 12 Gauge Comics and

Image Comics Image Comics is an independent American American comic book, comic book publisher and is the third largest direct market comic book and graphic novel publisher in the industry by market share. Its best-known publications include ''Spawn (comics) ...

Background

The Occult Crimes Taskforce is a fictitious group of New York Police investigators who patrol a district of New York primarily populated by practitioners of magic. The "Otherground", as the denizens refer to it, is the 'Extant', the location that connects the Earth with another dimension.

Overview

There is an old and forgotten resolution in recesses of the City of New York Annotated Code of Ordinances mandating the creation of a taskforce in the Manhattan Police Department specifically designed to deal with crimes of occult origin. The primary mission of the OCT’s is to serve and protect the Manhattan populace from magical contaminations, Rogue Ceteri (creatures from the dimension beyond) and Tainted, practitioners who exploit magic for personal gain at expense of the citizenry. Contrary to general assumption, the OCT is not a large, sweeping conspiracy. It is a small, elite task force of officers dealing with a problem only they can. The entire operation is no larger than 250 full-time officers, investigators and auxiliary personnel. The OCT precinct is located near the epicenter of the Extant in an area of Manhattan informed Tainted and Ceteri refer to as the "Otherground". Due to the Otherground’s proximity to the Extant's epicenter, it is a hotbed of magical activity and a haven for Ceteri and Tainted alike. Like Shangri La,

Avalon Avalon () is an island featured in the Arthurian legend. It first appeared in Geoffrey of Monmouth's 1136 ''Historia Regum Britanniae'' as a place of magic where King Arthur's sword Excalibur was made and later where Arthur was taken to recove ...

and the

Garden of Eden In Abrahamic religions, the Garden of Eden (; ; ) or Garden of God ( and ), also called the Terrestrial Paradise, is the biblical paradise described in Genesis 2–3 and Ezekiel 28 and 31.. The location of Eden is described in the Book of Ge ...

, only Tainted individuals and Ceteri can actually see the Otherground and spells of concealment prevent the average person from viewing it.

Fictional history

1600s

In Occult Crimes Taskforce (OCT) continuity historians claim

Peter Minuit Peter Minuit (French language, French: ''Pierre Minuit'', Dutch language, Dutch: ''Peter Minnewit''; 1580 – August 5, 1638) was a Walloons, Walloon merchant and politician who was the 3rd Director of New Netherland, Director of the Dutch Nort ...

purchased the Isle of

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

in 1626 from

Wappinger The Wappinger ( ) were an Eastern Algonquian Munsee-speaking Native American people from what is now southern New York and western Connecticut. At the time of first contact in the 17th century they were primarily based in what is now Dutc ...

Indian Tribe for 60 Dutch Guilders or $24. What the historians don’t know is why the tribe sold the island for such a low price. The Wappingers had been plagued by demons, ravaged by

werewolves In folklore, a werewolf (), or occasionally lycanthrope (from Ancient Greek ), is an individual who can shapeshift into a wolf, or especially in modern film, a therianthropic hybrid wolf–humanlike creature, either purposely or after bei ...

and haunted by spirits. Their

shaman Shamanism is a spiritual practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with the spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiritual energies into ...

s cast a spell blocking passage from the Alternate Universe, but knew the spell was a temporary solution at best. When Minuit made his offer the Wappingers saw it as an opportunity to avenge themselves for the injustices they suffered at the hands of the early settlers. Things remained peaceful on

for nearly two centuries, but eventually the Wappinger’s barrier dissolved and conflict arose. Those closest to the extant center suffered the worst casualties. Those living farther out saw their lives minimally effected. The OCT was created shortly after the barrier breach as a means of minimizing MERlin contamination and protecting citizens. With the barrier broken and magical energies once again flowing from the extant, the area around the epicenter began to attract magical beings from across the planet.

1800s

Formed in the 19th century, the Occult Crimes Taskforce is a covert police unit composed of the Manhattan Investigators and "Ceteri", supernatural beings from the dimension beyond, who have pledged their existence to the protection of mankind. Together, man and monster have secretly defended Manhattan for over 200 years.

Collected editions

The series has been collected in a trade paperback: *''Occult Crimes Taskforce'' (152 pages, Image Comics, June 2007, )

Other media

Film

The Occult Crimes Taskforce film rights were acquired by

Dimension Films Dimension Films was an American independent film and television production and distribution label founded in 1992, and currently owned by independent studio Lantern Entertainment. Formally one of the American " mini-majors" (i.e., small to m ...

in September

Television series

A&E Network A&E (an initialism of its original name, the Arts & Entertainment Network) is an American cable and satellite television network and the flagship property of A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Walt Disney Company ...

announced that they were working on an ''OCT'' TV show in March 2012, with

Jorge Zamacona Jorge Zamacona (born December 30, 1959) is an American television writer and producer. He worked extensively on the police drama '' Homicide: Life on the Street'' and wrote the series' crossover episodes with the crime drama ''Law & Order''. Zam ...

as the script writer. He is also a producer along with the comic's creators Dawson, Atchison, Gilmore and Shasteen, and '' The Walking Dead'' producer

Gale Anne Hurd Gale Anne Hurd (born October 25, 1955) is an American film and television producer, the founder of Valhalla Entertainment (formerly Pacific Western Productions), and a former recording secretary for the Producers Guild of America. Her notable wo ...

Notes

References

* *

External links

*
12 Gauge Comics
*{{IMDb title, id=0871437, title=O.C.T.: Occult Crimes Taskforce

Reviews

Comics Bulletin Comics Bulletin is a daily website covering the comic-book industry. History Silver Bullet Comicbooks In January 2000, New Zealand-based publisher/editor Jason Brice founded then named Silver Bullet Comicbooks. During this period, the site ...

2006 comics debuts