MUMBAI: Animation Domination HD, the new animation unit created by US broadcaster Fox, has acquired the rights to the hit comic phenomenon Axe Cop, Axe Cop will premiere as part of Fox?s new Saturday late-prime Animation Domination HD block debuting next year, and across digital platforms.

Animation Domination HD head Nick WeidenfeldWeidenfeld said, "Axe Cop is one of the most creative, hilarious and
naturally viral comic properties to emerge in the last decade. I?ve hoped someone would adapt Axe Cop for television for years and couldn?t be happier that we get to be that someone. Axe Cop has all the makings of an iconic animated series and it will help set the tone for Fox?s new late-prime Saturday animation lineup."

Axe Cop is the first new series in development by Animation Domination HD. The new unit has ordered six quarter-hour episodes of the series. Additional auspices to be announced.

The "Axe Cop" web comic was created by then five-year-old Malachai Nicolle and his 29-year-old brother, Ethan, and chronicles the adventures of an axe-wielding police officer and his loyal team of allies as they fight bad guys.

Written by Malachai and drawn by Ethan, the first five installments of "Axe Cop" were put online on January 25, 2010 and went viral in a matter of days. Three days after AxeCop.com went live, it was featured as Entertainment Weekly?s "Site of the Day," and the series quickly became an Internet meme.

Fox created the Animation Domination HD unit to oversee the development and production of alternative animated series, shorts and user-adapted material for its brand-new late-prime animated programming block and new digital multi-platform network. The unit develops and produces original animated shorts and series to run both on air and online, extending across platforms such as Web, mobile apps, game consoles and Video on Demand.