RoboCop # 1

Writer: Frank Miller, Steven Grant
Artist: Juan Jose Ryp
Publisher: Avatar Press
Published: July 2003

R is for aRibaderchi to criminal scum.

This was Frank Miller's story for the sequel to RoboCop. Like most things in Hollywood it fell through. HOWEVER, us comic folk are left with this adapted version. Initial thoughts: "Gee willikers is RoboCop violent!"

Issue one sets the stage. The cops are on strike, and the media is having a field day reporting on the chaos of the city. The commercials are super-sexed advertisements for a world that doesn't exist. The commercials kinda remind me of Total Recall or Running Man, where the reality on TV is a glossed up illusion, and real life is far from. The city is going to hell, and only the most dedicated cops are on patrol. One of those dedicated cops is RoboCop, and he ain't taking no shit, strike or no strike. Issue one has him rescuing a kidnapped girl, and then storming an illegal child slave ring. The issue ends with RoboCop being forced to choose between killing himself or having a child die in his stead.

Deep stuff. Sort of.

Strictly on a first issue read only, I can see the Millerisms spring forth: city gone horribly bad, lone figure who holds back the darkness, and the self-obsessed media who reports on the madness. If anyone knows Miller, these same themes are straight out of Dark Knight Returns. The only difference I can tell is that the scenes of violence are extremely more graphic, kids as victims are amped, and the level of sex appeal is increased, (but not in a titillating manner - more the overly exaggerated manner to highlight how silly it all is). Overall, I would only recommend this series for Miller or RoboCop fans, of folks who just like it when things go boom, splat, and "IT'S FUCKING ROBOCOP! SHIT, WE'RE FUCKED!"
Next time pay your fine!