Product Description: Robocop was one of the truly great bits of movie and pop culture magic from the 1980s, and Frank Miller wanted to deliver a masterpiece with his original movie script, but Hollywood massively edited his work. In full-on action, the Robocop story is told as Frank Miller always intended, composed straight from the master's original writings and scripts! The vast majority of Miller's insane ideas, vicious black humor and robotic mayhem never made it to the screen, but every last bit is finally unleashed in this series! With sequential adaptation from Steven Grant and art by superstar Juan Jose Ryp, this sci-fi epic is not to be missed!
Good solid story, fascinating characters, the artwork was just almost there ^ I honestly don't know what all the negative fuss is with this comic. I came in with an eager mind ready to read this, and after doing so I can still say it was quite an enjoyable experience.
First off I'll get the big elephant-in-the-room out of the way with regards to the art. Yes it is hard to interpret the art sometimes, mainly because artist Juan Jose Ryp is trying just to freaking hard on the detail. I love detail inside of a comic, (it's what made Todd McFarlane a big star early in the 90's) it's just that there has to be some discerning lines within each panel that put focus on either the forefront or the background. Juan fails to do that, and instead keeps everything within the same visual reference, making the background just as focused as the foreground. This adds to a lot of confusion in his art, especially when say Robocop 2 is hurling Robocop through a brick wall and there's millions of pieces of debris in the way. If only Juan had put in that minor aspect in his art, he would've absolutely nailed the art in this comic as he definitely knows how to draw people and action.
Next comes the writing. Taken from the a story by Frank Miller, it finally fleshes out what would've been Frank's idea for Robocop 2 had it gone straight from the page to the big screen. And I have to say that it was still good imo; different from the movie in a lot of ways but still retaining the general idea. I liked how the Old Man is never a central character in this story, and instead has his cronies like Dr. Love do all of his handiwork. I like how Dr. Love's role is expanded upon where throughout the comic she is interpreted as somebody who is really thinking that she is doing good for the city, especially during her last few moments. This adds a whole new level of complexity to her. (Yes she is highly sexualized by her clothing, but who's complaining you know). I also like how the man who would be Robocop 2 is introduced, this time through the personification of an insane OCP security personnel named Kong. Kong only has the briefest of roles right before he becomes Robocop 2, and I liked how he was introduced more as a force of nature rather than over-analyzing why he does what he does.
Speaking of Robopcop 2, the visual design of this robot is amazing. It's rare to say this but both the Robocop 2 designs from the movie and comic work brilliantly in their own ways. The Robocop 2 from the movie looks sickingly technological, as if you'll get a cut just looking at him. The Robocop 2 from the comic looks much more humanlike, with accented parts looking like bulging muscles, with his most haunting feature by far being his face plates that move up to reveal an assortment of computer screens all jumbling one image together. His cables behind his head look like slicked back dreadlocks, adding even more menace.
In any case I recommend any fan of the movie Robocop 2 to pick this up if you'd like an alternate universe kind of take on the story and its characters. I liked what was inside, and I'm sure you will too.
Btw, on a side note people have complained about Juan's artwork, but compared to the sporadic cover-type images that Frank Miller has within this TPB, Juan is leagues ahead compared to Frank. I don't get the big hoopla that Frank's artwork keeps getting, because it looks like a 13-year old has drawn them. Just take a look at the front cover of this TPB and you'll see what I mean. Disproportionate figures and ridiculous looking faces everywhere.
Uphold the Law ^ I've always felt that Robocop, Total Recall and Starship Troopers all existed in the same universe. The Verhoeven-verse where every shot was a headshot, the TV spewed jingoist propaganda, and starkly black humor boiled forth in a smash-mouth whirlwind of kinetic science fiction action cinema. As a huge fan of both Frank Miller and Verhoeven, when I learned Miller would be scripting the sequel, I was giddy...until I saw incomprehensible wreckage that was Robocop 2.
It had its moments, but for the most part was not a movie for fans of the original. Well, it turns out that the script that Miller wrote was butchered in production. THAT script has actually made it into my brain though via the awesome adaption by Avatar Press.
It's got a sarcastic and media weary tone of the original (the fake-OCP ads are straight-Verhoeven), the over the top carnage of a dozen ED-209s, and even introduces true to Robocop form villains in the shape of shell-shocked special forces covering for the striking cops.
It's an interesting read after eye-rolling my way through the actual movie. You can see little peeks of Miller's vision in the film, but having rewatched it after the comic, it's a roadmap of missed opportunity and misunderstanding what Robocop was all about.
Available in a trade paperback, I couldn't recommend it more highly.
good buy but would be dynamite with art by Miller himself ^ Too bad Frank Miller's schedule was full so he couldn't do the artwork except some covers in his Robocop graphic novel inspired from his greatly altered movie sequel scripts. Juan Rose Jyp's artwork is also good, don't get me wrong, but the occasional covers Miller has drawn in the book sorta steal the attention right away when you see them. Leaves you wanting more and hoping this book would have been published later so Miller could have contributed more. Still, a great story with decent realistic artwork. The hardcover is kinda expensive but okay.
Awful, worse than the movie ^ I was hyped when I bought "Frank Miller's Robocop". I seemed to be the ideal audience: I thoroughly enjoyed the first movie, thought the second wasn't nearly as bad as it was made out to be, and enjoyed Frank Miller's Sin City. Once I heard there was a graphic novel version of Miller's original Robocop 2 script, I bought it immediately.
Well... It's completely disappointing. Miller's screenplay had been derided as being "unfilmable", which is the kiss of death in the screenwriting world. I had assumed that was merely because it asked for special effects and shots that might not have been technically possible when it was penned in the late 1980s (compare that to today, with the CG-infused film version of Sin City demonstrating that almost anything is possible). While Miller's version does have some difficult-to-film moments, the main problem is that the story itself is shallow, unfocused and basically a mess.
Interestingly enough, the best ideas from this script _did_ find their way into the final movie, but with better development. For example: in this comic, the plot (when it finally coalesces) surrounds a "Robocop 2" that's built to compete with the original but goes haywire; there is a conniving female executive who gets to toy around with Robocop's programming; the cops are on strike; there is mention of Alex Murphy's previous life before becoming Robocop --the problem is they're barely half-baked in this script. Instead the story surrounds the total breakdown of the police force in Detroit and the failing effort of a handful of cops (including Robocop) to keep the city together; and it doesn't tell it very well --we exchange much less Robocop action for paper-thin cop drama. There's a lot of violence and action, but it never feels compelling in any way.
The worst part of this version surrounds the introduction of a paramilitary force by Omni Consumer Products (OCP) to keep control. The characters are obviously a plot device to introduce the candidate for the second Robocop; outside of that their presence is hard to justify. The actual soldier chosen for Robocop 2 is completely ridiculous --a supposedly "insane" soldier who comes off as a incredibly one-dimensional, well-armed buffoon. Meanwhile, OCP, a source of great amusement in the films, is reduced to something completely uninteresting in this version: all of the wit and corporate stupidity is drained away --replaced by other, very generic characters. The ending is a sham, I don't care what opinion you might have of the series --but it doesn't fit in at all with the Robocop character in the films, or even the dull characterization of him made here.
Oddly enough, the movie brought in ideas that might have made this version better: Bringing in a serious narcotic that's affecting the population, using a drug addicted maniac (Kane) as the basis for a second Robocop, playing up the internal corporate politics of OCP, and the infamous sociopath child criminal. The movie was by no means a masterpiece, but it had a better kernel of story elements --more potential-- to work with than what's present here.
What makes this version worth reading? There is an aspect of Robocop still in here, and there are some of the absurdly funny commercials breaking up the action (again, the best made it into the film to sit alongside some other funny segments not present here). However, because the Robocop character is developed so thinly it doesn't do justice to the name. At best, it would be interesting to read this version in conjunction with watching the film to see how a movie can change on its way to the screen. Just don't expect this to be better than the film.
Bottom line: the story in "Frank Miller's Robocop" is disorganized, not very interesting, and ultimately insulting to soul of the first movie it was supposed to follow.
Frank Miller Robocop review ^ I am a huge fan of the Robocop and Robocop 2 movies. I could see many elements in Frank Miller's Robocop similar to the movie. Many have mentioned the material in the comic being much more dark than the movie, and I must disagree. Overall, Robocop 2 the Movie was much, much, much better than the comic. I am relieved that the Movie was not based more on Frank Miller's Robocop.
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