''RoboCop'' refers to a
comic book
A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...
series spun off from the feature film
of the same name.
Storyline
The main character is a police officer from future Detroit who gets murdered in the line of duty. He is revived and transformed into a cybernetic cop by the
megacorporation
Megacorporation, mega-corporation, or megacorp, a term originally coined by Alfred Eichner in his book ''The Megacorp and Oligopoly: Micro Foundations of Macro Dynamics'' but popularized by William Gibson, derives from the combination of the prefi ...
Omni Consumer Products (OCP) and now goes by RoboCop. Since the debut of the character in 1987, the franchise have been exercised through various media, including multiple comic book
mini-series
A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format h ...
and
ongoing series
In comics, an ongoing series is a series that runs indefinitely. This is in contrast to limited series (a series intended to end after a certain number of issues thus limited), a one shot (a comic book which is not a part of an ongoing series), ...
.
Marvel Comics
In March 1990,
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...
released the first issue of an ongoing ''RoboCop'' superhero comic book series based on the film. The series ran for 23 issues, ending in January 1992. In addition, a one-shot was released in August 1990, reprinting in color the 1987 black and white magazine adaptation of the film. That same month also saw a black and white magazine adaptation of the film sequel ''
RoboCop 2
''RoboCop 2'' is a 1990 American science fiction action film directed by Irvin Kershner and written by Frank Miller and Walon Green. It stars Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Dan O'Herlihy, Belinda Bauer, Tom Noonan and Gabriel Damon. It is the ...
'', as well as a three issue mini-series, printing in color the same contents as the ''RoboCop 2'' magazine. (The ''RoboCop 2'' adaptation, as well as the monthly comic, are notable for depicting the same locations, set design and OCP logo as the first film and not the substitute designs/sets seen in the actual film ''RoboCop 2''. This would continue in the Dark Horse comics).
The stories told within these issues take place between the second and third ''RoboCop'' films. Entering a Marvel Universe, though not the
main superhero universe by Marvel, ''RoboCop''s futuristic setting is expanded with more futuristic elements like gangs riding on hover bikes, urban droids carrying out public services like waste disposal, and the fact that almost anyone with the know-how or money can create a giant killer robot. About mid-way through the comic's run, pressure from fan letters convinced Marvel to eliminate some of the more fantastical elements, such as flying characters, citing that ''RoboCop'' was set only in the near future. This led to a few conundrums and contradictions such as having biker gangs riding flying cycles in one issue and then switching to standard motorcycles in the next. The comic also had to uncomfortably deal with inconsistent characterization misconceptions in the films. For example, in the first movie, OCP's Chairman "The Old Man" is portrayed as a good-natured oldster who grew OCP from a small business and has little patience for the greedy corporate types he employs. In the second film, his character has changed to a corrupt villain. This proved very unpopular with fans of the first film who had liked the character. It also created a major paradox for the writers of the Marvel comic monthly series, as we see the "Old Man" as a good guy in the ''RoboCop'' film adaptation, as a villain in the ''RoboCop 2'' adaptation, and strictly a good guy in the early monthly series of original stories. What followed was a transformation that uncomfortably teetered between strictly well intended, morally ambiguous, and corrupt, but with a good excuse. Another slight, yet noticeable, change was the character of OCP executive Donald Johnson name to Daniel Johnson. This was most likely to avoid criticism from fans of the TV series ''
Miami Vice
''Miami Vice'' is an American crime drama television series created by Anthony Yerkovich and produced by Michael Mann (director), Michael Mann for NBC. The series stars Don Johnson as James "Sonny" Crockett and Philip Michael Thomas as Ricardo ...
'', though the original naming of the character was likely an in-joke referring to ''Miami Vice'' star
Don Johnson
Donnie Wayne Johnson (born December 15, 1949) is an American actor, producer and singer. He played the role of James "Sonny" Crockett in the 1980s television series ''Miami Vice'', for which he won a Golden Globe, and received a Primetime Em ...
.
The consistent theme throughout the 23 issues is RoboCop's continuing struggle to balance his humanity with the machine made after his brutal death. In the meantime, he fights street gangs, gangsters, drug pushers, addicts, politicians, terrorists, killer robots, mad scientist, cyborg animals, corrupt OCP employees, OCP's rival companies, foreign nations, mercenaries, OCP's attempts to mass produce RoboCops, and competitive attempts to do the same, as well as criticisms from an otherwise well-meaning public.
''RoboCop'' (one-shot film adaptation) (Oct 1987)
''RoboCop Vol. 1'' (23 issue ongoing series) (Mar 1990–Jan 1992)
''RoboCop 2'' (3-issue film adaptation mini-series) (Aug–Sep 1990)
This series was originally released as a black-and-white magazine format (just like the first film adaptation) on June 5, 1990, and then was printed in a color trade paperback format on June 12, 1990 before finally being split up and released as a three-issue mini-series (which was also in color) starting on June 26, 1990, and running through to July 24.
Dark Horse Comics
The comic book license for ''RoboCop'' was then acquired by
Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, and manga publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, Oregon comic book shops known ...
. Between May and August 1992, Dark Horse released a four issue mini-series ''
RoboCop Versus The Terminator
''RoboCop'' is a 1987 American science fiction action film directed by Paul Verhoeven and written by Edward Neumeier and Michael Miner. The film stars Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Daniel O'Herlihy, Ronny Cox, Kurtwood Smith, and Miguel Fer ...
'', written by
Frank Miller
Frank Miller (born January 27, 1957) is an American comic book writer, penciller and inker, novelist, screenwriter, film director, and producer known for his comic book stories and graphic novels such as his run on Daredevil (Marvel Comics ser ...
, with artwork by
Walt Simonson
Walter Simonson (born September 2, 1946) is an American comic book writer and artist, best known for a run on Marvel Comics' ''Thor'' from 1983 to 1987, during which he created the character Beta Ray Bill. He is also known for the creator-owned w ...
. This led to several new RoboCop mini-series by Dark Horse as follows:
''RoboCop Versus The Terminator'' (4-issue mini-series) (Sep–Dec 1992)
See
''RoboCop Versus The Terminator'' for main article and issue summaries.
''RoboCop: Prime Suspect'' (4-issue mini-series) (Oct 1992–Jan 1993)
This mini-series follows RoboCop being framed for murder and his attempts to clear his name. It takes place shortly after ''RoboCop 3''.
''RoboCop 3'' (3-issue film adaptation mini-series) (Jul–Nov 1993)
This mini-series adapts the
film of the same name.
''RoboCop: Mortal Coils'' (4-issue mini-series) (Sep-Dec 1993)
This mini-series has RoboCop chasing down some criminals related to a coffin from a recent OCP break-in as he follows them to a snowy
Denver, Colorado
Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
.
''RoboCop: Roulette'' (4-issue mini-series) (Dec 1993–Mar 1994)
Bodies keep popping up in Old Detroit which slowly keep leading back to OCP. There is also an ED-209 unit on a rampage which RoboCop must put a stop to. It takes place right after ''RoboCop: Prime Suspect''.
Two mini-stories were also published in the series "Dark Horse Comics".
*Dark Horse Comics #1–3 provided the events that led up to the story presented in ''Prime Suspect''.
*Dark Horse Comics #6–9 provided the events that led up to the story presented in ''Mortal Coils''.
A RoboCop versus Predator comic was proposed for Dark Horse. Some of the proposal pages by Joshua Boulet can be seen at the RoboCop Archive website.
Avatar Press
Almost a decade later, the comic rights to ''RoboCop'' were acquired by Avatar Press. Upon announcing the acquisition, the company's publisher, William Christensen, received several offers from artists and writers hoping to contribute to the project (which eventually led to the
Avatar
Avatar (, ; ), is a concept within Hinduism that in Sanskrit literally means "descent". It signifies the material appearance or incarnation of a powerful deity, goddess or spirit on Earth. The relative verb to "alight, to make one's appearanc ...
one-shot ''RoboCop: Killing Machine'').
Frank Miller's RoboCop (9-issue ongoing series) (Jul 2003–Jan 2006)
William Christensen was interested in producing a comic adaptation of Miller's "lost" screenplay, of which he possessed a copy. Christensen soon got in contact with Miller, who was enthusiastic about the idea of his story finally being told uncensored.
The series was personally overseen by Miller, based on his own unused screenplay for the film ''
RoboCop 2
''RoboCop 2'' is a 1990 American science fiction action film directed by Irvin Kershner and written by Frank Miller and Walon Green. It stars Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Dan O'Herlihy, Belinda Bauer, Tom Noonan and Gabriel Damon. It is the ...
'' and notes of unused ideas for ''
RoboCop 3
''RoboCop 3'' is a 1993 American science fiction action film directed by Fred Dekker and written by Dekker and Frank Miller. It is the sequel to the 1990 film ''RoboCop 2'' and the third entry in the ''RoboCop'' franchise. It stars Robert Bur ...
''; however, scheduling prohibited him from personally writing the comic adaptation or illustrating it. It was written by
Steven Grant
Steven Grant (born October 22, 1953) is an American comic book writer best known for his 1985–1986 Marvel Comics mini-series ''The Punisher'' with artist Mike Zeck and for his creator-owned character Whisper.
Biography
Comic books
Grant has ...
, a long-time acquaintance of Miller's who had written the comic adaptation of ''RoboCop 3'' for
Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, and manga publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, Oregon comic book shops known ...
.
Juan Jose Ryp
''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanish, t ...
, best known for illustrating the Avatar comic ''
Another Suburban Romance'' (written by
Alan Moore
Alan Moore (born 18 November 1953) is an English author known primarily for his work in comic books including ''Watchmen'', ''V for Vendetta'', ''The Ballad of Halo Jones'', ''Swamp Thing'', ''Batman:'' ''The Killing Joke'', and ''From Hell' ...
), became the title's illustrator while Miller drew covers.
The series was composed of nine issues that were published from August
2003
File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...
through February
2004
2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO).
Events January
* January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...
under
Avatar
Avatar (, ; ), is a concept within Hinduism that in Sanskrit literally means "descent". It signifies the material appearance or incarnation of a powerful deity, goddess or spirit on Earth. The relative verb to "alight, to make one's appearanc ...
's Pulsar Press line, which specializes in licensed comic properties from movies. Issues featured covers by Miller and alternative covers by Ryp.
Reception
Critical reaction to Frank Miller's ''RoboCop'' comic has been mixed. Randy Lander of comic review site The Fourth Rail gave the first issue a score of 7 out of 10, saying that "there's not a lot of personality to the book" but added that it's "certainly interesting to read and full of potential."
Ken Tucker of ''
Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...
'' gave the comic a "D" score, criticizing the "tired story" and lack of "interesting action." A
recap
Free Law Project is a United States federal 501(c)(3) an Oakland-based nonprofit that provides free access to primary legal materials, develops legal research tools, and supports academic research on legal corpora. Free Law Project has several i ...
written for the pop culture humor website I-Mockery said, "Having spent quite a lot of time with these comics over the past several days researching and writing this article, I can honestly say that it makes me want to watch the movie version of ''
RoboCop 2
''RoboCop 2'' is a 1990 American science fiction action film directed by Irvin Kershner and written by Frank Miller and Walon Green. It stars Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Dan O'Herlihy, Belinda Bauer, Tom Noonan and Gabriel Damon. It is the ...
'' again just so I can get the bad taste out of my mouth. Or prove to myself that the movie couldn't be worse than this."
Continuity
Picking up after the events of the first film. Frank Miller's vision is quite different from the comics that came before and is at odds with established continuity, especially ''RoboCop 3'' and the Dark Horse Comics run.
RoboCop: Killing Machine (one-shot) (Aug 2004)
RoboCop: Wild Child (one-shot) (Jan 2005)
Wild Child contained an advertisement for a three-issue mini-series called "Robocop: War Party", again from Grant & Ferreira. However, the mini-series was never published and it is not clear how much work was done on it apart from Ferreira's full page advert.
Dynamite Entertainment
RoboCop Vol 1: Revolution
Dynamite Entertainment
Dynamite Entertainment is an American comic book publisher founded by Nick Barrucci in 2004 at Mount Laurel, New Jersey. It is best known as the owners of '' The Boys'' franchise across several IP medias. Dynamite primarily publishes adaptation ...
announced they would be producing the next RoboCop with writer
Rob Williams and artist Fabiano Neves.
The first Dynamite solo adventure was "Revolution" which was later collected as a trade paperback.
Terminator/RoboCop: Kill Human Vol 1
The first Dynamite RoboCop and Terminator crossover, and the second overall. Later collected as a trade paperback.
RoboCop Vol 2: Road Trip
Second Dynamite solo adventure. A trade paperback was scheduled for release in August 2014 but did not materialize.
BOOM! Studios
In 2013,
Boom! Studios
Boom! Studios (styled BOOM! Studios) is an American comic book and graphic novel publisher, headquartered in Los Angeles, California, United States.
History
Origins
In the early 2000s, Ross Richie and Andrew Cosby had been working in Holly ...
obtained the rights to produce a new ''RoboCop'' series as well as republishing ''Frank Miller's Robocop''.
RoboCop Vol 1
A republishing of the Avatar series Frank Miller's Robocop. BOOM! Studios released their own trade paperback of the series under the name RoboCop Volume One, which was larger in size and featured some black and white sketches as additional material.
RoboCop Vol 2: Last Stand Part One
Last Stand is an eight issue mini-series written by
Steven Grant
Steven Grant (born October 22, 1953) is an American comic book writer best known for his 1985–1986 Marvel Comics mini-series ''The Punisher'' with artist Mike Zeck and for his creator-owned character Whisper.
Biography
Comic books
Grant has ...
, adapting Frank Miller's original screenplay to ''RoboCop 3''. The first four issues have been collected in trade paperback.
RoboCop Vol 3: Last Stand Part Two
The last four issues were published in trade paperback in December 2014.
RoboCop: The Human Element
Boom published four one-shot comics set in the
2014 film reboot universe. These were collected in a trade paperback under the banner title "RoboCop: The Human Element" in which the stories are presented in the reverse order to which they were published. A fifth comic entitled "The Gauntlet" was made available exclusively for digital download with
Target
Target may refer to:
Physical items
* Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports
** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports
** Aiming point, in field artillery, fi ...
's exclusive edition of the Blu-Ray film release and did not feature in the collected trade paperback.
Beta is the first RoboCop story not to feature the character of RoboCop himself, as it follows a soldier who becomes a RoboSoldier.
RoboCop: Dead Or Alive
In 2015, following the movie reboot tie-ins, BOOM! announced a new ongoing series set after events in the original 1987 film. Individual titles were simply published as "RoboCop", although collected trade paperbacks are titled "RoboCop: Dead Or Alive". The 12-issue series was written by Joshua Williamson with art by Carlos Magno for the first eight issues, while Dennis Culver handled penciling duties for the final four issues.
RoboCop: Citizens Arrest
In January 2018, BOOM! Studios announced a new ongoing series set 30 years after events in the first film where "justice is crowdsourced". The first issue was published April 2018.
It was written by
Brian Wood with art by Jorge Coelho.
In the decades since the RoboCop program first began, corporations have taken over public services and the government—and law enforcement is the biggest private contract of all. Traditional police forces no longer exist as all citizens are encouraged—and rewarded—to spy on their neighbors. There is only one authority on the streets: ROBOCOP.
Collected editions
MARVEL
* RoboCop (movie adaptation)
* RoboCop 2 (movie adaptation)
DARK HORSE
* RoboCop: Prime Suspect
* RoboCop Versus The Terminator (original Dark Horse TPB)
AVATAR
* Frank Miller's RoboCop
DYNAMITE
* RoboCop Vol 1: Revolution
* Terminator/RoboCop: Kill Human
BOOM! STUDIOS
* RoboCop Vol 1 (reprint of Avatar series "Frank Miller's RoboCop")
* RoboCop Vol 2: Last Stand Part One (collects issues #1-4)
* RoboCop: The Human Element (collects the one-shots "Beta", "Memento Mori", "To Live And Die In Detroit" & "Hominem Ex Machina")
* RoboCop Versus The Terminator (remastered edition of Dark Horse series, hardcover, July 2014)
* RoboCop Versus The Terminator: Gallery Edition (Oversized black & white edition of Dark Horse series, hardcover, July 2014)
* RoboCop Vol 3: Last Stand Part Two (collects issues #5-8, Dec 2014)
* RoboCop: Dead Or Alive Volume One (collects issues #1-4, Aug 2015)
* RoboCop: Dead Or Alive Volume Two (collects issues #5-8, Feb 2016)
* The Complete Frank Miller RoboCop Omnibus (collects RoboCop Vol 1-3, Dec 2016)
* RoboCop: Dead Or Alive Volume Three (collects issues #9-12, Mar 2017)
* RoboCop: Citizens Arrest (collects all issues #1-5, Dec 2018)
All Boom! Studios collected editions from ''The Human Element'' onwards are available on
ComiXology
Iconology Inc., d/b/a ComiXology (styled comiXology), is a cloud-based digital distribution platform for comics owned by Amazon, with over 200 million comic downloads . It offers a selection of more than 100,000 comic books, graphic novels, and ...
with animated zooming panels, except the Gallery Edition of ''RoboCop Versus The Terminator''.
The following were previously listed on Amazon for release but have not been released to date:
* RoboCop Omnibus (Dark Horse)
* RoboCop Vol 2: Road Trip (Dynamite)
References
External links
The official website for the mini-series by Avatar PressReviews of the various RoboCop comic book series
{{Frank Miller
1990 comics debuts
1992 comics debuts
2009 comics debuts
Comics by Frank Miller (comics)
Dark Horse Comics limited series
Dynamite Entertainment titles
Marvel Comics titles
RoboCop comics