RoboCop (comics)
RoboCop refers to a comic book 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 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 and ongoing series. Marvel Comics. In March 1990, Marvel Comics 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", 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", though the original naming of the character was likely an in-joke referring to "Miami Vice" star Don Johnson. 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. Section::::"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. Between May and August 1992, Dark Horse released a four issue mini-series "RoboCop Versus The Terminator", written by Frank Miller, with artwork by Walt Simonson. 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. 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". 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 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" and notes of unused ideas for "RoboCop 3"; however, scheduling prohibited him from personally  writing the comic adaptation or illustrating it. It was written by Steven Grant, a long-time acquaintance of Miller's who had written the comic adaptation of "RoboCop 3" for Dark Horse Comics. Juan Jose Ryp, best known for illustrating the Avatar comic "Another Suburban Romance" (written by Alan Moore), became the title's illustrator while Miller drew covers. The series was composed of nine issues that were published from August 2003 through February 2004 under Avatar'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" gave the comic a "D" score, criticizing the "tired story" and lack of "interesting action." A recap 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" 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: 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 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. 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 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, 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'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 DARK HORSE AVATAR DYNAMITE BOOM! STUDIOS All Boom! Studios collected editions from "The Human Element" onwards are available on ComiXology 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: