#237 Frank Miller's Robocop (2007)

Authors: Frank Miller (script), Steven Grant (writer), Juan Rose Ryp (artwork)
Title: Frank Miller’s Robocop
Genre: Graphic Novel
Year: 2007
Pages: 210
Origin: read on an iPad
Nod Rating: 2 nods out of 5

The success of 1987’s Robocop spawned a host of dubious sequels that confirm the law of diminishing returns in a movie series. Before the terrible made-for-TV movies of the later 1990s, the Robocop "franchise" once stood at the point of enduring commercial and critical success. In the hope of creating an engrossing sequel, producers called in the help of comic-book artist Frank Miller.

However, rather than take-on Miller’s (always) interesting ideas, the producers carved up his script and used various elements in two films. The legend grew that Miller’s vision was one that would have satisfied audiences, leading to a rising call for his work to be created in the form of a series of comics. And so the demand brought forth a nine issue series published between 2003 and 2006: Frank Miller’s Robocop.

But, with a catch. Yes, it is based on Miller’s script and original ideas. Yet it does not contain his comic-book writing or art-work (obviously, distinctive hallmarks of Miller’s work). Instead, we have Steven Grant (writing duties) and Juan Rose Ryp (art duties).

Certain plot elements will be known to viewers of the Robocop sequels: a city full of corruption, evil corporations (the infamous OCP), the police and other public services crumbling and full of mistrust, and Robocop’s quest to regain his lost humanity. Regrettably, none of these areas are developed beyond simple ideas. Instead we are “treated” to lots of fighting (Robocop shooting various people and battling bigger robots). Violence attempts – and fails – to cover the absence of a sustaining plot.

As could be expected from Miller, the result is chaotic and dark. The themes of a near-future that has decayed and become overrun with crime is one continually referenced in Miller’s work. Furthermore, we have the inter-slicing of media and TV commentary that was used so effectively in Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns. However, rather than a cutting-edge device and revolutionary – as it was three decades ago – the result there is tired and clichéd.

As for the art-work, it attempts to create a highly detailed waste-land of a city. However, the panels are filled with dense and unimportant features, all of which becomes an annoyance that prevents the story proceeding at an adequate pace. In the climatic fight sequence the action is actually hard to follow, leading to some confusing sighs from the Worm. Never a good sign, he can tell you!

Very much hyped, unfortunately Frank Miller’s Robocop fails to live up to the lofty expectations of the fan-base. The script does not pay-off all of the years of misplaced hope. But perhaps it is the character that is at fault: apt for a one-off movie, rather than a failed “franchise” of half-arsed films, animation and heartless comic-books. It looks increasingly likely that the character of Robocop will not join other great protagonists of fiction – an Othello and Sherlock Holmes – and will remain an interesting idea that entertained for a two-hour period back in the 1980s.

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#218 The Dark Knight Strikes Again (2005)

Author: Frank Miller
Title: The Dark Knight Strikes Again
Genre: Graphic Novel
Year: 2005
Pages: 250
Origin: read online during May 2013
Nod Rating: 3 nods out of 5

Earlier this book reading season – number 184 in October 2012, to be exact – the Worm reviewed Frank Miller’s iconic and ground-breaking graphic series The Dark Knight Returns. Published in 1986, it was a genre-defining comic that transformed the Batman mythos; no longer was the character a camp hero of the ilk of the 1960s (Pow! Biff! Zap!), but rather a brooding, multi-layered figure that connected with reality. The Worm praised Miller’s earlier work, calling it ‘a triumph’; such praise is commonly found in graphic novel reading circles, with the comic series frequently featuring in Top Ten lists. Miller’s reputation was assured. But then, fifteen years later, came the return to ...Returns: The Dark Knight Strikes Again.

Released in three issues during 2001/2002, the sequel is set in a different world to that of its predecessor; all of which is fitting, considering that the author was writing in a different time to that of the 1980s. The Cold Was gone, and 9/11 was a recent event. The previous story was set in the throes of the Cold War and saw an older Bruce Wayne come out of crime-fighting retirement to do battle with the world gone wrong around him. Batman ends with the hope of building a new model army to do better in the world; however, by the sequel the world has become all the darker, with America becoming a dictatorship begging to be crushed. This time around he has help in the shape of many friends and assorted heroes with freakish powers. These include Catgirl (the former Robin sidekick from ...Returns), an army of ‘Batboys’, and a plethora of names that would wet the whistle of any DC fan: the Atom, Flash, Green Arrow, as well as the less bone-shattering, Plastic Man and Elongated Man. Along the way they do battle with the government and the puppet masters pulling the strings: Lex Luthor and Brainiac. Furthermore, the government also controls endorsed heroes – such as Superman – who have become corrupted by their association with evil. This is a continuing theme from The Dark Knight Returns, with much soul-searching enacted between the superheroes, with Wonder Woman talking to Superman about their quandary and state of affairs: ‘We’re beaten. Crushed. We’re a joke. We’re worse than a joke. We run about, stopping this disaster and that – quietly, secretly – and do nothing about the evil that rules the world!’

Much mayhem occurs, all of which is too random or pointless to outline in this short review. Rest assured, it involves aliens, explosions and bizarre situations; one sample quote: ‘Bruce, maybe you ought to get here. The whole forest is on fire and we’ve got dinosaurs.’ Of course, this being a comic, we know the “good guy” will win the day. But with this being a Frank Miller narrative, there is enough ambiguity for the reader to question various characters and motives. The storyline is one significant difference with ...Returns, what with it all feeling slightly incoherent and ready to collapse at any moment. Yes, the critic in you might point out that this is all the intent of Miller, to mimic a counterpoint to Wayne’s very own journey during the story in toppling the government. However, others might simply ridicule the author for becoming older and lazy. This has been a common accusation thrown at the comic ever since its release more than a decade ago.

But yet there is an inkling in the Worm’s mind that wishes to give Miller the benefit of the doubt. This fits in with the concept of the artwork throughout the series, all of which has an ill-judged feeling about it, as if they were sketches of nightmarish thoughts from Miller’s dreams. Some are seemingly half-finished, with an odd combination of colours used. It leaves the reader with an unsettled feeling that is hard to shift. Intention, or not? Yes, that is the question. One thing cannot be doubted: Miller’s critique on society. In ...Returns he satirises television and youth culture, and in Strikes Again he goes even further in his commentary, showing that his eye for what makes society tick remains as keen as ever. In many ways it is a comic fitting for the times – not just in its subject matter – but in its intention of holding the attention of the readers in short, frenzied bursts.

The poet Felix Dennis once wrote: ‘Never go back. Never go back. / Never return to the haunts of your youth. / Keep to the track, to the beaten track, / Memory holds all you need of the truth.’ And such advice is heeded by many. However, admiration must be adorned on a creator in deciding to not serve up what has come before but rather to go in a new direction. In this, Miller has succeeded; The Dark Knight Strikes Again is significantly different than what has come before to stand on its own two feet. No, it is not a triumph of the genre, but it does not deserve the bad press and muck that has been thrown its way. It is chaotic, but there is a beauty within that chaos. And more than enough within its pages to maintain the interest of the comic book and Batman fan.

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