The best Robocop has been since 1987

I wish I could put a date on it, to pinpoint exactly when it happened, but Robocop has been my favorite movie since I was way too young to even watch the movie. Just the idea of a regular cop becoming this near-invulnerable cyborg got me giddy. And as I got older, I began to see more nuance, more subtlety in the film, seeing that it was much more than just a violent movie that translated well into action figures.

Sadly, the years haven't been kind to Robocop. Both sequels are pretty terrible, although Robocop 3 does have some camp value. The live action TV shows, miniseries, and cartoons have been less than memorable. Most of the comics are blah. Frank Miller went off the deep end. Even this year's reboot was completely unnecessary as it did nothing to enhance the Robocop mythos. Although it does take the cake for most random ending in a movie.

Image taken from Huffington Post

So I took a look at this week's comics, seeing what I was going to spend my money on and BAM! A new Robocop series. An new ongoing Robocop series. Holy crap was I excited. 

And then I was trepidatious.

Then cautiously optimistic.

I've been burned by Robocop in the past, was this new series going to burn me too?

I pulled the trigger anyway, and the answer, thankfully, is no. 

Robocop: Ongoing #1 is an absolute fantastic read, especially for fans of the first movie. Especially if you don't mind pretending everything that's happened since the first movie hasn't happened.  

The book starts off with a recently released criminal wondering what's happened since he's been locked up, and Robocop and a still alive Lewis answering the question with brutal action that doesn't shy away from the ultra violence of the Paul Verhoeven classic. Not wanting to give away too much of the story, but the idea of an ex-con being released into the ruins of Old Detroit, wanting to regain what's been taken from him, and having to deal with the terrifying cyborg that stands in his way has a lot of story potential, and it's already off to a great start, thanks to a great script and setup by Joshua Williamson.

On the art side of things, Carlos Magno does a great job making the book feel dark, gritty, almost like an extension of the movie. I'm not really a huge fan of cross hatching, but it works well here, giving everything a rundown and beat-to-hell vibe.

I obviously really enjoyed this book, and if you're wondering if it's worth the purchase, there's really only one thing to say.