There Will Be Trouble

There is a problem with the Robocop remake, beyond the fact that there is a Robocop remake. I will explain.

I love Robocop. Specifically, the original Robocop. The original Robocop came out when I was 16 years old, and was a revelation of fun science fiction combined with smart satire and wicked dark humor. And I know that Robocop 2 and Robocop 3 get a bad rap for paleing in comparison to the original, but keep this in mind: those maligned sequels are movies written by Frank Miller. And not the 21st Century, “I fear turbans and get off my lawn” Frank Miller, but the “I just wrote The Dark Knight Returns and Batman: Year One and helped redefine comics for two generations” Frank Miller. So for a couple of movies to be written by that guy, at that time, to be considered abysmal failures? It just means that the original is that fucking good.

It’s good enough that I’ve had Robocop on my pull list for years, even through some really bad Robocop comics. And I want to keep Robocop on my pull list, as I’m enjoying the Steven Grant adaptation of Miller’s original draft of the Robocop 3 script, Robocop: Last Stand. But there is a remake of Robocop. And that means that Boom Studios has the license to print comics about a new blockbuster movie about some dude who isn’t also Buckaroo Banzai, but who also calls himself “Robocop.”

I’m not sure I want comics about the new Robocop. And yet, I don’t know how I can communicate that fine line of difference to the owner of my local comic store, where they know me by name and ask me to stop bitching about Robocop unless I want to repeat my tales of woe to Localcop.

But maybe I’m overreacting. Maybe there’s some merit to this new version of Robocop, which will make me want to read Boom’s new Robocop: To Live And Die In Detroit. Or maybe not. But either way, it is a new comic, which means that this…

…means the end of our broadcast day.

But whether Robocop is any good or not, there are a lot of good-looking books in this pile. There’s a new issue of Batman, a new Fatale, something called The Royals: Masters of War written by Rob Williams (who I think is a good comic writer, despite being a crappy Robocop writer), a new The Walking Dead, and a bunch of other cool looking stuff!

But you know how these things are: before we can even think about talking about any of them, we need time to read them. So until then…

…I’d buy that for a dollar!

Er, I mean: see you tomorrow, suckers!