Robocop 2
Official Comic Book Adaptation
Marvel, August 1990
The official comic book adaptation of the movie Robocop 2 was published by Marvel in August, 1990 and is 61 pages in length. The book was adapted by the script by Frank Miller and Walon Green by Alan Grant, and Mark Bagley provides the pencils. The comic book adaptation adheres pretty closely to the script, so there are no surprises in terms of including scenes that were present in initial drafts, but cut from the shooting script. Presumably the licensing deal for the comic book did not include the rights to the likenesses of the major actors, so Bagley's art renders the characters in a generic fashion. Bagley's art is serviceable, but not very impressive. I will say that reading the book, when I hadn't seen the film in some 10 or more years, had me laughing and brought back an appreciation of the sardonic humor that Frank Miller suffused in almost every scene in the movie. In my opinion, Robocop 2 was a sequel that surpassed the original.Who will want a copy of the comic adaptation of Robocop 2 ? Well, it's clearly a least-possible-effort by the Marvel editorial staff: they were looking to get something out to capitalize on a movie release, not to make a comic that would be cherished by fans for decades to come. If you are a hardcore Robocop fan and you just have to have Everything Robocop, then you'll probably want to grab this adaptation. If you're someone who wants a good treatment of the second installment in the franchise, I would direct you to the 2007 Avatar graphic novel that compiles the issues of 'Frank Miller's Robocop'. Unfortunately, that graphic novel is long out of print, and used copies have exorbitant asking prices (i.e., $99 on up). So the 1990s Marvel version at least has affordability in its favor..........
