Robocop #1 Hominem Ex Meachina

Robocop #1 Hominem Ex Machina
Boom Studios
Written by Michael Moreci
Art by Jason Copland

Sometime in the future, Detroit has fallen into a deep hole of poverty, crime, hopelessness and apathy. OCP (Omni Consumer Products) has created something to clean the streets and make it safe for the citizens, business and their own interests. Robocop was this creation, the mind of a good police officer, Alex Murphy, who was thought killed in the line of duty and putting it into a marvel of engineering with a program to follow directives and orders. But Murphy is part struggling to get out when everything goes from bad to worse. Can Detroit survive long enough for Robocop to do what’s right?

For the writing end, some things didn’t work for me. There was nothing to tell you when Robocop was having a flashback or when he came back to the current time. Also the portrayal of him being almost as ruthless as the criminals he was bringing in didn’t feel right to me. The art didn’t fit for me. I understand wanting to make it look gritty and urban but this didn’t fit; even the cover didn’t go with what they were trying to say. Paneling was standard squares as well, nothing to really push me forward.

Keep in mind folks, I’m fighting off every urge to go back to my days as a kid and start comparing this to the original movie but this wasn’t a good fit to a story or a movie. The story they’re trying to tell has more detail and the art should reflect that. Also, they didn’t let the reader know what brought us to this point where Robocop was needed and nothing to say this is flashback, this is real life. I don’t know how this story will relate to the new movie so, in my humble opinion I’m going to say read the book in the store and leave it. I give it 1.5 caps out of 5.