Robocop Vs Terminator
Creative Staff:
Story: Frank Miller
Art: Walter Simonson and Steve Oliff
What They Say
WHEN THE HUMAN RESISTANCE learns that the technology that rebuilt officer Alex Murphy led to Skynet becoming sentient, its deadliest soldier is sent back in time to stop it. Her mission: eliminate RoboCop before his consciousness can give birth to the murderous computer network. But in a bid for self-preservation, Skynet sends its own agents to the past, a squadron of Terminators tasked with protecting RoboCop at any cost. Determined to prevent the apocalypse he has precipitated while evading the threat of the rebel soldier after his life, Murphy must engage in a time-twisting battle that will take him both inside Skynet and into a distant future.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
I’m a selective fan of crossover comics where two properties are brought together for a given work because it’s not very often that the given results are memorable ones. Sure it’s nice to see a big name character team up or trade blows with another from an outside company, but sometimes they feel like what-ifs instead of something that could feel plausible in any way shape or form. In the 80s, there were a few such projects between the big two comic companies, usually done on tabloid-sized format because these were epic events featuring Superman, Spider Man, The Hulk, and Batman, leading to some good one shots from Marvel and DC Comics.
In the 90s, the crossover phenomenon truly went full bore as the big two would frequently have event comics of some sort (though in regular-sized issues from then on) and began working with the smaller companies such as Image, Fleetway Comics, and Dark Horse, the latter of which gathered up many movie franchises for their own comic adventures. Long before they ever battled on the big screen, you could find some pretty good battles of Alien Vs. Predator on the newsstands. Also, the award winning Batman Vs Predator hit the shelves and later Superman vs Aliens and The Thing (From Another World) followed suit.
Dark Horse had some success with different series based on Robocop and The Terminator so eventually, it was time to put the two together for some metal-on-metal mayhem and they called in top talents to do it. Various kinds of promotions were used including a video game tie-in (Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis) and media coverage. The top talents though included “Sin City” writer Frank Miller and artist Walt Simonson who left a lasting impression with “The Mighty Thor.”
The Robocop Vs. Terminator comic initially takes place in the future, deep into the mankind vs machine war, as the deadly A.I. Skynet has wiped out most of humanity (including apparently John Connor). A single soldier named Flo fights her way into one of the Terminators’ bases and learns the reason Skynet became self-aware was due to copying the human/cybernetic interface that enabled Alex Murphy to be Robocop. So Alice goes back in time to kill Robocop… and the Terminators don’t take this development very well so they follow her through the time stream to Old Detroit.
Miller’s writing style is perfect here, as he has a fun balance of action, storytelling and satire in a violent world much like the Robocop films and the oft-mentioned Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. We get to see a basketball game full of gun toting spectators as well as amusing uses of the ED-209 police droids. There’s also witty narration keeping the moments in humorous perspective. And through it all, Robo retains his stoic dedication to duty, making certain he can keep as many people alive as he can. Miller also uses an interesting angle for time travel not utilized in the Terminator movies but it ultimately works for this story.
Simonson’s art is explosive and refined with a cartoony style. Characters are sizable but have fully rendered details, with what look like stylized sketch lines both in and around the figures. He brought these aspects to a well executed crossover from the 80s, between The X–Men and The Teen Titans and it serves him well here, with the Terminators and Robocop looking rather shiny during and after their battles. There’s also a genuine creepiness to the Terminator designs he comes up with as their endoskeletons (as well as the other more elaborate and unique Terminators) show sinister smiles when revealed.
This collected edition puts together all 4 issues of the initial mini-series but has an entirely new coloring added to it. Most of them have bolder hues than previous editions, while others though have entirely different colors used, primarily in big background pages. It’s a bit of a different experience than the one initially depicted by colorist Steve Oliff but still this makes the overall project no less entertaining. The added design sketches and artwork are a definite plus to have as extras.
In Summary:
It’s been a while since this series has seen any form of reprinting and this new version is definitely a welcome one. If you’re re-interested in Robocop due to the recent remake movie or just miss the original version, give this book a try. You’ll likely wish for it to be made into a movie itself, much like I did.
Grade: A
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Dark Horse Books
Release Date: July 15, 2014
MSRP: $24.99