Frank Miller
Robocop

LA RECENSIONE

"Nooo, are we crazy? This is too harsh, too much blood, no. Thanks anyway, maybe next time."

This must have been more or less the response Frank Miller received after reading the screenplay commissioned by the heads of the Hollywood Majors for the sequel to the immensely successful "Robocop".
What we ultimately saw in the cinema, therefore, IS NOT the film originally written by the great Miller, a globally acclaimed comic book author and creator of the Sin City, 300, Batman, Elektra saga, but a "soft" film sweetened for a teen-friendly cinema and easily marketable in blockbusters.

With this album instead (published a couple of years ago as a supplement by Gazzetta dello Sport for only €6.99), we can finally enjoy the original story devised and written by FM, scripted by Steven Grant and superbly illustrated by the amazing and hallucinatory Juan José Ryp. An artist obsessed with details, capable of filling EVERY SINGLE panel with any object, even the most marginal: from the last bolt of the protagonist's helmet to the millionth fragment of broken glass from the shattered window (see here).
A meticulousness and care akin to a true drawing autist (see here), with an unparalleled mannerism that nevertheless allowed him to create panels so beautiful and complex that one stays mesmerized for hours just trying to grasp all the details (even though it's practically a futile endeavor...).

A raw and violent story, without cuts or censorship, with peaks of splatter and sometimes excessive brutality, sprinkled with bits of good sentiments and scraps of American humor that could well be neglected.

An hypnotic story overflowing with healthy epic machismo from every page, to read and look at simultaneously, where drawing and content (not to mention the truly sublime coloring curated by Nimbos Studios) blend together more than remarkably.

A story that you barely finish before wanting to dive right back into the next chapter... or start all over again (first making sure to rest your eyes for about twenty minutes to avoid unnecessary eye strain!).