Robocop: Citizens Arrest #4 Review

Welcome to Scenic Detroit! 

Writer: Brian Wood
Artist: Jorge Coelho
Publisher: Boom! Studios
Release Date: July 11, 2018
Cover Price: $3.99
Review by: Pauly P

OCP announces their plan to reform the Ruins into a new neighborhood called the Plateau, as well as the devastating methods they plan to use

An old fogey cyborg police officer has been woken up after a nice, long nap to find Detroit is a lawless shithole. In other news, water is wet! Will the original cyborg cop hit the snooze or stand up against the corrupt corporation who have taken over Detroit? Let’s put our hands up for Detroit (I love this city!) and dive in. 

Here’s civil unrest in the slums of Detroit. The OCP (not to be confused with the ICP, although if memory serves me right are also from Detroit).  The OCP have a vision for New Detroit, and that vision doesn’t include the poor or those living in the slums. Progress must be made! Turns out that the poor and those unsympathetic to the OCP ideas have an ally in the original Robocop, Alex Murphy and they are proving harder to clear out than they thought. The OCP They’ve built a new army of robocops and are using the “law” to do what they need to force out the miscreants. 

Right-wing pundits and talking hairdos on TV arguing with left-wing talk radio hosts about who is spreading #fakenews. In the end, the OCP drop what appears to be a nuke on Alex. 

I guest reviewed this issue, and from my perspective, I wouldn’t pick up another. 

Bits and pieces:

This is the most heavy-handed social satire I’ve read in a long, long time. It isn’t fake news that corporations don’t always have the public’s best interests in mind, and without the nuance, this issue really misses the mark. I’m not rooting for any side, and I don’t find either side makes any sort of a compelling case about being right. The art is spotty, some decent panels but rough, pencil heavy yet “smeary” art actually takes me out of the story at points. 

4/10