This comic feels like a story-within-a-story. It’s a brief clip you see on a television in the background, being watched by the characters in a ’90s sitcom. Or it’s the show someone starred in 30 years ago, before becoming a washed-up has-been who cringes whenever someone recognizes them on the street and shouts, “Hey! It’s RoboWolf!”
Through at least the first half of reading this comic, I was sure the action would stop abruptly, and we’d see the actor who once played RoboWolf doing commercials for denture cream and struggling to pay his mortgage. But that moment doesn’t come. It’s RoboWolf all the way through. The story doesn’t feel like it was meant to stand on its own, yet somehow, it does.
The titular RoboWolf is exactly what he sounds like: an anthropomorphic wolf, with a robotic endoskeleton. He wears ripped jeans and slotted sunglasses and lives in the gritty, yet brightly colored, city of Sunset Hills, where he’s an amazing bank robber, but only a so-so father. When RoboWolf and his crew pull off a daring and lucrative heist, the whole city is looking for them, including the cops, as well as some old underworld enemies. Will they be able to escape with the money and save RoboWolf’s daughter from kidnappers? It’s only the first issue, but so far, the odds aren’t looking good.
The whole comic is like a fever dream, full of early ’90s pinks, greens, yellows, and blues. It plays like an old Saturday morning cartoon, except with a lot more drugs, violence, and bad language. And it’s all played way over-the-top, with a wink and a nod to the audience throughout. In fact, a wink and a nod feels too subtle. Dripping with sarcasm and packed with extremely specific exposition, it’s actually played more with a point and a whisper to the audience, as they let us know, “Hey, look what we’re doing!”
I suppose that sounds rather critical. You might be inclined to think, from my description, that I didn’t like it. Just the opposite, in fact. I’m hooked on this wild, late ’80s/early ’90s drug trip of a comic and the cast of colorful characters who are killing each other in it. It’s like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles meets The Warriors, with the satire of RoboCop thrown in. If that sounds appealing to you, then hold on tight and enjoy the absolute thrill ride this insane comic will take you on.
Creative Team: Jake Smith (written and illustrated by), Mike Richardson (publisher), Brett Israel (editor), Tara McCarron (assistant editor), Abi Joyce-Shaw (designer), AJ Newell (digital art technician), Jake Johnson (prepress technician)
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Click here to purchase.
