THE BIONIC WOMAN: SEASON FOUR #1

THE BIONIC WOMAN: SEASON FOUR #1

Writer: Brandon Jerwa

Artist: David T. Cabrera

Colors: Sandra Molina

Letters: Joshua Cozine

Publication Date: September 2014

Published by Dynamite Entertainment

Well, after a fantastic, way-too-short run of THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN: SEASON SIX, the fine folks at Dynamite now bring us their continuation of THE BIONIC WOMAN.

I've already praised James Kuhoric's work on the SEASON SIX series. It set a mighty high bar for pretty much any other tie-in/continuation/reboot anyone might attempt. Perhaps inevitably, the new Bionic Woman series doesn't quite reach those heights (but hey, it's a first issue so I'm willing to cut a little slack while everyone is warming up).

The issue starts with a recreation of the TV series opening, giving us the computer readouts and diagrams on Jaime's bionics, telling us she used to be a tennis pro and is now a school teacher in Ojai, CA and...well, that's about it. If you never watched either bionic series or read the recent Six Million Dollar Man comics, you'll know she's bionic and it quickly becomes apparent she's an OSI agent and that's about it.

For a first issue, I guess that's all you need. Getting into the twists and turns of Steve and Jaime's relationship would be too much exposition right off the bat. This first issue wants to start with a bang and grab the reader with action. 

That's its first mistake.

Once the 'opening credits' are over, we're dropped into the middle of the Atlantic ocean, where Jaime and fellow OSI agent Chris Williams are liberating an oil platform from terrorists. And right there on the first page, we see Williams dispatch a terrorist with a bullet to the head.

Now, the assault mission isn't completely out line. Jaime very rarely, if ever, went on those kinds of missions but I can see a situation where it was unavoidable. I'll give a pass (with reservations) to that. And it's cool to see Chris Williams show up. But the headshot, complete with blood trail as the pirate's head snaps back....

Aside from the fact that 70s TV couldn't show that kind of violence, Jaime would have no part of it. At the very least, she'd have a very strong reaction against it. Jaime was very thoughtfully portrayed as not an action hero. She didn't have the military/technical background of Steve Austin. She was an education major who played professional tennis. She did OSI missions as much out of a sense of gratitude for Oscar and Rudy stepping in to save her life as anything else. And the last episode of the series saw her wanting to quit the OSI after feeling like it was overtaking her life and her ability to be a woman, not just a government agent. A strong woman, yes. Intelligent and capable, no doubt. But very much anti-violence. Due to the circumstances of her bionic revival, she remained both in awe and a little afraid of her bionics. 

From that last episode:

"Three years ago they brought me back to life. I felt very grateful, okay, I said I would work for them. I decided to become an agent and go on a mission occasionaly. Then occasionally became all the time. Chris, I haven't had any life of my own at all. All I have had is missions. I don't like what I have been doing and I don't like what I've become."

And:

"I need some time to have a life of my own also. That may mean marriage, children - I don't know. But it does mean some work that I feel good about: teaching, helping kids, something positive, because, you see, I experience the OSI as negative activity. It's fending off disaster, it's survival time, and I must have some things in my life that give me perspective, so that my work for you will mean something. Now, if that seems unreasonable, I'm sorry, but that's how I feel."

Right from the beginning here, I start to worry that the Jaime in this comic is not the one I grew up with or the one she wanted to be.

We then cut to shadowy figures discussing Jaime (and shadowy figures discussing your main character very rarely means anything good for them) and then to Jaime getting a few bionic upgrades from our favorite super-scientist, Rudy Wells.

Oscar pops up to give Jaime her next mission - satellite recovery. Didn't the SMDM title start with a downed satellite, too? In this case, it's a Chinese spy satellite that's landed in Mexico. Of course, the OSI wants the payload before the Chinese can recover it, and Jaime's closest. Okay, we're on better footing here. This seems like something Jaime would be sent to do. A quick grab-and-go. Of course, it wouldn't be much of a story if it were that easy.

After a bit of a hiccup with the recovery (which highlights the fact that Rudy must've done far more to Jaime - and Steve, really - than just replace their missing limbs, otherwise those limbs would rip right off during some of their bionic actions) the shadowy men reveal themselves and zap Jaime. Cue the 'To Be Continued' blurb.

I gotta say, that opening scene just really sticks in my craw and colors my view of the whole issue. Even allowing for the different expectations of audiences today versus the seventies, it was just completely out of character. A scene, or just a panel, of Jaime being shocked or upset at the violence would've helped a lot. 

The art by David T. Cabrera is okay. I've railed against the lack of actor licenses in these things enough, I suppose. I wish we were getting Alex Ross covers for these, too, but I suppose there's only so many covers for one company that one person can do. Sean Chen's cover is good and dynamic.

Bears no relation to anything happening in the issue - no army of marauding fembots in sight - and it's cool that Jaime's outfit mirrors what she wore in the episode 'The Vega Influence.' (Strangely enough, not a show about Jaime and a small, Chevy, two-door hatchback.)  And since I have to pick small nits in these things - what's with the funky brown trench coat thing Rudy was wearing during Jaime's 10,000 mile checkup? White lab coat in the lab at all times. Really, it's the little things....

I want this to be good. I really do. I want this to continue and for Dynamite to bring James Kuhoric back on The Six Million Dollar Man and for both titles to live long, happy lives. I hope this opening gambit was just a bit of a misguided way to hook new readers and that writer Brandon Jerwa gives us the Jaime we know and love and stays away from the 'action Barbie doll' image that show worked so hard to steer clear of.