CHARLIE'S ANGELS

CHARLIE'S ANGELS

Writer: John Layman

Artist: Joe Eisma

Colors: Celeste Woods

Letters: Taylor Esposito

Publication Date: 2018

Published by Dynamite Entertainment


Anyone who's seen the constant mentions of THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN and THE BIONIC WOMAN around here probably won't be too surprised to find out I'm also rather keen on CHARLIE'S ANGELS.

Regular readers (ha! like there's any of those since i'm not even a regular poster) also won't be too surprised that I approached the recent comic book mini-series from - again - Dynamite with a bit of trepidation.

So, does this one belong up there with THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN: SEASON SIX and WONDER WOMAN '77 MEETS THE BIONIC WOMAN or down with, well, the rest of their seventies TV series continuations?

G.I.JOE vs. THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN

G.I. JOE: A REAL AMERICAN HERO VS. THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN

Writer: Ryan Ferrier

Artist: SL Gallant

Inker: Brian Shearer

Colors: James Brown

Letters: Robbie Robbins

Publication Date: 2018

Published by Dynamite Entertainment and IDW

Just this past week, on the 7th of March, was the 45th anniversary of the premiere of THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN TV movie. Two more movies followed, then the weekly series that lasted five seasons and spawned a spin-off and three reunion movies. It also started my lifelong (so far) fandom of said show. I'll spare you more of the tiresome details of my love of the show because I've talked about that enough, particularly here and here. What I won't spare you is my comments about Dynamite's latest attempt at bringing 'my' show into the funny pages.

Much like their last run at Steve, FALL OF MAN, this title looks like it's going to be pretty much unconnected to their initial foray into continuing the TV series, the very cool SEASON SIX mini-series. This one looks to take place in late 1981 or early 1982 if the marquee seen near the end is on a first-run movie theater. That puts it three years after the series ended so Steve has some bionic upgrades now.

If you're like me (I pity you) you questioned the 'versus' in the title. I mean, Steve and the Joes are all good guys, right? Why would they be fussin' and fightin'?

Well, the issue starts out with Steve dropping into Siberia to rescue a rich tech dude in the clutches of the Russians. After a blast of bionic action we find out it's a trap. Steve is captured and 'introduced' to Dr. Mindbender and even tho I'm not an expert on the Joes or their enemies in Cobra I've got an idea where this is headed.

Then we cut to the assembled Joes getting ready to escort Air Force One, ferrying the presidents of the USA and Mexico as well as the Canadian Prime Minister, to an important peace accord which will unite the world against terrorist organizations like Cobra. All the favorites from your toy chest are here; Hawk, Roadblock, Rock 'n' Roll, Lady Jaye, and the two I actually owned, Scarlett and Snake Eyes, among others.

Whatever the Joes were prepared for, it ends up not being a single man with a flying wing strapped to his back. Especially one they recognize as an American intelligence agent. Under Mindbender's control, Steve and his bionics make short work of the Joe's aerial escort as well as Air Force One itself. At the end of the issue, the Joes have crash-landed in the middle of a Cobra-controlled island and are being charged by an army of the blue-clad goons, led by the Six Million Dollar Man himself.

Being the first issue, I can't really comment on the storyline as a whole. The issue does a good job of introducing all the players for anyone not completely familiar with them and putting everyone into place. We'll see how the series progresses.

Personally, I'm hoping they break Cobra's control over Steve sooner rather than later so he can spend his time working alongside the Joes to end Cobra's latest scheme instead of using him as a last-issue surprise attack, but we'll see.

WONDER WOMAN '77 MEETS THE BIONIC WOMAN

Wonder Woman '77 Meets The Bionic Woman

 

WONDER WOMAN '77 MEETS THE BIONIC WOMAN

Writer: Andy Mangels

Artist: Judit Tondora

Colors: Michael Bartolo & Stuart Chaifetz, Roland Pilcz

Letters: Lois Buhalis & Tom Orzechowski, Kathryn S. Renta

Publication Date: 2017

Published by Dynamite Entertainment

 

 

Well, obviously I couldn't let this one slide. Now that the final issue is out, lets take a look at WONDER WOMAN '77 MEETS THE BIONIC WOMAN, shall we?

 

THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN: FALL OF MAN

 

THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN: FALL OF MAN

Writer: Van Jensen

Artist: Ron Salas

Colors:Mike Atiyeh & Caitlin McCarthy

Letters: Taylor Esposito

Publication Date: 2016

Published by Dynamite Entertainment

 

 

Okay, I was actually going to take a break from The Six Million Dollar Man and/or Bigfoot stuff but I haven't finished the book I'm currently working on and kinda zoned out during the movie I was watching, so I dug out my trade paperback collection of this other SMDM title from the folks at Dynamite.

 

Should be a quick one....

 

THE BIONIC WOMAN: SEASON FOUR

THE BIONIC WOMAN: SEASON FOUR

Writer: Brandon Jerwa

Artist: David T. Cabrera

Colors: Sandra Molina

Letters: Joshua Cozine

Publication Date: 2014

Published by Dynamite Entertainment

Okay, yeah. A loooonnnngggg time ago I was trying to keep a fairly regular schedule of writing...well, something... and giving rundowns on some comics and movies and such. I ended up never finishing putting down my thoughts on the last two issues of this title, Dynamite Entertainment's THE BIONIC WOMAN: SEASON FOUR.

I'll try and fix that now....

The Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention

Okay.

First, I'm not even going to try and act like I'll be getting back to regular posting any time soon. Every time I do that it seems to pretty much guarantee I'll disappear and now we're coming up on our busiest time of the year at work, so let's just forget that noise and I'll do what I can when I can.

Right now, I want to give a quick recap of my weekend at the Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention.

Back in the saddle...I hope.

 

So...been awhile. Again.

While the work weirdness has wound down (at least as far as hours go - how much longer I actually have a job...different story) the computer decided it was as good a time as any to start giving me fits. 

After dealing with it for a couple of weeks - running every virus/malware scan I could and even re-installing Windows - I think I finally hit upon the root cause of my problems when my hard drive up and died.

I've had computers for a long time. I've never EVER had a hard drive fail, which I guess is why it never occurred to me that it was dying, especially since it's still a fairly young machine. I was even trying to figure out if my new graphics card was causing the problems.

Anyway...new drive, yet another Win8 installation, and I'm slowly getting my old stuff reloaded so things seem to be working fine now. And my Skyrim has never looked better. 

I'll try to get back to semi-regular postings but I wanted to get something out there sooner rather than later so I figured I'd plug a couple of things.

First, there's the trade paperback collection of the rather fun THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN series from Dynamite. Most of my postings last year were of this series as the individual issues came out and I dug every one of them, so it's nice to have everything all in one handy package. Plus, I figure every copy bought is another vote for James Kuhoric getting to continue the title. 

Also up is the ATHENA VOLTAIRE COMPENDIUM, a hardback collection of the excellent web-comic-turned-paper-comic adventures of a high-flying, monster-hunting, Nazi-fighting aviatrix in the 1930s. I'm a big fan of pulp adventures and I'm a big fan of this series. Can't wait to see what Steve Bryant has in store next for Athena.

Both are available at Amazon and other fine retailers.

THE BIONIC WOMAN: SEASON FOUR #2

THE BIONIC WOMAN: SEASON FOUR #2

Writer: Brandon Jerwa

Artist: David T. Cabrera

Colors: Sandra Molina

Letters: Joshua Cozine

Publication Date: October 2014

Published by Dynamite Entertainment

Well, the real life stuff has been kicking up lately (tis the season and all that claptrap) so I'm behind on blathering on about stuff, but here we go with issue two of Dynamite's Bionic Woman revival.

As you may recall, the first issue had some stuff I wasn't all that thrilled with. Let's see what happens next....

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 SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN: SEASON SIX #6

THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN: SEASON SIX #6


Writer: James Kuhoric
Art: David T. Cabrera
Colors: Fran Gamboa
Letters: Joshua Cozine
Publication Date: September 2014
Published by Dynamite Entertainment

The story so far....

Steve's bionics have been severely damaged by Maskatron, leaving Jaime to go alone to Kennedy Space Center and investigate the alien presence taking over the workers there. Oliver Spencer has given Oscar the means to rebuild Steve despite the Bionics program being shut down, and has a plan to regain control of Maskatron at the risk of his own mind. And the Soviets plan to do some rebuilding of their own with a soldier who was injured during Steve's fight with the B-YAGA armored tank suit.

Now....

THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN: SEASON SIX #5

THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN: SEASON SIX #5


Writer: James Kuhoric
Art: Juan Antonio Ramirez
Colors: Fran Gamboa
Letters: Joshua Cozine
Publication Date: August 2014
Published by Dynamite Entertainment

The story so far….

Oliver Spencer's Maskatron has been a resounding failure - the out of control robot has savagely repossessed Barney 'The Seven Million Dollar Man' Hiller's bionics and is now working on doing the same to Steve Austin. Meanwhile, an alien organism is transforming the NASA crew at the Kennedy Space Center.

Now....

THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN: SEASON SIX #4

THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN: SEASON SIX #4

(originally posted on Tumblr on 5 July 2014.)

Writer: James Kuhoric
Art: Juan Antonio Ramirez
Colors: Fran Gamboa
Letters: Joshua Cozine
Publication Date: July 2014
Published by Dynamite Entertainment

The story so far….

The Bionics project has been shut down by Oliver Spencer, who has convinced The Powers That Be to instead support his robotic agent - Maskatron.

Unfortunately, Maskatron has suffered some damage and its onboard programming is over-riding Spencer’s attempts to control it.

Barney Hiller has only barely survived his attack by Maskatron and is in the hospital, sans bionic arms and legs.

Dr. Joan Anderson has been taken over and mutated by the strange alien entity brought back to Earth by the US government’s Venus probe.

Jaime has found out about the closure of the Bionics project.

And Steve, after having been set up to get caught during a mission to the Soviet Union, has defeated the Russian robot-tank and made it back to the US.

Let the random musings commence….

As this issue begins, Spencer is drowning his troubles in drink, upset that things haven’t worked out the way he’d imagined.

Maskatron has been subdued after wiping out a SWAT team and Spencer’s scientists are running diagnostics to determine the origin of the control problem.

What they don’t know is that Maskatron’s internal systems have rebooted and it’s running its own diagnostic of the situation. It decides that its future isn’t looking too rosy and so initiates its own self-preservation protocol.

It scans the OSI’s top secret files (clearance level six and above) and discovers the records concerning the alien ‘Bionic Bigfoot.’ When last encountered (season five - episode five in the fittingly-titled “Bigfoot V”), the Sasquatch was in the process of being transformed from nyosynthetic construction to a purely biological entity. This seems to interest Maskatron.

Steve, meanwhile, is back from Russia and in a bad mood, having obviously been compromised by someone inside the OSI. He blows past Callahan and busts Oscar’s door open only to be surprised by the presence of Jaime Sommers. It’s a pleasant, if quick, reunion for the pair who haven’t seen each other for a year (due to their respective shows being on separate networks in their final seasons).

Oscar already knows there’s a security leak at OSI, but he has something else to talk to Steve about, so they send Jaime down to see Rudy. While she’s there, with Rudy and his assistant Lynda working on packing up the lab, they get an emergency call from NASA. Kennedy Space Center is being overran by mutated alien beings who are transforming the personnel there into more of the creatures.

Oscar takes Steve to the hospital, where he has an emotional scene with Barney. Barney reveals to Steve that when Maskatron attacked, it was wearing a likeness of Steve’s face.

Already mad about the botched Russian mission, this upsets Steve even more. And he’s about to get even more torqued off.

As Steve and Oscar get back to OSI, Maskatron has broken free and is killing its way thru the building to get out. Steve saves Spencer’s life and as Maskatron sees Austin, it recognizes the face it used to have and decides to take it back.

Jaime jumps into the fray but gets knocked aside by the rampaging robot.

And that’s when Steve gets well and truly pissed off. Finally, the moment we’ve been waiting for - Steve and Maskatron in a knock-down, drag-out fight.

The issue ends with Steve and Maskatron locked in a clinch, Maskatron’s saw blade slicing into Steve’s bionic arm.

Another good issue, with things finally coming to a head.

Steve spends most of the episode with a mad-on, for a variety of very good reasons. First betrayal, then seeing his friend who’s been mutilated by Maskatron - a friend who both tells Steve that the thing that did that to him wore Steve’s face and begs Steve to kill him, and then Jaime getting hurt during the fight. I don’t think he’s ever been that angry. It’s good to see him let loose like that.

Maskatron’s study of the OSI files gives us glimpses of Steve fighting the Russian Venus Probe, teen psychic Audrey Moss, and Dr. Franklin’s weather control device. Cameos in this issue include the aforementioned Jaime and Callahan, along with what appears to be National Security Bureau Chief Inspector Jack Hanson (who led the search for Oscar when the OSI chief was kidnapped by Dr. Franklin and replaced by a robot) and, most importantly - the belt buckle! (if you’re a fan, you know)

Hanson is unnamed but it pretty much has to be him from the look, with the dark hair and mustache, and that kind-of leads me to one thing I’m still a bit annoyed about. The artist can convincingly reference a guy who was in one storyline (the three-part “Kill Oscar” crossover episodes) but still can’t give us a better representation of Oscar’s office or his favorite secretary. Sure, I’m picking nits, but I think in the musings on the first issue I pointed out how much of a fan I am. Nits will continue to be picked with this one.

But, that’s kind-of a good thing, because other than the artistic nits (the character consistently drawn to look the least like his on-screen counterpart - Steve Austin, of course) there’s really not much I don’t like about this series. Adjusting for the differences in medium and the time of production, Kuhoric has done a nice job of continuing the bionic legacy and I hope the title has a nice, long run if it stays this good.

Here’s hoping Brandon Jerwa is up to the task when his take on THE BIONIC WOMAN: SEASON FOUR premieres in September.

Bonus useless Bionic Trivia - in the series, Sasquatch was first portrayed by wrestler/actor Andre the Giant. The rest of his appearances featured former ‘Lurch’ of THE ADDAMS FAMILY fame, Ted Cassidy. In the CHARLIE’S ANGELS ‘behind the scenes’ TV movie, a bit of the Steve/Bigfoot fight was recreated. The man in the fur suit for that one? Former ‘Lurch’ of THE NEW ADDAMS FAMILY, John DeSantis.

THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN: SEASON SIX #2

THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN: SEASON SIX #2

(originally posted to Tumblr on 20 April 2014)

Issue two is out. Figured I’d keep this going with some random observations.

The bionics program has been shut down by Oliver Spencer, who is using Maskatron now. They do allow that there will be a small maintenance budget and Jaime’s name is brought up, so that’s nice.

And the Seven Million Dollar Man is back.

To refresh your memory, the Seven Million Dollar Man (played by Monte Markham) was a former racecar driver who had a near-fatal accident not long after Steve. In his case, both his arms and legs were replaced with bionics. Unfortunately, he couldn’t quite adjust to the bionics. He was never able to drive up to his old level again and he had trouble staying in control. In his first appearance, his name was Barney Miller. By his second episode, there was already another quite popular Barney Miller on TV (a captain in New York City’s 12th police precinct, where Richard Castle would later haunt the squadroom while getting inspiration for his Nikki Heat novels) so ‘Miller’ was changed to ‘Hiller.’ I was amused with how the comic addressed this.

Anyway, due to his issues, Barney’s bionics were tuned down to merely peak human efficiency and he was pretty much allowed to live his life. Because of that, Spencer sends Maskatron out after the Seven Million Dollar Man, considering him a security risk.
Meanwhile, more strange things are afoot with the returned Venus probe and the radiation, and now there’s some unusual material found on the satellite.

So Steve goes off to Russia on his next mission (I guess it was already far enough along in the planning phase to not pull the plug just because the bionics program is being phased out?) and the issue ends with him being caught, apparently due to a tip. Possibly Spencer’s way to get rid of another potential security risk? Although delivering him to the enemy seems a strange way to go about it.

Still not totally sold on the art style tho I do seem to see hints of Monte Markham in Barney’s face in a panel or two. I think that’s part of my issue with the art. Random panels of the characters show some likeness to the actors, but it’s not consistent.
They kinda lost me when Steve had to have his memory refreshed on who Oliver Spencer was. I realize the need to explain it to the reader, but I think it could’ve been done a little better.

Jaime’s mentioned twice in the issue, and actually shows up on the cover for issue 4 displayed on Dynamite’s site, so hopefully we’ll see her fairly regularly. Steve and Jaime weren’t allowed to interact during the last season of their respective shows because they were on different networks.

So yeah, overall it’s still working for me more than it’s not.

Still a bit worried about them bringing in all the ‘classic’ characters too soon - covers for upcoming issues also show the Sasquatch (who should be pretty much entirely biological by now based on his last series appearance) popping up in the storyline along with Jaime. Short of bringing back one of Farrah’s characters (I’d vote for con-woman Trish Hollander myself, but if it happens we’ll probably get fellow astronaut Major Kelly Wood) I’m not sure of any more ‘classic’ characters or storylines they could revisit. Not that there’s not plenty I’d like as a fan to see return, of course.

THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN: SEASON SIX #3

THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN: SEASON SIX #3

Since I’m apparently going to keep doing these, I thought I ought to throw in the proper credits for each issue. Make it more 'professional' looking.

Unfortunately, the rest of this will still be the random musings of a
decidedly non-professional, so, ya know, whatevs….

Besides, the credits can double as spoiler-space.

THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN: SEASON 6 #3

Writer: James Kuhoric
Art: Juan Antonio Ramirez
Colors: Fran Gamboa
Letters: Joshua Cozine
Publication Date: May 2014
Published by Dynamite Entertainment

The story so far….

Former OSI head Oliver Spencer has returned and made his move to
disband the Bionics project in favor of his fully robotic agent,
Maskatron. Unfortunately, Maskatron doesn’t seem to be as obedient as
Spencer hoped, and has its own ideas about how to accomplish its
mission - bringing in the Seven Million Dollar security risk, Barney
Hiller.

Steve arrived in Russia on a ‘secret’ mission only to find the Soviets
waiting for him. Someone has tipped them off.

Meanwhile, a strange, alien entity has hitched a ride to Earth on a
returning satellite and infected scientist Joan Anderson….

Now:

So Maskatron is back from his mission to get Barney, but due to damage
it’s operating independent of Spencer’s control so it tends to react
somewhat badly to potential threats, like the SWAT team that greets it
as it returns to OSI HQ. It pretty much destroys the team until
Spencer arrives to command it shut down in person.

Steve finds himself in a knock-down, drag-out fight with a giant,
Soviet, armored robot-tank, but of course he finds a way to beat it
and get away. Now he just has to make it out of Russia. Note: the base
Steve infiltrates is in Chelyabinsk, which was hit by a meteor in
February 2013. Lots of nice dash-cam videos on YouTube of that if you
haven’t seen it.

Jaime returns! She’s on the scene at Washington National Airport,
where a plane with a US senator on board has been hijacked. After the
hijacking has been dealt with, Rudy gives her the bad news about the
Bionics project, but explains that they’ll likely be re-assigned
somewhere else as opposed to cut loose from the OSI altogether.

Oscar shows up at the hospital emergency room after a call from
Barney’s wife, Carla. We find out for sure how Maskatron decided to
complete its mission as Barney is a man barely alive and now missing
his bionic arms and legs. (Lucky for him he didn’t need an eye or an
ear - that wouldn’t have been pretty.)

And police show up at Dr. Joan Anderson’s house to find out why she
hasn’t been at work only to be attacked by a Species-esque alien
version of her.

Things are, as they say, heating up.

So, cue the random musings -

Since the final seasons of their respective shows were on different
networks, it’s been a long time since Steve and Jaime were able to
interact. It’ll be nice to see them working together again. Wonder how
Steve will get along with Chris Williams
- Jaime’s semi-boyfriend from her final season?

The hijacking scene also starts with a newscast setting up the
situation. A newscast from the Peeping Blonde herself, Victoria
Webster. Webster was one of Farrah Fawcett’s three characters from the
show and this is the type of cameo I love. So often on episodic TV
we’re introduced to characters that by all rights we should see again
in our heroes lives, but it’s not practical due to having to bring
actors in again for a thirty second scene. Comics don’t have to worry
about that so if you need a newscast, let Webster deliver it. If Steve
is chilling between missions, let him be playing tennis with Fred
Sloan. I hope to see more of this. (I *really* hope to see crossovers
with other shows/characters of the time snuck in but that’s just a
thing with me.)

Still not sold on the art style, but I can’t say it’s bad, just not to
my taste. I think there’s a bit of a manga influence and I’m not a fan
of that. And I’m really not sure why Spencer is always wearing a hat.
Pretty sure he never wore one in the pilot movie. I suspect it’s a way
to cue us that it’s him, but I think a better likeness to Darren
McGavin could cover that. Still, those are just personal quibbles. It
does the job and is dynamic and gets the point across. And it’s
entirely possible it will grow on me. It’s happened with other artists
before.

The writing, the part I was most worried about when the title was
announced, has continued to impress. Aside from the changes necessary
due to the format (that I mentioned in earlier write-ups) it’s pretty
easy to hear the characters I grew up with in there and that’s what I
really wanted.

Overall, I’m still really happy with how the series is going hope we
get season’s seven, eight, nine….

Also wonder if we’ll be getting a separate ‘The Bionic Woman: Season
Four’ comic. The way this one is going, I’d be on board with that.

THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN: SEASON SIX #1

THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN: SEASON SIX #1

(originally posted on Tumblr on 20 April 2014).

It occurs to me I’ve done write-ups of the first two issues of Dynamite’s THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN - SEASON SIX comics so I figured I’ll post ‘em here and probably keep going as long as I’m reading the series.

SPOILERS abound, of course, so I’ll toss in a few lines of nonsense to give you time to skip past this without accidentally seeing something you would rather not if you want to check it out with virgin eyes.

See, THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN (SMDM going forward) is my show. I don’t mean that in any sort of competitive fanboy “my collection/trivia knowledge is better than yours” sense, just that for as long as I can remember, I’ve loved the show and watched it whenever I could.

I suppose that technically there was a time in my life that I was unaware of the adventures of Steve Austin - the World’s First Bionic Man (tm) but obviously those days were wholly unremarkable and not worth recalling.

I’m also…not a big fan of Dynamite’s handling of most of the properties they deal with, which is sad because they seem intent on licensing every cool character ever.

So, those are two of the things I was dealing with which factor into my judgement of the book, about which I’ll begin talking shortly.

Spoiler Space is over now.

Dynamite’s new take on Steve Austin is actually going back to the original version as brought to life by Lee Majors on March 7th, 1973 when the first of three tele-movies premiered before the show went to series. The series lasted five seasons, spun off THE BIONIC WOMAN (BW going forward) which went for three, and enjoyed a successful toy line and became a pop culture landmark. Three reunion tele-movies followed, between 1987 and 1994.

Dynamite had previously published two series, Bionic Man and The Bionic Woman, which were based on a Kevin Smith script for a possible movie. The less said about all of that, the better.

The new series bills itself as ‘Season Six,’ picking up after the end of the television series, which means it should be set in the 1978-79 time frame.

Writer Jim Kuhoric has stated in interviews that he is a big fan of the original shows. I hear that all the time and don’t really believe it’s always true (and even if it is - being a fan is no guarantee of quality as a stroll thru fanfiction.net will prove) but in this case, it seems to be the case. Certainly the first issue has enough nods to the original series to bear that out. In short order we’re introduced not only to the expected characters of Steve, his OSI boss Oscar Goldman, and bionic doctor extraordinaire Rudy Wells, but we also get a cameo of Oscar’s favorite secretary Peggy Callahan and are reintroduced to Oliver Spencer - the original head of the Office of Strategic Operations and played by the always awesome Darren McGavin from the original pilot. (Fun trivia - McGavin and Richard Anderson, who played Oscar Goldman starting with the second tele-movie - appeared together in the second Kolchak tele-movie THE NIGHT STRANGLER.)

Spencer was the one who spearheaded the project to turn Steve into a cyborg, tho he wasn’t totally pleased with the results. Steve’s independence and stubbornness got on his nerves. He even wondered if there was some way to turn Steve ‘off’ between missions. Now, he has the obedient operative he wants.

Maskatron was a robotic character originally introduced into Kenner’s SMDM toy line in the 1970s and it finally makes its official appearance in a SMDM story here. Based on the designs of Dr. Dolenz (the ‘Robot Maker’ from three episodes of the series, portrayed by Henry Jones), M.A.S.K.A.T.Ron is the weapon Spencer always wanted, and he’s convinced the powers that be to take away funding for the bionics project in favor of his robotic agent.

While Oscar is dealing with that news, Steve and Rudy are off the coast of Florida looking for a downed satellite. After dealing with the Russian Venus Probe (the ‘Death Probe’ of two, two-part stories from the series) the US government fast-tracked their own Venus probe, sent both to study the planet and to keep an eye out for any other Soviet activity. It turns out that a strange radioactive cloud changed course to intercept the probe when it approached Venus and all contact was lost until suddenly it showed up back on Earth, splashing down in the Atlantic.

That’s the basics of the plot of the first issue. It could be an interesting setup but it’s too early to really be able to judge. Obviously, as a fanboy I liked the callbacks to the series (the wonder-drug Neotraxin from the Bigfoot episodes is also name-checked) tho I’m a little worried that he’s going to front load the series with too many of these. The promo for the second issue already has the Seven Million Dollar Man being brought into the mix.

While I couldn’t “hear” the actor’s voices while reading it, nothing hit me as massively out of character.

The art by Juan Antonio Ramirez is okay. I’m not huge on the style and am pretty sure I wouldn’t recognize Steve if someone had shown me a non-bionic panel with no context. Oscar and Rudy are a little better. Callahan, however, is portrayed in her one panel as a stereotypical leggy blond, which might fit the seventies setting but bears no resemblance to the series portrayal at all. It would also be nice is someone would give the artist some photo reference for Oscar’s office. Again, I’m a fanboy.

For a Dynamite title, it’s definitely better than I’d expected. Again, one issue is too early to offer a fair evaluation but nothing really torqued me off so that’s something.

Dynamite's THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN page.