- Home
- Comics
- Movies
- Random News
- Page 2
- Facebook
- Wall
- Shop Now
- Newsletter
- Youtube
- Evil Squirrel Forum
- About
- Subscriptions
- Contact
I am not an old man. Don’t get me wrong; I have what I would consider an adequate appreciation of things that came before my time, but even that has its limits. That being said, the only knowledge I have of the story of Colonel Steve Austin is that, once upon a time, they had to rebuild him. Everything I’ve ever known of the six million dollar man has been spoon fed to me through the long, drawn out process of cultural diffusion, as well as the kinds of references that I feel I’m supposed to understand and laugh at but secretly don’t really get (Steve Carrell’s character in The 40-Year-Old Virgin owning an Oscar Goldman action figure comes to mind).
Despite my knowledge of old television being somewhat lacking, I do know pretty much everything there is to know about Kevin Smith’s work. Not to say that I would consider myself a fanatic, but suffice it to say that I’m familiar with almost everything he’s done. That made picking this book up a no-brainer. His penchant for realistically witty banter, well-developed characters, and compelling action shine through in this opening chapter, titled “Flight of the Daedalus.” Steve Austin is an about-to-retire test pilot, and to use Oscar Goldman’s words, “the bravest man in the world...bar none.” The issue revolves around the events leading up to his final test fight, which will be testing a new stealth bomber for General Hal McClintock. The first, seemingly unrelated, event of the narrative depicts a mysterious, bionic-arm-wielding man breaking and entering into a microchip development lab that houses its own prosthesis. This sequence of speechless action sets the kind of tone for a reboot that I fully support. There is no camp, no irrelevant posturing, just balls-to-the-wall slicin’ and dicin’. Jonathan Lau brings a visceral realism to the property from the outset, particularly with his detailed rendering of each character’s facial expressions, even when those faces are blank with the emptiness of recent death.
While the issue ends with a cliffhanger, there can be really very few misconceptions about what will happen next issue, at least to start it off. I am interested to see if Smith’s ability to weave a narrative can revitalize an aging concept and bring it into cultural relevance once more. But with an inaugural issue like this, I think he definitely has the technology to make “The Bionic Man” better, stronger, and faster than it’s ever been before.
