When I was a kid, I was obsessed with The Six Million Dollar Man, inspired by the novel Cyborg by Martin Caidin. It was a sci fi/action/spy show that followed the adventures of Col. Steve Austin, an astronaut who was seriously injured in the crash of an experimental plane that he was test piloting. To save his life, his best friend and director of the Office of Scientific Intelligence agreed to have him undergo bionic surgery – and that is the premise of the show. There were many scenes of slow-motion running, jumping and feats of strength. I’m pretty sure I caught every episode… along with the follow-up, The Bionic Woman. 

About 2010 or so, Kevin Smith began writing a new series called The Bionic Man. It had a similar premise, but was definitely modernized and there was more practical science applied. Also, the characters had more depth and seemed to be more dynamic. If you read last week’s blog, you could see that I had fallen into a slump. But I just picked up the collected volumes of this series and it pulled me out and had me looking forward to reading time again! The heroes are not too perfect and the villains are relatable, as well. It is a very well written book.

I am having such a good time with the story that I don’t want it to end, yet I want to see what happens next! I tend to be cautious in revisiting a series because so much can go so wrong. But Dynamite Comics really knocked this one out of the park! It helps that it is not a simple retelling – it is definitely it’s own animal. It makes me willing to consider being more open to new versions of other older properties.