Despite being in a tense, politically-charged plot, Bionic Man #19 comes through and stands on its own feet. Whilst its not perfect, with a few flaws here and there, its an enjoyable issue that gets to grips with Steve Austin better than previous issues have.

The official description from Dynamite:

After fighting his way into the heart of enemy territory, the Bionic Man is forced to go deep undercover. Once there, Steve positions himself to not only complete his mission but to help the war torn country of Libue in the process. Little does he know a new player has entered the game and they have the United States in the crosshairs!

The plot is a mix between resolution and exposition. Whilst it resolves a lot of the past conflicts, it opens up a few more along the way. Bionic Man #19 is reasonably paced, and moves along well enough to not get bogged down in any one area. Austin gets a decent “hero” moment, the bad guys get stopped and there’s a decent enough cliffhanger for the next issue; its a pretty decent offering.

As for the writing itself, Aaron Gillespie gets into a much better grove with this issue. Whilst there are still a few political themes and issues, these don’t overload the writing. There’s a scene or two to highlight this importance, but its tied into the plot, rather than feeling simply forced. As for Austin, Gillespie goes to the old ‘does what he wants’ attitude that exemplifies Austin much better.

In terms of visuals, there really isn’t much new here. Its the same setting and characters, so whilst Ed Tadeo (pencils) and Thiago Ribeiro (colors) offer the usual high standard, they don’t have much to work with in this issue. The only new aspect would be Austins falling off/melting face. Its somewhere between Terminator and old-school cheesy science fiction. The large eye and lip can get a little too much at times, but it doesn’t interfere with the issue at large.

All in all, this issue delivers. Its not the best issue, but its a very good example of Bionic Man. Whilst it teases a lot about the next issue, that’s for Bionic Man #20 to follow up with. This issue offers a very Austin-centric story that suits Bionic Man well.

4/5