Bionic Woman #10 Review


I want to like Bionic Woman #10, I really do. Yet for everything it does right it does something wrong. This issue has its merits, but it’s also pointing out its confused identity and character.

The official description from Dynamite:

The conclusion of the Fembot War in Russia, with the Bionic Woman caught in the middle! And when all hell is breaking loose in Mother Russia, will Jaime be forced to be Mother Fembot? It’s the hardest decision of Jaime’s life when her mind is the key to fembot salvation, but her finger is on the trigger of fembot annihilation!

Don’t get me wrong, this issue isn’t completely terrible. As far as the actual plot and contents goes, it’s not too bad. Jaime unites with the fem bots and does a lot of shouting and violence. It’s all over fairly quickly and it even ties to thematically tie everything together. For a Bionic Woman story, this is to be expected; it’s what the series is about after all.

Still, it’s hard not to feel a little uneasy with the writing. Paul Tobin knows his stuff, yet the attempts to force character and themes here is a little too much. I’m all for Jaime as a symbol of feminist power and independence, but that doesn’t mean everything should come down to gender. Over-making a point out of something can lose the message. The fem bots were one thing, but the dialogue about “mother” and “bad boys” is either corny, cheesy or condescending… it’s difficult to decide which.

The art is the usual standard although, again, something about this issue is off putting.  It’s also very noticeable that, besides Jaime and the fem bots, everyone else is male. Is this a fight between robots and humans, or a war of genders? The art itself is fine, although one could question some of the poses. Jaime does a lot of shouting whilst the fem bots stand still a lot. It’s not bad, it’s just not great either.

As I said, I want to like Bionic Woman #10. It’s ideas are in the right place but it overdoes it far too much. After such a long break this just isn’t the best welcome back for the title.

2.5/5

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