The Bionic Woman: Season 4 #1

Well, we knew this was coming. The Bionic Woman: Season 4 #1 is going to follow the same pattern as The Six Million Dollar Man Season 6 and continue the TV series. Is this the right formula and can it separate itself from it’s sister (or should that be brother) title?

The official description from Dynamite:

Continuing from the TV series, comes The Bionic Woman: Season 4! Jaime Sommers – THE BIONIC WOMAN – has earned a classic series continuation of her own! Jaime is trying to balance the hope of a normal life with her life as a government agent…but when you work for the O.S.I., even a routine mission to Mexico can prove to be far more dangerous than anyone expected!

Straight away, it’s clear this series isn’t relying on The Six Million Dollar Man to support itself. From the start, it’s not even clear how, or if, this series is related. There’s no mention to do the two sharing the same space and the Jaime Sommers here is much more confident and detailed. In the previous title, she was a support role that occasionally got her own moments, whereas this title treats her like her own, fully rounded character. I’m not familiar with the shows, so I can’t comment on how true to form this is.

In terms of writing, then, there is some potential. Brandon Jerwa keeps the story in-line with what we expect. There are some sci-fi elements, but many parts feel grounded. This time around there aren’t space aliens from the first issue. That said, it does also deal with a crashed satellite and the comparisons to the first story in The Six Million Dollar Man can’t be completely ignored in that regard – a bigger departure would have been nice.

Visually, the artistic team takes a different approach too. I’d say it’s a little more gritty, but only my a small amount. David T. Cabrera’s pencils are well defined, fluid and can easily tackle some of the more dynamic scenes. Yet it’s Sandra Molina’s colors that make the biggest change. Molina opts for a some darker hues that still offer some vibrancy. This might be down to the setting, but there aren’t as many pastel tones here as in The Six Million Dollar Man.

All in all, it’s not a bad first outing – it does manage to go in a different direction in the end – but it may still be far too early to tell.