The Six Million Dollar Man: Season 6 #4 Review


Layout 1After three densely packed issues, The Six Million Dollar Man: Season 6 #4 seems to take a similar ‘all hell breaks loose’ strategy. Seriously, this title really doesn’t want any dull moments does it?

The official description from Dynamite:

We can rebuild him. Better than he was before. Better. Stronger. Faster. The Six Million Dollar Man is back with an original comic book continuation of the classic television series! Oliver Spencer has lost control of Maskatron and it may cost him and everyone in the OSI their lives. And amid the chaos and fear of alien infection, Steve is reunited with Jaime Sommers, the Bionic Woman. But can even two bionic powered agents stem the tide rising against humanity?

Readers who have kept up to date will likely enjoy this issue, but it does little to welcome new readers. Between potential alien invasions, robot independence and, heck, there’s even a reference to big foot, this issue seems to be stretching out in many tangents. In the middle of this is Steve Austin and friends, so it still manages to feel like The Six Million Dollar Man at times. I guess part of my problem with this title is that it’s science fiction based, but most of the focus is on action. Here, this is more than obvious.

In terms of the actual writing, Jim Kuhuric manages to fit in a large amount of dialogue in this issue, without getting in the way of any action sequences (because a robot or alien has to punch something). That said, the writing sometimes feels dated and I can’t tell if that’s a deliberate attempt to replicate the show’s era or just poor writing. Steve is strong, Jaime isn’t etc, it’s an old way of portraying much-loved characters.

Visually, the issue holds up well. While I prefer some more vibrant color, Fran Gamboa offers a reasonable variation that work well with Juan Antonio Ramirez’s pencils. I can tell who each person is without confusion, which is a definite improvement.

All in all, this is very much an issue for the fans. That may be good, considering the title in question, but if it goes too wide in its scope it won’t do itself any favors trying to get in new readers.

OUR RATING
6.5
  • + Aliens, cyborgs, robots and more!
  • + Action-packed
  • - Might be a bit too much going on
  • - Jaime Sommers could be written much better...

S#!T Talking Central