It’s time for a weird trip back to my childhood.
Creative Staff:
Story: Andy Mangels
Art: Judit Tondora
Colors: Michael Bartolo, Stuart Chaifetz
Letterer: Tom Orzechowski, Lois Buhalis
What They Say:
Party like it’s 1977 in this cross-over event fans have wanted for decades — but never thought possible! Now, Diana Prince meets Jaime Sommers… or should we say, Wonder Woman meets The Bionic Woman? In this action-packed mini-series, the two television titans team up to fight a rogue cabal bent on wreaking havoc and stealing deadly weapons. Can CASTRA be stopped before their real targets are revealed and lives are lost? With super powers, bionic enhancements, surprise villains, and an invisible plane, just about anything is possible!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Being a child in the 70’s was a weird experience when it came to comic book stuff on TV and the kind of outlandish SF material that we got. While some was just surreal others were fairly grounded while playing up female empowerment in the way of the day, hence having series like Wonder Woman and Bionic Woman out there. I watched both as a kid but haven’t seen any of them since, so it’s kind of a hazy not-nostalgia view that I have of them like so much of what came out of that decade. This series from Dynamite brings the two together under writer Andy Mangels, a name I’ve known in the comics world for a very long time, and Hungarian artist and relative newcomer Judit Tondora.
A series like this is certainly playing well to fans of both franchise and it does well enough for new readers to figure out who is who as the opening page does a solid breakdown origin story for both, nice and compressed in the right was but clear. The gist of the story is that the two different agencies are working together to deal with a new threat that’s rising that requires cooperation as a group known as Castra, headed by Ivan Karp apparently, is getting ready for some real chaos around the world. That has all aspects of each organization working with each other, including the agents Diana Prince and Jaime Sommers. The two actually get to meet beforehand when the Cramer building nearby blows up and they step up to the rescue, though Diana does so as Wonder Woman. Jaime’s not stupid, however, and once she meets Diana she basically knows but plays along and even Diana realizes that she knows but still plays along.
The opening salvo of this series works to establish the situation well enough as well as getting us to know the characters and bringing in key players from each franchise in at least supporting roles. Mangels definitely captures the tone well from the era and it is plainly disturbing whereas I know it was viewed as cute and comical back in the day with how the women were treated. The condescending aspect is certainly present – and it wouldn’t (sadly) be accurate without it – but it definitely grates as both Diana and Jaime take it while getting things done nobody else can do. Judit Tondora does some great work here in truly capturing the style of the era with the clothes but also in the movements of the characters, the designs of them in relation to the actors at the time, and some of the overall layouts with it that speaks to an earlier time but with some solid modernizations to it so that it’s not chunky or block. I’m definitely curious to see more of their work.
In Summary:
While I never considered myself a fan of either series, I was more of a Steven Austin kind of kid with my denim jacket (enough so that I told kids in school to call me Steve), this series definitely captures the tone and feel of it. If it was made into a live-action event it’s exactly the kind of thing that would have really made my father happy as he was a dedicated fan of both shows. Mangels captures the style of the time and the shows right while Tondora brings it to life wonderfully with the curves, the costumes, and the silliness of expression at times. The team has done a solid job in introducing all of the basics here and I’m definitely curious enough to see how a second installment goes to see if it has enough room to breathe after introducing so much.
Grade: B
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: December 7th, 2016
MSRP: $3.99
