Wednesday, March 12, 2014: New and Noteworthy, Part Two

By pghhead -



MAGNUS ROBOT FIGHTER #1 (Dynamite, March 2014). Fred Van Lente, writer. Cory Smith, artist. Mauricio Wallace, colorist. Marshall Dillon, letterer.

This is the second of the Gold Key properties to be re-booted into the Dynamite universe. While it's not as interesting as TUROK, DINOSAUR HUNTER (which debuted last month) it also holds much promise and merits a close watch.

Writer Fred Van Lente has made some changes since the last version. As the issue begins, Russell Magnus (is that first name a tribute to original creator/writer/artist Russ Manning?) lives with his pregnant wife in a quiet country village called Maurey's Peak in the year 2045. He makes his living as a history teacher. Robots perform menial tasks and serve the humans, all monitored and controlled by the 1A operating system which appears on video screens as a grandfather type presence. Apparently it's the only place where robots and humans live together in co-operation.

Magnus escapes an attack on Maurey's Peak by mercenary robots and discovers a modern city complete with flying cars and many more robots, almost exclusively. He gets into a fight with police robots and discovers he has previously unknown abilities. Leeja, his love interest in the original series, is portrayed here as a "human hunter".

Cory Smith's art is a little rough in spots but his action scenes are well done, and his cityscapes of the future are very imaginative.




THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN, SEASON SIX #1. (Dynamite, March 2014). Jim Kuhoric, writer. Juan Antonio Ramirez, art. Fran Gamboa, colors. Joshua Coziness, letters.

Fans of this popular 1970's television series about a government cyborg agent will want to pick this up for a fun trip down Memory Lane. This has the feel of the series and the story could easily have been a working script from that era. Writer Jim Kuhoric does a fine job of recreating the techno magic from the time before CGI special effects and keeps it simple and true to form, very respectful of the source material. The art style by Ramirez reminds me of those old Gold Key/Dell comics based on TV series.

A space rocket probing the atmosphere of Venus picks up a strange substance around its shell during it's return to Earth. Bionically rebuilt Steve Austen is dispatched to intercept it when it hits the Atlantic Ocean near Florida. Steve joins the diving team just in time to be attacked by great white sharks. Meanwhile back in Washington D.C., a new breed of enhanced android is impersonating Austen and making a case for replacing him. Ahh, sweet nostalgia! Good old school story with classic art.

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