Wonder Woman ’77 Meets The Bionic Woman #1
Written by Andy Mangels
Art by Judit Tondora
Colors by Michael Bartolo and Stuart Chaifetz
Letters by Tom Orzechowski and Lois Buhalis
Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: December 7, 2016
Cover Price: $3.99

This revival of iconic characters from my youth has been extraordinarily hit or miss, but in the case of Wonder Woman ’77 Meets The Bionic Woman #1, it is certainly a home run. I was always a huge fan of Lynda Carter’s Wonder Woman, but only occasionally watched The Bionic Woman. Not sure if it was a schedule conflict or what; I remember liking the 1970s Lindsay Wagner show, but just not seeing it often. Now, our friends at Dynamite Entertainment have teamed up with DC Comics to bring us one of the best TV titan team-ups ever!

To my surprise, the backstory for each of them spans a mere single page, that they share! This allows for more story and less fluff, in my mind. When Jaime Sommers, aka The Bionic Woman, finds herself in Washington, D.C. right as a catastrophe strikes, she automatically lends a hand to save the innocent bystanders. Coincidentally, Wonder Woman, disguised as Diana Prince, finds herself in that same crowd. The two ladies team up to save folks from a collapsing building, taking time afterwards to introduce themselves before returning to their previously scheduled plans. Little do they know they are about to be seeing a lot of one another!

Arriving to the same meeting, they are immediately assaulted with accusations of dallying by a misogynistic member. This throwback to yesteryear seemed quite apt in regards to how women were treated and seen four decades ago. Luckily, that’s exactly what Wonder Woman fought against! After settling that issue, our heroines are dispatched to protect the next target of the terrorist organization known as CASTRA. That name conjures up a whole new level of anxiety for me, as it’s a bit too close to the word castrate.

Our fearless duo manages things quite well on their front while their male counterparts engage more of the opposition at another location. I won’t go too far into this for fear of ruining the story, but this first issue sets up the plot of this six-issue miniseries with little room for improvement. Writer Andy Mangels captures the soul of each character quite well in this first issue, leading me to believe the next five will be just as good. Judit Tondora does a serviceable job with the art, though I’m not sure it embodies the actresses facial features to the extent I would have liked.

My favorite effect throughout this comic has to be the homages to the original TV shows. Wonder Woman has a plethora of red, white, and blue stars surrounding each of her panels, sometimes embedded into them. For The Bionic Woman, the sound effects of her cybernetic enhancements are laid out during the necessary scenes. It’s like I could actually hear the “Deeneeneenee” of her bionic action. Folks, this is a comic that is short on issues, but long on nostalgia. Anyone from my generation will love this and treasure it forever. Don’t miss out, buy yours today!