Bionic Man #3
Written by Kevin Smith and Phil Hester
Art by Jonathan Lau
Review by Bobby Shortle
The character arcs are set up nicely, the art is beautiful and the villain is bad ass but there is an underlying sense of something missing in Bionic Man # 3.
The world of Kevin Smith’s Bionic Man is no laughing matter. Steve Austin, trapped in a hospital bed, is not a brave patient facing his oncoming hardships with a reassuring sense of humor as you’d expect a leading man to be. Instead he is a suicidal amputee screaming to anyone who will listen to let him leave this cruel hard life. It’s difficult subject matter that Smith pulls off with aplomb.
It’s not all suicide and tears and Smith’s take on both the “we can rebuild him” and “six million dollar man” lines is clever and fun. Yet, I find the same fault with this issue that I did with issue one. We all know where the story is going so the pages of Oscar Goldman convincing Steve’s physician to allow him to perform the enhancements required to make the Bionic Man feel unnecessary. I understand that Steve Austin’s emotional journey is absolutely crucial but get rid of the other padding and replace it with substantial plot development.
I’m hoping that we get where we are going soon because I really like the character of Steve Austin but I think it’s a problem that we are on issue 3 of Kevin Smith’s Bionic Man and still haven’t seen the bionic man.
VERDICT
Buy it – All the character work is really good and some of the Steve Austin hospital stuff is really affecting. I would have liked more action and a little less on the nose final scene but it’s still a worthy read.
