Wonder Woman '77 meets The Bionic Woman - a Dynamite Comics/DC Comics mini-series

As a child in the '70s, I grew up watching both Wonder Woman (starring Lynda Carter) and the Bionic Woman (starring Lindsey Wagner).  Both shows featured strong leading ladies as heroes who were both super and lovely to look at, and both shows lasted only three seasons.  Coincidentally enough, both shows changed networks during their run - Wonder Woman's first season aired on ABC, then switched to CBS for its second and third seasons, while the Bionic Woman's first and second seasons aired on ABC, then switched to NBC for its third season.  Regardless of how short-lived they may have been, and regardless of switching networks, I absolutely loved both shows and both leading ladies.

As an adult, I have been fortunate enough to have met both Lynda Carter and Lindsey Wagner, and both are as nice and real in person as they are on the television shows, and both of them not only acknowledge their work, but are proud of the work they did in the shows.  Yet, in all these years, I can honestly admit I never really thought about the two of these heroes meeting.  So, when Dynamite and DC Comics announced a crossover mini-series, I got excited.  I mean, c'mon - what fanboy of the '70s wouldn't geek-out at the chance to see these two super-women team up for an adventure!

Simply titled Wonder Woman '77 meets The Bionic Woman, this six-issue mini-series offers up everything that a great comic should be - strong leading characters, a fantastic story with nasty villains from both shows, a perfect pace to keep the story going, yet highlight both characters equally, and enough easter-eggs and guest-stars to make you squeal with excitement as you read each issue!

Writer Andy Mangels brings Diana and Jaime together in the most natural of ways - a meeting of the national security organizations - the IADC, the OSI, the NSB, the FBI, and the CIA.  This, of course, means we get treated to appearances by Steve Trevor, Oscar Goldman, Eve Welch, Joe Atkinson, and Jack Hanson.  The organizations are gearing up to ferret out a new para-military organization known as "Castra."  The first issue ends with a bang, with the first casualty - Joe Atkinson!

Mangels takes readers (and fan boys!) on a fun jaunt down memory lane, as we learn that the cabal includes villains such as Captain Radl (from Wonder Woman), Dr. Franklin (from the Bionic Woman), Dr. Thiago Solano (from Wonder Woman) with Gloria Marquez, now calling herself Dr. Cyber (from Wonder Woman), Dr. Orlich Hoffman (from Wonder Woman), and Carl Franklin (from the Bionic Woman) - along with a whole new slew of Fembots (from the Bionic Woman)!  With all of these villains teaming-up for a new world-domination plan, it's a good thing Mangels doesn't leave Diana and Jaime to face these evil-doers on their own.  He brings back Druscilla a/k/a Wonder Girl - - we get reintroduced to Tina, the girl with powers - - there's Max, the bionic dog - - along with Queen Hippolyta, Nubia, Callahan, Fausta ... and on page 8 of issue 4, we see "Joanna," who Diana refers to as the mistress of the dance on Paradise Island, who called her dance the "Dance of the Zephyr Winds" (uhm, seriously - is there any child of the '70s that did not pick up on that direct Isis reference - Joanna Cameron was the actress, and "Zephyr winds that blow on high, lift me now, so I can fly!" was her cry to fly).  Oh, Mr. Mangels, I can say without a shadow of a doubt, that you have made this fanboy's decade with this book!!!!

There are a number of fun surprises throughout the story, and it's great to see a team-up where the two heroes don't fight first and then become friends.  Let's face it, that gets old real fast.  Instead, Diana and Jaime hit it off from the start, and it brought a smile to my face seeing how Jaime reacts to the Invisible Plane, and later to Paradise Island.  The amount of continuity from the two shows brought into this series definitely reveals how much of a fan Mr. Mangels is of these two series.  And the ending - well, let's just say there's clearly more story to be told - I just hope he gets the chance to tell it!

The art is by Judit Tondora, with whose work I am wholly unfamiliar.  However, she manages to get the actors' faces pretty good throughout all six issues - with the exception of the Bionic Woman, Jaime Sommers.  Wonder Woman pretty much comes across as Lynda Carter in every panel, and all the supporting cast resemble the actors who portrayed them in both shows.  But Jaime, for some reason, never actually comes across as Lindsey Wagner, and I'm not sure why.  Did that bother me?  Not so much - it was a little surprising at first, but as I got more and more into the story, pretty soon the fact that Jaime did not look like Lindsey Wagner at all became a non-issue.

This book is a DEFINITE MUST-READ for anyone who grew up watching these two ladies on the television each week (or even for those youngsters today who watch the shows in rerun, or on Hulu, or Netflix, or wherever).  With beautifully rendered covers by a variety of artists, to the fun-tastic fan-loving story inside, each issue is a true treasure, and I will be keeping fingers and toes crossed that Dynamite and DC give the go-ahead for a sequel (wouldn't it be great to see the Six-Million Dollar Man brought in, as well as perhaps the Christopher Reeve Superman! egads!!!).

RATING:  10 star-spangled swimsuits and white jumpsuits out of 10 for the absolutely best cross-over story I have ever read, and probably ever will read!