Review: 6 million dollar man: The Fall of Man #5
This is it! The ultimate finale to fantastic Six Million Dollar Man story that I enjoyed a lot. To sum up the first four issues. Oscar Goldman and Rudy Wells were conjuring up a cyborg army that would have all of Steve Austin’s powers but none of his conscience. Steve became upset with OSI’s plans and quit. He then went to the ARVO company and CEO Mike Gentle wound up betraying him in a way worse than Oscar Goldman.
The Creative Team:
Van Jensen brings the story to a full circle which I savored. Steve Austin must come to grips with the evil of two lessers. I liked reading how he became confused with how the ARVO company is more corrupt than the government forces and how he was easily duped. Gentle’s plan includes bringing about war for his own financial gain and Steve’s detriment as his bionic limbs will be replicated to serve an unwitting end. The idea that Steve regrets his trusting a man named Gentle can’t be overstated. Where he thought OSI was turning corrupt it was his new friends that mislead him.
Ron Salas is hitting another home run as his artistic style once again compliments the story no end. His expressionless bureaucrats dressed in black feed the ominous tone throughout the tale. They play the same role that Hugo Weaving’s agent Smith did in “The Matrix.” They have no emotion, no expression, all they have is a job to do. A real treat comes when Salas shows us the dismantling of a female robot through a highly-detailed machine. The same machine that attempts to take our hero apart. Great stuff throughout.
The Cover:
It’s simple, yet effective. Steve is standing there poised for battle. I appreciated his heroic stance and the steely gaze that pierced the soul of any reader that would come across this issue. The title “Fall of Man” was jumbled up again, like it has been in every cover for the series. The images of Steve in many different poses through the wording brings an added dramatic element that also helps to draw in the comic store surfer.
In Conclusion:
One can appreciate where this story is going and the fact that the conclusion doesn’t wrap everything up all nice and neat. There is still conflict between Steve, Oscar and the OSI. Steve’s bionics are damaged and he’s not sure that he wants them to be repaired either by OSI or ARVO. His feelings about who he has become are compromised and he’s not sure about his humanity by the end of this story. It’s good to see the creative team take a few chances and not want to give us a clean-cut ending where we know the heroes from the villains. And I will definitely be on board for more great stuff that this creative team can churn out. Keep us guessing guys. ****
6 million dollar man: The Fall of Man #5
Writer: Van Jensen
Art: Ron Salas
Letters: Taylor Esposito
Colors: Mike Atiyeh, Caitlyn McCarthy
Publishers: Dynamite Entertainment
Publication Date: November 2016
About the Author
Kevin Given Kevin Given has studied with "Longridge Writers Group" and "Writer's Boot Camp" a speech/communications major from the University of Maine Presque-Isle/Orono sites. He has created the "Karl Vincent Vampire Hunter" franchise which includes 2 novels and 8 comic books. They can be found on amazon, Indyplanet and Kindle. For a limited time you can get digital copies of "Karl Vincent: Vampire hunter" #1 and "Files of Karl Vincent" #1 for free on Indyplanet. Kevin is producing the third novel in the series "Dracula Rising" (working title) and developing "Foul Blood" into comic book form.
