My Pal Sharry sent me this one based on the classic 70's TV series.
The book is by Rand McNally. the people best known for Road Atlases and the like. You'd think they'd have come up with a kid's division name but this is back when the company expanded into children's products.
The art in the book makes me wonder if they didn't pull a Cartographer off his job of drawing Deleware and asked him to work on this for a few days.
While technically sound, the art (which is mostly copied from stills) has a lifeless and static feel to it. Giving the book a kind of malaise....
It opens with Steve's famous crash, I don't know if this is an accurate depiction of how Steve's ship looked, it's been a long time since I've seen the pilot movie.
Despite plummetting to his death, Steve Austin is cool as a cucumber. Actually he looks kind of pleased.
The famous operating scene, what a delight this page would be to colour....
Rudy checks in on Steve, who is enjoying a drink from his chamber pot. Jeez, you'd think they'd draw Steve fighting robots or something....
Yawn, I can lift a lot.....
"How much can I save on my long distance?" A thrilling look into the day to day life of Oscar Goldman, frankly, I'd settle for a colouring book featuring Oscar Madison right now....
Finally some action, Steve is captured by Gavin McCloud!
BURP!I'm sure nothing else happens.
Some Links of Interest:
Previous Colouring Book Theatre Entries Plus The 1976 Bionic Man Catalog.
i love the turtleneck steve is rocking on the cover there.
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking that it would be impossible to remake this show today with the same title, b/c today $6 mil probably gets Steve one bionic foot, max.
ReplyDeleteGreat job with the comments on those action-packed pages. I'm sure the artist went on to a fulfilling career illustrating grade-school textbooks.
i'd love to see them remake this, with the exact same name of course, and a one-liner about how the Bush Administration never could accurately project what things cost.
ReplyDelete"$6 Million? More like 3.2 Billion Dollar Man!"
In the picture where Steve is lifting the weight: "Why isn't my bionic arming tearing itself from my human skeleton as I do this?"
ReplyDeleteI love this show, but the implausible physics just get to me these days. :)
That cover.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like Steve is pressing the button that spins the wall around, revealing his bar, disco ball, and waterbed.
Go-go Gadget Orgy-Room!!
I found that exact coloring book in mint condition uncolored or damaged. Is it worth anything?
ReplyDelete