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It's spy vs spies in our sneak peek at Dynamite's Charlie's Angels/Bionic Woman crossover
Nostalgia is big business these days across all platforms, but none so much as the immersive medium of comic books, with its mashups of Batman '66, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., The Banana Splits, and colorful crossovers with Looney Tunes and Hanna-Barbera cartoon characters.
Pairing two popular properties from the swingin' '70s, Dynamite Comics' new Charlie's Angels/Bionic Woman series takes a cue from this rampant revival with a fresh miniseries sure to make you break out your bell-bottoms and puka shells — and SYFY WIRE has an exclusive early peek inside with some intriguing creator comments.
Written by Cameron DeOrdio (Josie & The Pussycats) and matched with big-haired, period-correct art by Soo Lee (Strange Attractors), colors by Addison Duke, and letters via Tom Napolitano, the spy-vs.-spy storyline finds Charlie's Angels grabbing an assignment to steal a dangerous scientific patent and return it to its mysterious inventor. During the heist, they encounter their most resourceful and skillful counterspy yet: the Bionic Woman, Jaime Sommers.
This new series is set in the early '80s after the alluring agents' initial programming run, when the Office of Scientific Investigation becomes privatized and its sacred patents are sold off to a military contractor hoping to take bionics onto the battlefield.
"With Josie, we were going for a sort of 'Saturday morning cartoons for 20-somethings' vibe, with madcap adventures and a pretty loose overarching plot that rewards reading in order but also allows readers to dip into any issue," DeOrdio tells SYFY WIRE. "Charlie's Angels/Bionic Woman is not like that. This is a book with a heist at the center of its plot. I had to carefully reread each issue before writing the next, and I worked off a pretty in-depth outline to make sure it all hangs together. I kind of loved it."
He adds, "The Angels are tasked with stealing the formula for a chemical compound with devastating military uses and miraculous medical applications, currently patented by a private defense contractor. Jaime, who owes her life to some of the people at that same defense contractor, is tasked with defending it. Soo Lee's art — especially her heavy inks — does an amazing job of conveying the intensity of moments, but also the lighthearted charm of the characters."
"I grew up with the early-2000s Charlie's Angels movies and even caught a little of the short-lived Bionic Woman reboot that was coming out as I was getting acclimated to college life and wanted the comforting familiarity of Katee Sackhoff glaring at people," he admits. "I have to say, the research was a lot of fun. I wanted to dig deep into both original series, because I love finding little bits of lore I can exploit or amplify."
Check out our exclusive six-page preview of Dynamite's Charlie's Angels/Bionic Woman #1, out July 3.
