Here it is folks, our first look inside the long awaited and much anticipated MacGyver comic courtesy of Comic Book Resources.

Story by:
Lee David Zlotoff & Tony Lee

Art by:
Will Sliney

Cover by:
Ciaran Lucas

Publisher:]
Image Comics

Cover Price:
$3.50

Release Date:
Wed, October 10th, 2012

When an old friend calls for help, Mac becomes involved in a web of industrial espionage, murder and a white-knuckle pursuit across the globe with a million dollar hit on his head! Can he live long enough to save the world - or has his luck finally run out?



This post has been edited by KiwiTek on 14 July 2012 - 05:08 PM

Yay!! When is it available to purchase?!?

Ok, my first thoughts? The story seems good, the dialog is passable and the facial detail is great. The bad, where is the brown bomber? Is the a members only jacket? If you color it brown it reminds too many people of the bomber. Also not thrilled with the generic face. Needs R.D.A. Iconic face and expressions. I don't even mind the hair so much

I'm stoked!!!! It looks FANTASTIC!!!

OK, now I got that out of my system.. for a few minutes at least, there is one thing I'm not thrilled about... What's with the facial hair? MacGyver is (and in my opinion still should be) clean shaved, at least at the start of the story, if he's on the run and doesn't get a chance to shave, that's understandable, but it looks like the image is of a scruffier more vagabond looking character, which I'm personally not keen on.

But on the other hand OMG!!! Voice-overs!!! Phoenix Foundation!!! MacGyver IS BACK!!!!!!

Yeah I know what you mean, but I think there's a conscious decision to move the likeness away from being RDA and making it more generic. As Lee Zlotoff has said, RDA owns his own imagine, that is to say that while he gave contractual permission for his face and image to be used for and as reference to, the TV show. He hasn't given permission for his face/likeness to be suddenly used in a whole new line of MacGyver franchise, so it's kind of a respect thing to him not to use his likeness without his permission. It's also probably easier to "re-generate" the character, as it were, if it's not locked into a particular actor. I agree it is hard to see MacGyver as NOT RDA when RDA is the only MacGyver we've ever seen and he was so much of the character.

I want to read MORE!!

I like what I see so far. Familiar elements make reading this easy, imagining MacGyver's voice and mannerisms.

Where can I buy my copy?

Looks very promising! I want more!! The writer certainly seems to have Mac's personality down. Granted, the dialogue isn't great, but that's comic books for ya. I don't usually read comic books, but I'd definitely read this! When and where can we get it? Hope it'll be available at major bookstores or online, not just at conventions or in other niche markets.

It goes on sale Oct 17, 2012 I believe and will be sold through normal comic book channels, so most good comic book stores should stock it.

I've just updated the post with this information.

Very nice to finally see some more images.
Positive notes first: the story seems to start off well, Mac's voice is all right, and the setting is real MacGyverish: a far away, exotic place.

Yet I still don't like the hair, it's too Bieber-ish, and I agree with KiwiTek: that facial growth is not MacGyver.
Moreover, I would like to see some RDA features in the way this MacGyver is depicted. RDA has set the standard, and I want to see some of that in this MacGyver. He doesn't have to be the spitting image of RDA, but I still would like to 'recognize' him. And not only in his face, but also, like MacJackson says, in the jacket. There are some key elements that define MacGyver, and I want to see them. If not, this could be anybody.

Finally, I miss a kind of 'swing' in these pictures. They could be more dynamic.
But don't get me wrong, I am looking forward to more.

A very good beginning. I can understand some comments here though. Lose the facial hair and everything is fine. I can't wait for more. I don't think we have to really worry about the Bieber-cut. I saw the kid's face on a magazine and he cut his hair not to his benefit, I might add.

Now look at page six, the third drawing. It sure reminds my of RDA's focussed look.

Anyway I can look through the comments here. But hey maybe if the comic is a hit and becomes a large comic series maybe they can have him shaved in one of the comics. Or since this just a teaser maybe it's not to late to request the facial hair gone? Maybe they can still change it for the final result?

The first issue has already been printed I believe, but that doesn't mean he couldn't shave later in the story.

In response to the facial hair, Lee Zlotoff said: "since we weren’t using RDA’s likeness, and wanted to update the character, the artist, Will Sliney, drew him that way and we all seemed to like it— as it sort of gave him a fun bit of edge— so we kept it."

So it's all about moving the character forward rather than trying to hang on to the past, which is fair enough and it doesn't mean that the character has to stay that way in any future installments.

i will defintely be buying this comic book, it looks awesome, i can't wait to read it.

I am SO HAPPY with what I'm seeing. YES.

I've already whooped about the hands in my comment on the cover art; I've been chortling over that detail ever since the cover was first released. Yeah, I wish he was clean-shaven, but as Kiwitek said, he can shave. If he does, I'll be pleased. If he doesn't -- well, I hope he does, but I'll live with it.

I posted a while back (I think?) that although part of me wishes the image were closer to RDA's specific appearance, I recognize and accept that this is not what they're going to do. A portrait version might not have worked as well: it's quite a constraint on the artist, and less important to me than having the character look and especially feel like Mac. The personality, the quirks, the body language and speech patterns -- these matter much more to me.

Love the hands: not just the shape being right, but the way they're being used in the book. When I made my post a while ago about how very much I hoped the artist would pay attention to RDA's hands, I think I mentioned not only the distinctive appearance, but the way he uses them. Mac gestures constantly. He picks up things and fiddles with them. The MacGyverisms are rooted in part in his constant kinetic awareness of the ordinary details of his physical surroundings, and part of how that shows is the fiddling.

Look at page 6. He's fiddling with a Bunsen burner. Why? Because it's there. He's having a conversation, and that's what happens when he has conversations, if there are any handy objects within reach.

Now look at the cover. That Bunsen burner is going to become very important. This is a truly fine piece of storytelling -- using a character's well-established traits to lay the groundwork for a set-up. DAMN, I am looking forward to this!!

On to other joys:

They haven't called him Angus! Thank heavens!! I'm fed up with all the endless articles that shove in the first name. Instead, he's MacGyver, Mr. MacGyver, or Mac. YES.

As Kiwitek said, Phoenix Foundation!! I was really afraid they weren't going to include that -- that there would be some blasted excuse for it not being permissible. I don't even mind if that's the only reference, as long as they don't handwave it out of existence.

Voice-over!! A good one, too: in character but not aggravating or stupid. There's no Aunt Jo in canon, but that didn't bother me. The flavour was right.

The 'voice' sounds great to me. I like the set-up with the former professor and the earnest good cause. True, the script isn't deathless prose, but it's fine. I loved the professor's dig at Mac having been the best, but annoyingly so.

Loved Mac walking into a lab full of shrubbery -- in Kenya -- and immediately saying, "What's going on? Those aren't local."

Love the hair. I have no idea what Bieber looks like anyway, and couldn't care less. I was afraid they'd try to give him short hair, in a misguided attempt to get away from the mullet.

Love the eyes -- if they'd made his eyes anything but brown, I would have been very cranky.

I'm fine with the outfit, even though the jacket isn't "the" jacket. The overall look is timeless, casual, scruffy. All good. The look in general is non-era-specific so far (except for the bad guy's Bluetooth), which I think is a very good choice. I understand that the story will be set in the current day and involve contemporary levels of technology, but starting out with a less specific feel is excellent.

Love the body language and the feeling of movement. I'm generally liking the layout and the visual storytelling. I'm very pleased with the artist so far, and looking forward to more.

I like the way the violence has been handled so far. It's there; it's being built up as a real threat; but the representation isn't in-your-face. The scene with the pullback, showing that Bad Guy #1 (Travis) has been talking to the corpse of his most recent victim, is very chilling. Much more chilling that splattery gore would be. One of the weaknesses of the show was the over-the-top tendencies of the villains; I'm hoping what I'm seeing here in the 'sneak preview' is characteristic of what the rest will be. A few posing hombres are all very well, but I'd rather have a subtler threat that I can take seriously.

The Ice Princess Science Girl (aka the Lady Scientist of the Week) is a stock character and a predictable trope, but so is the Former Teacher and the Heavily Armed Bad Guy. Yeah, we can all guess what her role will be in the story, but I don't mind the predictability, as long as they remember to equip her with brains that don't appear and disappear according to the demands of the script.

Must get to a local comic store and place an advance order. I think it's important that we show our support in advance, since we like what we see.

First off, thanks for the lovely words. Now, some things.

1) The comic is launching 10th October, not 17th, as per my last discussion with Image. We're hoping to have a NYC signing as it'll be the day before the New York Comic Con.

2) All dialogue is worked on by me AND Lee, so if someone like Aunt Jo appears? It's from Lee himself.

3) This is NOT RDA. It can't be, due to likeness rights and suchlike. Mac is unshaven because he's traveled for hours through the jungle after a several hour flight. Seriously, do you really think he shaved in the jeep? So yes, he's different. In the same way that Chris Pine's Kirk was different to Shatner's Kirk.

And yeah, on the run? shaving is the least of his worries.

4) Standard stock girl assistant is as far from the 'cliche' as you can get, as you'll see in the later pages.

5) The bomber jacket... Hmmm... Wouldn't it be nice if that appeared later in the book...

Dude! Seriously. I don't know how much more of this teasing I can take!! I'm twitching out already!

I've looked at the pages some more, and with every time I like them better. I like the voice over very much, and the way Mac talks is very much, well, Mac.
Even the hair is growing on me .

The Aunt Jo part is strange, indeed, but then, in 'The Golden Triangle' Mac tells us about a cousin Ally, so maybe she's Aunt Jo's daughter.

I agree with Beth about the violence. And yes, nice build-up, the way the bad guy is talking to someone who a few 'shots' later turns out to be dead.

Good point about Aunt Jo.

Yeah, with an electric razor. They already existed in the 80's. Or maybe he did with his SAK.

But you're right, I don't think Mac really cares how he looks after a journey. Unshaven and smelling like a monkey cage.

After 18 years since Trail to Doomsday and twenty years after the series finale, I think this comic might blow MacGyver back to life. And maybe more succesful than we could've ever imagined. We already have the failed Young MacGyver.

Mac is back thanks to Lee, Tony and Will. Keep up the good work, guys. It's appreciated.

Thanks for commenting Tony. You've made me feel a whole lot better. I'm not as weary about it now. Good to know what choices you could and couldn't make. Can't wait for more:)

Woohoo! Thanks, Tony! And thanks for doing this project in the first place!

I'm going to enlarge a bit on a couple of things I said. Yes, I'm verbose.

I mentioned that "Aunt Jo" isn't "canon" -- by which I mean that she's not something that's already been established. I also said that it didn't bother me. I can think of half a dozen legitimate ways for there to be an Aunt Jo whom Mac never mentioned before this. It doesn't matter whether we hear more about her at some point, or not: she works perfectly in that line.

Any detail that's been in Lee Zlotoff's head since 1985 or before, which has never come out, isn't part of the pre-existing canon; it's new ground. New ground is a lovely thing, as long as it doesn't undermine the old ground. One of the things that makes fans like me nervous is that we've been through a lot of undermining: in my case, it makes me stop at a detail like that and say, "Hey, this is different, but it works. Good bit there."

I actually called the sole female character this: "The Ice Princess Science Girl (aka the Lady Scientist of the Week)", not the "Standard stock girl assistant". This is an important distinction for me; it's one of the things I liked about MacGyver. Yes, there was usually a Girl-of-the-Week, but she was almost always smart and capable. (Okay, Penny Parker was an exception. She also annoys the hell out of me. I am very glad to see a Science Girl who is clearly not going to be a Penny Parker!)

The Lady Scientist of the Week had a standard role in the typical MacGyver adventure, and it was a much better role than what I usually saw in other shows. She had more to do than just faint and get rescued, or scream and run up and down corridors. She was often cool to Mac to start with: that's one of the tropes that's already been fulfilled. She was more than window dressing or a redshirt in a skirt: that's already looking likely. Best of all, her role varied, since she usually started out by being at least a bit more than stock.

So I'm already expecting something different from the usual set of clichés (depending on what one regards as 'usual'). Glad to hear that you're going to live up to that!

Sitting over here in Oz, as I am, I would expect this comic to be closer to $6-7 by the time it lands here...

Such is the nature of a smaller market a good distance from the source..

And probably closer to Christmas by the time it reaches here.

So, hopefully I might get to see it in the New Year, sometime..

Amazon might be a good bet for people outside of the US. I'll put it up on our store page under the books section as soon as it'a available through Amazon.

The only person / thing, which / who can do MacGyver's expressions, is RDA.
Can't beat the real thing. Still, amazing work!

This is a very exciting time for MacGyver fans!
And to have Tony chime in is simply AWESOME! Thanks for being here sir! It's a treat!
The preview pages are stunning... thanks for answering the questions it seems we were all thinking about image, jackets (the members only one has GOT TO GO!! haha) and scruff!! LOL!
It looks like we are going to be taking a wild ride with Mac!
I guess I'd like to know where in Mac's life we are picking up this story? is it after season seven? or somewhere earlier? He looks only a little older than Sam would be about now! Haha! And what about Pete? I hope he makes an appearance!
My main concern is: WILL THIS BE an ONGOING SERIES?!?
also I assume there will be a grafic novel collecting all six issues?

All in all I really cant wait for this to come out! I don't want to rush the rest of my summer but really....CAN'T WAIT and keep up the great work!!!

Im looking forward to seeing the macgyverisms, and how they deal with his modern cleverness. Also I gotta say, im loving what im seeing feels like the show. Lastly I feel when it goes graphic novel, their should be some special MacGyver addition SAK!

Most everything's already been said, but one nitpick -

One of the weaknesses of the show was the over-the-top tendencies of the villains; I'm hoping what I'm seeing here in the 'sneak preview' is characteristic of what the rest will be. A few posing hombres are all very well, but I'd rather have a subtler threat that I can take seriously.

Over the top can be all kinds of fun if it's played right: Murdoc was definitely that way, and he remains one of my favorite villains of all time. Since the plot here involves someone putting a hit out on MacGyver, I'm really hoping that that guy shows up. Preferably at the end - once the other guns-for-hire have all blown it, Murdoc comes in to show everyone how it's done, and gives Mac a fight he barely gets out of by the skin of his teeth.

There's plenty of characters I wouldn't mind seeing back (Pete Thornton, Jack Dalton, Harry Jackson, the Coltons, even Nikki or Penny), but if they only bring back one character in this comic other than Mac, I'm praying to God it's Murdoc.