The first issue of the new MacGyver comic is on sale now.

In this issue MacGyver is invited to Kenya by his old Biology teacher, Professor Cornwell who believes he has discovered a solution to world hunger, but once there MacGyver is abruptly interrupted by a hit-man and finds himself being pursued around the world with a million dollar hit on his head.

I was really curious how they could promise a world wide release--I did some research over here (northern Europe) and didn't find a single retail store for Image Comics... it's not really my field of expertise, though.

However, this is 2012, and there's always an app for everything, even in this case! For those of you who can't find a comic store near you, just search for Image Comics on AppStore (can't say whether it's available for Android or not). Once you've installed the app, the MacGyver album is on the front page.

Before I go on though, I need to double check--this isn't supposed to be a spoiler free thread, right?!

Well this topics's for discussing all aspects of the first issue of the comic so I think spoilers are going to have to be a given

No pictures or scans of pages though as that will be breaking copyright.


My local comic store wont have the comic for another 2 weeks!!!

KiwiTek, the minute I saw your announcement here, I went straight to Amazon, where the book is shown in all its glory, and bought a copy. I won't be home when they deliver, but I sure will have something to look forward to!!

Comic stores have lists from all the major comic producers of all titles coming out 2 months in advance (I think). They then advance order the comics they want and have them in store ready for the release date.

Love the first issue I didn't have much to do yesterday so buying this was my number one priority haha. I almost ordered it on Amazon as the comic shop closest to me didn't open until late in the afternoon but I didn't feel like waiting so I went to a different one to get it I got one of those transparent protective sleeves too. Read through it about 20 times and I'm already obsessing about the next one lol

Looks cool! Anyone know where the comics will be available? (Ie, can you get them at major bookstores, or will you have to go to a specialty comics store?)

All the actual comic stores I've checked so far had it yesterday. I looked at major book stores such as Borders and Barnes & Noble and though they have graphic novels and "hard cover" comics, collections, etc. they didn't have MacGyver. Also, Amazon.com has it too.

Comic stores have lists from all the major comic producers of all titles coming out 2 months in advance (I think). They then advance order the comics they want and have them in store ready for the release date.

Yes--I think part of the problem is that we don't really have any major comic stores over here. In the larger cities, maybe, but not here, and they don't seem to have a strong presence online.

But, as I have an iPad, I had no problems reading the digital magazine--in fact, on most occasions I prefer to read comics in digital format since you can enhance it and flip it (etc) as you please.

So, what are my thoughts about the magazine? Well, I do think it's an interesting start, and I actually find it difficult to review the story since we still have four parts left. I think it was an excellent choice to start with that e-mail, since that pretty much establishes that this episode of MacGyver is set in present times (they've even established a date, and furthermore, he's got an e-mail address! I couldn't resist checking out whether phoenixfoundation.org is already taken--and it isn't! I really hope it will be registered by a MacGyver fan, hehe! )

The "new" MacGyver doesn't really look like RDA, but there are some very MacGyver-like one liners. I do hope that some previously known characters from the past will return; that would certainly add to the experience! I'd love to see Pete again...

Will Sliney's drawing style is very dynamic, and I love the art work; the colors are very vivid too. I was, however, at least initially a bit surprised that the imagery is way more graphic than I expected. I don't have *that* much experience with comics, and I have no doubts this is the norm for comic magazines in general, but compared to the original MacGyver series, it's pretty graphic at times...

I'm very much looking forward to the next part to see how the story develops!
Voting "Good" so far!

The domain is actually taken already, but nothing is being done with it. I hope it's not a case of cybersquatters holding on to it in the hopes of selling it for a profit. I see phoenixfoundation.net is worth $US888.00 at this very moment.

I read that small part that was put up here on the site and thought it was good.

I'm going to try that app that NightTinkerer was talking about.

Down here in South Africa there are no such thing as a comic book store, only book stores with some comics and we are so behind schedule it would probably only be available NEXT year.

If you want a physical copy I would just go with amazon.



P.S. The comic is now available in our store

Ok, I just read the comic online and my head is still spinning with excitement!!

It looks amazing! The art and colors are fantastic. The story so far is just like one of the 3-4th season action episodes. The MacGyverisms seem to be on par with the show. The bunsen burner flame thrower took my liking a little more than the twist wrench, but both remind me of MacGyver's seen in the show. He's actually used the twist wrench idea in Hellfire to lift the pipes of Pete's leg.

The story itself seems to have a number of twists and turns in it all ready and there's plenty of action.

It's a little hard to vote on this as we don't have anything else compare it with, but my overall impression is that this is as good as one of the better action episodes from any of the first 3 seasons really and so I'm giving it an excellent.

I still don't have my physical copy, so I broke down and bought a digital copy because I was basically foaming at the mouth wanting to read it. XD

Wow! Nice intro so far! I'm curious to see how it develops. :3

I like Mac's look as well, even though he doesn't really look a lot like RDA, but... I'm not too unhappy about it. I noticed they made Mac a bit scruffier with the the unshaven look. All in all, I'm not disappointed! Can't wait for the next issue!

...is it November yet?

yeah Tony Lee posted a reminder on twitter that this MacGyver is not suppose to look like RDA. It's a more generic version.

It sounds a bit like the people involved might be getting a little tired of people not getting that this isn't RDA as MacGyver. Which I guess is understandable. They have said it many times already.

Tony also commented a while back that Mac was unshaven because he'd just traveled around the world to Kenya - which I took as a good explanation and indication that the unshaven thing might not be a permanent look.

I'm one of the people willing to cut them slack about the appearance of 'New Mac' -- but they are now finding out, from general audience response, that it may not have been the best choice. If that's a common reaction from the average paying reader (or, worse, the average potential reader who's making a buying decision) -- getting defensive on Twitter is not going to help. It's only going to make the negative reaction worse.

Same thing with the unshaven aspect: if it requires external explanation, the look didn't work. The average buyer doesn't care about external explanations. Yes, the character just rode through the jungle for an unspecified number of hours -- but based on that rationale, why is he wearing a jacket? An argument to selective realism rarely flies -- it's one of those debates that's already lost when it starts.

It's occured to me that the standard in comic books based on media (Star Trek, Doctor Who, etc.) is to use the appearance of the actor who is identified with the character -- so they've gone in opposition to expectations. If they're getting pushback, it might be wiser to listen to the feedback rather than getting cranky and defensive.


On the availability angle: you can direct order from Amazon (or here), but if you can get a local bookstore to special-order the other issues for you in advance, that will be good for the local bookstore, and also for the global sales of the comic, which will help make a good case for more MacGyver projects to be done! Leverage the fandom!

This is true, but when you reboot a character or show you don't use the old actors or images. And this is essentially a reboot.

And lets be brutally honest here. RDA isn't going to live for ever and if we want any hope of having any new MacGyver material we need this re-image.

You do make a good point though, if something has to be explained outside of the comic, then it hasn't been done properly inside the comic. On the other hand how to you explain an external perception from inside the story?

I guess the unshaven look could have been easily handled by a simple remark along the lines of "I could use a place to shave." mixed into the conversation when he first arrives at the institute.

I'm actually not really worried about the look myself. The jacket doesn't bother me because MacGyver wore a number of different jackets through out the show so this could just as easily be one he pulled out of the wardrobe. And apart from the actual look of MacGyver himself everything else is pretty much dead on for MacGyver in my opinion.

I was gonna mention yesterday (but got sidetracked), that I figured the generalized re-imaging was because of the reboot. Doesn't bother me at all really. The scruffy appearance doesn't really bother me either.

I think it's great the series is getting a reboot at all. I'm sure that even if RDA isn't playing the role of MacGyver, he supports the reboot and will offer his experience to future projects if need be. I think at this point, they really want the soul of MacGyver to live on more then his appearance.

Just my two cents

Very well said.

The only thing that made me a liiiittle bit disappointed so far was when I realized that Zlotoff only has the rights to use the characters featured in the pilot, (for any of his productions--no matter if it's a comic magazine, a musical or a movie...) which means no Pete, no Dalton, no Murdoc... etc...

(Who knows about Andy Colson... but still, meh. )

I don't know if it's even possible that he'd buy/obtain the rights from Paramount, but I very very much hope it is!!

I wouldn't see why Paramount wouldn't at least support it or something... more money for them, right? I don't know anything about showbiz though. I hardly watch TV as it is anyway. LOL

So, I finally got the physical copy today and I enjoyed Zlotoff's story behind MacGyver, well... the first part anyway. I just find it interesting to see how MacGyver came to be.

Man... I got it bad... XD GIMME ME MORE!!!! *drools*

It's actually a grey area rather than an absolute. He can at this very moment legally make reference to the TV show... and he has already referenced the Phoenix Foundation in this first issue of the comic.

There is a chance that he will be able to get rights to use the characters from the TV show if he hasn't already gained them.

One little thing which does irk me a little is that I wish they had said the professor was Macs teacher at Western Tech instead of Caltech.