MacGyver! Moscone! Moscow! A fight to the death to save the world!

Who will make it out alive? And who will never be the same again?

So, I had a fun experience with this issue. I have re-read it because I downloaded a Comixology app for my phone and was able to read it on my phone when I was at work today (on my lunch, I swear).

I liked it a lot... especially the very end scene with Mac talking to Pete on the phone. Those who like the first season should really like this comic series because it seems very much like the Season 1 formula (well to me, anyway).

Though I did notice that they may have made MacGyver a little TOO good at what he's doing (the handcuff scene in the 4th issue comes to mind). And I'm a little shocked that MacGyver was actually okay with Kari's choice to kill her brother.

However, that's just me. lol

All in all, I really liked the whole series a lot and hope they make more! Anyone get to read it besides me???

I agree with all points made. The end scene with Pete was perfect. This miniseries got me back into comics.

I bought and read all 5 in the series, but I have to say I'm pretty disappointed with it. The art is very good and they did a good job of making Mac recognizable, yet without looking like RDA (since they didn't have a license for his image), and I understand why they don't want the character to look like the actor since they are planning a new movie.

However, storywise--this seemed more like a caricature of MacGyver, than a good, updated MacGyver story. I agree 100% with the reviewer from Comic Book Resources who said: "The biggest problem comes from those moments when MacGyver does his thing and fashions a tool or a weapon from the things left around him. Not that the show was ever subtle about it, but the comic almost comes grinding to a halt when Mac walks us step by leaden step through the contraption. The drama and the tension is lost while the captions walk us through the recipe. And the ingredients don't necessarily belong where he found them. They just happened to be there as a good plot device."

And why primarily the chemistry stuff? Surely, in 2013, Mac would have a much bigger repertoire of skills, including today's technology. He has to have Pasha do his hacking for him? Really? Mac was a hacker as far back as Dexter Fillmore. I often hear people say MacGyver wouldn't work today because we have all this technology like iPads and cell phones. Well, wouldn't he know how to pull off some tricks that are just as amazing with those as he would with paper clips and household cleaners? And as someone else here said, the Mac I know definitely would have tried to talk Kari out of killing her brother.

Zlotoff may have created the *concept* of MacGyver (and he actually admits in his backstory that he didn't come up with the idea of making something from nothing, but rather a writer friend whom he can't remember ), but I don't think he gets the depth and dimension of the character that was created by RDA and the writers over time. To me, MacGyver is not a gimmick. He's more of a philosophy, if you will. He believes there is always an alternative in any situation and he uses his intellect and experience to figure it out--WITHOUT resorting to the physically simplistic solution of killing people if at all possible. Why? Because he genuinely cares about people. He's willing to go the extra mile and do the hard work of solving a problem in a way that has the best possible outcome for all people involved. Those are the qualities of a true hero which I believe made this character so popular all over the world.

I'm sorry to say this comic series does not bode well for Zlotoff's upcoming attempt at a MacGyver movie. I've feared all along that a movie would turn MacGyver into a one-dimensional gimmick and this comic series, at least IMHO, is a sad preview.

Just my 2 cents.
K

Yeah, I see where you're coming from. It's a bit of a worry for me too. MacGyver had a HUGE heart and was against the taking of human life if it could be helped... which is why it surprised me that he took it so lightly. Anyone remember his little lecture to Sam in The Stringer? lol

I think there should have been a moral lesson with Kari NOT taking Pasha's life. He may have been a bad guy and he may have deserved it, but MacGyver was always about letting the justice system decide the fate of the villains.

Granted, I'm sure he was just trying to comfort her, but sheesh... she pushed him out a window... on purpose. I think MacGyver would have a been a bit upset about that.

And, I'm presuming they're going with that "James Bond/MacGyver has a new girl in every episode" type of thing from the first Season, which is fine. But I felt the relationship between Mac and Kari was a bit... cliched? Okay, I'm not going to totally judge that one just because I'm a fanfic writer and most of my stuff is cliched. XD

I mean, it's not going to be 100% perfect, but I think Zlotoff and Co. did a pretty good job regardless. It seemed to me that they were giving it their best shot, and it's possible this series was just to see how well it was perceived.

However, I do think they got the dialogue with Mac and Pete down pretty well. Sounded just like them. XD I got a warm fuzzy feeling when Mac first talked about Phoenix and Pete. I was like... YAY! Yeah... small things make me happy. XD

Now... we just need Murdoc...

Can you guys explain to me how you think MacGyver knew that Kari pushed Pasha out the window when he wasn't there to see it (he was fighting Moscone on the roof) and Kari didn't tell him?

It's not primarily chemistry. He made a Twist lever (physics) in the first issue as well as used his SAK to pick the handcuffs. He used Limes with nails pushed through in different directions to make Caltrops in the second issue. He used hydraulics in the 3rd issue. Electronics engineering in the 4th issue and I'm not really sure which category you would put the Freon stpray in because it's kinda both physics and chemistry working together.

MacGyver's an amateur hacker Pasha's a professional so obviously would be more skilled and much quicker at doing it and speed was something they needed so he got the professional hacker to do it. Makes sense to me and it's not unheard of for MacGyver to get help from other people more skilled than him in specific areas.

OK, I see your point as well, KiwiTek--all of your listings of all the various "MacGyverisms" he used--but to me, it's all details that frankly bore me (and I easily forgot). Yes, it's cool that he can do that stuff, but my point is, that's not all that MacGyver is. Gene Roddenberry told early writers for Star Trek--"tell your stories about people, not gadgets." Again, it was cool that Star Trek had phasers and tricorders and transporters, but that stuff was not ALL that made Star Trek what it was/is. I just think there is a dimension to MacGyver that is missing in these comics which makes them flat and lifeless to me.

As for the Pasha/Kari thing, I don't remember how he knew, so I'll have to go back and read that part again.

Again, just my humble opinion, and I totally respect yours.

K

There have been comments made which talk about the comic feeling very first/second season. Which may be the same thing your talking about with the missing dimension. The MacGyver character didn't really develop until the 3rd season.

Remember in the early seasons (especially 1st season) MacGyver often talked through the MacGyverisms in voice-over or even explaining stuff to the people around him as he worked - Remember the scene from Enemy Within when MacGyver is on the back of the water truck giving us a whole science lesson in making smog?

I'm not arguing your opinion, just countering your points.

Yes, I remember all those voiceovers with the scientific explanations. Even though RDA read them very well, I began to find them annoying. I was glad when they quit doing them. I guess I do like the later seasons better as they did seem to show MacGyver as a more fully developed character.

And, you're right, KiwiTek, Mac probably didn't know that Kari knocked him out the window. After re-reading it, I see that. LOL--I think it was just wishful thinking since that is the kind of thing Mac would usually do.

K

Ahh, well that goes a long way to explaining why you didn't like this series so much. You're a later seasons fan rather than early seasons and this series is based on the early seasons.

Based on his responses to her at the end, it sounded as if she told him what happened. Could she have left it out that she pushed him? Sure... but to me, that would make her character seem a bit sketchy.

It's just one of those things that just kinda felt like it didn't fit right and I kinda raised an eyebrow. But, that's my own opinion and it didn't really stop me from enjoying or liking the series. I did like it quite a bit. lol

If anything, it's a hunch.

Did she push him?

To me it looked like she hit him with the fire extinguisher while they were fighting and he fell backwards out the window. I don't see image which shows her actually pushing him anywhere.

Basically, how I saw it was that they were fighting. He threatened her, she told him off, hitting him with the fire extinguisher which caused him to fall out the window. By her reaction, it came off as deliberate.

Now, it IS possible it was meant to come off as an accident, but it didn't look like that to me. So in way, yes, she did push him. Maybe not with her hands, but she certainly caused him to fall out the window by force.

Like I said, it's just my opinion based on how I read it. It could be that wasn't what they had intended, but it's just my take on it.

I agree, Jediferret, it looked like she knocked him out the window using the fire extinguisher...and from her reaction: "Goodbye, brother", it seemed deliberate. Again, maybe they didn't intend it that way. And we don't know if she told Mac how it happened or not--but the whole scene did seem kind of callous and not the way something like that would be handled in a typical later season MacGyver episode.

I actually do like the early season MacGyver episodes, KiwiTek, but for different reasons. Season 1 was more of a James Bond spoof, which was fun and charming, with RDA playing the character as written. Season 2 was still somewhat in that vein, though I've read RDA was given more creative latitude and began to evolve the character a little more. Same with season 3. But they really began to get into more depth and social issues I think in seasons 4 through 7 which made it even more interesting, though they still included some of the fun stuff from the early seasons. I guess I just hate to see all that go down the drain with a total reboot of the character back to season 1.

K