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Airwolf Airstrikes #1-7
Airwolf Airstrikes Volume 1
Hawke, Santini, and the coolest attack chopper ever made are back in this epic reimagining of the hit TV classic! The world has never seen a clandestine war machine like Airwolf -- this nuclear-powered helicopter sports a cloaking device, an EMP generator, and more firepower than most fighter jets its size. After wresting control from the mysterious black ops organization that created it, pilots Stringfellow Hawke and Dominic Santini set out on a series of bold, new adventures around the world as they work to quell simmering international threats before they combust. Hawke and Santini may be good, but they aren't the only state-of-the-art weapons program in existence. Will they figure it out before Airwolf goes from hunter to hunted?
- GenresGraphic NovelsComics
144 pages, Paperback
First published August 25, 2015
20 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
October 21, 2015
Reviewed at my site: Airwolf: Airstrikes
Disappointing as it's yet another tie-in comic that misses what was good and different about the show (realizing that yeah, it was a dopey 80s action show, but there were a few nuggets of depth that they completely ignore).
Disappointing as it's yet another tie-in comic that misses what was good and different about the show (realizing that yeah, it was a dopey 80s action show, but there were a few nuggets of depth that they completely ignore).
December 14, 2015
I think part of the charm of Airwolf for me is how dated it is, and this comic takes that away. If these are the kind of comics you enjoy you'll probably like it, but it just wasn't my cup of tea.
Received from NetGalley.
Received from NetGalley.
October 8, 2020
I remember Airwolf as a teenager. It's over the top the action ranked it up there with other shows of the period like the Dukes of Hazzard. It was easy to recognize the impossible scenes but still had the viewer's undivided attention. It was that 80s excess rolled into television. I was happy to receive the Airwolf Airstrikes graphic novel to review. I was hoping it would bring back some of my youthful memories.
Airwolf, the helicopter, is as awesome as it always was and updated for the new century. The regular cast is back, however, Santini no longer looks like Ernest Borgnine or Italian for that matter. Like the television, the graphic novel is big on action and light on story and as far-fetched as the original. The stories are all very short and really need to be developed. Flames and explosions can hold one's attention on the tv screen but its very hard to do in print. This graphic novel does its best to pull it off, but it doesn't pull through as intended.
I wanted to like this series, but it does not seem to translate well into the 21st century. In the age of drones, satellite surveillance, GPS pinpointing of locations, the helicopter loses much of its awe. Even the Marine Corps is starting to phase out helicopters. Airwolf is an admirable attempt to bring the series into the present, but the task may be unattainable. A good effort.
Airwolf, the helicopter, is as awesome as it always was and updated for the new century. The regular cast is back, however, Santini no longer looks like Ernest Borgnine or Italian for that matter. Like the television, the graphic novel is big on action and light on story and as far-fetched as the original. The stories are all very short and really need to be developed. Flames and explosions can hold one's attention on the tv screen but its very hard to do in print. This graphic novel does its best to pull it off, but it doesn't pull through as intended.
I wanted to like this series, but it does not seem to translate well into the 21st century. In the age of drones, satellite surveillance, GPS pinpointing of locations, the helicopter loses much of its awe. Even the Marine Corps is starting to phase out helicopters. Airwolf is an admirable attempt to bring the series into the present, but the task may be unattainable. A good effort.
February 12, 2018
There are books that might look great because of its cover. This is one of them. As for the content? Not so much. This is an anthology of generic war stories by well-known writers mixed with the Airwolf idea, executed by comic book artists you probably never heard about beforehand. Though there isn't much left of the 80's TV show by the same name, as basically all the characters have been gender or color swapped and all the concepts been updated to fit a post-9/11 world. Hell, even the helicopter itself doesn't look right. Saving this from total disaster is the last story included, bringing back the cabin at the lake, Tet the dog, the original Archangel and Hawke's brother Saint John. This would have even set up a Knight Rider crossover with that comic series published by Lion Forge/IDW, too, though these titles got canceled first, so this never happened...
April 2, 2016
I’m gonna try to come at this as simply a book, albeit a graphic novel, but the thing is I was a huge fan of the TV show as a kid—probably would not have bothered reading this otherwise—so I can’t help comparing it.
The first thing is getting used to the changes, as this is technically a “reimagining,” as in Battlestar Galactica, definitely not a continuation. Santini is now young and black rather than old and an Italian cliché; it takes them quite a while to explain it’s his son, and then go further to say he was adopted. Also different is Archangel, now a beautiful young woman rather than an older one-eyed guy. However, since that’s more of a position than a name, and the guy shows up later, it isn’t as jarring. At one point I wondered if it was really Stringfellow or his brother, but thankfully that didn’t last long.
One thing I enjoyed was that, unlike a lot of graphic novels, this isn’t one overreaching arc, but rather each of the collected comics is a separate episode. We get our heroes saving a Pakistani scientist from prison; taking out some Indonesian bad guys; battling an Arab warlord in what looks to be Somalia but could be Qatar or such; rescuing a supposed teen drug lord. . . okay, that one stretched things a bit much.
They’re even going up against a militia on home soil who’s gotten their hands on a stealth aircraft; too bad about that brave female agent. This was most likely the weakest entry, as it featured the stealth in a dogfight with Airwolf, which is completely impossible, as anyone familiar with stealth technology would know. The writers might have some knowledge of military operations, but the use of an obsolete Warthog—the plane, not the animal—in Indonesia is also a miss. The Indonesian military guy uses the phrase “Crispy critters,” and I really do hope it was intentionally funny. In fact, all the foreign officers speak Big Word English.
As one would expect of a woman drawn in what is essentially a comic meant for men—or more likely teenaged boys—Archangel is drawn hot, but there’s a good reason nobody likes her. The writing is pedestrian, the plots simple. . . but then I don’t remember the original winning any writing Emmys either. The best line had to be: “Queen of Deceit in a kingdom of liars.”
For this fan, a bit disappointing. As an objective observer, it’s okay.
3/5
The first thing is getting used to the changes, as this is technically a “reimagining,” as in Battlestar Galactica, definitely not a continuation. Santini is now young and black rather than old and an Italian cliché; it takes them quite a while to explain it’s his son, and then go further to say he was adopted. Also different is Archangel, now a beautiful young woman rather than an older one-eyed guy. However, since that’s more of a position than a name, and the guy shows up later, it isn’t as jarring. At one point I wondered if it was really Stringfellow or his brother, but thankfully that didn’t last long.
One thing I enjoyed was that, unlike a lot of graphic novels, this isn’t one overreaching arc, but rather each of the collected comics is a separate episode. We get our heroes saving a Pakistani scientist from prison; taking out some Indonesian bad guys; battling an Arab warlord in what looks to be Somalia but could be Qatar or such; rescuing a supposed teen drug lord. . . okay, that one stretched things a bit much.
They’re even going up against a militia on home soil who’s gotten their hands on a stealth aircraft; too bad about that brave female agent. This was most likely the weakest entry, as it featured the stealth in a dogfight with Airwolf, which is completely impossible, as anyone familiar with stealth technology would know. The writers might have some knowledge of military operations, but the use of an obsolete Warthog—the plane, not the animal—in Indonesia is also a miss. The Indonesian military guy uses the phrase “Crispy critters,” and I really do hope it was intentionally funny. In fact, all the foreign officers speak Big Word English.
As one would expect of a woman drawn in what is essentially a comic meant for men—or more likely teenaged boys—Archangel is drawn hot, but there’s a good reason nobody likes her. The writing is pedestrian, the plots simple. . . but then I don’t remember the original winning any writing Emmys either. The best line had to be: “Queen of Deceit in a kingdom of liars.”
For this fan, a bit disappointing. As an objective observer, it’s okay.
3/5
January 14, 2016
I was probably the biggest fan of this show for my generation (seriously, I watched this daily when it was in reruns. I couldn't get enough) - so I was beyond excited when I saw that it was being re-imagined as a graphic novel. I was expecting the same campy awesomeness that I experienced when watching the show.
And I was let down.
As a story - its as good as could be expected. There was a basic story-line with a lot of action (similar to the original TV show), however it does not translate quite as well in print as it did on the television screen.
I think my biggest issue with the whole thing however is the fact that they flat out said "Santini" in their synopsis and yet instead of the old Italian mentor that I've come to know and love - I got this young black man who was apparently the "adopted son" of the man I grew up watching. Its not that I had a problem with the character so much, but I would have loved to have seen the man I remembered and then had his son introduced.
All things considered I think this re-imagining may do well with the younger generations - those of us who didn't grow up watching the original series every day. However, for us due hard fans - it just doesn't hit the mark.
DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review. This has not affected my review in any way. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are 100% my own.
August 31, 2016
It's hard to come at this graphic novel from anywhere other than the nostalgic colored past of my youth. In many regards it is an adequate update of the original material. There are liberties taken; reimagining that was done to make it more modern, but thankfully a return to basics in the (hopefully soon to arrive) sequel is show. An exciting and often fan-sought cross over also seems to be in the works as Lionforge's "Knight Rider" is seen in the last few panels. I'm looking forward to seeing if the writers and artists can deliver on this tacit promise in the future and live up to the greatest these shows brought to the entertainment world.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews