The Bionic Mayhew

I received my monthly shipments of comics in the mail the other day.  As I was going through all of them -- BAM!! -- immediately the cover of Bionic Man #16 stuck out.  This was one sexy Steve Austin.  As soon as I saw the artist signature, I knew why.  It was drawn by Mike Mayhew, who also turned in a sexy vision of Hawkeye naked and tied to a chair, a la James Bond in Casino Royale.  This was the best I've ever seen Steve Austin look since the Bionic Man series from Dynamite Comics started.  It wasn't just the muscles, it was the handsome face and styled hair.  It's been awhile since I really stared and studied a beautiful cover.  It took this particular cover to do the trick. To me, Mike Mayhew is sadly underutilized.  He not only draws comics, he creates stunning works of art.  I look forward to seeing much, much more of his work. 

Mike Mayhew, Artist Extraordinaire

I decided to start picking up and reading The New Avengers by Marvel because it looked like their team contained a lot of the original Avengers that I knew and loved from the 80s, especially Hawkeye (now "Ronin" -- dumb name) and Mockingbird, both from the old West Coast Avengers series when it was in its heyday. Thankfully, my expectations were met and there was an actual enjoyable storyline that could stand alone outside the goings-on of the Marvel Universe.

I also picked up The New Avengers Annual #3 since it came out around the same time I started looking into The New Avengers monthly series. All I can say is: WOW. The art is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. Who is this Mike Mayhew and why am I one of the last to discover how fantastic and realistic his art is? I spent longer reading this particular annual than I did other comics, just for the art alone. I had to absorb the detail and realism that Mayhew put into it. Otherwise, I wouldn't have done the comic justice. Of course, it helped that Hawkeye (Clint Barton) was naked in a chair, a la Daniel Craig in Casino Royale.

Sadly, I soon discovered that Marvel is cancelling The New Avengers...along with all their other Avengers comics. I'm not sure what they have planned, but let's hope those plans include Mike Mayhew!

Mockingbird:

Captain America: