Review: Airwolf Airstrikes, Volume 1 by Mike Baron, Jeff Mariotte, Marc Andreyko, Barbara Kesel, Rob Worley, Marc Bernardin, Adam Freeman

Print Length:144 pages

Publisher: IDW Publishing (October 6, 2015)

From Goodreads.com:  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?

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My Rating: 3 stars out of 5 stars

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.

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Airwolf Airstrikes, Volume 1 is available from Amazon.com