Six Million Dollar Man - 2 Exciting Stories UPDATE

Tracks:

Birth of the Bionic Man

The Man From The Future

PDF:
Six Million Dollar Man Book and Record

Now it can be told, er, read!

A new Power Pal simply known as Reddata saw my post from a week or two ago regarding my not having the interior pages to this book and record set and generously sent them along! Thanks Reddata!

This act of geek generosity inspired me to try and make this site a little more user friendly, so if you look above where the audio links are, you'll see a link to a PDF of the "book" portion of this set. Now you can truly read as you listen! Over time I will try and add more of these PDFs to the site and it won't be limited to these tiny low-res scans. Enjoy!

Six Million Dollar Man - 2 Exciting Stories

Tracks:

Birth of the Bionic Man

The Man From The Future

These Six Million Dollar Man LPs just keep coming!

This is yet another Steve Austin-starring Power Record, featuring two stories in both audio and comic book form. Unfortunately I couldn't find scans of the comic portion of the record online, and I haven't had time to scan, cut, and paste all the pieces necessary to put it all together (my apologies).

There seems to be no end to these Six Million Dollar Man releases!

Power Records Sci-Fi Gift Pack

Power Pal Rockwell Jay Pugglesworth followed up to the post I wrote a few weeks ago regarding this unusual "Sci-Fi Gift Pack" with full scans of the front and back sleeves. Thanks Rockwell!

I have to think Peter Pan did other gift packs like this, especially for the superhero records. It's hard to do Google searches for these, because "Power Records" is such a generic term and it brings up a lot of useless stuff, but I'm hoping eventually...

Six Million Dollar Man - The Bionic Berserker

 
Track:

The Bionic Berserker

Despite the Six Million Dollar Man's superstar status at Power Records (three full LPs, plus a variant), from what I've been able to determine, he didn't get too many 45"s to himself. Other than Elves' Revolt, The Bionic Berserker is the only one of these single reissues that I've been able to find starring good old Steve Austin. I've learned, however, never to say never, so who knows what else is out there, still to be discovered?

The cover sleeve looks Neal Adams-ish, but not quite. I'm going to assume this was a Continuity Studios job, handed off to another artist on staff who was trained to draw a lot like Neal. I love that guy in the back, completely losing it over the Six Million Dollar Man's display of muscle.

The Six Million Dollar Man: Volume 2

 
Tracks:

The Haiti Connection

Operation Deep Freeze

To Win An Oscar

The Loch Ness Syndrome

Boy, did I give ol' Steve Austin short shrift on the first iteration of this blog. I covered the first LP of course, and I mistakenly assumed that was all there was. Wrong, wrong, wrong! Not only did Power Records issue that first LP in two different sleeves, but they also put out an all-original Christmas record, multiple 45s, and this second LP full of another set of audio adventures! That puts the Six Million Dollar Man up there with Superman, Batman, and Spider-Man in terms of how many different Power Records are out there with Steve Austin as the star. 

Considering how big The Six Million Dollar Man was in the 1970s, its sort of amazing that he hasn't returned to the pop culture landscape, considering nearly everything from that era has (including The Bionic Woman). I know there's been a reboot movie script floating around Hollywood for years, I wonder what the hold up is?

Audio-wise, these four stories--which I'm hearing for the first time--are pretty solid. There's a different actor playing Steve, and he dropped the attempted mimicry of Lee Majors that the other performer went for. I kinda miss it, really!

The Six Million Dollar Man - Alternate Cover

Tracks:

Birth of the Bionic Man

The Iron Heart

The Man From The Future

Bionic Berserker

I guess Power Records thought re-issuing their Six Million Dollar Man LP using photos from the actual show was a good idea, just in case Neal Adams' original failed to hook potential buyers.

Of course, no sooner do I say that I've never seen Power Record issue a "variant", then I find this. Happy to be wrong!

Six Million Dollar Man: 4 Exciting Christmas Adventures

 

Tracks:
Christmas Lights
Elves' Revolt
The Kris Kringle Caper
The Toymaker

How big was the Six Million Dollar Man as a property? Power Records gave him his own Christmas-themed LP, something not even Superman or Batman got!

I didn't have this as a kid, so I was hearing these stories for the first time when preparing this post. "Elves' Revolt" excepted, they're fairly straightforward action adventure stories, and I imagine they were fairly satisfying if you were a fan of the show. I do find it curious why the classic "na na na na na na" sound effect, the show's most lasting contribution to pop culture, is never used. Maybe it was considered copyrighted to the show only?

I can't quite place the art on the front sleeve, but I'll eat a Holo-Man 45" if the back cover isn't by longtime Batman artist Irv Novick. That portrait of Oscar Madison is a dead ringer for his work.

Six-Million Dollar Man: Elves' Revolt

Track:
Elves' Revolt

I was never that into the Six-Million Dollar Man as a kid, so I never fully grokked just how popular he was in his heyday. Case in point: not only did Power Records license the character for his own LPs, but he was picked to headline a Christmas-themed adventure, an honor not even granted to Spider-Man or the cast of Star Trek!

This adventure is pretty painfully silly, though I appreciate the voice actor playing Steve Austin trying to approximate Lee Majors' particular way of speaking. It helps if you think of this record as a prequel to The Night The Reindeer Died.

The Six Million Dollar Man

 
Tracks:

Birth of the Bionic Man

The Iron Heart

The Man From The Future

Bionic Berserker

A perfectly sensible choice to market as a comic book and Power Record, The Six Million Dollar Man never quite caught on, oddly enough. It certainly wasn't for a lack of trying--this Neal Adams sleeve art is, of course, phenomenal.

Produced by Arthur Korb.