The Six Million Dollar Man – The Iron Heart

Friends, long before Lee Majors was getting involved with the likes of Deadites and playing Brock Williams, the Father of Ashley J. Williams (Bruce Campbell) in Ash vs Evil Dead, he was probably better known for portraying either Colt Seavers in The Fall Guy or Colonel Steve Austin in The Six Million Dollar Man. In my household it was the latter that was must see TV, and I have very fond memories of sitting in the middle of the living room with my Father and watching both The Six Million Dollar Man as well as the spin-off series The Bionic Woman. And while in my past articles I have frequently pointed out that money was incredibly tight when I was growing up, I can also vividly remember the joy when my Father purchased one of the Kenner Steve Austin dolls for me, not from a department store but at the local gas station down the street from our house.

I can tell you that I went absolutely everywhere with that Six Million Dollar Man doll, I was scoping out folks all the time with the patented “bionic eye” on the toy. A gimmick allowing children to look through a small hole in the back of the doll’s head to see through the built-in wide angle lens. Or pressing the button on the back of the toy to cause Colonel Steve Austin to use his bionic strength to lift an engine block. While I may not have been lucky enough to get that Bionic Transport and Repair Station, at the very least I did lay my hands on The Six Million Dollar Man Power Records LP from back in 1976.

Featuring some pretty exceptional cover artwork by Neal Adams (Batman, Green Lantern/Green Arrow), the LP contained 4 stories following the exploits of Steve Austin with “Birth of the Bionic Man”, “The Man from the Future”, “Bionic Berseker”, and “The Iron Heart”.

It is that last story that we are sharing today, it involves Steve Austin being sent to the fictional country of Valmaria by Oscar Goldman, his friend and the director of OSI. Valmaria is ruled over by a man named King Sydor, who appears to be something of a tyrant and curiously enough insists that Steve accept his daughter’s hand in marriage upon arrival on the threat of execution if he should refuse. Princess Syla however is able to make her Father see reason when Steve understandably passes on the chance to marry the complete stranger and our hero is thrown into prison instead of being killed outright. But it turns out that a revolt has begun in Valmaria, and a mob quickly storms the palace and kidnaps the princess. Can the Six Million Dollar Man find a peaceful solution before it is too late?