With Skybound having hit the ground running with back to basics reboot of Transformers (and a sneaky side quest, prior to the launch of Transformers #1, in stealth crossover Void Rivals), I had high hopes for another toy based Hasbro series: GI Joe.

The problem is that this continues the last storyline from IDW’s (admittedly excellent) GI Joe series, which itself was sold as continuing the classic Marvel comics which Larry Hama had written since 1982.

With Hama back in the writer’s chair on both the IDW series and now this one, I thought we might see a similar back to basics approach.

However, despite this issue opening with a massive infodump of exposition, without going particularly deep into the sprawling cast beyond the main figureheads of each organisation, it still ends up being a hugely confusing, though action-packed, mess.

It doesn’t help that it tries so hard to be serious and gritty, a problem which much of the expository opening sequence renders near impossible – with characters named Dr Mindbender or details such as a main character being a genetic clone of Genghis Khan, this isn’t a franchise that can often weather seriousness for long.

The problem is that campy GI Joe is often just plain fun; here, it tries to be a little too serious and goes for some proper drama a little too soon – way before you can get a grip on each character.

The action sequence that makes up the bulk of the issue is well written and looks great, but that problem with a confusing number of characters – leading to most of them being stuck barking exposition for the majority of their page time – is a bit too difficult to overcome.

Had Skybound and Hama opted for a reboot instead of attempting the overly ambitious direct continuation of a previous storyline, no doubt this would have been a stronger start.

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