Though shows such as He-Man & The Masters of the Universe and Transformers have found various ways to transcend their cartoon-as-toy-commercial origins over the last few decades, fellow 80s ‘toon property Thundercats has really struggled to do the same.

It’s puzzling as to why; it’s no more daft or unsubtle with its premise, characters or place names than something like He-Man, for example (though trust me, it’s far from subtle in all of those aspects) but writers have found it difficult to either continue the story or reboot it for a more discerning modern audience.

A darker animated reboot in 2011 was the closest it came, but it felt as if Cartoon Network didn’t know what to do with it, or indeed how to market it.

A Teen Titans Go!-style comedic reboot, Thundercats Roar, was poorly received and didn’t last last its first season in 2020.

Numerous comic companies have tried to reboot and revitalise Thundercats over the last 20 years or so, to varying levels of success – though none of these lasted particularly long.

So when Dynamite Entertainment announced the latest comic book reboot, I can’t say I expected much from it.

Yet a back to basics approach and, undoubtedly, a strong sense of nostalgia for Thundercats finally seeming to kick in, has led to this first issue being an incredible success even before #1 has made it to retail and digital stores.

So, for the uninitiated, what is it all about?

Well, this incarnation of Thundercats really does start right at the beginning, with the anthropomorphic, feline Thunderians evacuating the planet of Thundera, as it’s destroyed by the Mu’Tants of Plun’darr (told you this wasn’t subtle).

Only one ship makes it out of the massacre, though not unscathed; the vessel loses its leader as it makes its way to Third Earth – chosen as their new home world – and one of the younger passengers, Lion-O, grows to maturity prematurely, due to a malfunction in his stasis pod.

Though he’s supposed to be a cub, it’s perhaps for the best that he reaches adulthood early, as he is next in line to inherit the leadership role.

Also, not only are the Mu’Tants are still in pursuit, but there’s an ancient evil lurking on Third Earth – and they have their sights set on the power of the Eye of Thundera too.

So this first issue does a great job of bringing new readers up to speed with not only the premise of the series, but also with its cast of heroic cat people too.

Everyone gets a chance to be introduced, with readers getting a quick look at who everyone is.

Declan Shalvey is currently delivering a strong series for Marvel with Alien, but unlike in that series, he keeps things focused on the bare minimum here, mindful that it’s a back to basics approach to both introduce new readers and remind the original fan among us, who are now middle aged, of just what the appeal was with Thundercats in the first place.

Sure, the expository opening is a bit clunky and really exposes the silliness, perhaps even laziness of the original character names and settings.

Yet still, this is unpretentious, straightforward and fun; and, despite its back to basic mission, still has a surprise or two up its sleeve for the third act and the climactic cliffhanger.

Despite that, it’s difficult to see just why people are going quite so gaga for this comic. It’s fun and it hits all of the right notes when it comes to nostalgia, but it does feel like a bit of a relic of a bygone age.

To go back to the aforementioned Transformers, Daniel Warren Johnson is currently showing the world just how to go back to basics, while still modernising and rebooting a classic 80s cartoon show.

In the case of Thundercats, though Shalvey has managed to go back to basics – and, admittedly, Drew Moss has done a phenomenal job with the art – it feels like it needs a bit more modernising in order to be an unqualified recommendation from me.

No matter my thoughts, there is no denying that Thundercats is off to an incredibly impressive start from a commercial point of view, so there’s plenty of time for it to move beyond its rather simplistic opening chapter and deliver something a bit more rounded for us jaded, cynical old fans.