BYO Nostalgia to Warren Ellis’s GI Joe: Resolute

File this one under “Seriously, does every 80s toy need to be revisited as a summer blockbuster?” The upcoming Stephen Sommers-directed GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra seeks to make the military action figure line relevant and relatable to a new generation of kids. But what about the kids who grew up on the original animated series and are now adults, seeped in nostalgia and more than skeptical about the upcoming film? How do you re-excite them about a brand that’s been gathering dust since the Reagan administration?

Hasbro’s solution is GI Joe: Resolute, an animated miniseries running as webisodes on Adult Swim.com before being broadcast on the network Saturday, April 25, as an hour-long adventure. Existing outside the film’s continuity, Resolute celebrates the qualities that originally attracted a generation of young men to GI Joe — high-tech gadgets, explosions, missiles, muscle-y heroes, cool-as-ice ninjas, and one or two token hot chicks.

Written by acclaimed graphic novelist Warren Ellis (the man responsible for Transmetropolitan, Global Frequency, and other inspired bits of mad futurism), Resolute starts off by killing two fan-favorite characters and destroying a major world capital, laying the ground for the remaining 10 episodes. What ensues is a surprisingly dense narrative that serves the massive cast of characters well, while also providing all variety of violence.

Aside from Cobra Commander saying “crap” and some actual killing, though, the actual content isn’t perhaps as adult as the producers might have wished; maybe it’s just our jaded times, but to be truly shocking you have to do a little better than just exploding some dudes with a grenade belt. If you’ve ever seen Japanese anime, the animation style won’t seem at all special to you, but there’s little in the way of character development beyond hints of a love triangle anchored by a ninja who doesn’t talk. Which works to his advantage, actually, as most of the voice acting is stilted at best.

Ellis, according to his blog, came to the franchise without any nostalgic attachment to the GI Joe universe — which freed him up to craft his own take on the franchise. But this doesn’t mean that he’s put any effort into making it accessible to n00bs: I have no fond childhood memories of shouting “Go Joe!” (I was much more into He-Man), so while I enjoyed the action at work here, I lacked the necessary shorthand to engage with any of the characters. Perhaps if you’re cringing in horror over the thought of Step Up‘s Channing Tatum being cast as Duke, Resolute might serve as a soothing tonic. But if you’re like me, and you’re still wondering why nobody’s name is Joe, your enjoyment might be surface at best.