Hasbro Presents G.I. Joe Resolute on Adult Swim Written by Warren Ellis

Hasbro, creator of the toy line G.I. Joe, along with Cartoon Network's Adult Swim are bringing out the newest version of the class anti-terrorist toy line cartoon with G.I. Joe Resolute. The "micro-series" is ten 5-minute long episodes culminating into a 10-minute finale. The first ten episodes will be released through adultswim.com (and of course YouTube minutes later) starting April 17th, while the finale will air first on Adult Swim on April 25th as a one hour event with the previous episodes preceding it, making it a one hour movie event.

The series is written by Warren Ellis, famous comic book writer of such titles such as Transmetropolitan, the Authority, Astonishing X-Men, and many more. Through his website , he said he was called by Sam Register and asked if he was up for writing an "adult" version of G.I. Joe, or to be more frank, he was able to kill people. The series is rated as PG-13, and is aimed at both reviving the series with a writer who has no sentimentality to the series and would thus just create their own fan fiction, as well as give fans of the series who are now adults something to enjoy.

I've seen the first three episodes (the third one leaked to YouTube after the first two went live on adultswim.com ) and I have to say I've enjoyed what I've seen thus far. The first episode is all set up, yet two major characters are killed off right away. We don't see either of their deaths, just the bodies, but it really adds that anything is possible and no one is safe. In fact part of the advertisements for the series is that every character has an "open fate" meaning the old horror movie adage is true, NO ONE is safe!

But there is still a lot of familiar territory for the fans. Cobra Commander is still a bit dramatic (using an over dramatic way to present his demands to the world) but he is less demeaningly funny. Cobra is presented as a real threat, and they kill 10,000,000 people in one shot to show how serious they are, Ellis is quoted to say the conversation on what city would be destroyed lead to the Hasbro representative saying, "No, Warren, you cannot wipe Beijing from the face of the earth." BUT, "Wiping Moscow from the face of the earth would be fine."

The second episode has a very bad ass Snake Eyes just running through Cobra operatives, that episode ends with Storm Shadow watching his old friend so we know the obligatory Storm Shadow vs. Snake Eyes is coming and it should be phenomenal. Finally the third episode focuses on the G.I. Joe team getting their stuff together and using their brains. Some very funny stuff is said as the Joes interact with the "regular" staff, and we get to see a lot more of the G.I. Joe squad, including my personal favorite Tunnel Rat.

G.I. Joe Resolute is off to a great start with crisp animation and a crackling script. Even though Warren Ellis has no history with the franchise, everyone acts in character and come off as intelligent. There aren't any lame jokes added in to make it kid friendly. Cobra seems like a huge menace that can actually conquer the world, and the G.I. Joe squad looks like they really are the only thing that can even possibly stand a chance. Really it is perfect for both fans of the old series and those who know nothing about G.I. Joe beyond them being a bunch of action figures.

Sources: www.adultswim.com

www.warrenellis.com