Although “he” still fights for freedom wherever there’s trouble, G.I. Joe is there—in a different form. In a world controlled falsely by Cobra, five “Regular Joes” travel the country in search of evidence to prove that Cobra is not who they say they are—a family company who is looking out for “you.”

Coming soon to DVD is Season 1 Volume 1 of G.I. Joe Renegades. Renegades is somewhat based off of The Rise of Cobra movie, however it holds its own as a fresh new version of the property.

At the beginning of the first episode, there is a great public service announcement that was reminiscent of the PSA’s at the end of each of the 80’s episodes…the only difference is, Cobra provides it which begins the plot for the series.

One of the new aspects about the characters are their backgrounds. The “Regular Joes” consist of Duke, Scarlett, Roadblock, Tunnel Rat and Snake Eyes, each is pretty close to their original origin, however there are some changes but, they are minimal and this old school fan doesn’t mind at all.

As the story progresses, classic characters are introduced with very different backgrounds, however, the characters are still pretty cool and its fun to figure out who each of them are. Some of the characters are Breaker, Barbecue and Law and Order.

The villains, as always, steal the show. Cobra Commander is really a bad ass—nothing like the original, he is intelligent, cold and simply dangerous. Destro is quite awesome as he usually is; he is also voiced by Clancy Brown who really takes voice acting to another level in many scenes. Other major characters in the show are Scrap Iron (who has always been a favorite of mine) Tomax and Xamot, Major Bludd, Firefly and Doctor Mindbender (depicted as a deranged young psycho in this). This group is topped by Zartan who is really disturbing because he does something different and more realistic than in the original. The Baroness, who is my absolute favorite, is probably one of the best incarnations of the character to date. The Baroness serves as Cobra public relations and handles implementing most of the lies and covers for Cobra Commander. Baroness is also the trouble-shooter who handles uprisings from towns who don’t agree with Cobra. Finally, the Baroness also handles the “if you want something done right, do it yourself” missions in which she is just a brutal agent of Cobra. All in all, I feel that Baroness is probably the best character in the show and that she should have had an action figure.

Each episode of the show caters to all the fans in one form or another; they are action packed, fun, funny and at times serious. For being a show aimed at kids, G.I. Joe Renegades is quite violent. Featuring a character being killed off in the first episode, blood, faces ripped apart and eyes going missing, this show might be a little above a Y7 or Teen rating—parental guidance suggested—at least its not censored and parents can choose if their children should watch it or not, (sounds correct to me and I am thankful that it wasn’t censored).

The DVD has 13 episodes with a few two-part episodes here and there; the art is beautiful in an anime style with great animation. The writing is really good in regards to character likeability, plot, and each individual story as a whole.
The sound is as good as your speakers can handle in 2.0 stereo and surround—which comes through in 2 speakers if you don’t change the settings, so the sound is great, there is a lot to listen to.

I highly recommend G.I. Joe Renegades to fans of G.I. Joe or to anyone who likes a good action cartoon with characters that you care about.
G.I. Joe Renegades is shown on HUB which is a high-tier cable/satellite channel, check your local listings.

Click the link to see my review on the Scarlett action figure from G.I. Joe Renegades!

Scarlett: G.I. Joe: Renegades!

GRADE: A (They got it right for a new generation without making the old generation lose interest, Renegades is a winner)!

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