Gary Collinson reviews Street Fighter X G.I. Joe #5 (spoilers follow)…
The final matchup of the World Warrior Tournament, and the fate of the planet rests on the victor! Will the forces of good prevail… or will M. Bison and Destro reign supreme and enact a New World Order? The greatest Street Fighter X G.I. JOE battle ever is about to begin!
SEE ALSO: Check out a preview of Street Fighter X G.I. Joe #5 here
If you’ve been reading my previous reviews of Street Fighter X G.I. Joe, you’ll know that I haven’t been overly enamoured with this crossover from IDW Publishing. While we’ve seen some nice artwork, and it’s certainly been action-packed, each issue has suffered from repetitiveness, and it’s been seriously lacking in the story department.
Still, I’ve been holding out hope that the latter issues would bring everything together and deliver a finale worthy of these two classic franchises. For the first half, this fifth issue showed lots of promise. Unfortunately, for me, it completely then fell apart in the second half.
In the preceding issues, we’ve seen some shock results, as fan-favourites such as Ryu, Snake-Eyes and Storm Shadow found themselves on the losing end of their respective matches in the World Warrior tournament. Although this robbed us off some hugely exciting bouts which I’m sure every Street Fighter and G.I. Joe fan was hoping to see, it quickly became evident that this was part of a wider plan on the part of the good guys to ensure M. Bison was defeated and foiled in his quest to… actually, beyond winning his own tournament, I’m not sure what Bison is trying to achieve.
Anyway, as issue #5 begins, we see Jinx going up against M. Bison, in a contest that seems to be Bison’s for the taking, despite the fact that Storm Shadow trashed his Psycho Drive, rendering him a little less powerful. But then the plan comes together, as Jinx unleashes Satsui no Hado and opens a can of whoop ass on the Shadaloo chief.
By this point we’re halfway through the issue, and it’s off to a really strong start. The Jinx and M. Bison fight is followed by a a nice little sequence between C. Viper and Baroness, before a Psycho-powered Rufus spits his dummy out, demanding a third-place match against Guile, and anyone else who stands in his way
I can’t quite decide whether Street Fighter X G.I. Joe was a bad idea to start with, or a good idea badly executed. I’m leaning toward the latter. The series has its moments, for sure, but overall it feels like it could and should have been much better. We’ve got one issue to go, and I’m not optimistic, but we’ll see how it all comes together.
Rating: 5/10
Gary Collinson is a writer and lecturer from the North East of England. He is the editor-in-chief of FlickeringMyth.com and the author of Holy Franchise, Batman! Bringing the Caped Crusader to the Screen.
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Originally published June 29, 2016. Updated April 15, 2018.
