Street Fighter x G.I. Joe #4 Review

Welcome back to Street Fighter X GI Joe. Our last issue saw the end of the quarter-finals in which Rufus got a huge upset over Snake Eyes, Jinx managed to take down Hakan, M. Bison defeated Storm Shadow, and Guile stole the show by delivering a flying back breaker to a fully grown crocodile. In today’s issue, it’s time for the semi-finals to take place.

We open with Rufus, the luckiest idiot in Street Fighter tournament history taking on Jinx, the sole remaining GI Joe character in the tournament. Jinx, knowing that Rufus’s unorthodox martial arts style relies heavily on visual distractions, and also possibly just simply not wanting to look at the disgusting tub of lard in the obnoxiously loud Ric Flair jacket, blindfolds herself before the match. While Guile believes that this is a stupid idea, Ryu assures him that it will work. I don’t know much about Jinx’s backstory, but I do know that her sensei is described as The Blind Master, so it makes sense for her to employ such a strategy. Fortunately, Jinx’s Daredevil gambit pays off and she forces Rufus to tap out.

Next up, we have a match that pits two bitter enemies against one another. Many Street Fighter characters have a hatred of the villainous M. Bison, but few more so than Guile. Ever since M. Bison murdered Guile’s best friend, Charlie Nash, only to later bring him back as a brainwashed slave, Guile has been dead set on revenge against the twisted dictator. As such, Guile wastes no time hitting Bison with everything he’s got. However, even without Destro’s psycho drive, Bison is no pushover. Guile and Bison are at first evenly matched, but once Bison activates the back up psycho drive alluded to last issue, the fight pretty much goes entirely in his favor. Guile only gains a momentary advantage when he ducks one of Bison’s flying attacks, sending the evil dictator crashing into a car… that was randomly parked at ringside for some strange reason. Guile tries to finish Bison off with one last Sonic Boom, but misses and hits Bison’s psycho drive. Enraged, Bison takes Guile out with by hitting him repeatedly with a flaming car door.

And so our comic ends with Jinx and Bison staring each other down as the final match will soon begin.

What Works: As usual, the fight scenes were fun, intense and great to look at. What Doesn’t:

So, here’s what I was hoping to see out of this comic. Since this issue had lest fight scenes than the previous three, I was hoping we’d take some of the extra time to elaborate on some of the backstory of how these events came about. After all, there are a great deal of unanswered questions in this mini-series. How did Destro and M. Bison come to be working together? How did this tournament come about? What is the connection between Ryu and Jinx? The list goes on. Instead, we just expand upon the fight scenes and while those fights are entertaining, they lose some punch when you don’t really know anything about the backstory of the events that lead to them.

Also, I have an issue with how this crossover is being handled and it ties into my thoughts on what makes a good crossover. While Street Fighter has been well represented, GI Joe has not gotten the same treatment, and with the exception f Jinx and Destro, almost none of the characters from that side of the crossover seem to have a tangible presence in the story. Instead, they feel more like superfluous guest stars that could easily be swapped out with other Street Fighter characters. Look, I love Street Fighter with all my heart, but that doesn’t mean I want to see it given preferential treatment in a story that’s meant to cater to both fandoms, and the fact that Snake Eyes got his ass kicked by Rufus of all people last issue demonstrates to me that this is sadly the case.

Overall: 2/5

I said in my review of the second issue that this series is more flash than substance but the flash was entertaining. I do not wish to retract that statement, but I will amend it by saying that that sort of storytelling can only go so far before it becomes stale unless it is bolstered by something more substantial. I cannot say that this comic is bad, but it needs more than impressive and entertaining fight scenes to earn higher marks.