devilkais on DeviantArthttps://www.deviantart.com/devilkais/art/X-men-The-Animation-474551514devilkais

Deviation Actions

devilkais's avatar

X-men The Animation

By
Published:
17.4K Views

Description

And we go back to the Merry Mutants in different media ! We have seen them in the 9th art ( I tip my hat once again to Nicieza, PAD, Wheezie and Lobdell for getting me to actually love most of these characters. Then I raise my middle finger to Marvel for NOT allowing the concept to be properly used to its full potential and evolve !)
But what about the 7th art ? How does it serve the children of the Atom ? Does the distillation work to their advantage ? Do reimaginings give us a fresh look at the whole concept (and surpass the comics...Not that it is that hard these days...).

Let's see through the series I know ! (and in case you're wondering; None of the live-action movies impressed me. X-men is this kind of franchise that can only be adapted and enhanced through Animation. However, if THIS is the next movie, SIGN ME UP ! www.youtube.com/watch?v=JutAPo… ).




--- PRYDE OF THE X-MEN (1989) ---



I've discovered this special by chance and it is one of the oldest, might as well give it a glance. And boy is cocaine one hell of a drug ! Stan Lee's narration does not exactly remove that acid trip feeling, it reinforces it !
Let's break this through remarks :
The Plot: Kitty is hired in the X-men, meanwhile Magneto is freed and decides to send a meteor to destroy mankind for the sake of being a douche ... That's about it.

- The X-men themselves ? Wellll... Cyclops is okay despite sounding like he's in his 40's. Dazzler is there (...Why not? I like Allison so I am okay with it). Storm is there and that's about it. Colossus is there and that's about it . Wolverine is an australian redneck who thinks that Toad is a dingo (though credit where credit's due: This cartoon anticipated Hugh Jackman and the Doucheverine bastardization A DECADE before their conception ! Kudos !). Nightcrawler is... HOLY SHIT !  What in hell did they do to Kurt ? His voice here belongs in a Fanfic Friday reenactement ! Not to mention his body language.

- And our titular character ? Miss Pryde herself. It became clear to me that she is very lucky to be able to phase... I am  actually tempted to strangle her since THIS iteration reminds me why I am generally apathetic towards the Claremont/Byrne run and her character in general (apparantly this discards me as a TRUE x-men fan. 'Kay,fine, I'll live with that.). And as you may guess , her ability is pretty haxxed but not as powerful as her constant whining. That's me being forgiving of course !

- Our villains are ...errr... kind of odd too. We have the terrifying brotherhood of Mutants in its most mish-mashed and picked at
random incarnation :
* Magneto who wanna blow up mankind with a comet because of reasons. He also constantly abuses Lockheed, making him the most likable character of the special.
* Toad being beat for beat an Igor-type character... who runs after Lockheed in such a suspicious way that he may actually be an FFF character !
* The Juggernaut... could easily be the only antagonist for a 22 minute special but is, unfortunately, reduced to a goon.
* The Blob ... or his retarded cousin (I know Fred is a brute but he is not brain dead !)
* The White Queen , who can now throw psychic spears because... why the fuck not ? ( And , this is purely a personal take but when I read Emma Frost , I always imagine her sounding like Agent L from the MIB cartoon, NOT the wicked witch of the Wizard of Oz ! And can you blame me img4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20… i123.photobucket.com/albums/o2… )

All in all, this is tolerable AT BEST and it's on the bad side of corniness. It is simply WAAAAAY too rushed and cheesy ! They made it so it can be mocked , there is no other reason for it to exist .
However, I have to point out that the animation and chara-designs are good ! It is clear that this had a big enough budget to have this kind of quality.





--- X-MEN : THE ANIMATED SERIES (1992-1997) ---



Ah ! The legendary cartoon itself ! How does it hold up ? Pretty well in fact ! It is eons better than most of the post-2001 (and all of post-2006) X-men I've read anyway. I ask for superheroes and it delivered on that end.
Let's us discuss it s flaws first :
- The budget was not all there when it comes to animation. The chara-design is not always in its favor since it is a bit stiff at times. And holy shit was half of season 5 fugly ! What it could have been had the show's animation been the one of its 2 japanese openings www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rSw4X… ! ( CRY FOR THE MOOOOOOOON !) . DAMMN YOU BUDGET !
- The censorship is indeed kind of annoying (though I do not hold it against the show itself, it is the cross to bear for any of these types of cartoons. And to its credit, it manages to  have genuinely dark and gripping moments !)
- Some characters could have been indeed used a little more frequently. I know it had to end somewhere but ...
- Funny how for an institute, Xavier has only ONE student .... Maybe it is a mascarade so that outsiders do not guess that it is a hive of heroic outlaws (3 of which with an actual criminal record.).

NOW With those out of the way, let us discuss what more than makes up for those flaws :
+ Most Episodes have great pacing and I am thankful they did not start with the origin of the team like so many shows do.
What happens here ?
In the first episode, the X-Men save a young girl from the robots trying to capture her. Then, you get to know everyone's name, their respective powers, and that they're the good guys. The action scenes are good and the exposition is not bothersome.It's pretty clever since that way, the viewer would like to know more about these guys.
+ Of all line-ups, it has the best team of X-Men ever. In fact, if I have to sum up each one of them:
  * Pr Xavier never pissed me off in this cartoon despite me seeing him as past any sort of use post-Onslaught (where he should have died !) in the comics.
  * Cyclops is, for a guy who's said to be a stiff, able to get pretty cool moments and manages to be a competent and resourceful leader. Plus his best interaction in this cartoon is with Logan. Whenever they do team-up, it WORKS !
  * Storm's hamminess is simply glorious (naysayers take a hike to hell, the over-the-topness and camp of this show ADD to its fun and overall likability ! And Ororo is a prime example of why this cartoon is still a barrel of fun !). And when she talks, you obey !
  * Wolverine is actually a triumph of writing here. Not only does he get the best lines in the show but he succeeds  where the later iterations in comics FAIL: Logan here is a likable grump with a heart of gold and I just never get tired of him. (Cal Dodd FTW !)
  * Jean Grey is the only character who didn't benefit from the first season. But as the show progressed and improved so did the writing for her (especially when they gave her her temper back, so I'll give it a pass).
  * Beast is obviously awesome ! He is so charming that even sentient vessels are wowed by his smoothness. Plus he follows the TMNT rules of disguise; a fedora and trench coat. UNCONSPICUOUS !
  * Rogue has her best incarnation ever ! The Animation format did wonders for her (unlike the 616 comics where you go to square 1 every damn time a creative team changes...) and as such, I'll always see Lenore Zann's Rogue as THE optimal version.
  * Gambit is easily the most pleasant part of the team (which says a lot ). As for the 3rd person speech, I think it is done in purpose to tell the viewer " Yup , I can totally do it and get away with it . Et Je vous emmerde royalement :) ". Hands down my favorite in the team and bearer of the most amazing speedos in the history of animation ! Tends to have some deep contempt towards the guilds and TV dinners ...
  * Jubilee ... Okay, where's the horribly useless and annoying kid people keep hammering about ? This is what I kept hearing about her and I was kind of worried before I got to watch the show. But when I did, I do wonder WTF were they talking about ?! Because as Watered-down she is in the show (censorship and all that. Murdered parents are more hinted at than explicitely said...) compared to her Gen-X version,  she always fucking TRIES to improve and be helpful. Add to that the fact that she has the voice of Lydia Deetz (HURRAY !). Jubes is not that powerful ? So what ? Not everyone needs to be a fucking powerhouse in  a team , that's what makes it balanced. And for those grousing for using her instead of Kitty, welllll... Jubes is to Pryde what Daffy Duck is to Bosco. Have I made myself clear ?
+ While Morph will get an improvement in AOA and Exiles, he is still fairly enjoyable here.
+ The guest stars are handled perfectly : Colossus, who I rarely cared for in the comics, is impossible to dislike in this series ! Archangel gets trolled non-stop by Apocalypse . Nightcrawler gets 2 of the best (and darkest) episodes in the series , Bishop is fun to watch and heroic as always (even if he is a bit angrier than usual here...) and Cable is an absolute ROXXOR !
+ The villains and antagonists are fairly lovable on their own right. Not to mention that the show's writers UNDERSTOOD these Great baddies and all of them are pretty distinct and varied in their motivations ! I could write an entire page to the fellons in this cartoon , but since we gotta speed things up :
 * This show is to Apocalypse what Batman:TAS is to the Joker ! He is easily THE star whenever he appears. The Meritocrat with liefeldian shapeshifting guns and the soul of a poet and actor ! He also speaks in Epicese.
 * Sinister has easily the sexiest voice in animation history.
 * While Sabretooth is not allowed to butcher people explicitly, he is still a conniving and sadistic motherfucker (kudos for his Wile E Coyote style traps he makes for Wolverine !)
 * Juggernaut is cool but Juggernerd is JUST EPIC !
 * Omega Red is at his absolute best here ! He brings down the house whenever he appears.
 * Magneto is actually BELIEVABLE in the whole redemption shtick (something I did not get from the comics...). I actually sympathize with him in this show. Plus, bearded cynical depressed Magneto is pretty kick-ass !
 * The sentinels and the "Friends of Humanity" who I fucking despise and groan at in the comics are actually enjoyable to watch here !" IT... APPEARS... TO ...BE...THE ACE OF SPADES.."
 *  Mystique is halfway sympathetic and halfway depicable (both sides being used when she finally meets Nightcrawler.) . And the Brotherhood ( Pyro , Avalanche and DA BLOB !) is a riot !
 * Mojo is used better in this show than anytime Claremont used him. Granted he is not as scary as in Longshot's original mini-series, but he is still a threat (they want blood and GUTS, And Love And HATE... They want ENTERTAINMENT !). And he is the only character allowed to hit the boose on-screen (Though I would have made his voice just as fast-talking and more like Krang Prime in the 2012 TMNT series...)
+ This show understood perfectly how to team-up Rogue and Gambit (instead of the comics ungodly stagnation of "will or won't they ?"). You just make it FUN but never sappy.
+ The D-listers cameos are pretty amusing. As I've always said, It is the D-listers that give the world its charm and variety. Always remember that !
+ It does make proper use of story-arcs and sagas and actually takes with various concepts from the comics and put their own spin in them.
+ I have to note that, like any popular show, it had its spin-off comics which adapted the first 3 seasons. Then it was renamed Adventures Of the X-Men and featured new stories set in the show's universe. To be fair, the stories are entertaining and some would have made for decent episodes. But I'd like to point at its ending.
The Graduation Day episode was indeed heartfelt and fitting as an ending but the comics ending of these X-men is a bigger tear-jerker( even though it felt a bit rushed). img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20… ( And by Fateful, they really mean it !)
What happens is that the M'Kraan crystal has been tampered with and the team has to repair it , or else everything is gonna be erased. As such, Jean fuses once again with the Phoenix (and miraculously, I am not rolling my eyes. You'll see why in an instant...), the team fights its way through various N'garai after entering the crystal. Once there, Xavier gives a speech that's every bit as great as in the cartoon and they all , along with Gladiator, unite to help the Phoenix ... and our heroes perish. Yeah... I didn't draw them like that just because I thought it'd be cool...
Granted it prevents the Dweller (the actual responsible behind that disturbance) to reach his goal but still, having the team die like that was fucking tragic ! It 's like if Batman jumped to save someone at the nick of tme and got the bullet right in his skull . Perfectly IN-character but damn depressing :( ! Though I still wanna see what'd have happened if THIS were made into the final episode of the animated series ! That'd be ballsy ! Especially for an All-Age show !

To sum it all up, 2 thumbs up for this show ! HURRAY !


--- X-MEN EVOLUTION (2000- 2003) ---


This show follows the lives of 5 young mutants (Cyclops, Jean Grey, Nightcrawler, ShadowCat and Rogue) who attend Xavier's Institute for the Gifted. There they learn how to control their powers and use it for good.

This show is everything Ultimate X-men (or hell, any x-men run from the 2000's) wishes it would be ! No, I am not a fan at all of Ultimate X-men since it only has a total of 5/6 likable characters... But this ? I am hard-pressed to find someone I dislike , whether Villain or Hero.
I agree that the premise does led to being skeptical, but it is a very good series and pulls off its concept pretty well !

Let's start with what works :
+ It has beautiful and fluid animation . Steven E Gordon's designs are great and fitting for motion.
+ Even though we lose the sci-fiesque aspects of the former show, the "slice of life" atmosphere still works to its advantage. It makes them both evenly matched in the way they present us their main cast.
+ And for our main team of X-men ? Well yeah, they're younger but pretty cool ! Roll call :
 * Cyclops : They basically took the 90's Toon Cyclops and made him younger , more relaxed and sarcastic. As a result, this ties for "the greatest Scott Summers ever" title along with this one images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__c… upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia…
 * Jean Grey : Starts out as a strong character and stays that way till the end, complete with kindness and temper. Is my favorite iteration of Jean along with these 38.media.tumblr.com/23fa304f9b… (BEST JEAN COMIC EVER.) i45.photobucket.com/albums/f72… . And the best part ? No Phoenix ! Hurraaaay !  
 * Nightcrawler : A younger Kurt Wagner whose upbeat attitude has been cranked up to 11 ( Not a bad thing. I find this Nightcrawler complementary to his 90's toon counterpart .)
 * Shadowcat : My favorite version of Kitty, if only for being credible as a regular teenager !
 * Rogue : While I still prefer the Lenore Zann Rogue, this is actually a strong take on the character , (and much like her Venus of a predecessor , she completely avoids the stagnation/derailment that plagues the comics Rogue !). Also, I never found her that depressed...just grumpy and somewhat aloof. Plus she does know how to have fun ...
+ Spyke himself is okay (though not as funny as Morph ).
+ This time , the institute is actually an institute, and I am glad that we have other students and a great line-up at that (Iceman, Cannonball, Jubilee, Sunspot, Kid Madrox XD , Wolfsbane , Magma etc...)
+ Making Beast , Storm and Wolverine teachers is a pretty inspired move ! Note that this is the last Lovable Logan you'll ever see in animated form, so you better enjoy him while you can !
+ Boom Boom is fantastic.
+ Gambit is always fucking glorious in animated form ! He seems more in tune with his solo incarnation here .(of course has a Roofie stick!)
+ The Brotherhood are easily main characters on their own right : Lance is a mix between classic Avalanche and Rictor, The Blob is actually sympathetic and this is the greatest version of Toad we will ever have (my favorite of this bunch of Juvenile delinquents !).
+ As for the villains:
 * Magneto is actually shady and calculating. Kudos for having him NOT complain about his past. This is the BEST villainous Mags I've seen (at least he is prone to develop !)
 *  Mystique plays an even bigger role and is the most fleshed out (and shiftiest) antagonist in the show. Kudos for bringing in Destiny. Though I have to wonder : How come animation gets Raven Darkholme RIGHT while movies manage to completely fuck up the character both in design and spirit ?
 * Sabretooth is still cool...
 * APOCALYPSE TRIUMPHS ONCE AGAIN ! FOR HE IS THE INSTRUMENT THAT FATE HAS CHOSEN TO BESTOW OVER HUMANITY. (Nice of them to show us his background BTW !)
 * The sentinels are actually threatening and not annoying.

Now onto the flaws :
- As great Gordon's artwork is, I never thought it could do grotesque characters all that well. Compare with the 90's show design which, while stiffer, can pull off gavng repulsive looking character. Here, the art style is a bit too slick for its own good.
- The first season indeed forgettable. Everything gets better after it ends !
- This show really deserved MORE seasons and the new mutants deserved to be developped more. I would have loved to see this show's spin on Cable and Bishop (in his district X incaranation) for example.
- NO SINISTER... And I've been teased by his upcoming appearance in the spin-off comic. And that got cancelled ! GAAAAAAhhhh !


So in short, HURRAAAAYYY ! Am I forgetting something ?... Naaah.
 

--- WOLVERINE AND THE X-MEN (2008) ---


Oh God... Let's get this over with ...
The Good :
+ Nightcrawler is still lovable and gets his groove with one great lady i1.ytimg.com/vi/AfKa0WqXcDA/ma… (Hoho! That devil! I knew he had it in him!)
+ Gambit is one manipulative, self-serving bastard here and I absolutely love it. Not to mention that he did abandon Wolvie to his fate in a warehouse, that only increases the overall likability of the Ragin cajun (and I am not being sarcastic, I am totally honest here ! You'll know why in an instant...)
+ Bishop cameo FTW baby !
+ Good for Domino to get her first speaking role ! (I would have waited for Cable before introducing her though...)
+ The animation is fluid and the chara-design is decent


The Bad :
- The title alone should be an indicator of the glaring problem to come. As I said, the Logan from the 2 previous series is impossible to hate and I root for him ALL THE TIME. This one ? I think that the writers have way too big a boner for him, as much as Marvel at the time had for the dipshit they gave Cyclops's ID.(Yeah, none of them have anything with the TRUE deal, so I don't care...). By its premise alone , it's fan-fiction that got a decent budget to be put on-screen. And it does not help that their "Wolverine" is an hypocritical dickhead who's proven right everytime at the end of the day.  I am glad they did not adapt Age Of Apocalypse in this show ! God knows how they'll make Logan defeat all of Nur's forces on his own or take control of them some retarded shit like that...
- While this Cyclops is far more tolerable than any post 2001 comics that bears his name, they went out of their way to make him a complete wimp (it is a reverse Whedon run, but since Whedon's run was bullshit  there was litte to salvage anyway.)
-The team dynamic of the X-Men is absent . The others are just ignored or not fleshed out, just glorified cameos. Some team...
- How convenient that Storm is not there as co-leader, mmmhhh ?
- I find Clancy Brown's voice unfitting for Mr Sinister. It is way too Lex Luthorish, Dr Essex should sound much smoother and calmer than that !
- The Usually entertaining and colorful vllains are simply forgettable here .

Verdict ? Pfah !



--- HULK VS. WOLVERINE (2009) ---

The good:
+ Glad to see Sabretooth (with a great voice !), Omega Red and Lady Deathstrike back on-screen .
+ DEADPOOL ! In fact this may be only reason anyone bothered with this flick. Plus he's well-written ! www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLCLRk… (basically, I gave you the whole movie here).
+ I have to agree that this is the level of violence these kind of cartoons should always be allowed to have. Not overboard, but the right amount !
+ Bruce Banner is worth rooting for !
+ Great animation despite scrawny designs.

The Bad:
- It is way too short
- You gotta love how the 4 guys above got nerfed so that Wolvie can fight them all at the same time (Normally he'd fucking struggle against ONE of them.)
- They still go out of their way to make Logan detestable, don't they ?

Verdict ? It's 50/50...


--- X-MEN (2011) ---


Ah yes, this one. I approached it with some curiosity , though I did not expect a miracle . To its credit, it is watchable. To its detriment, it should have been faaaar better than what we got, so it is mostly wasted potential. A shame because the OVA format can avoid censorship issues.

The Good:
+ Cyclops. No seriously. Angst aside , this is still a good take on Scott Summers (though not as awesome as 90's or EVO Scott...). Though  he'd be awesome had the plot been based on this comic upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia… . It would have given more sympathetic reasons to grieve and more occasions
+ Beast creating a sapient squid ... with SCIENCE !
+ Good fucking LORD ! They actually use Emma Frost RIGHT ! Diamond bullshit aside , she is actually shady and likable here ! Something that hasn't been dome since Generation X and Ultimate X-men (Now try and guess the others ! :) ). Plus, her interactions with Scott is EXACTLY what it should have been (or the ONLY logical way for it to be): the whole " making them a couple" is like passing urine for wine but here, Cykes is extremely suspicious of her and RIGHTFULLY SO.
+ The action scenes are pretty well animated.
+ THIS scene www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRVu1Y…

The Bad:
- Dark Phoenix. Dead Jean Grey. cdn.themetapicture.com/media/f…
- Armor is bland as fuck. Of all kids to choose from, you go with a non-entity. Wonderful...
- Aside from cameos, No other x-man shows up or is mentionned (which is why I'll call Bullshit on their whole "needing Cyclops to come back"). Hell Deadpool and Nightcrawler make cameos and it just adds to the frustration !
- Using the Cat Beast design and you deserve to have at least one broken finger.
- The whole Emma not being responsible was a damn rip-off ! They lost once again what could have made for an amazing plot-line !
-  Why the fuck hasn't Marvel allowed Madhouse to use the actual X-men villains ? I mean Mastermind (while I do like the guy) is not exactly what springs to mind as a team-buster ! Hell, the goddamn outro showed The Juggernaut , Mystique and Stryfe the latter who I'd have killed for to see in animation ! And each of them could have made for a fantastic animated story and would be allowed to let loose. But No, we have to contend with the fucking U-men who were only fun ONCE (in Tieri's Weapon X run to be exact) and Xavier's hidden spawn #124657 . Woopteedoo...

Verdict ? All in all, it starts out strong but ends up being wasted potential... What a shame.

So that covers everything  kids ! What'd you think ?
Image size
2204x1656px 1.41 MB
© 2014 - 2024 devilkais
Comments87
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
sketboerd's avatar