Fanholes Comic Books Mutha@#$%! Do You Read 'Em?!? #126: Comic That You Were Really Hyped For, but Ultimately Disappointed You

Mike, Derek and Justin bring three unique Comic Books. Comics that they were Super-Hyped for, but ultimately ended up being a let down.

Mike: Amazing Spider-Man #289

Derek: New Titans #100

Justin: Iron Man #1 (Heroes Reborn)

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Fanholes Episode # 244: Favorite Music Videos Talkback

 Justin, Tony and Derek get together to discuss some of their favorite Music Videos!

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Fanholes Episode # 243: Interview with the Vampire 30th Anniversary

 Justin and Derek get together to discuss the feature film,  Interview with the Vampire, on its 30th Anniversary!

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Fanholes Transformers Tuesdays # 98: Bad Spark/Transmutate

It's a Rampage double creature-feature for Fanholes Frightfest!  Mike and Derek talk the Beast Wars episodes "Bad Spark" and "Transmutate"!

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Fanholes Episode # 242: Wes Craven's New Nightmare 30th Anniversary!

Justin, Tony and Derek get together to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of Wes Craven's New Nightmare!

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Fanholes Episode # 241: Unsolved Mysteries!

 

Fanholes Frightfest continues! Justin has hand-selected 4 segments from Unsolved Mysteries for his fellow Fanholes to discuss for the spooky season!

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Fanholes Episode # 240: Slayers: A Buffyverse Story

Fanholes Frightfest kicks off with the Audio Book Slayers: A Buffyverse Story!

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Fanholes Episode # 239: G.I. Joe - The Revenge of Cobra 40th Anniversary!

 Tony, Mike and Derek get together to discuss G.I. Joe - The Revenge of Cobra on its 40th Anniversary!

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Fanholes Comic Books Mutha@#$%! Do You Read 'Em?!? #125: More What If?, Less Derek!

 With Derek on vacation, the rest of the Fanholes get together to discuss even more issues of Marvel's What If?

Comics Discussed:

Tony:  What If? v2 #8 

Justin: What If? v2 #41 

Mike:  What If? v2 #69 

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Fanholes Transformers Tuesdays # 97: More Than Meets The Eye 40th Anniversary!

The Fanholes celebrate the introductory three-part episode from the Sunbow cartoon on its 40th Anniversary!

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Fanholes Comic Books Mutha@#$%! Do You Read 'Em?!? #124: Sinister Six 60th Anniversary - Revenge of the Sinister Six!

Mike and Derek are joined by special guest TJ Damon of the Quad M Show and Enigma to discuss Spider-Man #18-23 on the 60th Anniversary of the Sinister Six!

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Fanholes Mobile Suit Mondays Episode # 82: Mobile Suit Gundam "Hand-to-Hand Combat"

    Join the Fanholes as they discuss the twentieth episode of the series that started it all, Mobile Suit Gundam, on what is now Fanholes tradition, Mobile Suit Mondays!

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Fanholes Mobile Suit Mondays Episode # 81: Mobile Suit Gundam "Ramba Ral's Attack"

 

Join the Fanholes as they discuss the nineteenth episode of the series that started it all, Mobile Suit Gundam, on what is now Fanholes tradition, Mobile Suit Mondays!

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Big In Japan Episode #43: Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie: Pyramid of Light 20th Anniversary!

 Join Justin, Tony and Derek as they discuss  Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie: Pyramid of Light on its 20th Anniversary!

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Fanholes Mobile Suit Mondays Episode # 80: Gundam Seed Freedom

 Join the Fanholes as they discuss the feature film Gundam Seed Freedom!

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Fanholes Episode # 238: Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan 35th Anniversary!

Justin and Derek get together to discuss the film Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan on its 35th Anniversary!

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Fanholes Comic Books Mutha@#$%! Do You Read 'Em?!? #123: Mudpack!

The Fanholes get together to discuss Detective Comics #604-607, featuring all four Clayfaces teaming-up against the Dark Knight Detective!

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Fanholes Comic Books Mutha@#$%! Do You Read 'Em?!? #122: Uncanny X-Men #284!

 Derek is joined by Comic Art Fan and artist extraordinaire, Eranga D, to discuss Uncanny X-Men #284! 

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Fanholes Transformers Tuesdays # 96: Transformers #1-6 Skybound

 The Fanholes are joined by special guest, Larry Tun, to discuss the first six issues of Skybound's Transformers!

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Justice Not Entirely Dissimilar To Lightning # 24: Thunderbolts #19/Marvel Team-Up #8

Tony, Mike and Derek get together to discuss Thunderbolts #19 and the coming of CHARCOAL THE BURNING MAN in our coverage of the ongoing series.  Then in the historical half, they read Marvel Team-Up #8 featuring the villain Man-Killer as Spider-Man fights alongside The Cat!

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Fanholes Comic Books Mutha@#$%! Do You Read 'Em?!? #121: Return Of The Sinister Six!

  Mike and Derek are joined by special guest TJ Damon of the Quad M Show and Enigma to discuss Amazing Spider-Man #334-339 on the 60th Anniversary of the Sinister Six!

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Fanholes Episode # 237: The Muppet Movie 45th Anniversary!

Justin, Tony, and Derek are joined by special guest John Vanover to discuss The Muppet Movie on its 45th Anniversary!

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Fanholes Comic Books Mutha@#$%! Do You Read 'Em?!? #120: Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1

 Mike and Derek are joined by special guest TJ Damon of the Quad M Show and Enigma to discuss Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1 on the 60th Anniversary of the Sinister Six!

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Fanholes Episode # 236: Star Trek III: The Search for Spock 40th Anniversary

Mike, Justin and Derek get together to discuss Star Trek III: The Search for Spock on its 40th Anniversary!

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Fanholes Transformers Tuesdays # 95: Transformers #1-4 40th Anniversary

The Fanholes get together to discuss the first four issues of the Marvel Transformers Comic Book on its 40th Anniversary!

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Mike's Top Ten Best Cyclops Moments From X-Men '97

 

I liked Cyclops before he was cool.  I mean, most regular readers of X-Men comics probably did too, and my fellow Fanholes Derek and Tony are also S.S.S. (Scott Summers Stans), but thanks to the recently concluded first season of X-Men '97, well...

The filthy cazzies have finally caught on too.

I don't mean to sound disparaging of fans who solely consume Marvel or indeed ANY comic book-based media via the movies, TV shows, or video games.  In fact, gamers probably have a healthy built-in respect for Cyclops as well, what with his featured appearances in well-regarded stuff like Capcom's fighters and various other X-Men video games.  It's just... Cyclops has never had a consistently good track record in the TV shows or movies.  

For every series that got him right (Evolution and surprisingly, the X-Men anime), you got stuff like Wolverine and the X-Men and just about ALL the live-action movies that relegated him to second or third banana status.  And any person with any knowledge of Cyclops from the comics or even the original 90s cartoon will tell you that Cyclops is NO second or third banana.  He's right up there with Wolverine, Storm, Jean Grey, Magneto, and Professor Xavier in marquee X-Men characters and it's about damn time a larger audience finally realized that. 

Here's my personal top ten best moments he got in X-Men '97, and I think it's really cool that I actually had to narrow it down to ten.  I probably could have done a fifteen.  Clearly the creative team had a goal in mind to spotlight Cyclops in this series and they succeeded pretty spectacularly, elevating him beyond even the stodgy stick-in-the-mud that the original 90s series largely kept him as.  Mad props to his voice actor Ray Chase, who not only channeled the late Norm Spencer's performance, but improved and perfected it.  A few more seasons of '97 and this version of Cyclops might become THE Cyclops that people remember most fondly.

Now on to the list.  SPOILERS for the entire first season of '97, obviously.

10.  "My boy, Nathan Summers."   

 

 

 

 

 

This is kind of both a Scott AND Jean (or Madelyne) moment, but the birth of their son is pretty significant.  Madelyne goes into labor and Wolverine of all people is forced to drive her to the hospital, while Rogue pulls Cyclops out of a fight with the X-Cutioner to fly him to his wife's side.  When the doctor refuses to deliver a mutant baby, Scott and Madelyne demonstrate complete trust in Rogue to absorb the jerk's medical knowledge and perform the procedure herself.

What's great about this scene, and I haven't seen a lot of people mention, is its direction.  See the gif above for what I mean; the staging of Wolverine and Rogue is so perfect, showcasing their own unrequited or unfulfilled wants and needs as they watch Scott and Madelyne's happy family moment.  The final shot of the Summers family through a cracked-open door is also loaded with subtle meaning and foreshadowing.

9.  "Don't you dare break her heart."   

 

After Magneto's brutally torn the adamantium out of Wolverine, the X-Men bring him back to the Stratojet to recover.  Cyclops takes a moment by Wolverine's bedside to beseech him to survive, to "be the best he is at what he does" and heal.  No matter what animosity is between them, no matter that Cyclops is obviously aware of the complicated feelings between Logan and his wife, the fact is that he respects the hell out of Wolverine's tenacity.  I always find it more fascinating when Cyclops and Wolverine actually get along and it'd be nice to see their tentative friendship (as mostly seen in Grant Morrison's comic run) come to the fore in a future season. 

8.  "What did you expect- black leather?"

 

 

 

 

 

After Scott learns that Cable is his grown-up son Nathan from the future (a typical comic book sentence), the two have a bit of a rough time trying to relate to each other.  But they eventually manage it and before the final mission to stop Bastion, Cyclops presents his son with an official X-Men uniform.  Cable's not especially thrilled, asking he's going to war... or a circus.  Cyclops then hits him with the above quote, an inversion of James Marsden's line from the first X-Men movie ("what did you expect, yellow spandex?") and a deserved slam on Bryan Singer and other movie execs' fears that people wouldn't take these characters seriously in their comic book-accurate costumes.

7.  "Madelyne?!"

 

After the mutant massacre in Genosha, the X-Men head there to provide relief and search for survivors in the rubble.  Among the missing is Madelyne Pryor, Jean Grey's clone and the mother of Scott's son Nathan.  Jean was initially angry upon discovering that Scott was still in telepathic contact with Madelyne as they grieved their timelost child, but the two set it aside after the Genosha tragedy occurs.  As they search the rubble, Jean senses a nearby survivor- a fellow telepath.  Scott rushes forward, hoping that it is Madelyne, but it turns out to be Emma Frost.

After Emma is taken away for medical treatment, Scott's stony facade cracks for a moment as he openly mourns the loss of the woman who bore his son, who he had assumed WAS Jean for an indeterminate amount of time.  Jean doesn't judge him for it, merely wipes his tears away and offers support as the two move towards healing their rift.  

Ironically enough, in the comics, I actually PREFER Scott's relationship with Emma Frost over the one with Jean Grey, but this was a really touching moment for this version of the characters.  I also saw an amusing Youtube comment under this scene, which basically stated-  "Only in comics can you get a scene of a guy being comforted by his wife as he mourns the death of her clone who he had a baby with, just after they've rescued his future lover."

6.  "Let's show these toasters that you don't screw with the Summers'!"

     

Cyclops, Jean Grey, and Cable have a little family outing as they investigate Bastion's origins.  They soon find themselves attacked by a horde of Bastion's Prime Sentinels and fight a running battle against them. During the fight they lose another Blackbird and Scott pulls a "Fast and the Furious" by driving a Porsche out the back of the exploding jet with his wife and son in tow.  Dropping the above quote, Cyclops, Cable, and Jean proceed to seamlessly work together to evade the Prime Sentinels, with father and son even sharing a quick "blink and you'll miss it" fist-bump as they make their escape.  It's a great action sequence with some laughs too, as Jean scolds Cable enough for him to actually whine "Quit bossing me around!" like a frustrated teenager. 

5.  "YOU'LL NEVER HURT MY FAMILY AGAIN!!!"

 

 

 

 

 

Bastion gets his final boss form and takes down Rogue and Sunspot, leaving only Cyclops, Nightcrawler, and Jubilee to face him within Asteroid M.  After weathering a teleport spree from Nightcrawler and some pyrotechnics from Jubilee, Bastion goes one-on-one with Cyclops.  Cyclops proceeds to showcase just why he's the field leader of the X-Men.  The fact that Cyclops can do much more than just "point and shoot" is something lost on a lot of writers, but not here as he showcases some slick athletics and nails Bastion with a cool bank shot, as seen above.  If you look closely, the blast hits Bastion AFTER he's dodged, meaning Cyclops predicted exactly what his foe would do.

Bastion and Cyclops then engage in a close-range beam clash, and Cyclops engages anime protagonist power by screaming the above quote and increasing the intensity of his optic blast to Capcom levels.  This blows Bastion away and forces him to break out the cheesy beam spam to finally take Cyclops out, but Cyclops even manages to counter that for a few seconds with his own rapid-fire response.  It's a great action sequence, and the coordinated way the three X-Men attack at first is obviously a Scott Summers plan.    

4.  "I love you, son."

 

 

 

 

Realizing that they'll probably have to sacrifice themselves to halt Asteroid M's cataclysmic descent to Earth, Cyclops and Jean take a moment to psychically contact Cable on the planet's surface.  In a touching exchange, Cable admits that the stories he was told of his parents (he's finally taken to considering Jean his mother after resisting it at first) during his youth didn't do them justice.  Scott tells his son that when he was born, Madelyne said that baby Nathan shared his father's eyes.  Jean telekinetically holds back Scott's optic blasts for a moment, allowing father and son to look each other in the eyes for the first time.  "Now, they're yours" Scott proudly asserts before he and Jean break contact to meet their fate.  Sniffle.

3.  "I have to stomach your questions and PROVE that I'm a PERSON!"

    

    

Just after learning the woman who bore his son Nathan was actually a clone and then having to send that infant son into the future just so the child could survive, Scott has to subject himself to an interview with Trish Tilby, who shows up at the mansion for an inside scoop on the X-Men.  At first, he manages to keep his cool and patiently answer questions that will only improve the public image of mutants.  However, when Trish starts questioning what happened to Nathan and the circumstances surrounding his birth, Scott loses his patience and unloads a lifetime of resentment on her.

He calls humanity a bunch of ingrates for treating mutants and the X-Men in particular as they have.  "Evil mutants, killer robots, crazy aliens!" are just some of the things Cyclops and his team have protected "normal" folk from and Scott has had enough of playing nice with them. Before ending the interview by storming off camera, Scott says the humans watching should be grateful he isn't "normal", because it's only reason most of them are still alive.  While seeing Cyclops lose his cool isn't something new, voice actor Ray Chase sells the hell out of this speech with a bitterness that makes one question if Scott isn't starting to lean towards Magneto's way of thinking over Charles Xavier's. 

2.  "Definitely the good guy."

Cyclops' entrance in this series, as he blows a hole through a wall and enters a room full of Friends of Humanity goons to rescue captured mutant Roberto Da Costa.  It immediately demonstrated the way this series would be handling Cyclops, as he confidently and easily takes down the entire room of bigots without breaking a sweat.  Using his optic blasts in a versatile way never really seen in most other multimedia portrayals of him, he mixes brief "optic jabs" in with fisticuffs, as well as using them non-offensively to boost himself around the skirmish.

When a couple goons finally get the drop on him with a severed Sentinel arm and knock his visor off, Cyclops pleads for surrender... only to reprise his "NOT" quip from the second episode of the original cartoon.  I must admit, when I heard that, I was afraid this series would lean heavily into "LOL, it's the 90s!" jokes, but fortunately that wasn't the case.  Also fortunately- Cyclops being a total badass wasn't a fluke, as this scene started as the series intended to carry on.

1.  "See you on the ground."

Also from the first episode, the X-Men are sent into freefall as a Sentinel tears the Blackbird apart mid-flight.  Storm, Rogue, and Morph quickly initiate Kurt Busiek "Everyone who can fly grab someone who can't!" protocols and secure the rest of the team aside from Cyclops.  He merely presses his com-link, praises them for solid recovery work, then straightens out for a skydive.  As seen above, he uses his optic blasts to achieve a Superhero Landing on his own.  

After standing, he presses his com-link again, says the immortal "To me, my X-Men" rally call and the rest of the team fall in behind him.  I feel like this scene was more of a big deal to non-comic reading fans than me, as I think I was more impressed when Scott first said "To me, my X-Men" in the comics twenty years ago during Joss Whedon's run.  Still, it was undeniably cool to see it on-screen and again, assured me that the creators of X-Men '97 had their priorities straight when it came to the handling of my favorite character.  

-  

And well, that's that.  I think the first season of X-Men '97 was a smashing success, and I really can't see how the MCU could possibly make something that was better than this in live-action, but I guess we'll see.  Perhaps at the very least, movie-makers will take notes on how to handle Cyclops on the big screen from now on.  Maybe if James Marsden shows up in Deadpool and Wolverine, he won't be treated like a joke, but I'm not holding out hope for that.  All I CAN hope for is that '97 gets more seasons and they maintain this high quality.

-Mike

    

Fanholes Comic Books Mutha@#$%! Do You Read 'Em?!? #119: Books of Magic!

 Derek is joined by special guest, Krissy Carlson, of The Quad M Show, to discuss Neil Gaiman's Books of Magic!

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Big In Japan Episode #42: Gatchaman The Movie!

 Derek is joined by TJ Damon, of The Quad M Show and creator of Enigma, to discuss the compilation film version of Gatchaman!

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Fanholes Episode # 235: The Crow 30th Anniversary!

Tony and Derek get together to discuss the feature film, The Crow, on its 30th Anniversary!

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Fanholes Comic Books Mutha@#$%! Do You Read 'Em?!? #118: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 40th Anniversary!

The Fanholes discuss Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 on its 40th Anniversary!

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Fanholes Episode # 234: Red Dwarf Favorites!

 Justin and Mike get together to share some of their favorite episodes of the Sci-Fi television series, Red Dwarf!

 

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Fanholes Comic Books Mutha@#$%! Do You Read 'Em?!? #117: JLApe-ril 2024 - Congorilla!

 Not a trick! Not an imaginary podcast! No your eyes don't deceive you, it's not JLMay, but JLApe-ril, where the Podcasting Community will be talking about DC's Coolest Ape stories!

To that end, Mike and Derek get together to discuss the four-issue mini-series, Congorilla!

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Fanholes Episode # 233: Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter 40th Anniversary!

 Justin and Derek get together to discuss the film Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter on its 40th Anniversary!

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Justice Not Entirely Dissimilar To Lightning # 23: The Project Pegasus!

 Mike and Derek get together to discuss Marvel Two-In-One #53-#58 a.k.a The Project Pegasus! Not only is it the story's 45th Anniversary, but it's the first appearance of Screaming Mimi!

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Fanholes Episode # 232: Heathers 35th Anniversary!

 Derek and Justin talk the feature film, Heathers, on it's 35th Anniversary!

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Fanholes Toku Thursdays Episode #63 - Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla 50th Anniversary!

 Derek and Justin talk the feature film Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla on its 50th Anniversary!

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Mike's Top Ten Favorite Episodes Of X-Men: The Animated Series!

 

 

With X-Men ‘97 right around the corner (as of this writing), I thought it might be nice to rewatch some classic X-Men: The Animated Series episodes and nail down which I feel are my favorites.  While undoubtedly a product of its time (a Saturday morning action cartoon with a not-inconsiderable interest in selling plastic crack to kids), X-Men “TAS” still managed to win over most fans with its mature, serialized storytelling and character development.  Some consider it THE definite take on the X-Men as a concept, and it certainly was my largest entry point into the franchise.  I personally still consider it the best X-Men cartoon there has yet been (although X-Men: Evolution was a solid show in its own right as well.)  

X-Men: TAS can be enjoyed on multiple levels; you can take it seriously or revel in its numerous flaws, many of which have spawned countless memes and in-jokes.  Its animation might not hold up to today’s standard, its voice-acting may be corny, hammy, AND/OR cheesy at times, and its own internal continuity was not always the tightest, but none of that matters when compared to the warm embrace of nostalgia the series envelops me in when I watch it.  Join me now as I try to articulate which of these 76 episodes are my personal favorites and growl like Cal Dodd’s Wolverine when I don’t pick yours. 

 

First up, some honorable mentions that didn’t make the top ten.

 

-HONORABLE MENTION-

Time Fugitives Part 1 + 2

Written by Michael Edens (Part 1) and Elliot S. Maggin (Part 2)

Original airdates- December 11^th and 18^th, 1993

In the future, all disputes will be settled with Laser Tag.

I’ve come to appreciate this Season 2 two-parter more and more every time I rewatch it, mostly because of how ballsy it is. This is a story about a time-traveler who goes back in time to save his future because another time-traveler went back in time before him to save HIS earlier future because that time-traveler previously went back in time and changed his future so it was even worse than the FIRST time the future was changed and now the second time-traveler has to find a way that BOTH futures AND the present are preserved, none of which are especially good times to live in normally but are still better than the effed-up versions that existed at the beginning of this story. Phew.

Ah yes, there’s nothing better than convoluted X-Men time-travel stories with Bishop and Cable! The ballsy part is that the creators just figured kids could handle and comprehend this stuff on a Saturday morning cartoon. Really, the way these two episodes are set-up is quite interesting, with the first part focusing on Bishop’s intervention in the present, and the second part having Cable intercept Bishop and basically redoing the first part, but this time with Cable in the works trying to alter events. Cable then finds a third option that allows both his and Bishop’s futures to be preserved, as well as preventing the X-Men from being killed by Apocalypse in the present.

There is stuff that doesn’t make sense, which is only natural for so convoluted a time-travel plot, like how Apocalypse decides to just eff-off at the end of Part 2 instead of insta-killing the X-Men as he did in the original version of events as seen in Part 1. I guess it’s just a “For want of a nail” situation (for want of a Cable, maybe?) Still, I again just have to appreciate that the writers attempted this kinda stuff at all in the limited space they had. Cable and Bishop were both pretty new characters in the comics at the time these episodes aired, but there’s a certain confidence with which all their time-travel shenanigans were presented with here. I’d imagine this two-parter had a considerable part to play in cementing those essential trappings of both characters in the minds of many viewers.
 

 -HONORABLE MENTION-

Bloodlines

Written by Len Uhley

Original airdate- October 26^th, 1996

Graydon makes all their Thanksgivings awkward.

If we’re talking about convoluted, this is an episode that demonstrates that on a more personal level than my previous entry.  “Bloodlines” isn’t tangled plot-wise, but rather character-wise, as it revels in the twisted family trees that can only exist in comic books or soap operas.  In a nutshell, mutant-hating bigot Graydon Creed is tasked by the mutant-hating bigot organization The Friends of Humanity to eliminate his “tainted” family bloodline.  This includes his mother Mystique, his half-brother Nightcrawler, and his sister-by-adoption Rogue, mutants all.  Of course, these siblings bonds aren’t even KNOWN to Nightcrawler and Rogue and by the end of the episode, Graydon has to confront his father Sabretooth as well!  Well, “confront” is a strong word, more like “cower in fear before him and prepare to be tortured to death”.

If you were unfamiliar with the comic lore when watching this episode for the first time, all these revelations might have been shocking.  I WAS aware, even at the age of 12, but thankfully the episode still manages to milk the drama from this family reunion thanks to the usual solid voice-acting.  Nightcrawler’s always been a favorite X-Men character of mine, and this cartoon’s version of him is sometimes a bit too low-energy for my liking.  I usually prefer the lighthearted, swashbuckling Nightcrawler from the comics over the somber monk portrayed here.  However, it’s hard not to feel his utter heartbreak at the end of the episode when Mystique sacrifices herself for him and he realizes his bigot half-brother is beyond saving.   (“God help you, brother…”)

 

-HONORABLE MENTION-

Graduation Day

Written by James Krieg

Original airdate- September 20th, 1997

 

WHAT ARE YOOOOOU???

The series finale of the show… it honestly isn’t a great episode on the whole.  Animated by a cheaper studio than usual (as was most of the final season), that fact does the attempted scope of the primary conflict no favors.  With Professor Xavier struck down on live television by an off-model Henry Gyrich and brought to the brink of death, Magneto finally has the impetus to launch his mutant revolution.  However, thanks to the animation (and character choices), Magneto’s gathered mutant army doesn’t seem like that much of a threat.  Randomly headed up by Sunfire (what’s wrong with your faaace) and a weirdly-sedate Feral, Magneto’s mutant followers just seem to be a bunch of sewer-dwelling Morlocks and other C and D-listers like the Kangaroo.  And of course, THAT GUY you see in the GIF above.  What’s HIS deal??

What saves this episode and made it memorable and a fitting send-off for the series, is the final scene.  A dying Professor Xavier renders a truly heartfelt and individualized farewell to each of his students that not even the lesser-quality animation could diminish.  Heck, if the Saturday morning cartoon model didn’t demand SOME kind of action scene in every episode, you could probably cut out the whole “Magneto attempts an uprising” part of the plot.  That last scene holds the entire episode on its back and is what everyone remembers from the series finale of X-Men: The Animated Series.  

And now on to the actual TOP TEN...

#10.

Weapon X, Lies and Videotape

Written by David McDermott and Steven Melching

Original airdate- June 11^th, 1995

I wouldn't wanna remember "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" either.

I’ve got a soft spot for this episode, just because I remember it aired in a special prime-time spot alongside an episode of Spider-Man: The Animated Series.  That made it seem like it was supposed to be more important to younger me, and the subject matter kind of lives up to that.  Back in the mid-nineties, Wolverine’s origins were still cloaked in some manner of mystery, even in the comics at the time.  His past relationship with Sabretooth was often a topic of debate (was he Wolverine’s father?  Brother?  Second cousin twice-removed??) and an episode delving into that was an exciting prospect, even if Wolverine wasn’t my favorite character.  

This episode manages to play it both straight and coy, giving us some answers but remaining vague on which of Wolverine’s memories were actually real and not implanted by the Weapon X program.  It at least makes for some decent trauma and drama for the characters involved to work through.  Heck, it even makes one feel slightly bad for Sabretooth of all characters, when we glimpse his traumatic childhood in a flashback (“No pa, please… I’ll be good.  I’ll be goooood!”)  

The animation is on the upper end of quality here, which some great action sequences, even if Wolverine and Sabretooth are never allowed to actually slash each other.  At least there’s a robot for them to cut up and shoot (one which Wolverine, Sabretooth, Silver Fox, and Maverick have to team-up and fight, and then a second identical one that badass Beast takes out ON HIS OWN cuz the episode has hit the twenty-minute mark.)   

#9.

Orphan’s End

Written by Douglas Booth

Original airdate- February 25^th, 1995

"Son, I think you're overreacting."
"YOU THREW ME OUT OF AN AIRPLANE DURING A UFO ATTACK, DAD!!"

Look, it’s no secret that Cyclops is my favorite X-Men character, but even I can admit his few spotlight episodes in this show are all pretty mid at best.  This is easily the best one though, as Cyclops learns that space pirate Corsair is his long-lost father.  Norm Spencer (God rest his soul) was no stranger to emotional intensity at this point voicing the role, with Cyclops previously having been put through the wringer in the Phoenix and Dark Phoenix episodes.  Here however, he gets to get worked up over something that isn’t Jean Grey, and Cyclops unloading on his absentee dad is one of the rawest emotional scenes in the entire show (“Oh, did I imagine the orphanage?  The foster homes where nobody wanted me?  Tell me, “dad”… AM I MAKING THIS UP???”)

The rest of the plot is about a corrupt Shi’ar officer trying to cover up a crime by killing the one witness, who happens to be a little girl.  Even under the usual Saturday morning limitations, there’s not a lot of soft-shoeing around the fact that the bad guy of the week wants to murder a kid, which is a testament to how seriously this show could take itself.  Cyclops and his dad eventually come to a reconciliation and there’s some genuinely heartwarming stuff between them by the end of the story.  Also, this episode contains my absolute favorite overwrought delivery of a line by Alison Sealy-Smith’s Storm-

8.

Old Soldiers

Written by Len Wein

Original airdate- February 22^nd, 1997

"Mm, this will age well."

Hey, another Wolverine spotlight episode!  This show sure did have a lot of those… that surly Logan fellow seemed to be popular for some reason.  This one is well-remembered for being “the one with the extended World War II flashback where Logan teamed-up with Captain America and fought the Red Skull.”  It came at the tail end of the final season, so of course the cheaper animation studio is used for this one.  However, unlike “Graduation Day”, this episode’s plot actually holds up, probably because it was written by Wolverine’s co-creator himself, Len Wein.  Guest-stars Captain America and the Red Skull are handled pretty perfectly character-wise as well, with Lawrence Bayne (Cable) and Cedric Smith (Professor Xavier) stretching their vocal talents a bit to perform as them.

There’s some cheesy stuff, like a pre-adamantium Logan repurposing cliff-climbing gauntlets as his fated claws (“Y’know, these things ain’t half-bad...”) and virtually everyone’s faux French and German accents.  Still, the whole package comes together, and it’s hard with hindsight not to see this as a backdoor pilot for that canceled Captain America cartoon that Marvel was intending to sell to Fox before their money troubles in the late nineties.  All in all, I appreciate this as episode that probably couldn’t have been made in an earlier season, but one I’m glad managed to squeeze in right before the finish line.

 

7. + 6.

Night of the Sentinels Part 1 + 2

Written by Mark Edward Edens

Original airdates- October 31^st and November 7^th, 1992

Maybe don't punch the guy whose eyes lead directly to the PUNCH DIMENSION.

Ah yes, possibly the most famous episodes of this show, the two-part premiere and what made me an X-Men fan for life. I knew of the X-Men beforehand, had played the arcade game and perhaps even skimmed an X-Men comic or two, but nothing could prepare me for how deeply I’d fall in love with the franchise after these episodes debuted. It was a prime-time event too, with both of these episodes airing on Saturday nights a few weeks before the series itself would claim its spot on the Saturday morning Fox Kids block. I made sure to tape them and re-watched both parts numerous times before that point though. 

The original broadcasts were infamously rough takes of those episodes, with numerous animation errors and alternate audio in places thanks to the rushed production of the show, but that stuff didn’t matter to eight year-old me. The mature storytelling and moody atmosphere that I had already gotten a taste of from Batman: The Animated Series’ earlier debut was firmly in place and I’d settle for nothing less from my superhero cartoons from that point on.

This two-parter expertly sets up the memorable characters and the dangerous world they inhabit. The good guys didn’t always get along and sometimes they could even die trying to do the right thing. It was something I had barely ever experienced before in cartoons (the closest I came at that point was Transformers: The Movie) and it blew my little kid mind. I didn’t know who the hell Morph was at that point or even that he’d largely been invented for the show, but I know I was as shaken as an eight year-old could be when a member of the X-Men DIED in the second episode.

"Thanks, I guess."

All the other characters were really distinct and color-coded and as a Transformers fan, I had no trouble parsing a large cast and picking out the ones I liked the best. I immediately gravitated to Cyclops as my favorite character, being as he wore glasses and a blue uniform and I wore glasses and blue was my favorite color. I can remember even back then defending Cyclops’ decision to leave Beast and Morph behind, while many of the other kids at school took Wolverine’s side (and joined his fan club.) In fact, when we formed an “X-Men Club” in the third grade, I got to pick Cyclops as my guy to be on the playground with no dissent, while everyone else argued over Wolverine and Gambit. One of my friends was even convinced Wolverine was the leader of the team, which I… let him think because I was outvoted. But I knew Cyclops was The Man even back then at eight years old, just like I knew Leonardo was way cooler than Raphael!

It’s hard to look at something critically when it was so formative in your earlier years, but I’m pretty safe in saying that these two episodes specifically helped make me a comic book fan for life. On the strength of this premiere, I started to devour any X-Men-related reading, be it comic or otherwise and that led me to more Marvel superheroes. My comic book reading had been mostly limited to Transformers and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles up until that point, but “Night of the Sentinels” was the bite that turned me into a Marvel Zombie. I have intense nostalgic fondness for these forty-some minutes of television, even if they aren’t in my top five episodes, and they had to be on this list. This one’s for you, Morph.

 

5.

Cold Comfort

Written by Len Uhley

Original airdate- February 5^th, 1995

Cyclops strongly disapproves of validating Jubilee in any way.

The Iceman episode and one I remember anticipating greatly as a kid.  I always had a fascination with Iceman, probably because I remembered him from repeats of Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends and the fact that his first Toy Biz action figure was really hard to find back in the day.  This is a pretty great episode too, not only giving us some backstory on the history of the X-Men (even if it kinda didn’t fit with previous continuity in this show) and expanding the world a bit by introducing X-Factor (even if they really didn’t do much else after this point in this show.)  It’s got some great animation and fight sequences with a bunch of action fig- I mean, characters running around, which of course appealed to little kid-me.  

The lore introduced, as mentioned, doesn’t quite line-up with the first season… for one thing, the flashbacks show the original X-Men fighting Magneto even though it seemed like they had never met him before prior to the second episode of the series.  I think I tried to head-canon it that the original X-Men in this continuity were Cyclops, Jean, Beast, Iceman, and Polaris based on the flashbacks here.  However, further flashbacks will show Angel as part of that original squad, which again… doesn’t fit with the first season and them apparently meeting him for the first time.  In whatever case, this is a fun episode to rewatch and provided a lot of material to chew over for nascent little comic geeks like ten year-old me.

Also, this episode includes my favorite Wolverine claw-related one-liner in the entire show after Forge says that X-Factor could learn a few “pointers” from the X-Men- (“I gotcher  “POINTERS”- SNIKT! -right here.”)  Sublime.

 

4.

The Phoenix Saga Part 5: Child of Light

Written by Mark Edward Edens

Original airdate- September 9^th, 1994

Guess she just doesn't like Gambit or Rogue that much.

The entirety of the animated Phoenix Saga is pretty stand-out, but I’m trying to be fair and allot spots to single episodes in this list, so the conclusion of this five-parter makes it on.  I remember Fox Kids hyping The Phoenix Saga up as a big event, and it originally aired in a daily timeslot for one week.  I would come home from school and eagerly watch the next installment.  

While I hadn’t actually read the original comic version of the Phoenix Saga, I had read enough supplementary material (and Wizard magazine “Best of” articles) by this point to know it was a huge deal for X-Men.  I also already knew that Jean Grey had eventually died (sort of) at the end of the Dark Phoenix Saga in the comics, so it was a little bit of a shock to see her apparently sacrifice herself at the end of The Phoenix Saga’s animated adaptation.  I mean, of course she doesn’t “die”, but this episode certainly plays the gravitas of her flying into the sun to contain the M’Kraan Crystal for all it’s worth.

Seriously, everything is running on full steam here- the animation, the plotting, the music, and the acting combine to make this one of the finest X-Men: The Animated Series episodes ever and a truly epic conclusion to this five-parter.  Jean’s farewell to her loved ones as well as her struggle to reach the heart of the sun are beautifully portrayed, with the symbolic imagery of the X-Men forming a Tree of Life (I think that’s what they’re going for at least) being a standout moment.  

There’s even a cameo by Spider-Man’s shadow and left hand as he helps save people on Earth from M’Kraan Crystal f**kery alongside War Machine.  Yes, War Machine, not Spidey’s “BEST FRIEND” Iron Man.  In fact, War Machine shows up as a cameo no less than THREE separate times on this show, but then it was the mid-nineties.  His book was selling better than Iron Man’s for a while there, according to Tom DeFalco.

It was the 90s, we're lucky it wasn't the Scarlet Spider or Venom showing up.

ANYWAY!  Child of Light!  Great episode.  All the Phoenix stuff in this show is pretty top-notch, but I think I prefer the animated vanilla Phoenix Saga to the Dark Phoenix Saga, just cuz some of the more dicey stuff from the comics had to be neutered for the animated Dark episodes.  Broccoli aliens, you were spared by Saturday morning Standards and Practices! 

3. & 2.

Days of Future Past Part 1 + 2

Written by Julia Jane Lewald (Part 1), Robert N. Skir and Marty Isenberg (Part 2)

Original airdates- March 13^th and March 20^th, 1993

That seagull pooped in Liberty's eye!

I’ve always loved the one-off “Horrible alternate timeline where everyone dies” installments in many science fiction and fantasy series and I think this is probably the first time I ever encountered that premise.  This two-parter is a Frankenstein’s monster of no less than THREE X-Men time travel comic stories and I have to admire how much material they managed to fold in.  The basic framework of the original Days of Future past comic story, utilizing Sentinel-of-the-future Nimrod from slightly-later era X-Men comics, and of course… positioning Bishop as our chief time-traveler.  

In the original “Days” story, it was Kitty Pryde who traveled back in time to prevent the events that led to her apocalyptic future, but in 1993 Bishop was the new Jheri-curled hawtness in current comics of the day.  Not only that, but the Terminator movies were still fresh in the zeitgeist, so having some brawny guy with a big gun go back in time was just the style at the time.

The first part in particular does a very effective job of painting the incredibly bleak and desolate nature of Bishop’s future world, where the Sentinels rule and mutants are hunted to near-extinction.  Even the music throughout the episode contributes to the feeling of utter despair that permeates this future.  The imagery here is just haunting, as you can see by the above shot of the Statue of Liberty which opens the episode.  I remember being creeped out by that as a kid, and there’s plenty of other scenes that follow which are pretty disturbing for a Saturday morning cartoon.  Wolverine coming across the gravestones of his former X-Men teammates and friends is an especially-upsetting moment (poor Jubilee was apparently among the first to die!) 

 

"Grrr, if only Cyke had validated you more!"

The second part is sometimes overlooked by fans, but I think it’s also a great episode and some of the bleakness from the first part is carried over in a stirring monologue by Bishop (“The camps are your final stop.  You never leave… NEVER!”)  After Bishop accuses Gambit of being the mutant traitor that sets his dystopian future in motion, everyone’s underlying distrust of the Cajun X-Man comes to the fore.  Gambit’s past was still mostly shrouded in mystery in the actual comics at the time as well, so the characters’ distrust was effectively mirrored by even experienced X-Men fans.  And of course, the second part ends on one of the most memorable cliffhangers in the series when Senator Kelly is kidnapped by a “mystery” antagonist.     

XAVIER:  My watch has stopped.

CYCLOPS:  I don’t understand… why is that important?

XAVIER:  Because… it’s been magnetized.

"Find Magneto...and BILL HIM for my watch."

1.

The Final Decision

Written by Mark Edward Edens

Original airdate- March 27^th, 1993

Logan was originally going to call himself "Jackrabbit".

Directly following from my previous entry, this episode is the season 1 finale and the culmination of all plot points and themes from the season as a whole.  I’ve always felt the number one obstacle that the X-Men must always overcome is the prejudice and bigotry they face every day.  The Sentinels are directly borne of this cancer- the physical avatars of mankind’s hatred and fear and they’ve been a constant presence in these first thirteen episodes.  After seeing the absolute worst result of the Sentinel program in Bishop’s future, the X-Men must take on an army of Sentinels to prevent that timeline from manifesting in the present.  It’s an epic finale that manages to touch on virtually everything the X-Men have experienced in this first season.

There’s plenty of the action and drama that you’d expect from any season finale, with the final battle against thousands of Sentinels and their Master Mold being done as much justice as possible in twenty-two minutes.  A particular standout sequence with awesome direction is Wolverine taking on Sentinels in an underground chamber with intermittent lighting, as seen above.  Magneto’s presence is always welcome, as he eventually teams-up with the X-Men to take on their mutual enemy.  He and Professor Xavier doing their “Rival Fusion” to take out Master Mold is an appropriately epic conclusion to the battle.  

The best scene, however, is before the final battle as the X-Men gather in their War Room to decide on going to their potential deaths to rescue the kidnapped Senator Kelly.  The weight of “The Final Decision” lands perfectly, with even cynics like Wolverine, Gambit, and Magneto coming around.  I can’t do it justice, and I’m not sure it will hit as heavy as it did for eleven year-old me, but just watch the scene and judge for yourself- 

 

The season wraps up with numerous joyful events, like a grateful Senator Kelly changing his tune on mutant rights, Beast being pardoned after spending the whole season in prison, and Cyclops and Jean getting engaged.  And of course, a tease for the second season and the coming of Mister Sinister.  Basically, this is a perfect episode of X-Men: The Animated Series, and I know I’m not alone in judging it my favorite.        

Well, that’s it for my favorites, but there’s one more entry on this list- my customary “0.” slot.  This is what I’ve judged as my least favorite episode of X-Men: The Animated Series.

0.

Hidden Agendas

Written by Steven Melching and David McDermott

Original airdate- September 13^th, 1997

"Ah'm poorly-drawn when ah'm blastin'!"

One of the last episodes of the series and thus suffering from the cheaper animation studio’s work, this episode introduces teenage Samuel Guthrie, AKA Cannonball to the series.  Except… he’d already shown up in cameo appearances before, looking older and wearing his classic X-Force costume.  Alongside the continuity error and weaker animation, we’ve also got “Wrong-Sounding Gambit” to contend with here, as his usual voice actor Chris Potter wasn’t available for this final season and the role was recast with Tony Daniels.  Daniels tries his best to do a Chris Potter Gambit impression, but comes up way short and his Cajun accent comes off as a caricature of what was already a caricature of someone from New Orleans.  

Speaking of caricatures, the main plot of this episode takes place in Kentucky, so you’ve got a lot of Canadian voice actors trying their hand at a midwestern/southern American accent.  The results are… not great, with stereotypical “yokel” parlance being thrown around willy-nilly and pronouncing the word “gas” as “gay-ass”.  Pfft.

Leaving all that beside, the plot of this episode is just mercilessly pedestrian and the chief antagonist is a moron who fails at his very simple goals repeatedly (let’s try to gas, sorry, gay-ass the kid who can throw up an impenetrable force field around his body.)  The climax of the episode features the ENTIRE X-Men team arriving to calm a very localized and rather tame riot, then being confronted with a military-enhanced super-mutant who, and I’m not kidding here, KEELS OVER AND DIES almost immediately after arriving.  Well, Beast says he’s alive, but it’s funnier if you believe he died.  

 

The Underwhelming Mulk.

It’s a real shame that this was one of the last episodes of the series, but at least it was surrounded by strong efforts like “Old Soldiers”, the Mr. Sinister origin episode “Descent”, and the series finale.  I guess it’s a testament to the strength of this show that when I was trying to pick my least favorite episode, I ultimately landed on this one because all the other contenders were just kinda “mid” rather than outright bad.

Whelp, that’s that!  My top ten episodes of X-Men: TAS plus some.  We can only hope X-Men ‘97 delivers the goods and is a worthy follow-up to this series. 

-Mike