Twitter Threads:The X-Men Cartoon

Once again, this post is part of the Twitter Threads Project.

Am slowly working my way thru the #XMen cartoons in preparation for #XMen97.

I’m a longtime fan of the comics but didn’t watch the show when it was on. I was in my early 20s at the time, & it just didn’t speak to me.

So these are some thoughts from my first watch:

So yeah. I am WAY older than the target nostalgia demographic, & that impacts the way I see the show. 

I keep getting hung up on the way they’ve jumbled late 80s & 90s “EXTREME” arcs in with the classics. So it’s weird to see Gambit in the Senator Kelly arc, & it’s weird to see that arc *after* an arc involving Bishop & Cable. It’s all fine within the logic of the show. It’s my memories of the original issues that have this stuff in the “wrong” place.

Similarly, I hate these 90s-era costume designs, & this 90s team line up generally. We’ve got Gambit & Jubilee instead on Shadowcat, Nightcrawler, & Colossus. 

Gross. Like, why?

Again, tho, this opinion is a function of my thoughts on that time period in the comics. Within the show, the logic is fine, & indeed, our introduction to Jubilee is quite close to the way Kitty Pride got introduced in the original issues. Both are logical viewpoint characters.

I mean, we get freaking LONGSHOT but not Kitty Pride?!

Friends, that is a choice that would ONLY make sense in the 90s. 

Tho it’s worth noting that the original LONGSHOT 6-issue miniseries is freaking fabulous. So…

Anyway. I’m just getting into the Phoenix saga, which they’ve hooked into the Lady Yuriko arc from like 20 years later in the originals. That same arc actually saw Jubilee’s debut in the comics. 

I’m curious to see how they handle Wolverine’s crucifixion in a cartoon.

It’s just weird. Still cool in its own way, but it’s like puzzle pieces that shouldn’t fit together.

Old man yells at cloud. I know.

* * *

As a side-note, I'm now further along in the series, and that Lady Yuriko/Reavers arc wasn't the one I remembered from the comics. I *think* it was a wholly original amalgamation of a bunch of disparate elements. 

Anyway, yes, they did use it to introduce the Shiar. No, it was not directly tied to the Phoenix/Dark Phoenix arcs.

Final thought: they did a nice job with the Phoenix/Dark Phoenix arcs, but the ending got robbed of some of its power because it's a cartoon. They couldn't actually KILL Jean Grey.