How Did Years of Comics Continuity Fit into Two X-Men: The Animated Series Episodes?

 

A continuity-rich adaptation during the final days of X-Men: The Animated Series required excessive streamlining to suit the average viewer. I take a look back this week at CBR.

The Classic X-Men: The Animated Series Moment Only Allowed ONCE by Censors

 

This week at CBR, I'm revisiting the animated X-Men moment the censors only allowed once. The header image might be a clue.

How Did X-Men: The Animated Series Address Wolverine's Origin?

 

Wolverine's early spotlight stories in Uncanny X-Men inspired a memorable X-Men: The Animated Series episode...and the animated debut of Alpha Flight. I check it out this week at CBR.

The Oddest Comics of the '90s -- Marvel's Illustrated Investor Reports?

 

While operating as a publicly traded company, Marvel issued financial report/comic hybrids festooned with Wolverine and Spider-Man...and some truly stunning relics of the era. Herb Trime at his Rob-iest! I revisit this week at CBR.

How X-Men: The Animated Series Adapted History's Best-Selling Comic Book

 

Adventure(s) Time returns this week, as I revisit X-Men: The Animated Series and the "Sanctuary" two-parter, adapting Chris Claremont's 1991 swan song.

Morph's Noble X-Men: The Animated Series Exit Radically Differed from Comics Lore

 

One controversial (and quickly disavowed) comic had a shocking farewell to the cult-favorite metamorphing animated X-Man. I look back at both exits this week at CBR.

X-Men: The Animated Series Season 2 and its Surprising Influence on the Comics

 

This week at CBR, I look back at the Scott and Jean nuptials from X-Men: The Animated Series...and why exactly Bob Harras did indeed object to that union.

X-Men: The Animated Series' Manga Adaptation Had an Intense (& Abrupt) Ending

 

This week at CBR, I look at Marvel's final reprints of the manga adaptation of X-Men: The Animated Series. It didn't exactly give the title the respect it deserved.

X-Men: The Animated Series - When Came the Apocalypse

 

This week, I'm looking at two episodes from X-Men: The Animated Series' debut season that eclipse two big-budget Fox films with similar plots.

And, hey, looks like two sections didn't survive someone's final edit in the actual article...

HEY, I KNOW THAT VOICE 

Apocalypse is voiced by John Colicos, the actor who played the first ever Klingon on Star Trek, Commander Kor. He's the perfect actor to deliver baroque lines like, "I am the rocks of the eternal shore. Crash against me and be broken!"

APPROVED BY BROADCAST STANDARDS & PRACTICES

Comics fans know that Angel became Death Angel after his encounter with Apocalypse, only adopting the name Archangel after yet another X-event, "Inferno." Archangel was undoubtedly a friendlier name for the censors, though.

And since comments on articles have disappeared in the past, here's showrunner Eric Lewald's kind response to the article...

'Thanks to Mr. Kendall for his insightful article. He is right about that these episodes were conceived as a two-parter and that we were guilty as charged about a few bits of "dodgy continuity." When Mark Edens and I laid out the first season of X-MEN:TAS, we were working very fast and were told simply to "try to keep as close to the spirit of the books" as we could. At the same time, X-Men superfan producer-director Larry Houston was starting to populate the backgrounds and corners of episodes with cameos/easter-eggs of X-Men-world characters. During the "Slave Island" episode, we writers had asked simply to have "a dozen enslaved mutants in the background" and, to the fans delight, Larry loaded this and other episodes with recognizable X-characters -- not necessarily checking how we might be using some of them (like Mystique) in later episodes, like these two, where she was a principal guest character. None of us caught this at the time. The same holds true with Angle/Archangel. Since we had the fun of having him "meet" the X-Men in season one, years later we should have left him out of the early-team-photo-like memories. And yes, our focus here was simple: tell the most compelling Rogue story we could while introducing two new major characters (Angel and Apocalypse). Character first. ERIC LEWALD"

X-Men: the Animated Series and Rambo's Second Cousin

 

My look at the X-Men Manga adaptation of X-Men: The Animated Series continues this week at CBR. Master Mold looks incredible, and Cable debuts with an alternate line, one that doesn't reference a Depression-era musical.

X-Men: The Animated Series - The Manga Continues

 

I'm returning to the X-Men: The Manga adaptation series this week at CBR. Abominable snowmen!

Why X-Men: The Animated Series' Final Season Looks So Odd

 

Over at CBR, I'm examining why the final season of X-Men: The Animated Series looked so...different. Actually, as it turns out, the show could've had a Joe Mad makeover in those final episodes!

X-Men: The Art and Making of The Animated Series - Not Quite a Review

 

I wouldn’t be prepared to call this a review, because reading through this tome will take a while. But it’s certainly worth mentioning. The publisher sent me a comp copy of X-Men: The Art and Making of The Animated Series a few days ago, the newest entry from X-Men: The Animated Series producers Eric & Julia Lewald. 

It covers much of the information detailed in Previously on X-Men, their in-depth retrospective of the series, with a noticeable addition. Previously was text, but this is, obviously, an art book. Not only an art book—it’s an extensive chronicle of the making of the show, describing in detail the pre-digital production of television animation in a way I haven’t seen before. But it also provides storyboards, cel art, sketches, background paintings, and very likely, a character model for every figure to appear on the show. Not only the standard character designs, but also every variation of the character. 

Remember those few seconds the Blob appeared dressed as a tourist eating ice cream in Season One? It’s there. So is the initial design of Wolverine in his ’80s brown and tan costume—swapped out when Jim Lee revived his previous look in early ’92. This is not a fast read, and it isn’t a quickie cash-in on nostalgia for the show. Its closest comparison is Paul Dini and Chip Kidd’s Batman: Animated coffee table book. Not as “design-y,” but just as comprehensive and carefully cultivated. Fans of the show, or anyone with an interest in the history of animation, should seek it out.

X-Men: The Animated Series' Manga Adaptation of "Deadly Reunions" is Nuts

This week, I'm looking at my favorite issue of the X-Men: Manga adaptation so far. Some truly crazy imagery here, elevating a scene that never truly worked for Saturday morning.

The 'Amalgam' Magneto of X-Men: The Animated Series

What connection did X-Men: TAS share with the 1992 presidential election -- and which voice actor could have appeared in the 2000 film? This week, I'm revisiting Magneto's '90s animated (and manga) debut at CBR.

When X-Men: The Animated Series Went Full Manga

This week at CBR, I'm revisiting the X-Men: The Manga adaptation of X-Men: The Animated Series...which has some curious deviations from the source material. (And if anyone knows of times the American X-Men Adventures adaptation also went its own path, let me know... )

What's Up with the Pryde of the X-Men Soundtrack's Parental Advisory?

This week at CBR, I look back at the simply strange soundtrack to Pryde of the X-Men.

Adapting the Gambit Miniseries (Before It's Finished)

Remember when the animated X-Men series dedicated an episode to adapting the story from the Gambit mini...which was still being published? I look at both this week at CBR.

The X-Men Movie We Missed in 1994

Probably more than you ever wanted to know about the abandoned 1994 X-Men movie draft (from the writer of Seven!) This week at CBR!

Is X-Men: The Animated Series the Definitive Dark Phoenix Adaptation?

Is it possible Hollywood superstars and multi-million dollar budgets can't compete with a '90s cartoon series? I revisit the original Dark Phoenix Saga of the comics, and the animated adaptation at CBR.