Marvel: The Echo of Profitability

[Martell Spy]

Quote

Was Batman a better show? Yeah, probably, but for a dumb kid looking for something a bit "more adult" than TMNT, X-Men was the shit.

 

Yeah, same here. I wasn't a comics reader, but I was drawn to that type of thing. I'm a MCU fan because of of that show. One of the cool things about it, it wasn't just some X-Men show.....it was literally the MCU long before the MCU existed. Sure they were just cameos, Spiderman slinging by was the most common one, but it was pretty incredible to realize this thing was set in the same world as these superheroes. Everyone knew who Spiderman was.

Edited March 21 by Martell Spy

[Ran]

3 hours ago, Durckad said:

X-Men was one of the first animated shows I saw that eschewed the episodic format and that was huge for me. Spider-Man (and a host of other shows like Exo-Squad and Gargoyles) did that as well, but X-Men came first and that was a big reason why it was THE show for me back then. 

I was actually thinking about that aspect of the show. And about Exo-Squad, too, funnily enough. Yeah, the serialized nature of the stories (and of Gargoyles, although to a lesser extent as I recall) was the thing that set them apart from what came before.

[DMC]

2 hours ago, Martell Spy said:

One of the cool things about it, it wasn't just some X-Men show.....it was literally the MCU long before the MCU existed. Sure they were just cameos

Yeah this instantly reminds me of the Wolverine/Captain America arc (I think it was multiple episodes?).  The serialization was what set it apart for me as a kid too.

[Heartofice]

5 hours ago, Durckad said:

Was Batman a better show? Yeah, probably, but for a dumb kid looking for something a bit "more adult" than TMNT, X-Men was the shit.

I think I was probably at an age where I wanted something a bit more, and Batman was surprisingly adult for a kids show, maybe more than it should be. I rewatched it recently since it hit Netflix and its pretty dark. 

Really, I should have loved X-Men and the MCU nature of it. I grew up watching actually terrible shows like 'Spiderman and his amazing friends' which had Iceman and Firestar in it, and that often had some sort of bizarre crossover which blew my mind at the time.

The weird thing about the X-Men show however was I probably saw it when I was early teens. I was reading X-Men at the time, one of the very good Claremont runs, and the comic was pretty adult, often brutal and violent, had some pretty dense and hard to understand themes for someone my age. Turning the cartoon on, I was immediately put off by the garish colours and characters like Jubilee who I didn't recognise and thought were childish and stupid. I wanted a show where Wolverine rips people's guts out, not where some teenage girl shoots little light flashes.

5 hours ago, Durckad said:

Loved Spider-Man back in the day, I tried rewatching it about 10-15 years ago and... nope. Doesn't really hold up. Sometimes... things should just stay as distant memories in your childhood.

Well I have to agree really. At the time it really did feel like it was following the comic structure pretty well and I really loved it. It just feels very dated now.

Having said that, I think a lot of cartoons now feel very dated to me, maybe it's my age, but even 10-15 years ago I would download stuff like Justice League and get quite into it. Now, probably superhero fatigue means there is nothing really of interest there. 

[IlyaP]

36 minutes ago, Heartofice said:

Having said that, I think a lot of cartoons now feel very dated to me, maybe it's my age, but even 10-15 years ago I would download stuff like Justice League and get quite into it. Now, probably superhero fatigue means there is nothing really of interest there. 

Remember the one-off X-Men pilot, Pryde of the X-Men, where Wolverine had an ocker Australian accent? Man that was something, wasn't it?  

[sifth]

There's was something just "cool", about watching that X Men show, back when I was in first grade. About a year ago, when I still had Disney Plus, I binged the entire show, in about a month and it's aged like fine wine. I'm honestly shocked, that they were able to get away so many things on a kids show.

I only had one issue with it and it's one of the most minor things in existence; that I don't even feel like mentioning it here. It was such a great experience rewatching that show.

[JGP]

Watched the first two episodes. 

They've stuck with the retro design style but not the animation. It's a bit smoother, there's more forced perspective, which is welcome-- I think can stomach it

[The animation being one of the reasons I didn't watch the original run much. Some of the voice acting being another. Don't get me started on the absence of Piotr and Kurt] 

They seem to be making a mash of more than a few storylines, but it's not horrible? Two episodes in, I'll give it a chance.   

Edited March 24 by JGP

[Heartofice]

Yeah saw first couple of episodes of Xmen 97. It’s perfectly serviceable and seems like a direct sequel to the original show. So much that I’m not sure who the target audience is. I don’t know how easy it would be for new viewers to jump in, so is it just for fans of the old show??

In which case it’s heavily nostalgia baiting, but is that enough to carry a show?

[JGP]

13 hours ago, Heartofice said:

Yeah saw first couple of episodes of Xmen 97. It’s perfectly serviceable and seems like a direct sequel to the original show. So much that I’m not sure who the target audience is. I don’t know how easy it would be for new viewers to jump in, so is it just for fans of the old show??

In which case it’s heavily nostalgia baiting, but is that enough to carry a show?

Yea, I don't know. 

Not having watched much of the OG show I can't speak to continuity. X-men have their built in fan base which isn't small however, then there's everyone else they've picked up along the way. Is it enough? Maybe. But in two episodes they're already pulling a lot of different storylines. Storm vs Callisto for the Morlocks [Gambit will factor there a bit I suspect, though I've never been fond of the character] Magneto and Rogue, the whole Jean/Madelyn thing leading into a bit of the Goblyn Queen Inferno storyline perhaps, and Nathan/Cable's origin too I suppose.

Can't say if it's too convoluted for new viewers but that's a lot to piece together.

 

edit: it's missing a little something between Kitty, Kurt and Piotr though, the dynamics those three bring to the rest of the team... I'm really [and was originally] baffled by their omission          

Edited March 25 by JGP

[Jaxom 1974]

2 hours ago, JGP said:

 

edit: it's missing a little something between Kitty, Kurt and Piotr though, the dynamics those three bring to the rest of the team... I'm really [and was originally] baffled by their omission          

Hmmmm...none of those were ever part of this show originally...those early days of the 90s, those three were all on Excalibur, and thinking of that, that is something I'd like to see on this show. A guest appearance by all of Excalibur...

[JGP]

1 hour ago, Jaxom 1974 said:

Hmmmm...none of those were ever part of this show originally...those early days of the 90s, those three were all on Excalibur, and thinking of that, that is something I'd like to see on this show. A guest appearance by all of Excalibur...

That’s what I meant with the originally in there. :p

An Excalibur team up would be cool, but with Kurt and Kitty not having been in the OG show, how would that work? 

And did Colossus ever show up in the original run of the animated series, at all?

Edited March 25 by JGP

[DMC]

46 minutes ago, JGP said:

And did Colossus ever show up in the original run of the animated series, at all?

Yeah he was in a couple episodes.  

Just watched the first two eps.  I should get to bed, but very quickly - kinda weird that Bishop is now just part of the team.  Did that happen within the original series and I just don't remember?  Also, what's up with Eric and Rogue?  Don't remember that ever being a thing, at least in the cartoon.  Finally, really liked how they showed how powerful Storm can be.  It always bothered me as a kid that they never really established how awesome her abilities should intuitively be.

[sifth]

5 hours ago, DMC said:

Yeah he was in a couple episodes.  

Just watched the first two eps.  I should get to bed, but very quickly - kinda weird that Bishop is now just part of the team.  Did that happen within the original series and I just don't remember?  Also, what's up with Eric and Rogue?  Don't remember that ever being a thing, at least in the cartoon.  Finally, really liked how they showed how powerful Storm can be.  It always bothered me as a kid that they never really established how awesome her abilities should intuitively be.

I was confused by Bishop randomly being part of the team as well, because that was not a thing in the original show. I think the last time we see Bishop in the original show was Beyond Good and Evil part 4, which was the last episode of season 4, which was originally intended to be the final episode of the show as a whole. There was clearly a time skip between the final episode of the original show and the start of 97, because suddenly Jean is 9 months pregnant and like you said Bishop is on the team, without an explanation. I just find it weird, that everyone is acting like Charles is dead, when every character knows he's just in space, getting treatment, from their alien friends; I find that rather strange.

[Jaxom 1974]

The Rogue/Magneto thing is something from the comics, and something they'll likely reference as something from before Rogue joined the team...

I don't remember all that much from the original run, so can't comment on Bishop being there, but he was always a terrible character in any media...

As to Excalibur, and how do they fit in? Well, the cartoon obviously has unknown, unshown history, as there are pictures of the original team hanging in the mansion. No reason Kurt and Kitty couldn't have been present at a time prior to the show...

[DMC]

2 hours ago, sifth said:

I think the last time we see Bishop in the original show was Beyond Good and Evil part 4

Yeah that's my recollection too.  I especially find it weird because they already have enough characters.  Plus..the team doesn't really need him?  One thing I liked about the eps was everyone seems sufficiently powered up, as if they're in their "primes," and thus can much more easily handle most threats than most of the original series.  I'm assuming they have Bishop around because they're going to do something with him down the line - thinking something to do with Madelyn?

2 hours ago, sifth said:

I just find it weird, that everyone is acting like Charles is dead, when every character knows he's just in space, getting treatment, from their alien friends; I find that rather strange.

Aye, me too.  I guess it makes sense in that they want to make it a "surprise" to new viewers when he shows up again, but..it's also gonna be really strange if the team is NOT surprised given how they are talking about him.  Or they're just retconning shit...

23 minutes ago, Jaxom 1974 said:

The Rogue/Magneto thing is something from the comics, and something they'll likely reference as something from before Rogue joined the team...

Yeah I figured it was from the comics.  And yes - they already alluded to a previous relationship in the scene where it was brought up.  Still find it weird -- especially if you consider the original series canon, it's really awkward that this was never an issue previously.

Anyway, the only other thing I wanted to mention is I find it very amusing they couldn't wait to have their January 6th reference by the second episode.  A lot of that depiction was REALLY on the nose.  Which is fine for a kids show - and this is still plainly geared towards kids - but I find that interesting in and of itself.  Are they expecting kids to watch the original series, or just kinda trying to toe the line between those of us coming for the nostalgia and new/younger viewers?

[drawkcabi]

Really loved the first two episodes of X-Men '97!

I was a kid through the 80's, I already had my mind blowing experience of seeing a cartoon could be episodic and work on a more adult level while still being accessible to kids with Robotech (obligatory I know the can of worms the history of that show is, you know it, we don't need to open it every time).

So I was in my late teens when X-Men started, but it was that series along with Batman TAS that had a "Just when I thought I was out, they pulled me back in!" effect on me regarding Saturday morning and after school cartoons.

I was pretty much all in for any cartoon that caught my attention after that and never looked back!

So, already the original series had a nostalgic effect on me towards being 10-years-old and younger and the great time I had watching Saturday morning cartoons. Now X-Men '97 compounds that with feeling nostalgic about when I was a young adult feeling nostalgic about being a younger kid.

Getting old is weird.

In addition to all that, the show itself on a technical level, the writing, animation, music, (most of) the voice talent, is all great on its own merits.

[sifth]

Episode 3 was really good; I was on the fence with the first two episodes, but consider my mind changed now. You know, I'm really impressed by Ray Chase in this show, playing Cyclops. He sounds almost identical to Norm Spencer, so much so that I didn't even know Cyclops was recast, until I looked it up in the credits. Also Jen Hale is always awesome and I love how she's hamming it up this week.

[Heartofice]

So now Episode 3 of X-Men 97 is kind of getting me excited. Pretty much the point where I stopped reading the comics was somewhere around the time there was the X-men / X-Factor crossover event with Mr Sinister and Madeline Pryor. I guess they are pretty much building up to that, just in a bit of a different way.

Edited March 27 by Heartofice

[Heartofice]

Actually Episode 3 is just bizarre really. The pace of change of Madeline going 'oh what I'm a clone?!' to 'Yup I guess I'm a crazy supervillain now' is done within the blink of an eye. It just feels really really weird. I mean basically everything that happens over the episode is so squeezed from what I think is the story from the comics it's almost funny. 

[Myrddin]

2 hours ago, Heartofice said:

Actually Episode 3 is just bizarre really. The pace of change of Madeline going 'oh what I'm a clone?!' to 'Yup I guess I'm a crazy supervillain now' is done within the blink of an eye. It just feels really really weird. I mean basically everything that happens over the episode is so squeezed from what I think is the story from the comics it's almost funny. 

TBF, her transformation in the source comics was pretty drastic from shunned wife to deal with the devil to Goblin Queen. It's been about a minute (or 30 years) since I last read the comics, but one minute she was missing her son to suddenly reigning over the ashes of demonic New York.