X-Men Season 1 (1992)
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X-Men Season 1 Review
X-Men is a 90s animated series. It is a classic superhero show which is very well regarded today and for good reasons. The first season premiered in 1992.
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“You kids better behave yourselves.
I’m staying home to baby sit“
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It consists of thirteen shorter episodes. I will later talk about the episodes in length, but let’s now comment upon the overall show. I’ve had a big problem with this show which is short length and particularly the willingness to rush things. It deals with way too many important X-Men series in a span of just one season and I do think that they should have left some of this for other seasons.
But still the storytelling is very strong, the themes are rich (intolerance and gay parallels are so well established here) and the writing is overall polished. I found the animation okay. It is typically dated for the 90s, but in its time it was pretty good and I loved the faithful designs of the superheroes with great costumes.
The voice acting was quite subpar in my opinion, but the action is mostly fine and the score is one of the highlights. Its opening theme is just an unforgettable number, highly catchy, powerful and a perfect beginning of every episode.
The character development is also very strong, at least for the most part. Cyclops is fine, though underutilized. Logan is fantastic and I loved seeing his original yellow suit which suits the animation world so well. His voice is also terrific. Rogue has an annoying Southern accent, but is otherwise a respectable character.
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Storm has her moments in terms of action scenes, Beast is very well portrayed and Gambit is a lot of fun. Jubilee is okay, but I disliked the emphasis on her in the first couple of episodes as she isn’t too important of a character of this lore. And Charles Xavier needed more screen time. The same goes for Jean Grey.
Now is the time to review the individual episodes. Night of the Sentinels Part 1 is a very strong opening for the show and although Part 2 isn’t as good, this story is overall very well crafted despite a too big emphasis on Jubilee. But I liked the modern and teen angle on it nonetheless.
Enter Magneto is a very good episode, but it needed to have established Magneto much better. Deadly Reunions is also not that great of an episode admittedly and not particularly important in terms of the overall story arc.
Captive Hearts is somewhat forgettable, but Cold Vengeance is a fun episode. Slave Island is very well done and a very intriguing, dark story. The Unstoppable Juggernaut is a very well told story with a fantastic emphasis on Colossus who’s so well established here and so well voiced.
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The Cure rushed Apocalypse way too much. Come the Apocalypse is better and although I really liked this famous storyline with the cure for their mutated genes leading to fantastic dialogue and great themes, it was still incredibly rushed and needed much more time to develop properly.
Days of Future Past Part 1 is just as great as Part 2 and not as rushed as the previous story, though I still wanted more episodes with this again very famous story. The plot is powerful, the conflict is terrific and the time travel is fantastic here. The Final Decision isn’t as great, but still it’s a solid, politically charged conclusion to this entire season.
This first season ended up being pretty good despite its many problems such as rushed pacing and many entirely underutilized and highly rushed stories. I loved more than enough episodes here, the stories they chose are terrific, the character development is so good and the themes and conflicts are so well written. It’s a promising start for the show.
Worst Episodes: Captive Hearts and Cold Vengeance.
Best Episodes: Come the Apocalypse and Days of Future Past Part 2.
