Well, I took a stroll down memory lane this past week, and I feel like I should take back what I wrote two weeks ago sort of. While many of the shows we watched as kids are not nearly as good as we thought they were ("Captain Planet," anyone?) some have actually stood the test of time. As I cycled through the shows of my bygone years, I noticed that the truly great shows the ones that I can spend hour after hour watching without end some 15 years later have something in common: They're all based on comic books.
The early 1990s saw a golden age of cartoons originating from comic books, untarnished by the blockbuster movie franchises catering to the masses ignorant of the books themselves. These cartoons were unapologetically devoted to their source material. Forget your sleek, leather-wearing Wolverine invented to make teen girls swoon. We have in "X-Men: The Animated Series" what the famous character should be a no-nonsense badass decked out in yellow spandex and bright blue tights. Similarly, in "Batman: The Animated Series," Batman busts out the famous utility belt and shiny black outer-underwear.
An X-Men aficionado, I eagerly followed each episode of "X-Men: The Animated Series" with the classic, post-1975 "Uncanny X-Men" comics, including the famed "Dark Phoenix Saga."
"X-Men: The Animated Series" was one of several critically-acclaimed series, along with "Batman: The Animated Series" and "Spiderman: The Animated Series," to appear on FOX in the afternoon hours just in time for its main audience of pre-teen boys to get home from school. This was my story as well. After school, I would watch these fantastic shows with my brother. In between commercials we would more often than not get out our X-Men action figures and start battling.
Although I no longer bust out the action figures (I'll never admit any differently), I still enjoy these cartoons as much as I did when I first started watching them. The voice acting is top notch (who knew Mark Hamill, of "Star Wars" fame could play the mad, evil Joker?), the episodes are based on some of the most cherished story arcs in comic history, and the opening music is unmatched. Every time I hear the intro to "X-Men" I break out the air guitar without fail.
Why other comic-book based cartoons have failed live up the greats of the 1990s is up for debate. Regardless, the '90s saw a perfect storm of talent working with some of the most beloved comic book characters of all time. Put these DVD sets on your wish list. Now.
