X-Men the Animated Series Review

One of my favorite cartoons to watch on Saturday mornings as a kid was X-Men the Animated Series. It aired on TV from 1992-1997. At the time I was really into collecting Marvel superhero cards and the X-Men were some of the most popular so when they decided to make a show about them, I was pretty excited!

I remember seeing the first 2 seasons and then it seemed like they started showing re-runs. Somehow I must have missed the later seasons but just recently I get a chance to re-watch seasons 1-3 on DVD. So the question is, do they still hold up after all these years?

The animation itself is a little dated compared to what we are used to these days with computer generated graphics, but they are still pretty good. What stands out to me as one of the best parts of the series is the voice acting. For many people, this was the first time hearing what these characters actually sound like and for many, it provided the true voice of the character.

Some of my favorite characters from the series include Wolverine, Rogue, Beast, Gambit, and Jubilee. Wolverine has that grit and never give up attitude even when it seems like the odds are stacked against him. Rogue's southern belle charm and powerful abilities are a joy to watch. Beast and his intellect and quotes always give some balance when things are getting out of control. Gambit is just plain cool with his Cajun accent and charged playing cards, and Jubilee's youth and playfulness also add a nice contrast to the other members of the team.

My favorite episodes are the ones where the X-Men meet other mutants and other teams of mutants and they all get to show off their powers. For me, this is one of the best parts of the show and one of the things that takes still frame comics to the next level with animation. I also like the episodes where there is a lot of emotion involved, usually when it comes to relationships between the characters.

About half of the episodes are very good while the other half are just ok. I enjoyed the time travel episodes with Bishop and Cable. I also liked the ones featuring Sabretooth, Juggernaut, Nightcrawler, and Iceman. Some of the episodes I didn't like as much were the space related / Phoenix episodes, and the Savage Land episodes. After watching the first 3 seasons I would say overall I enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone who watched it back in the day or anyone who is interested in superheroes and hasn't seen it yet.