Say the name “The King” to a comic book fan and they will immediately know of whom you speak. Jack Kirby is a titan in the world of comics. Creator or co-creator of a great many characters known throughout the world today, it’s hard to imagine what a comic book would look like without his influence. It was probably around the 1980s when the kids who grew up reading his work themselves broke into comics when his legacy and influence really started to shine. Two of his biggest fans also happened to be the co-creators of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. Such big fans of Kirby were they that they essentially wrote him into an issue of one of their comics. The Donatello one-shot, “Kirby and the Warp Crystal,” sees the brainy turtle pulled into an another dimension where he has to work with a comic book artist by the name of Kirby to save the native inhabitants of this world and make it home. Kirby, with his pencil that has a magic stone affixed to it, is able to bring to life whatever he draws on his pad of paper. The issue has been re-released multiple times and included in trade paperbacks and was even adapted into an episode of the 2003 cartoon series where it was simply titled “The King.”
It’s impressive how detailed the sketch of Donatello turned out.
Through NECA’s line of action figures based on the Mirage Studios version of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles we now have Jack Kirby – the action figure. Technically, it’s just Kirby and he is based on Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird’s caricature of Jack Kirby himself. It’s a release done with the blessing of Kirby’s estate and the credits on the bottom of the box reference the Kirby for Hero’s program and The Jack Kirby Museum & Research Center. Jack Kirby is mostly known for being an incredible artist, but he’s also known as a strong advocate for creator’s rights. Kirby, like a great many comic book artists, created their work under work-for-hire contracts that gave the publisher sole, creative, control over anything the artist came up with. It’s an unjust and unfair practice that has at least improved since the 1960s, but is hardly perfect.
“Thanks for the hardware, Kirby!”
The Kirby action figure isn’t one that is necessarily meant to “wow” those who buy it. It is, after all, an action figure of a middle-aged man with a pencil and paper, but it’s Jack Kirby! It comes in the standard trapezoidal box with brand new artwork on the front and sides by Kevin Eastman with product shots featured on the back. There is a cross-sell that would seem to indicate a new Triceraton infantryman character is on the way which makes sense since it would allow NECA to get more use out of the tools created for Zog. The other characters on the cross-sell are the Mirage-colors Foot Enforcer (coming soon) and the much awaited Rat King, a figure that was shown off last year at San Diego Comic Con.
“Ok, I’ll give it a try, but I can only draw stick figures.”
Out of the box, Kirby stands just a tick over the 6″ mark. He’s featured in a green sweater over a pale yellow, collared, shirt with blue slacks and brown loafers. It’s a simple figure, but it’s brightly painted with liberal use of black linework to give it that comic “pop” the line is known for. Kirby’s face is a mixture of excitement and concentration like his mind is working in overdrive to come up with something imaginative to capture on his pad of paper. The likeness to the artwork is very well done and, in turn, the likeness to the actual Jack Kirby is pretty solid as well. It’s a comic book version of Kirby and I think it works pretty well to capture how he probably looked in the 60s and 70s. There aren’t any obvious paint blemishes on my figure and everything appears to be in order.
The blaster doesn’t really fit the new turtle bodies all that well. It gets hung-up on the elbow pad.
What do you give an action figure of a comic book artist for accessories? Why, a pencil and paper, of course! Kirby has his pencil affixed with the magic stone. It’s this teeny, tiny, little item that is exceptionally painted for something so small. I’m not seeing any slop on the black thread holding the purple stone in place which is really impressive. Kirby has a set of fists, but he also has a right hand that is fixed into a pencil holding position to accept the accessory. I do question the wisdom of doing it this way. While it’s impressive how well the little pencil turned out, making it part of the hand mold might have made more sense as I fear this item getting lost. Kirby also has a wide gripping, left, hand and he’ll need it to hold his pad of paper. It’s a spiral-bound notebook and on one side is a sketch of Donatello from that issue with the special arm canon Kirby conjures up for him and on the rear is a demonic-looking character. Kirby also has a set of more standard gripping hands should you wish to give him some weapons or something, but I don’t know why you would.
This new version of the Gravitic Equalizer also lacks a lot of the paint hits as the one that came with the Fugitoid.
Also included in the box is a familiar accessory. It’s the blue arm canon (dubbed the Gravitic Equalizer by Kirby) from the Donatello one-shot which was previously released with Fugitoid. This time it has considerably less paint as it’s just all blue with black linework. The back of the box shows Kirby paired with the more recent, Jim Lawson, Donatello, but this accessory is meant for the original Eastman/Laird turtles that NECA did way back in 2008. I had no success getting this thing onto the newer turtles as they have bigger arms. Maybe some heat and persistence could cure that? The biggest accessory though is this little, red and gray demon from that very same issue. This little guy was created by Eastman and Laird, but very much looks like something Jack Kirby would have dreamt up. He’s about 3.125″ tall and features basic articulation at the head, shoulders, and hips. There’s more paint on this guy than a whole wave of Marvel Legends and he has this little hammer accessory. It’s gray with black shading and looks pretty neat. His hands aren’t the most pliable so you may want to heat them up if you want him to get a real good grip on it.
Kirby also comes with a little buddy.
Articulation for Kirby is pretty solid and typical of the more human characters we see in NECA’s cartoon TMNT line. He’s got a ball-jointed head, hinged pegs at the shoulders, double-elbows that feature a hinged ball peg at the top and bottom, forearm swivel, wrists that swivel and hinge horizontally, ball-jointed waist, ball-socket hips, thigh swivel, double-jointed knees, ankle swivel, ball-hinged feet, and an ankle rocker. The shirt overlay will limit his movement in the torso, but his arm range is a plus and he won’t have any issue sketching on that notepad. The NECA double elbows are in effect and I know some people hate how these look. I’ve always maintained I think they look okay on sleeved arms like this so I’m fine with their use here. I like the extra forearm swivel they provide and I like that the hinged ball at the ankle pegs into the shin so we get a little extra swivel there. The only thing I don’t love is the “diaper” at the crotch which restricts leg movement. I can see a lot of collectors wanting to pair this figure with a 1:12 scale chair and desk and getting him to sit might be a problem.
And when I say little I do mean little.
A figure of a comic book artist isn’t as exciting as that of a ninja or a cyborg, but the fact that it’s Jack Kirby certainly adds a tantalizing layer to it. I can’t tell if this is a figure NECA will have a hard time moving a lot of units for or if it’s the type of figure that’s going to do very well as non-TMNT collectors may jump at the chance of owning a small version of The King. It’s a tremendously fun homage and I think my only true critique is I do wish it could have come with a chair and drafting table. Even if it upped the cost or we had to drop the little demon guy, I would have done it. I can see people creating displays of Kirby at a desk drawing away with a shelf over his head of his many creations in dramatic action poses. This is a fun one and I’m sure it was a dream come true for Kevin Eastman to make this figure a reality.
Kirby is going to hang out on my shelf with the O.G. turtles
Kirby is currently hitting Target stores as part of the NECA Haulathon event, but expect him to be made available at other retailers in the not too distant future. At Target, he’ll set you back $35 which I think is a pretty good price for this one.
Check out more from NECA’s line of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles pulled from the pages of Mirage Studios:
Haulathon 2023 has brought some pretty big releases to NECA’s line of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles action figures. And I mean big in a literal sense. REX-1 was tall and hefty and the multi-armed clone of Shredder was no slouch either. Those two seem to pale in comparison to Zog, the Triceraton warrior from NECA’s…
I’m having a hard time coming up with an action figure line that has had retail releases separated by more than a decade. I don’t mean long-running lines of figures like G.I. Joe or Marvel Legends which have been around for decades, I mean a line that was started, ended, then re-started like NECA’s line…
When it comes to the popularity of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles a lot of the credit goes to Playmates Toys. Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird created the characters born out of a joke. Credit them for having the vision to think this joke had appeal beyond their small circle as they self-published Teenage Mutant Ninja…
It’s sort of interesting to me that the first Dragon Ball action figure I review after the passing of creator Akira Toriyama is one based off of the artwork of his protege – Toyotarou. Toyotarou basically lived the dream of fanfic artist and writer turned official. It’s rumored that he worked on the fan-fic manga Dragon Ball AF, though I don’t know if that’s ever been confirmed or refuted, and he was the artist and writer for Dragon Ball Heroes: Victory Mission. All of this work within the Dragon Ball universe must have put him on Toriyama’s radar for it was he who selected Toyotarou to be the artist for the Dragon Ball Super manga.
This figure comes in a much larger box than usual.
As a celebration of Toyotarou’s contributions to Dragon Ball and to also celebrate 15 years of S.H. Figuarts Dragon Ball releases, Bandai decided to release this special Toyotarou edition of the previously released Ultra Instinct Son Goku figure from Dragon Ball Super. The figure has been outfitted with new face plates to better reflect Toyotarou’s art style, which really isn’t all that different from Toriyama’s. The main feature seems to be narrower eyes which have a different sharpness about them. Toyotarou was also able to influence the expressions we have here and the figure received a slight re-deco to more reflect the colorization of the manga vs the anime. To cap it off, this release comes in an oversized box which also includes a book. Titled the Dragon Ball S.H.Figupedia, it catalogs all of the figures released in the line and also includes some short interviews and quotes from the people who are closest to the line. The only omission of note is Toriyama himself which is a bit of a shame. Maybe Dragon Ball action figures just weren’t his thing?
And the box is much larger than usual because it has this book all about the S.H.Figuarts line.
The figure itself is a reissue so it’s going to be pretty familiar to anyone who has the old figure. It’s also familiar to really anyone who has purchased a Goku from this line. For me, I never got the initial figure and there’s actually a lot more “new” here than I would have expected. He does share a lot of parts with one of the Goku figures I have and that’s the Super Saiyan Blue Kaio-Ken edition. Both figures feature the same legs and arms, though for this figure the hole for the sleeves in the shoulder has been removed. The belt piece is different since it needed to include the tattered remains of Goku’s blue undershirt and the torso is completely different since this Goku is bare-chested. Basically every Goku uses the same hands and feet while the heads are obviously completely different. I believe the main hair piece is the same as before too, though it may have been modified for these new faces as these key-into the sculpt in a unique manner from what I’ve been exposed to.
There’s certainly new stuff here, but from the waist down these two figures are the same
Ultra Instinct lends itself well to simple, calm, posing.
Goku stands at roughly 5.75″ to the top of where his head should be. The hair is a nice, pearl, silver and it’s an opaque piece of plastic, not translucent like some special edition figures we’ve seen. The ears on all of the faces are slightly larger as that is something Toyotarou feels is a part of his take on Goku and I honestly wouldn’t have noticed if he didn’t point it out in the included interview. The facial details are very sharp and crisp as this continues to be a real strength for the line. The torso and arms have sculpted battle damage, but no paint to bring them out. There is a slight wash to the torso and shoulders, a soft pink or orange which does give the figure a nice bit of warmth. It’s not on the rear of the torso which looks cold as a result. There appears to a hint of a dark wash to the pants which I mostly notice in the crotch and at the tips of the frayed parts. Otherwise, paint is mostly reserved for the wrist bands, boots, and some of the exposed flesh of the legs. The colors match well throughout and I am still quite fond of this torn gi sculpt. All in all, a nice looking version of Goku.
I’m really digging this eyes closed portrait.
They never stood a chance.
The different faces and hair help to bring this figure to life. Out of the box, Goku has the silver hair that most resembles the shape of his natural hair, but he also has a windswept version to swap to for action shots. Both look very nice and it will be hard to settle on a display for very long. His default face is a stoic one, but he also has a yelling portrait, side-eye, clenched teeth, and an eyes closed option. The eyes closed option is pretty damn cool and suits this form rather well, though it’s hard to turn-down how expressive the opened eyes are. I’m not normally into the side-eye options, but this one is like a glare. Whoever is getting the side-eye treatment from Goku is really pissing him off. For hands, the usual assortment is at play here: fists, martial arts posed, Kamehameha, and open. Nothing really special there and no effect part was included. That’s the only downgrade from the initial release which had a charging blast effect. It would have been nice to get one of those, though we have received quite a few of late. Really, a new aura would have been awesome as Ultra Instinct has this thick, almost syrupy, silver aura at times in the anime. It would have been fun to see Tamashii Nations attempt that.
The wind swept hair is a nice touch.
Maybe I should have grabbed Jiren after all so this Goku would have someone to battle?
The articulation for this Goku is virtually the same as the many other Goku figures we have received over the years save for the most recent Legendary Super Saiyan version which is on an all new body. I’ll link to some at the end of this entry if you want the full write-up, but suffice to say it all works just as well here, if not better. And it’s only better because there’s no shirt to have to deal with, but that was never a huge hindrance anyway. He actually can’t bring his arms across his chest any better than other figures and maybe a touch less. You just don’t have the sleeve flaps to fiddle with which is nice. I also can’t tell if there is a hinged peg setup in the diaphragm or if there’s just a little play on joint itself. It doesn’t lift as high as the other Goku figures, if so, but the clearance is fine and you get some forward and back articulation. It’s a well articulated Goku and the only things I dislike is the hinged ball peg at the head and the ball peg ankles.
Goku’s determined face.
The included book is basically the flagship accessory for this figure. Is that better than a blast effect? Yeah, kind of. Only because the book is unique and pretty well done. There isn’t anything truly revealing in it, no earth-shattering details about the development of the line or anything like that. It’s mostly just a celebration of the line and the product shots inside are all from the various solicitations we’ve seen in the past. I was hoping for a tease or maybe a reveal at the end of the book, but there’s nothing like that in it. It basically includes up to the Mecha Frieza figure, which is about to be released, and nothing beyond that. In terms of figures that have been revealed, it’s already out of date, but it probably would have been impossible for that to be avoided unless they had prototypes available for photography well in advance of the solicitations. Perhaps they could have done something to future-proof it a little via concept art or renders, but it probably wouldn’t have made much of a difference. It’s fun to flip through and the quality is pretty standard stuff. It’s 143 pages and in full color. There’s a dust cover on it, though it is a soft cover book. I like stuff like this so this was a selling point for me. Some people might not care and want more out of the figure for 80 bucks.
The book should be pretty fun for those who have been into this line for years.
The Ultra Instinct Son Goku – Toyotarou edition is a solid release for Bandai and Tamashii Nations. The figure captures the Toyotarou aesthetic rather well and I think it’s an improvement over the original release. It just stinks for those who missed out on that figure and wanted this one and had no interest in paying for the book. The figure doesn’t come with a whole lot and is basically like a 50 dollar release for the line meaning you’re paying about 30 bucks for the book and fancy packaging. When the first edition of this figure came out I wasn’t really sold on the Ultra Instinct design so I passed on it. I’ve warmed to it a bit since so I was happy about this new version as well as the included book. Yeah, I do wish there was an effect part or something else in the box, but I’m fairly content. I’m curious how many more Goku reissues on this body are to come. It feels like we’re on the verge of Bandai moving to a new body for the star of Dragon Ball and I’ll be curious to see if that does indeed happen. This figure was a Premium Bandai exclusive where the MSRP was $80. It’s sold out so if you want it you will have to track one down elsewhere. Maybe you’ll be able to get it for less if you don’t want the book? More likely, it will cost you more.
My isn’t that title a mouthful? This version of the classic character Goku comes to you from Bandai via New York Comic Con. If I were to simplify that title, I’d call it shiny Super Saiyan Blue Kaio-Ken Goku, which is still pretty wordy. I guess blame Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama for the obsession…
I can remember a time in my life when I was just dying to see Goku, the hero of Dragon Ball Z, become that which was prophesized: a Super Saiyan! The seed for such a transformation wasn’t planted very early in the show and really only started being mentioned as the original version of the…
I believe I have touched on it before, and it’s also probably common knowledge among fans of Dragon Ball, that the story was supposed to end with Gohan’s triumph over Perfect Cell. Goku was dead and gone having sacrificed himself to save the world, but his son would carry on his legacy in his own…
Well, that was a long wait! After the two episode premiere of X-Men ’97 on March 20th I was ready for that third episode. The week long wait felt both excruciating and exhilarating. It’s been a long time since we’ve had an X-Men show to get excited about, or really an X-Men anything, and it’s been a lot of fun to see the early reception the new show has received over the past week. And it doesn’t hurt that the second episode, like the first, ended on a pretty major cliffhanger.
“Mutant Liberation Begins” was an episode that thrust Magneto into the spotlight. What are his goals now that he’s been handed the keys to the mansion? Turns out, he seems to want to give this whole unity thing a try, but humanity is making it difficult. He orchestrated a trip to Genosha for The Morlocks (and asked in doing so why Xavier and the X-Men never did this to begin with to which I agree) and submitted himself for judgement before the United Nations. There, Magneto’s politics were on full display and the show pulled no punches in highlighting who the enemy is, in both the real world and the fantasy one occupied by the characters of this show. It also proved costly for Storm was wounded by the F.O.H. aligned enemy, X-Cutioner, and rendered powerless. This lead to her departure at the conclusion of the episode in an emotionally charged scene, but the sadness wasn’t allowed to linger long for knocking at the door was a mysterious woman in some distress. Oh, and she looks exactly like Jean Grey.
Episode 2 ended on quite the cliffhanger.
Fans of the comics, or those who have just read up on X-Men lore, know a bit of where this should be going. And the show hasn’t hid the fact that Madelyne Pryor, The Goblin Queen, is to play a role in the show this season. Just how it will unravel remains a mystery. Who is the real Jean? Where did this other one come from? And what of the baby born to Scott and Jean in the previous episode? Many questions, and I’m sure all will be answered eventually, but they can’t all be tidied up in just one episode, though “Fire Made Flesh” is sure going to try.
Seeing what gets swapped into and out of the opening title is going to be fun.
The opening title has been updated to, sadly, remove Storm (aside from the group shots). We are treated to multiple cuts of recreated scenes from The Dark Phoenix Saga, and some were present last week, and I’m guessing this swappable scenes approach is going to come in and out in a way to spotlight what’s to follow. And it’s actually Jean (Jennifer Hale) who gets to deliver the “Previously, on X-Men…” line. Last week it was Magneto, who will get a turn next week?
This episode does find time to address why Bishop is present with the team, though don’t expect any real details on how he ended up here.
The episode begins right where the previous one left off. There are two Jeans, and only of them can be real. To my surprise, that question is answered almost immediately. I try to refrain from spoilers as much as possible, and if you couldn’t tell based on my introductory paragraphs, I’ll use the following week’s episode review to kind of react to the prior episode in a more spoiler fashion. In other words, make sure you’re up-to-date before reading one of these reviews, but you should be okay to read the current week’s before actually watching it, if you so desire. Anyway, I will refrain from outing who the Goblin Queen is, but obviously she has to be one of the two Jeans and she is not going to take kindly to finding out she isn’t the real Jean.
We knew the Goblin Queen was coming and she does not disappoint.
The act structure of the episode is basically as follows. The first part deals with the aftermath of the previous episode while the second act is The Mansion vs the X-Men. The Goblin Queen uses her powers to distort reality and force the X-Men to see their greatest fears, or just demons. For Morph, they’re going to see Mr. Sinister and a returning Roberto gets taunted by images of his mother, who doesn’t know he’s a mutant and he suspects will not take that news well. The rest are treated to their own version of Dante’s Inferno and it’s a visual delight. Rarely do the X-Men get to go full horror, and we get to see more creative team-up maneuvers from characters here as the action continues to be a highlight of the show.
There are some horror elements present in this one which is pretty unique for X-Men.
The third act is all about the X-Men vs the Goblin Queen, and the fun part of that battle is seeing her telekinetic powers fully unleashed in a showdown with Magneto. I had concerns that adding Magneto to the regular roster might throw things off. He is, after all, an extremely powerful mutant and there aren’t a lot of foes who pose a true threat to him. Goblin Queen is one such foe though and the battle is brief, but pretty damn cool. The fourth act is the resolution and we do get some setup for the episode to come. It’s not the cliffhanger either of the first two episodes were, but for comic readers it’s definitely enough.
Poor Morph just can’t escape this guy.
X-Men ’97 is credited to Beau DeMayo as the writer, but it’s pretty clear that this show is going to owe a whole lot to the writers who came before him. In particular, this is Chris Claremont’s story on the screen and he, along with many other writers, gets an acknowledgement in the credits. Does that mean he actually gets paid for the series? I don’t know. All of those guys were under work-for-hire agreements and it’s been a longstanding issue in the comics industry. I know Disney has made it a point to pay these guys something for their stories and characters when it comes to the MCU, but it’s probably not as much as they deserve considering how big some of those movies are. Also of note to me through these first three episodes is how the opening theme is credited to Haim Saban and Shuki Levy. I’m guessing that’s another mostly work-for-hire issue as it’s pretty well known that composer Ron Wasserman (working off a baseline provided by Ron Cannon) came up with the intro theme. It’s chronicled really well in the book “Previously…on X-Men: The Making of an Animated Series” by Eric Lewald which I strongly recommend to all fans of the shows, both old and new. I don’t point the writer thing out as a way to diminish DeMayo’s contribution to the show, but merely as an acknowledgement that a lot of great writers have contributed to this show so far.
“Fire Made Flesh” is another good episode of television. I think episode two is still the champion, but that’s no slight on this third episode. I think my only criticisms up to this point concerned some of Rogue’s dialogue, but a new criticism is forming in that the show is moving at a very brisk pace. The plot of this episode could have been stretched across multiple ones. I don’t know if we had enough time with the current status quo of the series before getting to this one. The resolution would have been able to land with more impact if we did. One of the last scenes occurring outside the mansion between Jean and her newborn son should have hit harder, but we’ve been with these characters for too short of a time. We’ll see how the fallout is addressed as there is a lot of emotions to sort out and the lasting image we have of Scott and Jean does at least acknowledge that. I just worry that in adapting something that has so rich a history, DeMayo is trying to hit on too much too fast. Perhaps the next episode will calm my fears somewhat. I do think it’s something we won’t truly have a grasp of until the first season is in the books, but so far, the ride is fun and exhilarating and after the wait for this one I’m kind of glad we get a less suspenseful ending this week to hang onto.
For more reviews of X-Men ’97, or my write-up on the book I recommended, check out the below:
A lot of cartoons made an impact on me as a child. My first love was The Real Ghostbusters. Its goofy cast of characters and excitement were plenty of fun and there were interesting toys to supplement the series with, which was pretty much the goal of all cartoons in the 80s. The Teenage Mutant…
It used to be that when a show got cancelled that was it. It simply ceased to exist as a new product. If there were enough episodes it could last in syndication on both broadcast and cable for a good while, but rarely was it accessible to the point where a fan could have the…
The first episode of X-Men ’97 left me grinning from ear to ear and eager to see what would happen next. I’m happy to say, the show’s second episode left me feeling very much the same. “Mutant Liberation Begins” starts off right where the previous episode ended. Magneto, has revealed that it was the wishes…
The first episode of X-Men ’97 left me grinning from ear to ear and eager to see what would happen next. I’m happy to say, the show’s second episode left me feeling very much the same. “Mutant Liberation Begins” starts off right where the previous episode ended. Magneto, has revealed that it was the wishes of Charles Xavier that all of his assets be turned over to his longtime friend and often adversary. Magneto now leads the X-Men, and everyone is worried about where his loyalties truly lay.
The episode begins with a familiar refrain: Previously, on X-Men. Before, it was usually delivered by Norm Spencer, the voice of Cyclops. For the second episode it’s delivered by Matthew Waterson, the voice of Magneto. The opening credits are also updated to feature Magneto first reflecting his new status (and new, big M costume) as headmaster of the institute. This was a plot foretold by the official trailer for the show so it comes as no surprise. It’s also a plot from the comics as is another plot from this episode: the trial of Magneto. In addition to his new presence, there are also new shots included in the intro that mostly replace the classic shots we’re used to seeing. These new ones are recreations of scenes from the original series so it would appear that the opening title will be a little different for every episode which is kind of fun.
Magneto has been welcomed to the opening title.
This episode has to confront the issue of how the X-Men will exist with Magneto in charge and how humanity will respond. Magneto is essentially branded a terrorist by most of the world governments, which is why his reveal as being affiliated with the X-Men leads to a confrontation with Valerie Cooper and the federal government. Perhaps to the surprise of everyone present, Magneto surrenders as he views this as the clearest path to gaining the trust of the team. He does make it clear that he does not share Xavier’s world view that peace between mutants and humans can be achieved, but for the sake of his departed friend, it would appear that he’s at least going to try while also doing things his way.
Magneto will be forced to answer for his crimes before the United Nations.
Much of the episode takes place before a United Nations council set to judge Magneto. It also introduces a new villain: X-Cutioner. Pronounced by the character as “Executioner,” the character is voiced by Lawrence Bayne who is known to fans of the original X-Men cartoon as the voice of Cable. Cable will appear at some point in this show, but with a different voice actor. That choice was justified by series creator Beau DeMayo as being a necessity so that they could cast Cable as someone who sounds closer to Cyclops, something the original series likely didn’t take into consideration. Even with that, I was disappointed at the news as Bayne’s Cable was one of my favorite performances in the old show. He’s fine as X-Cutioner who is an enemy allied with the Friends of Humanity packing some serious fire power, but I’m sure I’ll miss him as Cable whenever that character debuts.
X-Cutioner may be just some guy, but he packs a lot of firepower.
The episode does include a B plot which would be unusual for the original show, but may be a sign of things to come. It’s also a humor-based B plot which would also be unusual and concerns Wolverine and Jean. Everyone except them has gone to the UN to watch Magneto’s trial unfold, so naturally this is the time when Jean goes into labor. It’s up to Wolverine to get her to a hospital and he seems far more unnerved doing that than facing down Apocalypse. It’s not something that chews up a ton of screen time and it was kind of nice to see the show willing to embrace a bit more humor. It also leads to some important character moments like what happens when an extremely powerful mutant shows up in labor at a hospital? And how does Wolverine feel about the woman he loves having a baby with another man? It gives us a great moment between Wolverine and Morph too that elaborates on their friendship, something we were told was a thing in the original series, but really didn’t get to see much of.
There is a history between these two and Magneto seems especially interested in rekindling that.
And speaking of everyone’s favorite love triangle from the original show, we’re apparently about to be served up another. When the writers were handed the keys to the mutant kingdom with that first show, it was a group unfamiliar with the X-Men that had existed in print for decades prior. As a result, they seemed to view the show as a new beginning. Some of that would be retconned in later series when it was acknowledged that the team had existed for awhile prior to the events of the show and more of that is being addressed here with Rogue and Magneto. It would appear their prior relationship before Rogue joined the team is now canon and it’s likely going to lead to some uncomfortable moments between they and Gambit. It just wouldn’t be X-Men without a little soap opera drama. I will say, one of my few criticisms of this episode takes place during these Rogue and Magneto scenes, but not because of the character development, but because of Rogue’s forced dialogue. It would seem writer Beau DeMayo could not get her line about looking as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs out his head because Rogue has a lot of cat puns in this one scene. And they’re not very good. Perhaps the show can add an actual southern, female, writer to the staff just for Rogue lines going forward.
I love the little character moments like this one between Morph and Wolverine. I hope for many more.
For a show that stylizes itself as a superhero action drama, an episode about dry court proceedings would have been dreadfully boring. That’s why “Mutant Liberation Begins” includes more wonderful action set pieces and also contains some pretty earth-shattering shakeups to the team. Like the first episode, this is still a show building towards bigger plots and laying the groundwork for how the series will go. It’s at times uncomfortable, but also exciting and I definitely want to see more. The episode also ends on another shocking reveal. Fans of the comics likely have ideas on where this development will lead, but I also wouldn’t expect a 1:1 recreation of any comic book plots. There will likely be some wrinkles thrown in and a change or two or three. As far as plots that could have been sourced from the books, I think it’s one of the top ones and it’s a plot that I’m glad the original series saved for this show because the more lax standards and practices should allow X-Men ’97 to do it justice.
One thing that’s definitely different from the previous show, X-Men ’97 is not afraid to shake-up the active roster.
Episode two of X-Men ’97 is more of the same, which is great. It’s going to be a long wait each week if all of the episodes are structured like the first two. Never mind the wait we’ll be in for when the season ends. I plan to review every episode of this inaugural season, though I don’t know how quickly I’ll be able to post reviews. It could be a Friday thing each week if I can find the time, or maybe it makes more sense to have a Mutant Monday on this blog? I guess we’ll see, but I’m definitely looking forward to taking this journey with all of my fellow X-Men fans around the globe.
It used to be that when a show got cancelled that was it. It simply ceased to exist as a new product. If there were enough episodes it could last in syndication on both broadcast and cable for a good while, but rarely was it accessible to the point where a fan could have the…
If you are reading this the day it goes live then Happy X-Men ’97 Day! Today is the day the long-awaited sequel series to X-Men debuts on Disney+. Rather than fast-track a review of the first two episodes to this blog, I decided instead to do what I most often do: review an action figure!…
It might seem amusing to folks younger than me who grew up on Marvel’s Avengers, but back in the first decade of the new millennium there wasn’t a hotter team of superheroes than the X-Men. The X-Men had been around since the 60s, but really took off as a comic book property in the 80s.…
It used to be that when a show got cancelled that was it. It simply ceased to exist as a new product. If there were enough episodes it could last in syndication on both broadcast and cable for a good while, but rarely was it accessible to the point where a fan could have the entire series at their disposal. Some shows received VHS releases, but often they were sparse. Then home media became more affordable. DVDs were both cheaper to manufacture than VHS and could store more information. We started to see full season releases for shows, both active and cancelled. In some cases, the home media market was so great that previously dead programs were able to come back. Now we’ve entered the streaming age where massive entertainment companies are seeking to profit off of their libraries. Those profits have been a bit hard to come by though so these archives need to be supplemented with original programming. Some of that original programming is entirely original or at least only touched by an existing intellectual property (think The Mandalorian) and then some is either a reboot or continuation of an older show.
X-Men ’97 is a continuation of the now classic X-Men animated series that aired as part of the Fox Kids Network from 1992-1997. The original X-Men cartoon was a massive success and turned Wolverine and Gambit into household names. It attracted eyeballs in the millions, sold a bunch of toys, and made lifelong comic book fans out of a generation. For me personally it quickly became my favorite show on television and I was hooked for the show’s entire run. It put Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in the rearview mirror as this was something mature, something that more respected my intelligence, and gave me more to chew on. I still adored playing with my X-Men toys and sporting X-Men t-shirts so it’s not like it turned me into an adult overnight or anything, but it was something I genuinely loved in the moment and I still have a ton of admiration for. Having that show continue from where it left off in 1997 was something that didn’t even seem worth dreaming about as that’s how unlikely I felt it would be. Perhaps Disney, who has yet to fully introduce Marvel’s mutants into its vast Marvel Cinematic Universe, wanted to give folks a little primer on what the X-Men were all about? Whatever the reasoning, I am positively giddy like a kid once again that my favorite superheroes are back in an all new television series.
The intro is basically a shot-for-shot remake of the original.
X-Men ’97 was announced in November of 2021. At the time, my assumption was the series was being ticketed to launch in the fall of 2022 to mark the original show’s 30th anniversary. That obviously didn’t happen and the show was slated for 2023, but then slipped to March 2024. For the revival, Marvel selected Beau DeMayo (Moon Knight, The Witcher) to be the head writer with Jake Castorena as the supervising director. From the old show, Eric and Julia Lewald were brought in as consultants along with Larry Houston. Much of the original cast was returned including Cal Dodd as Wolverine, Alison-Sealy Smith as Storm, George Buza as Beast, and Lenore Zann as Rogue. Father Time unfortunately necessitated recasts for both Cyclops (now Ray Chase) and Magneto (now Matthew Waterson). Other voice actors, like Chris Potter (original voice of Gambit) and Catherine Disher (original voice of Jean Grey) were brought back for other roles rather than their existing ones. Such a choice is puzzling, unless we’re talking about a unique case such as Alyson Court who no longer wished to voice Jubilee since she felt the role should go to an actual Asian-American.
The action sequences are where this show will really be able to separate itself from its predecessor.
The show did premiere under a bit of a dark cloud. It was announced that credited series creator Beau DeMayo was fired the week of the show’s sneak preview and a little more than a week out from the Disney+ premiere. As the days went by, the head of animation at Marvel Studios, Brad Winderbaum, revealed some snippets of what was going on. It doesn’t sound like anyone was upset with the quality of the work DeMayo was turning in, and we’ve only heard rumors that he was “difficult” to work with. The term difficult in such a situation can be a loaded one. How many women and people of color have heard that excuse because certain individuals don’t respond well to confrontation from minorities? DeMayo, a gay, black, adopted man was someone who really identified with what the X-Men stood for and removing that voice from the show is certainly a risky move if the show is deemed a success. Winderbaum doesn’t get into specifics on the situation, but does try to frame it as a parting of ways between the showrunner and Marvel.
The group is probably more reflective of the foes to come than the group from the original.
Based on my viewing of the show’s first episode, “To Me, My X-Men,” it would appear that DeMayo’s exit indeed has little to do with the quality of the show. This first episode is the show getting its feet wet. It’s a way to reintroduce these familiar faces in a fun way that does harken back to the original series. It opens with a new version of the classic intro. The song is remixed slightly and all of the character introductions have been recreated and new characters have been added. It still ends with Professor Xavier and Magneto clashing together, though the villains side has been updated with what are probably better, more reflective choices (so long, Gremlin) given who the X-Men typically clash with.
The mutant who will come to be known as Sunspot is basically the Jubilee of this series, only his official joining of the X-Men will have to wait for a later day.
Similar to the premiere episode of the original series, X-Men ’97 includes a plot in its episode about bringing a new mutant into the fold and makes the Sentinels the big threat. Even though the show is longer now (it’s listed at 34 minutes, the actual episode is closer to 28), the episode still moves at a snappy pace. We find the team dealing with the aftermath of the professor’s passing. Cyclops is now the leader and is perhaps a little too forceful with his approach which rubs some members of the team the wrong way (namely, Wolverine). The Friends of Humanity are up to no good and have even repurposed some Sentinel tech into weapons of their own that basically resemble Mega Man’s Mega Buster. Roberto Da Costa (Gui Augustini), a wealthy teen who has been abducted by the FOH, is the one in the Jubilee role this time around, though his trek through the mansion is quite brief. The show appears confident that its audience is going to be pretty familiar with these characters and a more robust introduction was not needed.
The Friends of Humanity are back and they’re packing heat.
Other elements of the premiere include the addition of Valerie Cooper (Catherine Disher, the original voice of Jean Grey) as a government liaison for Cyclops and his team. DeMayo, when he was doing press for the show, described Cooper as the thesis for the show so it will be interesting to see how she’s utilized going forward. There’s also the plotline of Jean being pregnant and what that means for her and Cyclops’ future. The first episode ends with a pretty seismic change to the status quo, though if you saw the trailer it won’t come as a surprise and it’s likely the end you expected. Even so, I’ll save talk of that for episode two.
Wolverine still isn’t allowed to smoke, but looks like he’s now allowed to drink.
The first episode is a great reintroduction for the X-Men and really seems to setup what we’re looking at. It also establishes the look of the series. I’ve been a little wary about that going in, but after one episode I will say my fears were unfounded. This show looks as good as it can in 2024. It’s digitally hand-drawn by Studio MIR which is the right approach given that celluloid animation just isn’t done anymore. Stylistically, there will be folks who prefer the look of the old show, but objectively speaking this one animates much better. That is on full display during the action sequences which are far more fun and inventive. This feels like a show directed by people who as kids wondered just how far the super powers on display here could be pushed. Storm, considered an Omega level mutant in the comics and now show, really gets to show off what she can do to such a scale that I worry if the writers can keep her consistent.
I should have expected this, but I didn’t.
The episode includes closing credits done in the same style as the original show’s first season with a character model spinning in place and a brief descriptor of their powers below. Before it can cycle through all of the characters though, it cuts to a static image of the mansion for the rest of the credits. Was this a nod to how the first season’s ending credits would never get to Jubilee? That always drove me nuts as a kid. If it is in reference to that it’s a bit of clever humor, though I’d rather just see all of the characters get spotlighted. And that’s the one failing, if you will, of this episode is that most of the characters don’t get to do a whole lot. That’s going to happen with such a large cast, one that has even been increased since we last saw this group in action. I would imagine we’ll get spotlight episodes to come while also maintaining a serialized approach. Yes, what network executives hated for their broadcast channels in 1992 is the preferred method of story-telling in 2024. The only other disappointment for me was no in memoriam for the people we’ve lost since the original show went dark. It would have been nice to at least see a tribute to original Cyclops voice actor Norm Spencer and the original voice of Magneto, David Hemblen.
Storm is allowed to cut loose in this one, but will she be allowed to do so in every episode?
X-Men ’97 in its debut episode manages to strike the right balance between new and nostalgic. The fan service hits right and its reserved for parts of the show where fan service is appropriate. It also establishes a tone for the show which is in-line with the serious, dramatic, original series though it’s also apparent that this one will be allowed to be a little more grown-up (Wolverine and Morph are shown enjoying a couple of cold ones). That makes sense since the target audience is the kids of 1992, but it also likely won’t want to alienate the kids of the kids of ’92. It also left me wanting more which was good since this was a two episode premiere. I’ll get to that episode in another post, but the main takeaway for me is our beloved X-Men have been placed in good hands and I can’t wait to see what happens next.
A few years ago, I talked about my love of X-Men, the animated series, via a book review of Previously…on X-Men by Eric Lewald. That book chronicled the development of the 92 animated series that helped propel the Fox Kids Network to the top of the Saturday morning leaderboards through notes from the author and…
Mondo has been absolutely killing it with its sixth scale line of action figures based on the now classic animated series X-Men. The company also really ramped up production in 2023 on the line by soliciting five new figures during the year. At over 200 bucks a pop, it was quite the hit to the…
A lot of cartoons made an impact on me as a child. My first love was The Real Ghostbusters. Its goofy cast of characters and excitement were plenty of fun and there were interesting toys to supplement the series with, which was pretty much the goal of all cartoons in the 80s. The Teenage Mutant…
After getting short-changed by toy manufacturers for decades, Jean finds herself with two animated versions in the span of a few years.
If you are reading this the day it goes live then Happy X-Men ’97 Day! Today is the day the long-awaited sequel series to X-Men debuts on Disney+. Rather than fast-track a review of the first two episodes to this blog, I decided instead to do what I most often do: review an action figure! It was in 2020 that Hasbro announced a subline of Marvel Legends based on the 1992 animated series which were released throughout 2021. Arriving in attractive VHS styled boxes, the X-Men line was more dud than hit. I wanted to love it, but it was hard to shake the feeling that Hasbro was just phoning it in. Despite that, I still bought them all and I continue to buy some of the tie-in figures since Hasbro decided not to deliver the full team. That’s why when the first wave of X-Men ’97 action figures arrived last fall I used it to supplement my existing roster of characters by picking up Magneto, Rogue, and Gambit. The figures had an animated look, though they lacked the cel-shading of the VHS line, but were close enough. Just in time for the debut of the series is wave two. It’s comprised mostly of new characters like Goblin Queen and X-Cutioner as well as some redos in the style of X-Men ’97. As a result, it’s a less attractive wave for me since I don’t want letter of the day Magneto and the VHS Cyclops was one of the few figures I actually liked. However, there was one figure in the line that intrigued me even though I had the VHS version: Jean Grey.
The new figure has a bit of a dead eye going on, but it’s better than the old which looks like a duck-faced Sharon Stone.
I’m not sure which figure was my least favorite in the X-Men VHS line from Hasbro, but the fact that Jean is in the running should probably say enough. The figure is dated and Hasbro couldn’t even be bothered to get the color of her costume right, but more than anything, I just hated the portraits. The figure was a re-release of an existing figure with a new paint job as that’s basically all of the effort Hasbro could muster when it came to the line. She had a ponytailed portrait, but it looked nothing like the version of the character from the show. They also included her down hair portrait, even though she never sported that look in that costume during the entire show’s run, and it was a release that just left me all sorts of grumpy in the end. The only positive I could lay on it was that the cel-shading was actually done pretty well given the standards of the line.
I know there are a lot of people who dislike cel-shading on their figures, but this costume needs something because the design is rather plain.
Jean gets a redo with X-Men ’97, and like most of the characters in the show making a return, she still sports a look that’s very similar to her ’92 counterpart. It’s a costume based on the look Jim Lee gave her and based on some of the promotional artwork I’ve seen it looks like she’ll have the ponytail some days, and let her hair down on others. The figure itself comes in the usual blister and Jean has her hair down look on the card despite the default portrait being the ponytail one. The figure stands approximately 6.25″ to the top of the head. Her costume is basically now a pale orange and dark blue. The figure is mostly orange plastic with a V-shape of blue on the front of the torso and a more rectangular one on the back. The shoulder pads are little cuts of blue plastic pinned into the top of the joint. The belt is still separate from the body, but it fits quite snug to the crotch piece. Paint is largely reserved for the face, X logo, and the blue parts of the arms and hands. The blue on the torso appears to be plastic that’s been plugged into the orange portion. The legs have a lot of sculpted details to the costume, but zero paint which give the figure an unfinished look to it. It’s obviously a limitation to some degree of the character design, but some linework in the grooves cut into the legs would have added a lot.
New Jean seems to scale smaller, but I like that. The smaller head relative to the body is a better fit for the source material as well.
The main draw of this figure for me is simply the default portrait. Jean is sporting a very neutral expression to the point where she looks almost bored. The face and ears are at least painted okay, though it’s a little messy around the right ear. The blue trapezoid shape on her forehead is just painted on and lacks presence since it blends in with the dark blue cowl. The hair is a separate piece of bright, orange, plastic. The sculpt is fine, but Hasbro missed a paint hit as her forehead is visible between the top of the cowl and hair and it’s just left blue. Her part is going in the right direction though and her ponytail isn’t stupid long so I consider it a win. Her eyes are also blue this time, which is consistent with the animated series. The prior release went with the comic green eyes. Most of the colors match with the only one being off the crotch piece which is a darker orange. It’s more noticeable in pictures than in person.
Looks like they missed some paint on her forehead. As far as I know, this is true for all of the figures.
The portrait isn’t a homerun, but it’s a solid double and a vast improvement over the VHS figure. And if you’re like me then I have good news as the size of the ball joint on both figures is the same. If you want, you can put this head on the VHS Jean body and the only blemish is the dark blue cowl which should be shaded black. It’s not enough to bother me and since the cel shading was executed well I do think this will be my preferred Jean going forward. I do think the forearms on the new figure are a better match for the original series as well when it comes to the gauntlets she wears, but they’re the wrong color and I don’t know how easy it would be to swap the arms. The shade of orange wouldn’t be an exact match either, but someone more committed than me could definitely kitbash the hell out of these two figures.
She does seem even smaller when put next to Rogue and Bishop.
As for the actual, new, figure, it does some things better than the old while also creating its own issues. For additional accessories, we get the hair down portrait. Swapping is easy and the hair looks fine, but will lock the head down and cut out almost all articulation at the neck. This portrait has a slight smile to it, but it’s again another lifeless face. She looks like a mannequin. Aside from that, it’s at least painted well and the hair hides the ears. The only other accessories is another set of hands. She comes with a right fist and an open left hand. The second set is a style pose pair that are open and very similar (if not the same) as the open hands that have come with past Jeans.
“Look, mom! Double elbows!”
The articulation is an area where this new Jean differentiates itself from the past ones the most. As far as I know, we’re dealing with all new sculpts here. The head is on a double ball peg instead of the hinged ball peg the other Jean has. It’s an improvement, though once again Hasbro buried the lower ball too deep in the neck needlessly limiting the range. She barely has any range looking down and only a little looking up. Rotation and tilt are fine, but Hasbro needs to figure these joints out. The shoulders are standard hinged pegs and she can raise her arms out to the side a full 90 degrees from the body. There’s a biceps swivel past that, pin-less double-jointed elbows, and a swivel and hinge at the wrist. The elbows will bend well past 90, though it’s not the most attractive joint. This Jean can at least get her hands to her forehead though.
Aside from the cowl being a little off, I think this looks pretty good. Certainly an improvement.
In the torso we have…nothing. It’s almost bizarre to see no articulation cut into a torso even though it’s theoretically a cleaner presentation. Instead, we get a ball joint at the waist. It goes forward and back a bit and offers full rotation and tilt. This is in comparison to the prior Jean which had a ball joint in the diaphragm and nothing at the waist. It should be both! Why can’t we have nice things, Hasbro? The hips will go out to the side past 45 degrees, but shy of full splits. Jean can kick forward about 90 degrees, but not back at all due to the shape of her buttocks. There is a thigh twist and the double-jointed knees are pin-less and work fine. The ankle hinge bends back all the way, but not forward very far. The ankle rocker is pretty steep, but there. Lastly, the ponytail just pegs into the back of the standard head and can rotate.
Yup, this is how she’s going to live on my shelf.
Is this new Jean an improvement on the old? Yes and no. There’s a softness to the sculpt, and when combined with the lack of any articulation cut into the torso as well as no paint, it gives the figure a very plain appearance. The softness does appear to at least resemble the animation, though I’m sure the show will feature shading of some kind. I don’t know why Hasbro didn’t get her a ball joint in the diaphragm as that would have really added to the articulation, but instead it’s just mediocre. It’s nice to see the arms updated with double-jointed elbows and I prefer the sculpted-in forearm gauntlets, but not enough to display this figure in place of the VHS version. Instead, I’m just taking this new head, slapping it on the old body, and calling it “good enough.” I just wish I didn’t have to spend another 25 bucks to get my Jean figure to this current state.
Get your X-Men fix right here before you check out the brand new X-Men ’97:
For some reason, Jean Grey has never been treated well by toy makers. Back in the Toy Biz days, Jean had to wait several years to finally show up in the X-Men line of action figures, and once she did, it was in some gimmicky line in a costume that looked made-up. Her first, good,…
We’re going to keep this Marvel/Mutant Monday thing going for one more week! After taking a look at a trio of figures from Hasbro’s new X-Men ’97 line of figures in its Marvel Legends catalog I’ve decided to do one more: Bishop. The first three figures I looked at were basically all missing pieces to…
Previously, on X-Men reviews we looked at Magneto from the upcoming series X-Men ’97. The animated series may have been delayed into 2024, but the action figures from Hasbro are already here. And if you were collecting Hasbro’s line of figures based on the animated series from the 90s, this new line offers a chance…
It might seem amusing to folks younger than me who grew up on Marvel’s Avengers, but back in the first decade of the new millennium there wasn’t a hotter team of superheroes than the X-Men. The X-Men had been around since the 60s, but really took off as a comic book property in the 80s. That popularity helped land the X-Men on TV in 1992 via the hit Fox Kids show simply called X-Men. That show wrapped in 1997, but not too long after that came the film franchise, the first trilogy of which concluded in 2006. Following that, it was known throughout the industry that Fox intended to break-up the X-Men for future films with rumors that Wolverine, Magneto, and I want to say even Gambit were expected to get solo films. Of them, only Wolverine managed to land his own film franchise, but during that same era came a new animated series: Wolverine and the X-Men.
If Wolverine was the franchise’s biggest star and set to lead his own film franchise, then it made sense to have a prominent television tie-in to keep the kids interested, especially if the films were going to aim a little older. The show premiered in January 2009 on the Nicktoons network which means Wolverine, Cyclops, and the rest are now all on equal footing with Tommy Pickles, Arnold, Stimpy, and the rest of the Nicktoons gang. The show was developed by Craig Kyle and Greg Johnson, and while I don’t think either has ever stated it, but the show feels like a spiritual successor to the first animated series. It has a very similar approach in that the world the X-Men inhabit has existed for awhile before we get to jump-in. These characters have a history with one another and we’re going to see some of that, or we’re just expected to already know. It’s a very dramatic series and not your typical Nicktoon as it’s not out to make the audience laugh. The characters are often pretty humorless, the stakes are high, and sometimes things seem rather grim. It’s also serialized and the type of show that rewarded viewers who tuned in each week for a new episode, but may have also alienated the ones who did not.
Back in 2009 I was not comfortable with the idea of Wolverine leading the X-Men. In 2024, I’m still not all that comfortable with it.
For me, I was well into adulthood when this show came about and I was immediately turned off just by hearing the name. Wolverine and the X-Men? First, we’re reducing the team to a bunch of Robins and it’s not just spotlighting Wolverine with the title, but actually making him the leader of this version of the X-Men. I’ve never liked the idea of Wolverine as a leader because a core part of his character is he’s a loner at heart. There always comes a point where he feels like he needs to close himself off to his allies and deal with things by himself. The show does take steps to address that, but it’s not something I ever become comfortable with. The second X-Men film does a solid job of making Wolverine a reluctant leader, but one of the failings of the third is he basically carries himself as a born leader. This show has some of that, it attempts to make him grow as a leader, but there’s a credibility problem throughout.
The portrayal of Wolverine turned me off and kept me away for years. The show also was not picked up for a second season following a debut 26 episodes. It’s said the financing partner had problems as a second season was in pre-production, but I think most attribute the show’s demise to the Marvel acquisition by Disney. That too took place in 2009 and Disney would refocus the brand onto film assets it had control over. That meant X-Men, Fantastic Four, and Spider-Man would see a reduction in marketing and promotion in favor of The Avengers. If Disney had wanted to step in and finance a second season of Wolverine and the X-Men it absolutely could have done so, but chose not to. Because of that, I felt no compulsion to even check out the show since nothing further was coming. When Disney+ launched I started watching it, but it didn’t hold my attention. Only recently have I decided to really give this one a shot. We’ve been deprived X-Men cartoons for a long time now and there’s a good chance I missed out on something special. And if I didn’t, well at least this would be a decent way to pass time during my workout.
The show begins with an unexplained tragedy and much of the show’s sole season is devoted to uncovering just what happened.
Wolverine and the X-Men begins with the X-Men well established. Wolverine (Steve Blum) and Rogue (Kieren van dan Blink) are in the midst of an argument as it appears Wolverine is blasting off by himself once again. Suddenly, Professor Xavier (Jim Ward) and Jean Grey (Jennifer Hale) experience what looks to be a terrible headache and an explosion results. There’s a massive crater on the grounds of the Xavier Institute and the other X-Men are all in some state of distress, except Professor X and Jean who have vanished without a trace.
Following the traumatic beginning, there’s a time skip of a year and humanity has created the MRD – Mutant Response Division which all mutants view as a threat to their livelihood. This prompts Wolverine and Beast (Fred Tatasciore) to reassemble the X-Men to fight back, but without the aid of a telepath the job is tough. Enter Emma Frost (Kari Wahlgren), a former headmistress herself of a mutant school, who wishes to offer her telepathic abilities in exchange for membership in the team. Wolverine agrees, and Emma is able to locate Xavier in Genosha, a small, island nation controlled by Magneto (Tom Kane). There they find Xavier alive, but in a coma. Magneto allows the X-Men to take Xavier home even though he very much clings to his own ambition to squash humanity with or without the help of the X-Men. Once home, the real plot begins as Xavier is able to telepathically reach Wolverine from 20 years in the future.
Xavier is able to communicate telepathically from the future with his X-Men, of which he’s chosen Wolverine to lead.
The season unfolds both in the present and the future. Xavier has awakened to find himself in a post apocalyptic wasteland. The war between humanity and mutants laid waste to everything and now the sentinels run the show. Yes, this is like a version of the classic “Days of Future Past” plot, but as a whole series. Xavier appoints Wolverine as the leader of the X-Men and charges him with reassembling the team so that they can prevent this future from happening. This will bring them into contact with past members, some join up, and some don’t. Most of them embody their typical archetypes, in particular Iceman (Yuri Lowenthal) and Shadowcat (Danielle Judovits) who are basically the happy-go-luck teens of the team. Then you have Cyclops (Nolan North) who is essentially a shell of his former self following the loss of Jean. Rogue has run-off to join Quicksilver’s (Mark Hildreth) Brotherhood of Mutants essentially defecting to the bad guys while former X-Men like Angel (Liam O’Brien) and Nightcrawler (also O’Brien) feel their talents could be better utilized elsewhere.
The season unfolds with Wolverine working to stop the MRD while Xavier has joined up with some mutants in the future to try and figure out just what happened. Time seems to operate on “Days of Future Past” rules where a day in the present equals a day in the future for Charles, so he can’t simply go back further in time to prevent the initial explosion. We’re basically fed breadcrumbs for the main plot throughout the season and it all pays off in a suitable way in the end. Also along the way are numerous one-shots sprinkled throughout like episodes where the X-Men have to help a fellow mutant avoid capture by the MRD or explore some relationships between team members. There’s naturally some Wolverine solo missions reaching back to his days in the Weapon X program. A lot of this type of stuff borrows liberally from the comics, but there is often some twist introduced. For example, Wolverine did not have a relationship with Silver Fox in his past, but a different woman the identity of which might have annoyed some, but I kind of liked. I wish it had been explored more, but I’m guessing that was being saved for a future season. The show is definitely at its best when it’s sticking to the main plotline, but some of the one-offs are entertaining.
Is anyone surprised to see Bishop among Xavier’s allies in the future?
Toonz Entertainment handled the production on the show which strikes me as a mix of how the characters looked during the Astonishing X-Men era with some stylization likely intended to give the show it’s own vibe while also making it easier to animate. A lot of the male characters are depicted with large upper bodies and tiny wastes with long legs. Even a short guy like Wolverine has pretty long legs, though he’s also not as short as he would have been depicted pre-Hugh Jackman era. The women are presented more straight up and down though their abdomens usually pinch-in dramatically. They’re also almost universally well-endowed. It’s all 2D, and if any 3D effects are in use they’re well hidden. The costumes are largely from the Astonishing era and I guess since this was a cartoon for digital cable they were able to get away with keeping them pretty true to book so Emma Frost looks like she’s about to burst out of her top in basically every scene she occupies. The animation itself is pretty good and there’s no denying that this show animates better than the Fox series. Whether or not you like the style present is certainly more of a subjective decision.
The music is appropriately dramatic. It very much feels like it was intended to evoke the film franchise and I wasn’t sure if I was even hearing compositions taken from the films itself. Film composer Michael Kamen doesn’t receive a credit, so I think this is just a case of the show’s composer Dean Grinsfelder doing a good job of inhabiting that style. The voice cast is basically all new for those of us who grew up on the old cartoon series. Steve Blum is a solid Wolverine. He knows when to add a little growl to his lines and when to play it more straight-up. I like Nolan North as Cyclops and was surprised at how much Tom Kane’s Magneto sounds like Patrick Stewart, which kind of makes me want to see Stewart play the character, but that’s obviously not happening. Nobody on this show makes me forget the cast I grew up on or replaces their voices in my head when I read dialogue in a comic, but I did enjoy what was here.
There’s a whole episode devoted to Marrow playing the role of Hogarth to this sentinel’s Iron Giant. It’s cute.
Wolverine and the X-Men consists of twenty-six episodes and there is a resolution to a lot of the questions the series has at the onset. That doesn’t mean it ends all neat and tidy as there very much was a new threat setup for the following season that never came. It’s a shame, because it could have been interesting to see how this show would handled some pretty familiar comic book plots. It also would have been fun to see how the team’s dynamic worked post finale as there were some changes.
I do think I was initially rather hard on the series and it was probably a mistake for me to dismiss it based on the premise. I did enjoy my time with the show, though it’s not perfect. Like a lot of X-Men media, the show struggles with the large cast. We wind up knowing plenty about some of the A-listers, but the B-team, if you will, gets very little time to shine. Shawdowcat and Iceman basically exist just for their powers and are given almost nothing to do aside from that. Ditto for Beast who serves the role of “smart guy” who can figure out most of their problems. Rogue and Wolverine have a lot of conflict at the beginning that just sort of fades away and gets a very quick, last second, resolution in the end. And part of this issue stems from the mutants in Genosha having their own plots as well as those in the future with Xavier. There’s a lot going on and the show was certainly ambitious with the scope of its plot. Even though it stumbles, I do appreciate how far the show tried to take things as it demonstrates a real faith in its audience to be able to follow along. They weren’t just trying to sell toys to five-year-olds.
With the show long dead, the only remaining question is “Should you bother?” I think if you’re a fan of the X-Men then this show is a fun diversion. Yes, if you end up liking it then you’ll feel some pain when it’s over since the show was cut down so unceremoniously. With X-Men ’97 continuing the adventures of the original show perhaps a revival of Wolverine and the X-Men is possible? I wouldn’t get your hopes up as the show definitely didn’t have the impact of the ’92 series, but I suppose anything can happen. I do think the show is enjoyable for what it is so while it sucks that there wasn’t a second season, watching this definitely doesn’t feel like a waste of time.
We have plenty more coverage of Wolverine and the animated X-Men:
A few years ago, I talked about my love of X-Men, the animated series, via a book review of Previously…on X-Men by Eric Lewald. That book chronicled the development of the 92 animated series that helped propel the Fox Kids Network to the top of the Saturday morning leaderboards through notes from the author and…
Mondo has been absolutely killing it with its sixth scale line of action figures based on the now classic animated series X-Men. The company also really ramped up production in 2023 on the line by soliciting five new figures during the year. At over 200 bucks a pop, it was quite the hit to the…
Halloween 1992 was when things really changed for the X-Men. A high-selling comic book was about to blow open and enter the mainstream with a hit new Saturday morning cartoon series. Spearheaded by Eric Lewald for Saban Entertainment, X-Men would become the highest rated children’s program on the Fox Network and the overall highest rated…
Hailing from the planet…I don’t know. He’s a crystal guy.
Marvel Legends are still sold primarily at major retailers. This includes the likes of Target, Walmart, and even Best Buy which has been adding more toys to its portfolio over the years. And since they’re made by Hasbro, a company that has been selling toys to kids for generations, they still mostly operate on the same retail model. These things are in the toy aisle because that’s where parents go to buy their kids toys. Only, action figures (and Marvel Legends especially) haven’t really been kid’s toys for awhile now. I don’t have any hard data to support my conclusion, but I go to Target weekly and I have yet to see one single child so much as gaze at the Marvel Legends toys. I do see adults picking them over and maybe some are buying for a kid, but these things have been the domain of adult collectors for awhile now. The adults buying them today grew up playing with action figures in the 80s and 90s and still have an attachment to the form.
There it is. That’s the money shot.
And that is why a character like Crystar can get his own figure in Marvel Legends. The irony here is Crystar is not available in Target and never will be. This figure is part of the Void Build-A-Figure wave which is what Hasbro calls a Fan Channel release. That’s just branding for specialty retail and sometimes Amazon (and in this case, yes Amazon) as opposed to brick and mortar. Crystar is a character people under 40 probably have no experience with. And a great deal of the people who do know who Crystar is might only know of the character as a curiosity since Glenn Danzig ripped-off the cover of one of the Saga of Crystar issues for the iconic Danzig skull logo created by artist Michael Golden. Those who don’t know the character from that bit of trivia probably know it from the old Remco toyline. Following the success of Masters of the Universe, other companies were looking to create their own in-house toyline and make millions. Marvel teamed up with Remco to create Crystar and give him his own comic, The Saga of Crystar, which would release in step with the action figures. Didn’t work, but for those who did have the toys and enjoyed them seeing a new version was an unexpected jolt of nostalgia.
You can’t really tell, but he does have painted eyes.
I am one of those who know of Crystar via the Danzig connection. I’m not quite old enough to have interacted with the property when it was at retail, though in looking at the figures as an adult there’s some familiarity. I probably saw Crystar figures at yard sales or flea markets and maybe even in comic book stores as a youth, but I never did own any of them. I have been a pretty big Danzig fan since I was a pre-teen though, so I felt like I had to get this figure when it was first revealed last year at San Diego Comic Con. I have that famous 8th issue, so I might as well add the action figure as well.
He’s got gripping hands and one set of non-gripping hands, but I don’t know how likely it us that people will use them.
Crystar comes in the current Marvel Legends window box following a brief flirtation with plastic-free packaging. It is part of a Build-A-Figure wave, some crab-like creature called The Void, which kind of sucks since part of the money I paid for Crystar went towards a figure I’ll never assemble. I got my figure from Big Bad Toy Store where it cost me twenty-six bucks, a steep price for a Marvel Legends release, but one that is becoming normal. The box contains some vintage artwork of the character, but the toy is clearly an homage to the original action figure which was cast in translucent, blue, plastic and came with a sword and shield. This figure too is cast in translucent, blue, plastic and is a rather striking looking figure in-hand. Messing around with the transparency of a figure is certainly a little gimmicky, but hey, sometimes it works.
The elbows and knees are cloudy and ugly, but hey! Pinless!
Crystar, as far as I know, is mostly made-up of new parts. That’s because the body had to be sculpted to resemble a crystal so there are lots of flat panels coming together to form hard edges. There’s very little in the way of paint as a result. The helmet looks to be painted on and there’s a little white for the eyes, but the rest of the figure is just translucent plastic or red plastic for gloves, trunks, and boots. Considering what they were going for, this is acceptable. If this were an Iceman figure then I’d be bemoaning the lack of a frosted paint job, but for Crystar it’s appropriate. He stands a tick over 6″ which feels like the median for Marvel Legends. I have no idea how tall he’s supposed to be, but it seems fine.
There’s a little He-Man in that sword.
Where the visuals do take a hit is with the joints. Hasbro’s latest gimmick of the past few years is selling its customer base on the wonders of pin-less joints. For years, most Legends releases had double-jointed knees and elbows and holding those hinge joints in place were plastic pins slotted above and below the elbow. Maybe companies still use them while some don’t. In general, pins don’t bother me if they’re colored properly. They certainly create problems with a character like Spider-Man where the outside of the arm is a different color from the inside and a pin-less approach is superior. With Crystar, it sucks because the elbows and knees need to be a harder plastic apparently for the process to work. This leads to differences in color and for the elbows they’re more blue and less transparent. Blue pins would have looked pretty bad too so I guess if they couldn’t do transparent pins then it’s a pick your poison situation. It’s also an issue with the knees, but at least when they aren’t bent the boots hide them. Hasbro went with a hinged-ball joint for the head and the disc for the joint is also visible through the neck. Again, pick your poison as a double-ball peg wouldn’t have looked any better. This figure is the rare one where I’d have probably preferred the neck just end in a ball and socket joint to avoid the issue.
I’m guessing most will opt to equip Crystar with sword and shield.
Aside from the eyesores related to the articulation, the figure looks pretty damn cool for what it is. It also comes with what could be considered a robust array of accessories given the usual outlay for a Legends release these days. Crystar has a right fist, an open left hand, and a set of gripping hands. The gripping hands even have the proper hinge so that’s perfect because his other accessories are a sword and shield. Both are done in the same translucent plastic (actually, the shield is fully transparent with just a hint of blue coloring) as the figure itself and are again an homage to the old action figure release. The sword is pretty neat and well-stylized. I do get a bit of a He-Man vibe from it and Crystar looks good wielding it. The shield is plain by comparison, just a plastic circle with a little bit of sculpting, but there’s an elegance to its simplicity. Lastly, are the BAF parts: two sets of giant crab legs. They’ll look good in your trashcan.
If shields aren’t your thing he can pull-off some two-handed sword poses.
Articulation for Crystar is fairly basic by Legends standards. Given the visual issues with some of the joints, that’s probably for the best. We have that disc hinge at the head so he can rotate, look up, and down, with a little bit of tilt. The hinged-ball joints at the shoulders do what they’re supposed to, and we get a biceps swivel, double-jointed elbows, and wrists that rotate and hinge. There is an ab crunch that basically clicks forward and back one slot. The diamond on the belt will obstruct the range going forward, and while it does flex a little, I wouldn’t recommend leaving him crunched forward as that would probably warp the piece over time. There’s a waist twist below that and, once again, that diamond belt buckle will interfere with the range. The legs go out to the side for full splits and the usual thigh cut is. The double-jointed knees will bend past 90 degrees, but doing so exposes the ugly joint. The ankles hinge and the rocker is in place and works fine.
For you Legends collectors interested in scale, he’s pretty much average height for the line.
Pretty standard stuff and Crystar should be able to do enough to look interesting on your shelf. Not that he really needs to since the design of the character makes it rather interesting by itself. Two-hand swords poses are achievable though he can’t quite hit his pose from The Saga of Crystar #8. That’s all I cared about and as an oddball addition to my Danzig collection and the figure gets close enough to satisfy me there. As an action figure it’s also pretty good for what it is. This is probably the most satisfied I’ve been with a Hasbro release in quite some time as it doesn’t have any real problems and the presentation pretty much nailed it. I can do without the BAF crap, but that’s the nature of the BAF gimmick if you’re not interested in the end result. Hasbro doesn’t often do these obscure releases so I’ll give them credit for taking a shot with Crystar, especially since it’s a figure that probably required more new tooling than a lot of the stuff the company puts out. Hopefully it gives them confidence to do more and maybe they’ll finally start truly catering the line to adult collectors because that’s who is buying them.
And if you want to Crystar beside some other lines, here’s a Naughty or Nice Father Frost and a S.H.Figuarts Goku.
If you want to read more about the Danzig/Crystar connection look below. And here’s some other Hasbro stuff you may or may not care about:
There’s been a hole in my Danzig collection for quite some time. It was a hole that was easy to fill and actually quite cheap considering most Danzig records fetch well over $100 these days, but an important piece was missing. And that piece is not what one would necessarily expect, but I would assume…
I was quite surprised when Hasbro unveiled a deluxe action figure set starring the Forgotten Realms hero, Drizzt Do’Urden. Drizzt was a character I was familiar with going back into my middle school days when I traded Star Wars novels for Dragonlance. Even though my nose was buried in stories about Raistlin Majere and Tanis…
2022 was the year a dream toyline of mine was made a reality. Hasbro finally decided to do a line of Marvel Legends based on the animated series X-Men, which premiered 30 years prior on Halloween 1992. The line was staggered with a release coming every 6-8 weeks or so and ended up totaling 8…
When it comes to NECA’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles line of action figures based on the old cartoon, I’ve pretty much been all-in. The only figures I’ve passed on have been the style guide variants for the turtles. That will probably change in 2024 as the collection has grown quite large and has hit on basically all of the A-listers from the show and many of the D-listers as well. One figure I thought I did not need was the Space Usagi variant that started showing up late in 2023. It was easy to pass on since I never encountered it, but mostly I felt like I didn’t need another Usagi, especially one that didn’t even show up in the show. When NECA wanted to include Usagi Yojimbo (and yes, I know, Usagi Yojimbo is technically the name of the comic and the character is Miyamoto Usagi, but we’re sticking with the TMNT name for the character to avoid confusion) in the main line, it meant getting a license agreement in place with creator Stan Sakai. And once they had that, it certainly made a lot of sense for the company to get more out of that agreement than just one figure, so while this one does bare the classic TMNT logo on the box it’s really more like a solo Usagi figure that just maintains his look from the cartoon.
The team is reunited!
As a kid, I liked Usagi Yojimbo as much as the next, but I never did get his action figure. I did get the variant Space Usagi figure and it was one I really liked. He looked pretty interesting with a partially cybernetic face (Terminator 2 was pretty damn popular and quite influential), shoulder pads, and a soft goods cape. The only weapon I recall him having (he came with more) was a bronze carrot gun which was pretty absurd, but as a kid it made plenty of sense to me. That figure went on space adventures with my Space Cadet Raph figure and I had a lot of fun with it so I was somewhat predisposed to like this new Space Usagi. Only this one looks nothing like that old design, so the pull wasn’t as strong as it could have been. No, what did me in was seeing the reactions of other collectors and reviewers to the figure. Even though I’m not a “professional” reviewer, I do avoid other reviews of anything I plan on reviewing myself so I don’t pre-judge anything inadvertently. With this figure, that isn’t the case as it was the reception that turned me on. Specifically, this review by YouTube channel Nostalgia Unboxed convinced me that this was a fun figure worth picking up so when I finally came upon it recently on a Target visit I decided to give it a shot.
Swords, guns, it all works for this version of Usagi.
Space Usagi is a single-pack, Ultimates, style of release like the previous Usagi. It features new artwork on the front by artist Ben Seto which has been done with a watercolor approach. It’s different from the usual f.h.e. inspired artwork, but it looks really nice and it’s going to hurt to toss it in the trash when I’m done with it. Usagi himself is a mix of old and new parts, but mostly new. He stands a tick over 4.5″ to the top of his head, not factoring in the ears, and he has a slightly redesigned portrait with narrowed eyes. The secondary portrait is the exact same as the teeth-baring one from the first Usagi with the flat-draped ears. The hands are also mostly the same (fists, open, gripping), but also include a set of trigger finger hands since this Usagi uses guns as well as blades. As far as I know, the rest of the figure is unique. He has a black and gold space suit that makes me think of Mega Man due to the oversized boots. The paint job is great on the gold parts and designed to simulate metal cel-shading. Rather than just do the bright colors on front and dark on the back, NECA went with a more stylized approach similar to the one it took with Chrome Dome. There’s hits of yellow, gold, black, and white to achieve the effect and it’s really striking. It’s also not perfect as there’s a smudge on the left boot of my figure and some of the edge work isn’t as sharp as it could be. The figure also appears to be sculpted in yellow so there’s a little yellow showing through around the pins on the arms, but nothing out of the ordinary for a mass produced figure.
Same alt head as the first Usagi, and just as much of a pain in the ass to swap too.
What does kind of stink about this figure is the engineering of the swappable parts. The prior Usagi was a real pain to swap the head on as often the neck would come out instead. This one is the same. If you plan to use the other head, maybe just go ahead and try to heat the default head first to see if that loosens it on the ball joint. If you can avoid getting the neck heated up as well, it might serve you well. Unique to this Usagi are the hands which are surprisingly tough to swap as well. The holes in the forearms are quite tight and you may need to heat them up to get the extra hands to fully insert. NECA also cast the hands in the same yellow plastic as the rest of the figure, but then painted them white which is a little frustrating. It means you need to be mindful when swapping weapons and such as scratching the paint will reveal yellow beneath it. It’s a very thick, chalky, paint so it doesn’t seem especially prone to chipping. I also can’t tell if the actual hinge is cast in yellow or not. If it is, the paint isn’t flaking so it isn’t an issue there. There’s some yellow on the posts, but that could easily be transfer from the forearms. It’s also possible only the new, trigger, hands are yellow (which would make sense if they were part of the tools for the body) as they’re the only ones that chipped on me and exposed the yellow. It’s possible the old hands are part of the same tools as the heads which were done in white.
I suppose two Usagis are better than one.
Usagi Yojimbo…still a little guy (rabbit).
The good news is that’s kind of the end of the bad with Space Usagi. Which version of the character you prefer is certainly a subjective choice, but there’s no question in my mind that this Usagi is the better action figure. The prior one had some design things to work around that this one doesn’t have. The articulation, as a result, is allowed to be much better. The head and neck are the same and they work fine, but the rest of the figure is vastly superior. The shoulders are ball-hinged and they’re not hindered much by the shoulder pads. He can raise his arms out to the side all the way and the shoulder pads flex if you want to rotate them forward or back. There is a biceps swivel, though the right one is stuck on my figure, and the elbows are double-jointed. Even with that though you’ll be hard-pressed to get better than a 90 degree bend at the elbow because of the bulky forearms and the joint itself is pretty small. If you can get the top hinge to bend all the way first then you may be able to do better than I. Wrists swivel and hinge and, unfortunately, all of the hinges are horizontal. It’s a shame they didn’t re-sculpt the gripping and trigger hands to vertical hinges since some of that tooling cost could have been made-up with the Usagi four-pack NECA solicited recently, but the wrist hinges have been a consistent issue in this line so I wasn’t expecting an improvement there.
“You’re getting a little too close to my gimmick, samurai.”
In the torso we have a ball-joint at the diaphragm. It provides for a little forward and back as well as rotation and tilt. Nothing crazy, but it helps for posing. As far as I can tell, there’s no waist twist and the hips are the usual ball and socket joint. Usagi can perform splits and he kicks forward reasonably far without much room to go back. The thigh will pivot on the ball joint, but there’s also a thigh joint below that, though it may be stuck on your figure as it is on mine. The knees are double-jointed and will bend past 90 degrees, though this is the spot where I’m seeing the most paint-flaking which is kind of a bummer. The ankles hinge forward and back a bit, though the bubbly design limits the range. There is an ankle rocker as well, and while the range isn’t fantastic, it works well enough to keep his feet flat on the surface. The large nature of the feet means he’s easy to stand and one-legged stances are also pretty easy.
This figure is a lot of fun to mess with and it’s made even better if you have a flight stand hanging around.
Usagi comes well-armed.
This Usagi just plain moves much better than the last one, which I found a little disappointing even though I understood why that was the case given his baggy clothing. There’s no doubt though that this one is more fun to handle and manipulate and it’s one of the best posing figures in the line. This is a good desk figure to have to mess around with and it is helped by the accessories. Usagi has the two heads I mentioned previously as well as a bunch of hands. To go with said hands are two guns and two melee weapons. For guns, we have a small, blue, pistol. It appears to be the same gun from the cover artwork, though there it’s gray instead of blue. There’s also a larger gun which the box refers to as a rifle, though it’s pretty short for a rifle. It’s all gray with some black linework and a yellow tip. It’s more gun-like than the pistol, which almost looks more like a flashlight or heat gun or something.
I do think of Usagi as a melee first type of battler.
Though this version of the character is definitely capable of blasting his way out of trouble.
For melee weapons, we get a laser sword and butterfly knife. The sword resembles a short katana and it has a green hilt with black cross-hatching and I quite like how it came out. It has an energy effect that’s done in a very soft, pliable, blue translucent, plastic. It slides over the blade, though the center is removed so it just goes around it similar to the chain on a chainsaw. I like how soft the material is as it should prevent paint rubbing. The sword also looks good with or without the effect. The butterfly knife is just a large knife with a yellow handguard. It looks like something one would use to hack through bone while butchering a carcass, though I’m guessing Usagi is a vegetarian and wouldn’t find a use for it like that. It looks fine, though is less fun than the laser sword. Also included is S.P.O.T., a robotic version of the little dinosaur that came with the other Usagi figure and we also get a helmet to complete the space suit. Like the vintage Playmates figure, the helmet is cast in transparent plastic and comes in two pieces so it can fit around his ears which poke through the top. It won’t work with the flat ears, but if it did it would have a hole in the top and we all know that wouldn’t work in space! Not that the other way works either, but it follows cartoon logic anyway. The box also lists his jetpack as an accessory, but since it’s a non-removable part of the sculpt I don’t consider it a true accessory. The thrusters on it don’t feature holes for blast effects either which feels like a missed opportunity.
If you like little buddy figures, you’ll like this little robo dino.
That’s Space Usagi though. I guess if you like what you see then you’ll probably enjoy this figure. I think it’s the first figure for the line that’s inspired by the cartoon series, without being from the cartoon series. There are more such sets to come as NECA tries to keep this toon line going even as it runs out of characters and looks from the show. As mentioned earlier, NECA even did a four-pack of Usagi Yojimbo in four different looks which are basically just variants of the previous figure and one of this one. There’s a new samurai Usagi in that set, but he’s also ticketed for this line as a single reason, just with a different deco. That four pack is technically a comic Usagi release and not tied to the TMNT show, though the look of 3 of the 4 figures are the same toon-inspired likeness. Either way, I didn’t need it so I didn’t order a set. I didn’t think I even needed two versions of the character, but I was essentially talked into this one. Will the same repeat when the samurai version arrives? Maybe, maybe not. I do know I’m happy with this figure and I really like that it only cost $32 at Target. Most NECA Ultimates seem to be coming in at $38 these days, if not more, so getting a mostly brand new figure for close to 30 bucks definitely felt nice. And while it has its issues, most of them aren’t a big deal to me personally so I think it’s definitely worth the price. Your mileage may vary, but this is one figure that shouldn’t be passed over so easily.
Introducing…The Carrot Crew!
Want to read more NECA TMNT reviews? We got plenty:
The early issues of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles released by Mirage Studios include a few guest stars here and there. One of them comes from the pages of Usagi Yojimbo, the samurai rabbit by the name of Miyamoto Usagi. The pairing of samurai rabbit and ninja turtles was a big enough success that it migrated…
It’s our last Turtle Tuesday before Christmas, though probably not of the year, and it’s a pretty big one: The Turtle Van! NECA solicited its version of the Turtle Van based on the same from the animated series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles back in April of 2022. It was originally scheduled to be released before…
When you’re doing a syndicated cartoon expected to air basically every day, you need to pull story ideas from anywhere you can. I think that’s why parodies are so popular in the cartoons of the 80s to the point where it didn’t matter if the show was parodying something kids would actually know. Take REX-1,…
Come 2008, the DC Animated Universe had been dead for 2 years. Justice League Unlimited aired its final episode in 2006 bringing an end to something that had been ongoing since 1992. As I touched on earlier in this year’s countdown, the DCAU wasn’t something I was particularly invested in so it’s end went unnoticed by me. Hell, it’s continuation mostly went unnoticed as I stopped at Batman Beyond! With it in the past though, it seemed there was a desire at Warner to do something completely different. Enter Batman: The Brave and the Bold, a far more light-hearted and cheeky depiction of the caped crusader loosely based on the comic of the same name. The premise was to take Batman and focus on more contained stories that would feature a team-up between Batman and other DC superheroes, some of which would be well known and some that wouldn’t be. This new start came with a new art style and a new voice for Batman. Kevin Conroy (R.I.P.) will always be my Batman, but I get the desire to want to explore a different aspect of the hero which is how we ended up with Diedrich Bader. Bader’s more one-dimensional Batman is the anchor of this show. He has to take himself seriously and play the straight man in a world that is rather outlandish.
It’s a show that is not as campy as past Batman media, but it’s not as grim as the Batman of the 80s and 90s.
Despite all of that, Batman: The Brave and the Bold is not a show I sought out. It was sold to me as more of a kid’s show, and being well into my adult years at this point it didn’t make much sense to seek it out. Like Justice League, the show aired on Cartoon Network which just wasn’t really on my radar in 2008. I admired the visual style from afar, but that was as far as I went with it. Now, I’m more curious about the animated shows I passed on. I never fell out of love with cartoons, be they aimed at kids or adults, and if they’re well-animated then they have value to me. And let’s be honest, we’ve seen a ton of dark and gritty takes on Batman at this point. I love Batman ’89, Batman: The Animated Series, and Batman Begins – they’re all terrific, but at some point I just got tired of the same old Batman. I have yet to watch the latest film and I don’t have much desire to do so. A Batman that’s a bit more lighthearted where the individuals behind the production don’t take the character quite as seriously as others has appeal. I’m not saying let’s go back to the Adam West show and I definitely have no appreciation for the camp that was Batman & Robin, but something more offbeat can work. Batman is allowed to have a sense of humor.
The fifth production episode, and fourth to air, of Batman: The Brave in the Bold is the subject of today’s post. “Invasion of the Secret Santas” is going to team Batman up with Red Tornado, a character I have zero knowledge of. That’s part of the appeal of the show as it seeks to spotlight some lesser heroes in the DC back catalog. I assume it also intends to do the same with villains since today’s villain is another character I have zero experience with: Fun Haus. He certainly sounds like a villain that could work with a Christmas plot, and at least Red Tornado has red in his name. A green outfit leading to a red-green tornado would have really made him fit even more.
Tom Wilson is such a good voice actor, he doesn’t get enough accolades for his work in this area.
The way this show works, is it begins with a “teaser” that features Batman teamed up with a hero as they finish a job. It’s basically unrelated to the show’s main plot. And in this episode, we open with Batman (Bader) and Blue Beetle (voiced by former Batman Will Friedle) as they tangle with Sportsmaster (Tom Wilson)! It starts as a broadcast of The Professional Bowling League’s Christmas Tournament where the top bowlers in the country are competing for a sweet cash prize. Almost right away, Sportsmaster shows up to declare that bowling isn’t a real sport. Sportsmaster is basically a guy who has a costume composed of sports equipment. With him are a trio of goons one is a football player, one a baseball player, and the last is a hockey player. I’m not sure if he intends to steal anything or if he’s really out for money (he says he won’t steal their prize, but win it) or if this is more of a personal crusade against bowling. The bowlers don’t put up any sort of resistance apparently as we cut to them all placed in human-sized, transparent, bowling pins and the goons are setting them up. Sportsmaster then grabs a bowling ball, which is also a bomb, and rolls it in the direction of the pins. He’s a southpaw, in case you’re curious. Just before the ball strikes the pins a well-timed batarang intercepts it and detonates it before it can reach them. Enter Batman and The Blue Beetle!
I hope you’re not too attached to Blue Beetle, because he’s only here for a hot minute.
Batman is here to tell Sportsmaster he expected to find him…in the gutter! See, Batman gets to use puns with regularity now. Blue Beetle is basically just along for the ride. Sportsmaster welcomes the challenge, and Batman instructs Beetle to take the goons and leave Sportsmaster to him. Beetle is fine with that, but his suit might not be as he starts arguing with it and refers to it as a “goober.” Since only Blue Beetle can hear what the suit is saying (and that is true for us, the audience), it sounds like he’s insulting Batman, but he just ignores it. Beetle is embarrassed and a bit angry with his apparently sentient suit (I guess I should have watched the movie that came out this year), but orders it to conjure up some weapons for him to tackle the baddies with. It responds by morphing both forearms into Mega Buster-like canons, which is certainly aided in that both characters rely heavily on the color blue. Beetle requests something less likely to level the place and the suit responds by just bulking him up, and he seems satisfied. I had no idea Blue Beetle operated in such a fashion.
You didn’t really think a guy in sports equipment was going to be much of a match for Batman, did you?
Meanwhile, Batman is battling Sportsmaster who is tossing several bowling balls at him. Batman just punches them out of the air causing them to shatter so this is one beefy bat. He closes in on the villain, who responds with kicks as he’s apparently “sporting” some rather fiendish cleats. Unable to connect with Batman, Sportsmaster tries to make a run for it, but Batman is able to take him out with a bowling pin. Blue Beetle had no difficulty with the goons and the two regroup to bask in the glow of a job well done. Beetle then tries inviting Batman back to his place for Christmas Eve dinner, boasting that his mom is a great cook so he apparently still lives at home, but Batman turns him down on account of the fact that crime doesn’t take a holiday. Smash to intro!
I don’t think that eye color is natural.
After a pretty spectacular intro with an old school flair (think Johnny Quest), we settle on a small town gearing up for Christmas. We see some festive sights around town before the camera takes us to a university. It’s there a professor is teaching an archeology class. Professor Ulthoon (Corey Burton) takes a question from a kid (James Arnold Taylor) wondering if archeology is as exciting as someone like Indiana Jones makes it out to be, and the professor is forced to tell him that it is not. It’s mostly reading books. When he turns to address the kid we see his eyes are an unnatural shade of blue and his rather stilted speech would imply this gentleman is not human.
Meet Red Tornado, the communist superhero!
The sound of a runaway box truck gets the professor’s attention. He apparently has a super sense of hearing to notice the out of control vehicle and excuses himself from class for a moment. Once the door is shut behind him, he rips off his whole face to reveal a robotic one underneath. This, ladies and gentlemen, is Red Tornado! He whirls into action to save two children about to be struck by this vehicle, which comes to a complete stop shortly after, and delivers them to their father. There he tells the old man that his children need to be more mindful of traffic and he receives no objections from the man and his two kids. They thank him for saving them and for all that he does and make a reference to The Christmas Spirit in doing so. Red Tornado responds with, “Christmas…spirit?” as he’s apparently unfamiliar with the term. The boy (Zachary Gordon) describes it as a tingling feeling you get inside and when Red Tornado confesses he’s unfamiliar with that emotion the little girl (Liliana Mumy) laughs at him like he’s an idiot – “Of course you can’t, you’re a robot!” The three all have a hearty laugh while Red Tornado looks legitimately hurt.
Decorating is apparently quite easy when you’re some sort of magic tornado machine.
Later, we find Red Tornado as his alter ego back at his home. He’s just standing in his living room at first, but then it cuts to him seated on his sofa reading a book titled Get That Holiday Spirit! He closes it, apparently finished, and then goes into a whirling tornado form once more. As a tornado, he decorates the exterior of his house with holiday decorations and then the interior. We see him putting on a festive, ugly, Christmas sweater and he stands in the living room looking things over. Deciding that he’s still missing something, we cut to him knocking on someone’s door. It’s the man and the two kids from earlier and when they all answer the door, Professor Ulthoon (he’s apparently not concerned about giving away his identity) clears his throat and begins to sing “Jingle Bells” in a very monotone, emotionless, fashion. The family just slams the door in his face leaving poor Red Tornado looking rather sad.
It’s something Jack Skellington struggled with too, buddy.
Back at his home, we find the professor working out an equation on a chalkboard. He seems to hypothesize that decorations plus lights plus presents plus caroling equals Christmas Spirit. Or he’s dividing by Christmas Spirit. My algebra teacher would have scolded me for writing an equation like this. Nonetheless, it would seem he can’t figure out why he has yet to feel this so-called Christmas Spirit given that he’s done what he feels is required. The television is on in the background and a black and white movie is on where a father asks his son if he’d like to know the true meaning of Christmas? Red Tornado responds out loud with, “Yes, please elaborate,” only for the movie to be interrupted by a news broadcast. Flying saucers are attacking the city and there’s a transmission from a Neptunian Leader (Friedle) demanding that Earth hand over the one known as Santa Claus. The anchor then informs us that Batman is on the scene and alone in defending Earth from these alien invaders. Not for long as the professor dawns his Red Tornado guise intent on joining the fray.
Oh, hell yeah!
We cut to a close-up of some woman screaming as she and several others run for their lives. The flying saucers are blasting everything in sight, but Batman is on the scene. He’s shown riding on top of one of the saucers stabbing it repeatedly with a batarang. He sends it careening into the ground, does a backflip off of it, and takes out several others with batarangs in the process. He moves to another saucer and as he rides and stabs some more he’s able to direct the ship’s weapon blasts at other saucers in the process. He eventually sends that one crashing into a giant Christmas tree which goes up in flames, hopefully not an omen of what’s to come. Batman remarks to himself this isn’t how he imagined spending Christmas and soon deploys a jetpack of sorts. Why he didn’t use this thing from the beginning is a mystery. When he’s about to get nailed by a few more flying saucers, he’s saved by the entering Red Tornado. The robot wishes Batman a “Merry Christmas,” and responds by saying “Now’s not the time, Red Tornado.” This confuses Red Tornado who asks, “Isn’t Christmas tomorrow?” and I like his very literal response.
This is the team-up we’re getting, whether wanted or not.
Batman is unable to explain the nuances of the English language at this time to Red Tornado for they’re still under attack. They manage to avoid the saucers and return to the offensive with Red Tornado capable of taking them out with relative ease. He mentions to Batman that Neptune is uninhabited, to which the caped crusader responds with “No kidding.” He instructs the robot to search his database for Christmas movies featuring aliens and Red Tornado is able to find one: Holiday for Neptunians. He is also able to confirm the broadcast they saw earlier on television was taken from the film. Batman then tells him he’ll draw their fire so that Red Tornado can do his thing. He takes off forcing the saucers to fly in a group after Batman. Red Tornado is then able to line them up and blast them with…red tornadoes. That’s basically all he does.
Being a detective is pretty easy when all of the bad guys put their face on their weapons.
With the saucers now obliterated, the two return to the ground. Batman’s jetpack just sort of magically turns back into a cape. It makes no sense, but it looks pretty cool, and this is a cartoon about superheroes battling flying saucers so I’ll allow it. Batman examines the debris and finds a marking on it indicating it’s a toy. Red Tornado suggests he can search his database for the logo, but Batman tells him he won’t find it. Red Tornado comes back to say he could not locate it’s source, which seems to irritate Batman since he already told him he won’t. This logo is actually a mark of today’s villain. A flying saucer flies into view and from it emerges Fun Haus (Gary Anthony Williams)!
Fun Haus is clearly Toyman and that doll is definitely supposed to look like Baby Doll.
Fun Haus looks like a scary jester of some kind. He looks like a villain from the old Super Friends shows, but I’m pretty sure he was called the Toyman or something. A little bit of research tells me that Fun Haus is indeed meant to resemble that version of Toyman, so look at that. He’s shown standing in the saucer holding a doll which looks an awful lot like Baby Doll from Batman: The Animated Series. As he caresses her hair, he remarks to the pair that he was just playing with his toys asking rhetorically “Is that so wrong?” Red Tornado, who has to take everything seriously, confirms that it is indeed quite wrong and adds that most of the things Fun Haus does are wrong. He starts listing off all of his crimes he can find in his database until Batman basically tells him that’s enough once he hits jaywalking. He then tells Fun Haus “If you think we’re going to let you continue your deranged rampage you’re wrong.” Fun Haus is unimpressed and simply retorts, “If if’s and but’s were candy nuts we’d all have a merry Christmas!”
Spoiler alert, this is not the most unsettling image we’ll see from this one.
Fun Haus lobbs some threatening words at the heroes before pulling the drawstring on his dolly and tossing it to Batman. He flies off in his saucer as Batman catches the doll. As he looks it over, the doll’s head spins around and asks “Won’t you play with me?” When it does, the eyes fade to black and the doll’s right eye is replaced with a red, digital, “1” and the left eye a zero. Batman cries out, “It’s a bomb!” and we get a suspenseful act break. When we return from the break, the doll adds “My Christmas wish is to blow everything to smithereens.” This must be the hot, holiday, item for this year. Batman instructs Red Tornado to give this doll some altitude as he chucks it high into the air. Red Tornado obliges and blasts the doll ever higher where it detonates harmlessly.
Batman probably has an entire cupboard full of these things. What else is a hero supposed to gift a billionaire?!
Red Tornado then declares that they cannot let Fun Haus ruin Christmas. Batman sort of corrects him by saying Fun Haus is a crook first implying they just need to stop whatever scheme he’s up to. Christmas is apparently of little concern to Batman. He then asks, “Besides, why do you care?” in response to Red Tornado’s apparent concern about Christmas. Red Tornado then confesses it’s because he lacks Christmas Spirit and it’s something he would like to experience. Batman retorts that it’s overrated forcing Red Tornado to observe that he is not the only one lacking in Christmas Spirit. He then hypothesizes that something will help the both of them and produces a gift for Batman. He responds with “You shouldn’t have,” and I get the sense that he means that sincerely. He opens it anyway and finds a black coffee mug with the words “World’s Greatest Detective” printed on it.
Young Bruce clearly going for a Dennis the Menace look with that hairstyle.
This apparently triggers something in Batman as the screen gets all wavy and we see a flashback. It’s Christmas morning at Wayne Manor and little Bruce is making a b-line for the tree. His parents are standing by along with Alfred and his dad asks him what Santa brought for him. Young Bruce (Gordon) inspects a gift by shaking it, testing its weight, and seems to know what’s inside causing his dad (Burton) to remark “Our little detective.” He then rips it open, but we don’t get to see what’s inside (not yet, at least) as we’re taken back to the present. Batman is just staring at the gift while Red Tornado observes that he’s still not detecting any Christmas Spirit within the crime fighter. Batman snaps out of it and points out that he doesn’t have a gift for Red Tornado. He’s unbothered by this as he points out that he understands it’s the giving, not the receiving, that best exemplifies the Christmas Spirit. He’s then left wondering why he still doesn’t sense it within him and asks Batman to confirm that it’s a tingling sensation, no? Batman just smiles and says “When you start tingling, I’d see a repairman.” He then reminds him that they need to resume their hunt for Fun Haus and the pair dash away.
A barber shop with a space theme – I’d check it out.
We’re treated to a few shots of the town basically healing after the attack by Fun Haus. Some guy with a barber shop has incorporated one of the fallen saucers into his sign and is stringing lights over it while the giant tree that was half burned has been relit. A couple of kids approach a Santa seated in a sleigh and ask him if he has any Presto Playpal toys left, but he’s apparently just a robot and only responds with “Ho ho ho.” This seems like something that might scare these kids. Above the city, Batman and Red Tornado are flying past and the robot inquires with Batman why he dislikes Christmas so much? Batman corrects him and says he does not dislike Christmas – he dislikes crime! Batman is so single-minded that he doesn’t even have room in his heart to dislike anything but crime.
You kids ever want to see Santa’s eyes explode from their sockets?!
As he says that line, Batman spies a Santa stumbling through people on the sidewalk and the two head down to get a closer look. Batman accuses him of sipping too much eggnog, but we the audience recognize this Santa as the same robot one from just a moment earlier. His face is frozen in a smile and the “Ho ho ho” emerges from it same as before. Santa then dispatches the two heroes with a double uppercut, much to their surprise. From their backsides, Batman informs this imposter Claus that he just made the naughty list, while Red Tornado makes the useful observation that Santa does not typically behave in this manner. Batman points out that’s because this guy isn’t Santa. As the robot turns its attention towards the many pedestrians in the street, Batman nails him through the chest with a Batarang. The robot goes through a surprisingly gratuitous death scene that includes a close-up of its eyes bulging out of its head and exploding before the whole thing catches fire. Like a Terminator, this thing has a pretty detailed endoskeleton which stands in the middle of the street for a moment as all of the “flesh” is burned away before falling into a heap of Santa bones on the ground. I thought this show was for little kids?!
Geez…this show goes hard!
Batman and Red Tornado approach the remains to inspect it, when the sound of more Santa laughter causes them to whirl around. An army of these things are waiting for them and the head on the apparent lead Claus pops open to reveal a monitor with an expected face to follow. Fun Haus then makes the same observation as me by sarcastically stating “Gee, that won’t give kids nightmares,” as he taunts Batman and Red Tornado from the safety of his base, or wherever he is. The Santas then attack and Batman and Red Tornado brawl with them in the streets. The same screaming woman we got a close-up of earlier gets another chance to shine screaming just as she did before. These Santas seem like they’re here to just be bad guys as one walks over to a little girl and snatches her teddy bear so it can rip it in half. They don’t seem that interested in just hurting people. Some people are also shown running from a department store and the character model for one of the ladies running out appears to be a direct homage to “Christmas with the Joker” as she looks pretty much exactly like the older woman a kid returns a purse to when Batman and Robin are on patrol. A fun little Easter egg for those who have been watching Batman cartoons for a long time.
Gray-haired lady on the right appears to be another BTAS cameo.
Back at that big tree and sleigh, those kids are still pestering the obviously robotic Santa. Apparently this wasn’t the unit that Batman and Red Tornado encountered a moment ago. The eyes on the Santa flip to red as it stands up and the kids start screaming. This apparently scares the reindeer – yes, apparently they were real, who start running. Batman sees this going down and throws a batarang that cuts the harness off one of the four reindeer. That leaves three still pulling the sleigh which is flying down the street at this point. The freed reindeer continues running as well, and Batman leaps onto its back leaving Red Tornado to handle the other robot Santas, which he is apparently more than capable of doing. Batman is able to ride the reindeer alongside the sleigh until he’s able to jump on it just before it looks like the Santa robot is about to actually harm the children. He punches the head of the robot off of the body and it comes to land at the feet of the children. Batman tells them to pretend they didn’t see that and they respond with a scream.
Good thing you brought your robot friend, Batman, because that was a tough one.
The scream was apparently not due to the severed Santa head at their feet, but because the sleigh was heading towards a cliff. What city is situated this close to a giant cliff? It’s actually a bit humorous how they went from a city center to a setting that is pretty remote, but hey, it’s good suspense! The sleigh goes over the cliff, and if you were watching this on television back in 2008 you would have to sit through a commercial break to find out if Batman can save himself, the children, and the three reindeer still attached to the sleigh. And the answer is…he can’t, but Red Tornado can! The sleigh basically levels off and starts flying causing one of the kids to declare it a Christmas miracle. We pan back enough to see Red Tornado flying beside the sleigh as he created a whirlwind below it that is holding the sleigh in place. I don’t think tornadoes work that way, but as has been the case with a lot of stuff in this one so far, we’ll allow it.
The toy at the top of every kid’s Christmas list.
We return to the city and Batman and Red Tornado appear to be surveying the wreckage. I’m guessing they’re looking for clues, but they’re interrupted by the sound of a child crying. Red Tornado approaches and asks the boy’s father, who is standing with him, if the child was frightened by the Santa carnage. The dad says, “Nah,” the kid just wants some toy. The Presto Playpal is the hot toy, and the same one the kids earlier were asking Santa for, but it’s sold out. This triggers another flashback for Batman and we return to the same scene of him opening a present under the tree as a child. Little Bruce unwraps the gift to find it contains a nutcracker. He looks surprised and Thomas Wayne chimes in that it was a gift given to him by his grandfather and now he’s passing it onto Bruce. A sweet sentiment, but apparently Thomas doesn’t know his kid too well. Bruce gets mad because it’s not the swashbuckler action figure (aka Zorro!) he asked for. He chucks the nutcracker at the wall and it bursts into pieces as he runs off. Thomas is left to look downtrodden on the couch while Alfred is left to silently pick up the pieces.
Batman always has a pretty sweet ride.
When we return to the present, Batman looks a bit pissed. I’m expecting him to teach a harsh lesson about material possessions to this boy, but the sound of an alarm snaps him out of his trance. It’s one of the busted Santa robots, the one with a display monitor, and Fun Haus appears once again. He’s there to taunt him with his last setup, “‘Twas the night before Christmas, and I’ve hidden a bomb!” Batman and Red Tornado are forced to spring into action with Red Tornado searching from the skies and Batman from the Batmobile, which has a really cool design in this one that feels like a mashup of the ’66 Batmobile and the one from Batman Forever. Both heroes apparently have some sort of bomb-detecting radar and they just search all over town for this thing. Eventually, we see it’s 6:40 and the pinkish tint to the sky means it’s morning. Batman and Red Tornado are shown regrouping where Red Tornado refers to the bomb threat as “a wild goose chase.” I wasn’t aware he was able to speak so figuratively. Batman wonders what Fun Haus was trying to distract them from, and Red Tornado suggests Christmas morning. We then center on a theater marque that says “Happy Holidays” as Red Tornado expresses his hope that both he and Batman get what they want this year.
Spoiled little brat! Don’t you know your dad is about to die?!
The shot on the marquee fades into another flashback. The Waynes are leaving a showing of The Mark of Zorro, and I think we’re going to find out why Batman isn’t a big fan of Christmas. Any Batman fan knows what happens when little Bruce sees a Zorro flick with his mom and dad, but I don’t recall that fateful night ever occurring on Christmas before. As the family leaves the theater, Thomas bends down and acknowledges that Bruce didn’t get the toy he wanted for Christmas, but he hopes the swashbuckler movie helped to make up for that. Young Bruce just scowls and turns away and the disappointment on the face of Thomas pains me more as a viewer than if he just got angry with his spoiled son. He indicates it’s time to head home and the family starts walking into that fateful alley. Two gunshots rings out and all we see is a muzzle flash for each one before hearing Bruce cry out “Mom! Dad!”
Judging by mom’s expression, the action figure must have been dad’s idea because she has “I told you so,” written all over her face.
We return to the present to find a stern Batman once again, only this time he reacts to his memory by stating, “Sometimes what you wish for most is the one thing you can never have.” Red Tornado says nothing, but that might sting for him a bit and his quest to experience the Christmas Spirit. Batman then notices that on a nearby poster advertising the Presto Playpal is the mark of Fun Haus. Really, Batman? You’re a master detective and you didn’t notice the face of Fun Haus on these posters all over town? Recognizing the evil plan about to unfold, we then find ourselves taken to a nearby home. A young boy is excited to unwrap a Presto Playpal, until the toy comes to life and smashes its way out of the blister package. It goes after the kid’s parents and swipes his mother’s necklace before jumping out of the window and taking off.
A scheme that would make the Grinch proud.
A montage ufolds of similar experiences of kids opening these toys and promptly getting robbed. That’s apparently the end game of Fun Haus – steal Christmas! It’s pretty amusing to see one, little, action figure dragging boxes of presents out of a house while the family just looks on in horror. Just step on the damn thing! They take all of their loot to a box truck for Fun Haus and there’s basically an assembly line of toys delivering their loot while Fun Haus basks in the success of his glorious heist from the roof of the truck. Batman arrives and does as I suggested – he steps on a toy. He informs Fun Haus that he’ll be serving hard time by New Year’s, while Fun Haus counters with “Not if you’re in the grave by lunch!” Ohh, delicious!
Fun Haus is clearly an evil genius. Who else could have invented this thing?!
Fun Haus hits a button on his belt and the toy soldiers form-up in response. They jump on each other’s shoulders forming stacks of three, then we get an animation cheat where they jump together and a bright light obscures everything as they form a massive version of the Presto Playpal. Fun Haus appears in a cockpit located in the machine’s chest, like a Gundam, and informs Batman and Red Tornado that if he can’t steal from these people at Christmas, then he’ll steal Christmas from these people! I guess that’s a sweaty death threat as he then just tries to stomp on the people who came out for a peek. The screaming lady returns for a third time and this time it did get a chuckle out of me. Batman and Red Tornado spring into action by saving people from getting murdered by Fun Haus, but they’re unable to save the town water tower which says “Happy Holidays” on it. Fun Haus blows it up. That water tower has been in the community for generations – has he no shame?!
Don’t do it, Red Tornado!
Red Tornado approaches and declares that he will do no further harm. He starts blasting the mighty robot with his trademarked red tornadoes, but declares he needs more power. He apparently possesses it, as some flaps open up and his tornadoes increase in size and intensity. Soon it starts to break the robot apart, while Batman shouts from the ground for Tornado to stop since his body can’t handle that much output. And it looks like he’s right as cracks start to appear on Red Tornado’s body. The mecha toy thing explodes and we see Fun Haus go flying through the air. He’s really high, and he goes really far, so he might be really dead when he hits the ground.
Well, that sucks.
We don’t have time to worry about Fun Haus though, as Red Tornado looks to be in rather bad shape. He’s all cracked and broken, but he notices he feels something – a tingling sensation! Is it the Christmas Spirit? Or, as Batman suggested earlier, he needs to see a repairman? Batman looks to have the leading theory as Red Tornado explodes. His head winds up at the feet of Batman who picks it up and urges him to hang on referring to him as an old friend in the process. I had no idea they went way back!
Worry not children, for Red Tornado is a robot and he can be rebuilt!
We cut to Fun Haus being loaded into a police car. He looks no worse for ware so maybe he landed on a pillow factory or something. We then pan to a truck branded to be from Star Labs. A guy has a box of Red Tornado body parts that he hands off to another fellow in the truck. This episode has a lot of mild body horror, doesn’t it? We then hear Batman assuring Red Tornado that they’ll have him back together in no time. A gurney is wheeled in and we see Red Tornado’s head has been returned to his torso and he’s alert. Red Tornado then tells Batman it was an amazing feeling. Batman doesn’t try to discourage him and simply smiles and responds with, “Merry Christmas.” Red Tornado smiles in return as he’s loaded into the truck.
I had a feeling we’d find out what happened to that old nutcracker before this one was over.
As the truck pulls away, the Batmobile comes speeding over. Batman hops in and is startled to see a present on the passenger seat. He opens it to find the old nutcracker from his flashback has been put back together. It’s a little rough looking, but looks pretty good considering what happened to it. Batman smiles warmly and we hear him think to himself, “Merry Christmas to you too, Alfred,” implying that his loyal butler re-assembled the toy and placed it in the Batmobile before he left the previous night. The dashboard then starts beeping and Batman’s face hardens as we hear him declare (in his head) “But crime doesn’t take a holiday, and neither do I!” He steps on the gas and the Batmobile goes speeding off towards the source of the beeping and it would appear that there will be no rest for Batman this Christmas.
The episode does a good job of giving equal weight to both Batman and Red Tornado, who gets to experience the true feeling of Christmas without having to crack open a can of 7Up.
“Invasion of the Secret Santas” was a pretty fun little adventure for Batman and Red Tornado. For me, it was an introduction to Red Tornado who I can’t recall ever encountering before this. There are a lot of DC superheroes that I’m not familiar with, but usually I can at least say I’ve seen them in artwork or something, but with Red Tornado I have no frame of reference. It’s amusing to me that I looked at the Justice League Christmas episode earlier this year because Red Tornado and Martian Manhunter play similar roles as emotionless beings seeking to connect with Christmas. With Red Tornado, he’s more eager to experience an emotion he has no reference for. Maybe because the audience for this show was intended to skew younger is why Red Tornado is so vocal about his desire where as we’re expected to observe J’onn’s struggles in that episode without them being made so obvious. Though I’d argue it’s not exactly subtle, either. I wasn’t that enamored with the Justice League episode, but I like this. This show has a terrific visual style and it’s not really trying to look like a 90’s cartoon animated traditionally. It’s more willing to embrace the digital medium with bright colors, thick lines, and an intentional flatness to the characters. Batman himself reminds me a little bit of the character’s depiction in the minimally animated intro to the classic 1960s show. And it still has room for a little subtlety of its own, or at least audience autonomy, when it comes to Red Tornado’s experience of the Christmas Spirit in the end. Was it a mere malfunction, or something more? You decide.
I wasn’t expecting the episode to add a touch of sadness to this version of Batman, but it’s welcomed. Maybe this show has more depth than I thought? Or maybe this is just a Christmas thing?
The depiction of Batman is also a lot of fun. He dishes out the corny one-liners, but with total sincerity. Diedrich Bader sounds authentic and he plays it straight so there isn’t a winking at the camera moment when it comes to Batman. He’s also allowed to possess some dry humor, though is largely a no-nonsense straight man expected to play off of his ally for a given episode. It was interesting to see Christmas incorporated into his origin story and actually surprising to see a new layer of grief added to that. It’s a very similar tactic to what we’ve seen done with Spider-Man’s origin. I think of the first Toby Maguire film where he basically tells off his Uncle Ben and his last discussion with him is one in which he hurt his father figure. He never got to make up for that, and Batman never got to apologize to his own dad for how he reacted to a very personal and meaningful gift that went unappreciated. Separately, it’s also interesting to see young Bruce portrayed as a spoiled, little, rich kid as opposed to some ideal. It makes more sense for him to behave that way as a rich kid so in a way it was sort of refreshing. And it can be inferred that the murder of his parents gave him some new perspective and began his transformation from a very selfish child to a selfless adult. The ending also has a hint of sadness, or melancholy, to it since Batman is so focused on being this crime fighter that he won’t even allow himself a moment’s reprieve after an all-nighter dealing with Fun Haus.
Despite the nice little bow put on this one, the lasting image for me is definitely this gruesome Santa “death.” Good god!
The actual scheme of the episode is almost secondary. It incorporates Christmas in a pretty simple and direct manner and having a toy-themed villain for the episode definitely makes a lot of sense. I have no idea why they chose to call him Fun Haus instead of Toyman, since he appears to just be Toyman, but it doesn’t matter either. There’s some solid action, including the opening teaser with Blue Beetle, though it does start to get repetitive. There are lots of shots of Batman just taking enemies out with Batarangs and more than enough shots of Red Tornado and his tornado effect. That’s my one criticism for this one as it didn’t need to be as long as it is and was starting to drag come the climax. Maybe some of the action could have been substituted with another flashback, something that took place after the murder, or maybe just some actual detective work. It was a pretty lame reveal to have Batman see the Fun Haus logo on the poster for the most popular Christmas toy of the year, but I get the impression this show isn’t trying to be overly clever with its plot. The violence directed towards the Santa robots was certainly memorable and downright shocking to a point. I found it fun, but it wouldn’t surprise me if some kids are legitimately disturbed by it. That frozen, smiling, Santa face is a bit unsettling.
This episode of Batman: The Brave and the Bold is an easy recommend for me and I think a viewer only needs to have a basic understanding of who Batman is to enjoy it. I’m talking like just knowing that there’s a character that dresses in tights to fight bad guys at night sort of thing. There’s genuine humor in this one and it even has moments of actual emotion via the flashbacks. I do wish the “death” of Red Tornado hit a little harder, but it’s fine. I found more here to connect with than the intentionally sappy episode of Justice League and consider this episode a far greater success in basically every way which isn’t something I expected going in. And it’s also aided by having a fun visual style, great sound design, and some solid performances from the actors involved. Like Justice League, this one was rumored to be getting delisted from the Max platform, but it appears it has received a stay of execution and is still there as of this post going live. The series was released multiple times on both DVD and Blu Ray so it’s not that hard to obtain and it might even be a series worth watching beyond this Christmas episode. I’m certainly interested in doing so, which is why it’s such a shame to see Discovery Warner play games with these tentpole franchises. Why can’t we just have easy access to your stuff, Warner Bros? Are the tax savings worth the constant worry of losing access to quality shows like this one? To a heartless executive, I’m afraid the answer is “Yes.”
Can’t wait until tomorrow for more Christmas? Check out what we had to say on this day last year and beyond:
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