Category Archives: Television

March 29, 2024

S.H.Figuarts Dragon Ball Z Super Saiyan Son Goku – Legendary Super Saiyan

By Joe
At long last, the legendary Super Saiyan has shown itself!

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 English dub was nearing its end, but it only took a cursory search of the internet to find out what a Super Saiyan was. Unfortunately, Dragon Ball Z wasn’t the hit FUNimation hoped it would be and that original direct-to-syndication order of a hacked-up 65 episodes was where it all ended for a long time. Only after interest was rekindled as we approached the new millennium did FUNimation go back to the localization process. Finally, on October 18th 1999, the legendary hero who was prophesized appeared on US airwaves (more than 8 years after doing so in Japan).

Goku’s initial Super Saiyan transformation was captured in plastic years ago by Bandai and Tamashii Nations. Dubbed “Awakening Super Saiyan,” it was one of the first releases in the S.H.Figuarts line to really catch my eye. I didn’t get it though, nor did I get the World Tour re-release of the figure which came out last year (or late 2022, I can’t remember). Unlike many of the convention exclusive releases in the line over the past few years, the World Tour edition of Super Saiyan Goku did not go up for preorder on the Premium Bandai website. It seemed an odd decision, but I think it was done because this particular figure we’re talking about today went up for preorder around the same time.

Not the proper Frieza to pair with this Goku, but give it time.

Super Saiyan Son Goku – Legendary Super Saiyan is a brand new release that features Goku from a bit later on in his fight against Frieza. The upper part of his gi has been obliterated at this point and his pants are in tatters. The more memorable aspect of this Goku though is just how damn big he got as that fight went on. He is positively jacked, similar to when he overdid it on the Kaio-ken against Vegeta, and his hair somehow seemed to get bigger too. I’ve always wondered if this is how series creator and artist Akira Toriyama envisioned the Super Saiyan transformation at first, then once he decided to make this something basically every Saiyan in the manga could do, decided to dial it back. With Goku as massive as he is against Frieza, there really wasn’t any other place to go with the Super Saiyan look when the characters needed to blow past that barrier. Vegeta in his ascended, buffed-out, state when he takes on Cell isn’t any bigger than Goku was against Frieza.

Look at that smug bastard.

Nonetheless, Goku looks pretty cool during the closing moments of his battle against Frieza and it’s high-time the look was captured in plastic. And since the base 2.0 Goku figure was feeling long in the tooth, it’s just plain nice to get a Goku that’s essentially all new parts. Even stuff like the hands and feet appear to be new tools. When Bandai revealed this figure in early 2023 it quickly rose to the top of my most anticipated figures for the year. I’ve had it for awhile now and since I’ve been buried under SHF releases ever since 2023 ended, I decided to let this one simmer. I didn’t want to review it when it was too new because maybe recency bias would play a large role in how I felt about it. It was even a bit of good fortune that I stumbled into that Super Saiyan 3 Goku because I got to go from this new figure, to an older Goku, and then back to this one. And after all of that I now feel pretty comfortable in declaring that this is one of my all-time favorite releases in the S.H.Figuarts line.

He even has optional bangs, more of a flying pose I think. They’re a bit gappy though especially around the sideburns.

Let’s start off with the details. Goku stands at around 5.35″ to the top of his face and roughly 6.75″ to the top of his hair. This puts the figure at about the same height as past Goku figures with the main difference being he seems to have a slightly shorter neck, but taller hair. It’s probably more accurate to say his neck isn’t any shorter, but that his traps are much bigger giving off the appearance that his head sits a tad lower. And bigger is definitely the name of the game with this Goku as every part of his body has been blown up for this release. Arms, chest, back, thighs – they’re all noticeably larger in size. Even his feet are bigger and there’s sculpted-in battle damage all over the figure. It’s in the form of lines, or cuts, but they’re only sculpted in. I’m surprised there’s no paint wash to bring them out as from a distance they’re hardly noticeable. Of course, if you collect this line then it’s not a big surprise as Bandai isn’t known for its paint apps. The paint on this figure is limited to light shading on the hair (my preferred approach to Super Saiyan hair) and shading on the pants which makes them brighten the further down the leg your eye travels. The boots have some yellow trim and red rope and the details of the face are painted. The paint all looks pretty good, the yellow on the boots could have been more saturated, but there’s not much to speak of.

He also has this alternate hair and bangs combo for when he’s really getting mad.

The sculpt is what is going to win people over with this figure. The hair is huge, but it’s appropriate for the character. The torso is rather messy to look at because of all of the articulation cut into it, but it’s not to such a degree that it’s an eyesore for me. Some may feel differently, but I like what I see. The belt is a floating piece and the tattered remains of the upper part of the uniform are part of the sculpt and it looks really nice. I love the gradient of the orange on the pants and how much it lightens near the bottom. It almost creates the illusion of a glow, an obvious necessity for a Super Saiyan Goku. And I mentioned it before, but it bares repeating, that this is my favorite approach to Super Saiyan hair. It’s molded in the same pale yellow we saw the Super Hero Gohan Super Saiyan head come in, but with some light air-brushing of orange on the front to give it depth. There are no metallic or translucent parts. My only complaint is that his sideburns aren’t part of the hair sculpt so you get an ugly seam with certain looks, but at least the standard bangs hide it.

He does look pretty nice with an aura behind him.

That’s not to say that everything is perfect with this version of Goku. You may have already noticed in my pictures that his chest is a different color than his arms and abs. Depending on your lighting, it’s going to be more obvious. I went with warm lighting waiting until the moment I had the maximum amount of sunlight I was going to have with a mix of white and incandescent light sources. It’s a bit more subtle, but if I had gone with pure white light it would have been even more noticeable. The issue is caused by the factory using a harder plastic for the chest, likely ABS vs the PVC we see elsewhere, which is a shame because I don’t think it needed to. It’s basically a hard overlay, so why not just use the same material as the arms, neck, etc.? My guess it’s a standard operating procedure to use harder plastic for this part of the figure, and no one bothered to try to something else. The other eyesore, for me, is that the pants are real busy around the crotch area. I like the torn parts, but they’re very poofy beneath that giving him a diaper look. Other figures of Goku taper in at the waist and the baggy pants don’t start to flow out from the leg until closer to the knee. This is largely caused by how Bandai has been doing its thigh twists recently and we saw the same with Trunks. I’d like them to stop as we’re not gaining better articulation with this setup, just poofy pants.

Here is where an actual blast would have been nice. Note how from a more head-on angle how the alternate hair also is hardly seamless along the hairline.

This figure also comes loaded with extra stuff. We’re used to getting a wide assortment of hands and 3 or four faceplates, but this Goku comes with even more. For hands, we get a set of fists, martial arts posed, open, clenching, Kamehameha pose, and Kamehameha posed with pegs. The hands all appear to be new sculpts. They have a sharper, more defined, appearance with more pronounced fingernails and bone structure which look really good. For expressions, we get four: smirk, stoic, clenched teeth, and yelling. In what is a unique turn of events, we get two hair options and two bangs options. The standard hair is how Goku looks throughout most of the fight with a collection of bangs hovering over his eyes. The secondary bangs piece has most of the bangs angled up except one piece. I could be wrong, but I think this is how he looked when flying or shooting off a blast. The secondary hair piece has all of his hair shooting up like he’s powering-up. It works great with the yelling face and any aura effects you may have, though the seams around his face are more pronounced with this option. The bangs do come off of this one as well, but they aren’t interchangeable with the others.

We now have a lot of charging Kamehameha effects, but few actual blasts. I only have the itty, bitty, one that came with kid Krillin.

Lastly, we get a charging Kamehameha effect. It’s pretty much the same effect part we’ve been getting a lot lately. For me, this is number four following Super Saiyan 4 Goku, Orange Piccolo, and the Super Saiyan 2 Gohan/Super Saiyan Ghost Goku set. This one is done in a very light, translucent, blue plastic with some white airbrushing on it. It has seven, acrylic, posts that clip in and it can be pegged onto either of the hands with the posts sculpted on. This version feels a little sturdier than some of the other ones I’ve received and plugging in the posts was a lot easier. It’s still a cool and appropriate effect, it’s just a little less special after the fourth one. I’m a little surprised we didn’t get an aura with this release, but recently Bandai unveiled a new aura effect that’s going to be sold with some other effect parts. There’s also a “getting punched” faceplate coming with the new Full Power Frieza so this is one of those releases that will get built out a little more in the future.

All of the extra stuff is wonderful to have, but I was really curious how this Goku would articulate. The older, 2.0 Goku has its issues that are getting harder to overlook as time goes on and this figure represents a chance to push the form forward. And in many ways it does, though it’s probably due less to new approaches to engineering than it is to the figure not having certain limitations to work around such as clothing. The head is on a double-ball peg and there’s a nice range of motion there. The hair isn’t as cumbersome as you may expect, and once combined with the ball joint at the base of the neck, you get all the range a Goku could want. The shoulders are ball-hinged and they peg into a ball and socket joint inside. This means you can raise the arms out to the side on just the hinge which will take the arm past 90 degrees, then use the ball peg inside the torso to raise the shoulders even higher. There is a butterfly joint which allows the figure to bring the arms inside the shoulders so the palms of the hands are practically touching, though it doesn’t let the arms go back very far. The biceps swivel, double-jointed elbows, and ball-hinged wrists all work as well as expected.

A gathering of Goku. Comparing the look of the torn pants on this release to the Kaio-ken version is like night and day.

The torso features a diaphragm joint. It may not be the prettiest in the world, but the joint at least works okay. It feels like a ball joint and it’s best at giving the figure a pivot point and some side-to-side motion. Going forward and back in a crunching motion is limited, but the ball joint at the waste at least helps there, but the ab crunch isn’t significant. At the hips, Bandai went with a soft, rubbery, overlay that goes over the crotch and above it. It’s almost too small to refer to it as a “diaper” because it doesn’t cover any of the thigh. This means it’s very flexible so Goku can kick forward past 90 degrees and also kick back and push on his butt cheeks for added range. Out to the side is no problem, though you may have to finagle the leg in such a way that the thigh slides under the overlay for full splits. The belt will sometimes pop off the sculpted indent on top of the pants, but it’s not too hard to get back into place if it’s even something that bothers you. The knot pegs into the belt and is able to rotate. There is a thigh swivel, though it’s more like a pivot as the range is probably in the neighborhood of 45 degrees. The knees will bend past 90 degrees, but not much beyond that due to the way the pants are sculpted. At the ankles, Bandai finally ditched the ball pegs it had been using for Goku figures and instead gave us nice ball hinges. They still attach via ball pegs so you can pop them out a bit to increase the range. They’re a bit more finicky when it comes to getting them in the best position for stances on your shelf, but much more rewarding than the old setup. The toe hinge is also still present and it’s fine.

This figure is just a couple tweaks away from perfection. The unfortunate thing is that such tweaks are not budget-related, just execution, illustrating how it could have been even better with just a little more effort.

I don’t know if there is anything on the older Goku figures that works better than it does here. I suppose kicking back, but that’s probably it. The articulation cuts in the torso are certainly cleaner on the past figures, but the added cuts here serve a purpose and it’s one they do well at achieving. I don’t think it’s on the level of an Amazing Yamaguchi release where the articulation is so plentiful that it’s ugly, but I can totally understand the person who doesn’t love the aesthetic of this one too. Best of all, the joints are nice and smooth. This is another release for Bandai’s Vietnam factory and it’s, by far, the best figure I’ve handled that has come out of there. The Super Saiyan Trunks – The Boy from the Future was plagued with quality control issues. Not the sort that ruined the figure, but the kind we’re not accustomed to seeing out of Bandai. This figure possesses none of those faults and if it wasn’t printed on the box I would have assumed that it came out of China.

After having this figure for about two months now I have to say I like it more now than I did when I first opened it. This is quite possibly my favorite figure in the line at this point. I’m not even sure which figure even comes close to topping it. Prior to getting this one, I hadn’t really given much thought to which release in this line was my favorite. I really like King Piccolo and I tend to enjoy the figures with more mass. Nappa may have been my favorite, though it’s definitely for the aesthetics and not the articulation as the shoulder pads on him are really cumbersome to work with. Super Saiyan 4 Goku and Vegeta were two that surprised me in how good they are, even if I find the look of that transformation to be so bad it’s good. This Goku however, hits it out of the park. It looks great, moves great, and comes with plenty of stuff. I mentioned an aura effect was almost expected, but I don’t mind its exclusion. If there had been a flight stand though that would have been awesome and really helped push it over the top. In the end, my only real gripes concern the fit of some of the hair pieces and the dis-colored chest piece which are both two things I can overlook. They basically bump it down from a 9.9 to a 9.5 if I were grading on a 10 point scale. If you collect Dragon Ball Z action figures, then this is definitely not the one to miss.

Akira Toriyama April 5, 1955 – March 1, 2024

Postscript: In between writing this and it going live we all received the stunning news that Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama had passed away at the age of 68. The entire manga/anime community mourns his loss and his impact can be felt across the globe. What a remarkable legacy. I have no doubt that the characters he created will live on in some capacity, but they’ll never be quite the same again. This must have been what it felt like when Walt Disney died. R.I.P.

I really enjoyed this release, but I also really liked these ones too:

S.H.Figuarts Dragon Ball GT Super Saiyan 4 Goku

In the world of Dragon Ball, there are varying opinions on which version of the anime is superior. Dragon Ball Z is unquestionably the most popular, but there are people (like me) out there who swear by the original Dragon Ball that came before it. More recently, Dragon Ball Super has entered the fray and…

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by Joe

S.H. Figuarts Piccolo Daimaoh (King Piccolo)

Before there was the noble Piccolo, trainer of Gohan and ally of Goku, there was the evil King Piccolo. Known as Piccolo Daimaoh outside of the US, King Piccolo was the evil purged from the namekian Kame, who would assume the role of guardian of Earth in the world of Dragon Ball. Piccolo was the…

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S.H.Figuarts Nappa – Event Exclusive Color Edition

When it comes to my S.H.Figuarts collection, I’ve been able to largely keep to just Dragon Ball. And by Dragon Ball, I mean the original anime and manga that centered on a young boy named Goku. Even though that’s my favorite edition of the venerable series, it doesn’t mean my favorite is the one shared…

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March 27, 2024

X-Men ’97 – “Fire Made Flesh”

By Joe

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:

Previously on X-Men: The Making of an Animated Series

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…

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X-Men ’97 – “To Me, My X-Men”

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…

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X-Men ’97 – “Mutant Liberation Begins”

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…

Keep reading
by Joe

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | posted in Comics, Television

March 22, 2024

X-Men ’97 – “Mutant Liberation Begins”

By Joe

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.

Check out the other X-Men coverage we have here:

X-Men ’97 – “To Me, My X-Men”

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…

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by Joe

Marvel Legends X-Men ’97 Jean Grey

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!…

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by Joe

Wolverine and the X-Men

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.…

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March 21, 2024

X-Men ’97 – “To Me, My X-Men”

By Joe

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.

Get on the X-Men ’97 hype train with these posts:

X-Men: The Art and Making of the Animated Series

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…

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by Joe

Mondo X-Men TAS 1/6 Scale SDCC Exclusive Logan

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…

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by Joe

Previously on X-Men: The Making of an Animated Series

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…

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March 20, 2024

Marvel Legends X-Men ’97 Jean Grey

By Joe
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:

Marvel Legends X-Men Animated Series Jean Grey

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,…

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by Joe

Marvel Legends X-Men ’97 Bishop

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…

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by Joe

Marvel Legends X-Men ’97 Rogue

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…

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by Joe

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March 18, 2024

Wolverine and the X-Men

By Joe

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:

X-Men: The Art and Making of the Animated Series

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…

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by Joe

Mondo X-Men TAS 1/6 Scale SDCC Exclusive Logan

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…

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by Joe

X-Men: The Animated Series – The Adaptations

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…

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by Joe

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March 6, 2024

Gargoyles – The Goliath Chronicles

By Joe

Over thirty years ago, ego and the dollar ruled. It was a world with a changing television landscape. It was the golden age for animation! On one side you had the CEO of The Walt Disney Company Michael Eisner who entered the world of television animation with one goal in mind: to make the best animation television has ever seen (and to make a lot of money doing so). As a rival there was Stephen Spielberg. He too wanted to create animation for television that didn’t look like it was created for television. Neither man was so foolish as to suggest that their output would be as good as a feature film, but it was going to be miles ahead of what had come before it. By the late 90s though, all that was coming to an end. The television boom in animation was over as networks were finding it cheaper to import shows already created. Kids would watch whatever was put in front of them and ego gave way to fiscal responsibility. Such can be seen in the transition from Gargoyles to The Goliath Chronicles.

Yup, we’re finally doing it. After spending years avoiding the third season of the Disney Afternoon show Gargoyles I finally decided to take a look and see what all the fuss was about. If you’re new to Gargoyles, basically the show aired as part of the syndicated Disney Afternoon in the mid-90s. It was one of the later additions to the programming block which started winding down in the years that followed. With that, came the end of all of the shows that were part of it unless they could find a home elsewhere. Gargoyles was one such show and given a stay of execution as it would be moved to ABC’s One Saturday Morning as Disney recently acquired the network. Going from syndication to a network show is a big change behind the scenes as it introduces a whole new round of standards and practices, those things viewers and television producers tend to hate. For reasons not entirely clear to me, basically all of the creative staff on the show was replaced including showrunner Greg Weisman. Some may have left of their own accord as a the third season was a mere 13 episodes and in animation writers like to seek out full-series orders, whenever possible. Weisman did contribute to the third season’s first episode as a writer and was a consulting producer for the third season, but he’s indicated his only contributions were essentially negations.

The third season came with a new intro featuring CG that has not aged well. Perhaps that’s why the Disney+ episodes feature the Season Two intro.

Nevertheless, the show must go on and it’s not like a giant company like Disney would let anything stop them from doing something they wanted to do with a property they owned. The third season was given the subtitle The Goliath Chronicles and ran for 13 episodes. The voice cast returned and each episode was given an introductory monologue by Goliath (Keith David), a mostly pointless addition, but not one without merit since more Keith David is never a bad thing. Carl Johnson returned to handle the music, but beyond that almost everything was different. Eric Lewald (X-Men, Exo-Squad) was brought in as the new showrunner and joining him in the writer’s room were a lot of folks also associated with Fox’ X-Men. Both shows were still in production with X-Men also receiving its own surprise final season order and it’s possible the writers were spread thin. As an added challenge, the new writers were completely new to the show from what was reported. If any had watched Gargoyles previously I couldn’t find confirmation. Perhaps not surprisingly, the third season of Gargoyles shares a lot in common with X-Men as the main, over-arching, plot concerns a KKK-like group called The Quarrymen introduced in the first episode. Taking the gargoyles to a more grounded world where they have to confront human prejudice doesn’t sound like such a bad idea on the surface, but of course it’s the execution that matters most.

Walt Disney Animation Australia certainly tries hard, I guess that’s all we can ask.

Perhaps the biggest change for an animation lover such as myself is on the production end. As covered in the opening paragraph, by 1996 there was little appetite at Disney to keep raising the bar for what was being shown on television when it came to animation. Gargoyles was taken from Walt Disney Animation of Japan and handed over to Nelvana which in turn outsourced a lot of the episodes to Akom and Hanho Heung-Up Company, neither of which carries the reputation of some of the studios that worked on the first two seasons. The final episode of the season was given to Walt Disney Animation of Japan and it’s a noticeable improvement, though perhaps still not on the level of prior seasons. The penultimate episode, “Seeing Isn’t Believing,” looks over-animated with a lot of exaggerated character movements like someone was trying really hard to impress. That was done by Walt Disney Animation Australia so perhaps it was like an audition of sorts. Most of the episodes use simpler lighting, flatter models, and less demanding staging. The addition of network censors means you’ll rarely see a character throw a punch and instead there’s lots of pouncing and the old animation standby move of a character on their back flipping an adversary off of them.

Given the amount of censorship on this season, it’s a bit surprising they got away with this pseudo gargoyle crucifixion.

Censorship and lesser animation are but a disappointment, but not something that should necessarily doom an animated series. When people cite the third season of Gargoyles as being just plain bad, I have to believe it’s largely due to the approach being quite different. The first two seasons were, more or less, serialized. One plot beget another and during many chapters of the show one episode lead into another. Networks hate that sort of thing because one delayed episode can ruin everything. Many also believe it makes it hard for viewers to jump in and out of a series and if you’re alienating first-time viewers then you’re not growing your audience. Either there was a mandate to end that, or having a bunch of new writers necessitated lore taking a backseat to stand-alone episodes. And it’s not as if the show’s first 65 episodes were all bangers, it’s just that filler episodes tend to get lost easier when a show is airing on week days as opposed to week ends. Much of this third season feels like filler. Some of these episodes could perhaps slide into the first two seasons without much trouble, and some would still stick out as poor.

When it comes to the poor outings, most of them come back to scope. Take “And Justice for All” where Goliath actually gets captured and arrested and put on trial. The recent run of from Dynamite Comics undertook such a plot and it needed the better part of 9 issues to resolve it. The Goliath Chronicles tries to do it in one episode, and while I wouldn’t expect the show to get all of the legal system accurately conveyed in a children’s show, this one still turns out like a mockery of the whole thing. I have my issues with the plot in the comics as well, so in this case neither medium hit it out of the ballpark, but one is clearly inferior and it’s among the least enjoyable episodes of the season. Another episode I strongly disliked was “To Serve Mankind” where Goliath is brainwashed into attempting to murder a peace activist on an international visit to New York. He gets as far as yanking the man from his limo which leads to a rooftop showdown with the non-brainwashed members of the clan and the police. It’s all resolved in the end, but with absolutely no repercussions for the gargoyles and nothing carries over.

Most of the season just feels like it could have been filler, which is how you end up with plots like Broadway goes Hollywood.

There are other episodes that are fine. Lexington (Thom Adcox-Hernandez) taking an interest in the son of Xanatos (Jonathan Frakes), Alexander, leads to a somewhat cute story in the season’s second episode, “Ransom.” We also get to see Hudson (Ed Asner) deal with his own diminishing eye sight by seeking the help of his friend, Jeffrey (Paul Winfield), who also happens to be blind. He’s a returning character and there are other episodes dealing with members of The Pack, the clones, and Demona. Nothing is overly consequential though giving their appearances more of a “Villain of the Week” vibe as opposed to furthering character growth. There seems to be a deemphasis on the magical component of the show in favor of something more grounded. Again, I don’t necessarily find fault with exploring how the gargoyles relate to the humans and their chosen city, but perhaps this was too drastic a change for most.

We also need to talk about Xanatos. The chief rival and villain of the series was basically turned into an ally at the end of the second season. The new writers can hardly be blamed for that turn, but it feels abnormal to see how much of an ally is he is to the gargoyles in this third season. He is often relied upon to save the day and there are moments where I expected a return to the Xanatos of old, but it never comes. He is, as far as I can tell, completely earnest with his reform and consumed with being a father to Alexander and a husband to Fox (Laura San Giacomo), who too is completely reformed. I don’t know that I really wanted to see Xanatos pull another 180 and go full villain once again, but some nuance would have been nice. There’s really no conflict to speak of between he and the clan, though some distrust is still felt. There is a moment where conflict could arise in “Ransom,” but Xanatos squashes it immediately. I don’t love what the later stages of the show’s second season did with Xanatos, but this third season did nothing to rectify that either and instead represents a doubling-down.

The Quarrymen aren’t a bad addition to the show, but are perhaps too on the nose.

There’s a lot that doesn’t work with The Goliath Chronicles, but I suppose there is some time to say what does. I liked the approach of introducing a racist group of gargoyle haters and making that a season-long conflict. I wish there was something done to differentiate The Quarrymen more from the very similar Friends of Humanity as well as real world inspirations. It’s not as if X-Men is the only show that can utilize KKK-adjacent hate groups, but it does feel like there was some obligation on this show to find another way. I did enjoy the episode “The Dying of the Light” and it’s one I felt could have been transported to the second season with relative ease. “Ransom” was enjoyable, though perhaps misplaced as the second episode of the season, and I did like catching up with the clones in a meaningful way in “Genesis Undone.” The season finale does a good job of wrapping-up the season. It even uses a runaway train in much the same manner as the movie Spider-Man 2. Perhaps it was an inspiration? If it was, it’s probably the most meaningful contribution the show made to pop culture.

What drove me to finally watch The Goliath Chronicles after all these years was essentially the fact that there are only so many episodes of this show, of this cast, that it felt silly to dismiss some out of hand. Is the third season bad? In a vacuum, no. It’s a perfectly cromulent season of children’s television. Is it up to the standards of the first two seasons? No. I do think over the years the first two seasons have become deified to a degree because the high points are so high and the show is limited to 65 episodes. I’m not even sure if the show’s worst episode exists in Season 3, but I honestly haven’t given that particular subject much thought. Talented writers worked on this season and, in general, they delivered C-average work. It’s certainly not spectacular, but it’s hardly a trainwreck.

What fans seem to dislike the most is that nothing in this season feels essential. Subplots like Goliath and Elisa’s romance are stuck in neutral with no advancement. Broadway and Angela do get established as a couple though, so there’s that.

Does all this mean that I’m actually giving The Goliath Chronicles a recommend? Well, not exactly. It’s disposable television and there’s an abundance of that out there to the point where it feels like one doesn’t have the time to waste on anything that isn’t wonderful. I do think if you’re a Gargoyles fan who has never watched it and dismisses it as trash then you do owe it to the show to actually watch it and see for yourself. It’s probably hard at this point to not go into it with an objective mind, but for those that do I think most would come away with a half-hearted “It’s all right.” If you just want to know the main story of Gargoyles and are only interested in the aspects of the story considered canon, then you don’t need to watch this. Even if this season were considered canon, really nothing happens that would have made it difficult to jump into a hypothetical fourth season. It’s all pretty disposable. You can safely stick to the first two seasons, the SLG comics, and the current Dynamite run for the core story. If you just want some new adventures with a familiar cast then at least The Goliath Chronicles might have something new to offer if you’ve been ignoring it for almost 30 years.

Interested in more Gargoyles content?

NECA Gargoyles – Ultimate Goliath

It was nearly 6 months ago that NECA unveiled one of its newest licenses for 2021: Gargoyles! I was incredibly pumped at the time to see that NECA had acquired Gargoyles because the license had so much potential. The show was basically a cult hit in the 90s often characterized as Disney’s answer to Batman:…

by Joe

NECA Gargoyles – Ultimate Hudson

Happy Boxing Day! It’s been a minute, but we’re back with another figure in NECA’s line of action figures based on the 90s cartoon/property Gargoyles – Hudson! Hudson, who was wonderfully brought to life by the late Ed Asner, was always my favorite character in the show. He’s basically the old veteran of the group.…

by Joe

NECA Gargoyles – Ultimate Broadway

We are getting oh so very close to assembling the original Manhattan Clan in action figure form! Disney’s take on gothic beasts originally included the following gargoyles: Goliath, Hudson, Bronx, Brooklyn, Broadway, and Lexington. The clan would grow from there, but those six are still the first that come to mind for me when I…

by Joe

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February 26, 2024

S.H.Figuarts Dragon Ball Z Super Saiyan Son Goku & Super Saiyan 2 Son Gohan Exclusive Edition

By Joe
Time to do this father-son style.

We are now past Valentine’s Day and I’m ready to close the book on San Diego Comic Con 2023. The last action figure exclusive to look at is the two-pack of Super Saiyan Goku and Super Saiyan 2 Gohan. Dragon Ball Z has been around for a long time and has given birth to many iconic images whether it’s Goku and Vegeta squaring off or Goku’s initial transformation into a Super Saiyan or any others. One of the top ones is definitely Gohan finishing off Cell with what has been dubbed the Father-Son Kamehameha. Gohan, bloodied and with his left arm just hanging limp at his side, summons the strength to muscle-up one last blast with his father urging him on from beyond the grave. Goku appears as a spirit behind him as if he’s providing his own blast alongside his son. Whether it’s to be taken literally or not has never been really clear to me, but it’s a dramatic moment and definitely a fan favorite.

Did you think I was going to make you wait until the end?

For Comic Con 2023, Bandai released a two-pack that has shockingly never happened before. A battle damaged Super Saiyan 2 Gohan and a “ghost” Super Saiyan Goku so collectors can essentially reenact that moment as part of their collection. It comes in an oversized box with a black and purple deco and the photography on the box makes it obvious what moment this represents. The window only shows Gohan which almost makes Goku feel like it’s a surprise, or a glorified accessory. Both figures are re-releases of past ones. We’ve seen this base Goku body many times before across several iterations of the character. Gohan is also a re-release, though it’s an older figure and one I’ve never interacted with before. Initially, I was only going to get the event exclusive Raditz, but this release just looked too cool and it earned my $95.

I’ve suddenly found myself with many Gohans.

Let’s talk Gohan first since, as I mentioned earlier, Goku feels more like an accessory here even though he’s a full-fledged action figure. Gohan is, as the box states, in his Super Saiyan 2 form and his purple gi is all tattered and torn. There’s some battle damage painted onto his flesh in places, but no blood. He’s a young teen so he’s much smaller than his father and stands about 4.25″ to the top of his face. He follows some past event exclusives by featuring translucent, yellow, plastic for his hair which has been brushed over with a pearlescent, gold, paint. It’s a pretty heavy coat of paint so it’s actually hard to tell that there’s any translucency to the plastic, but it’s there and it looks pretty nice. I don’t know if I prefer it to painted, yellow, plastic, but it’s fine. The face printing looks sharp and is likely updated from the original release of the figure. Bandai did a good job matching colors the rest of the way, and it helps that the upper body is cast all in flesh-colored plastic. The only painted flesh are the exposed knees. The rest of the paint is fairly minimal. The gi is painted and there’s a darker purple for the inside portions of the torn parts. There’s a little shading around the knees, and then there’s the battle damage. It’s limited to the chest, face, and left arm and I’m surprised there aren’t any cross-hatches on his right arm, but it looks good and at least it isn’t overdone.

I also now have a pair of Super Saiyan 2 boys.
Gohan is a wee bit small for the aura effect.

For optional parts, Gohan has four portraits: stoic, teeth gritting, yelling, and an even bigger yell. The two yelling are certainly pretty similar, but it’s hard to argue anything is missing. For hands, Gohan has a set of fists, open, relaxed, Kamehameha, and Kamehameha hands with pegs on them. And if you get those blast effect hands with pegs, that usually means you get some kind of blast effect and that is true of Gohan. He comes with the charging, Kamehameha, effect. It’s done in translucent, light, blue plastic and consists of a small sphere with slots in it to accommodate seven, acrylic, posts. It’s an effect we’ve seen a few times and it seems like it’s becoming a favorite of Bandai as I think I have four of them now. This one seems lighter in color from the one that came with Orange Piccolo and doesn’t feature any shading. It felt a little softer too and the posts are more finicky, but it’s still a useful accessory.

“G-Gohan?! Is that really you?!”
This Gohan has proven really fun to mess around with. Too bad he’s going to just occupy one pose on my shelf.

When I ordered this set I didn’t really think much about Gohan as a figure because, like I’m guessing most people, he only needs to hit one pose and that’s it. To my surprise though, this is a wonderfully engineered little figure. I’m finding myself really charmed by it and if I didn’t want him on my shelf in his iconic pose he’d make for a great desk figure to fiddle with. His head is on a hinged ball peg, which isn’t my favorite setup as you need to keep track of which way that hinge is going to make use of it. I didn’t mention it in the aesthetics, but I love that the faceplates do not include the sideburns so the fit is seamless. The heads get some tilt, rotation is fine, and there’s a joint at the base of the neck that lets him look up and down, though if you want him to look as far up as he can it will create a gap at the base of the neck. The shoulders are hinged ball pegs and the range is terrific. Gohan’s arms go up past horizontal. The ball peg in the shoulder allows for the arms to come forward and across the chest pretty far. It’s not a true butterfly joint, but since the figure’s chest is so small the clearance is fine. There isn’t much in the way of a floating piece or cap to hide the joint which might turn off some, but it doesn’t bother me at all.

He’s coming for you, Cell!

In the arms, we get the usual biceps swivel and double-jointed elbows which go past 90 degrees. The hands are on hinged ball joints and they work fine. The diaphragm has what feels like a single ball joint that lets Gohan tilt a bit to each side. It only pivots rather than provides for rotation and there’s no forward and back. The waist has a ball joint which rotates and goes forward and back enough. The legs will kick forward past horizontal and kick back almost as far. They don’t go out to the side for full splits, but it’s better than 45 degrees. There is a thigh swivel in each leg and the knees will go a little past 90 degrees. The sculpted tatters interfere a bit. The ankles are the only articulation point I dislike. I think it’s just a ball peg, but Gohan has these sculpted boots that Bandai apparently didn’t want to break up so they’re one, solid, piece except for the toe hinge. They’ll go forward a bit on the ball joint, but not back very far. The ankle rocker is pretty poor, but the toe hinge is at least done well.

Technically not the first dead Goku figure in this line. Or even the second.

That’s Gohan, which means we’re only halfway through this one because we still have to talk about Goku. This Goku is essentially the Super Saiyan Full Power Goku, only now he’s sculpted in blue, translucent, plastic. There’s some darker blue paint for things like his boots and shirt and his face is printed on as well. Some parts of the body are more transparent than others as there’s some air-brushing over his pants. It’s a cool looking figure though and puts any Marvel Legends Iceman to shame. The only parts that aren’t translucent are joints like the knees and the inner part of the butterfly joints, but they don’t stand out in an ugly fashion. He looks great. It’s a figure I never felt like I needed and I still feel that way, but if you’re going to do it it’s hard to imagine it being done better than this.

The translucent effect is pretty neat, but you will want to hide the few non-translucent parts, like the elbow joint, if it can be helped.
This Goku may look different, but he’s still plenty familiar.

Like Gohan, this is a figure that basically only needs to do one thing, but Bandai still outfit him like a full figure. Goku comes with three portraits: stoic, yelling, and teeth-gritting. The printing looks pretty good considering it’s on translucent plastic. If anything the white of the eyes are too opaque, but it’s good that they stand out. For hands, he has the usual Goku assortment: fists, Kamehameha, open, martial arts posed, and a set of Instant Transmission hands. All of the extras are probably good for those who want to have a little fun with their toy photography, but he only needs those Kamehameha hands for me. Articulation is the same as all of the other Goku figures. It’s fine, with some areas showing their age, but he can do what he needs to. The joints are all nice and firm, but not overly tight.

Don’t worry guys, Goku will be watching over you. Always watching…

Like I said, this set just needs to be able to hit one pose and it does. It actually does it even better than I would have expected. This is a great release as an event exclusive. It’s a variant of two of the most popular characters in Dragon Ball Z and it’s centered on an iconic moment. It’s a wonder that Bandai hasn’t done more of this, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s more to come. There are plenty of other spots they could look to, and in a way they’ve already started by including certain extra parts and accessories with some figures. They orchestrated Vegeta defeating Android 19 by including a new portrait with 19 and the upcoming full power Frieza comes with a new face for Legendary Super Saiyan Goku. I’m curious to see how far they go with this and it’s a natural path considering they’ve released damn near every major character at this point. As for this release, it was an event exclusive that Premium Bandai put for preorder on its website. It’s been made and distributed, but they may unload extra stock on another retailer so keep your eyes opened if you missed out. I like it enough to recommend it even at a mark-up, but certainly don’t sleep on it because it’s only likely to go up.

We’ve got plenty more from the world of Dragon Ball to talk about:

S.H.Figuarts Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero Orange Piccolo

When Akira Toriyama set out to draft the plot for Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero his original goal for the film was to take a favorite character of his and give him an upgrade. That character was Piccolo who had basically been left behind by the likes of Goku and Vegeta way back at the…

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by Joe

S.H.Figuarts Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero Son Gohan Beast

Last summer, fans of Dragon Ball were treated to a new movie: Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero. The intended purpose of the movie seemed to be to take two somewhat forgotten characters in Piccolo and Gohan and give them a makeover. The manga and anime Dragon Ball Super has basically been a story about Goku…

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by Joe

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February 21, 2024

Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan Vegeta – S.H.Figuarts 15th Anniversary Ver.

By Joe
Here come the Vegetas!

To celebrate the 15th anniversary of the Bandai/Tamashii Nations action figure line, S.H.Figuarts, Bandai turned to the fans. There was a large roster of releases eligible for re-release to mark the occasion, and anyone who wanted to could cast a vote for their five favorites. The winner was, not surprisingly, Vegeta. And in particular, it was the Super Saiyan God/Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan (yeah, I know) version of the character that had been released with the film Dragon Ball Super: Broly. That movie actually marked the first time we saw Vegeta use the Super Saiyan God form in animation (he used it in the manga) so it made sense to finally do a figure of that version. Rather than make it a dedicated Super Saiyan God figure, Bandai included a second head so he could also show off his Super Saiyan Blue look.

He has a snazzy slip cover and a disc stand. Those are the only additions.

When that movie and figure debuted, I was still feeling my way through this line. Did I need such a release? Yeah, I kind of did, but it took me awhile to figure that out. As a result, I never got it so this figure was indeed among the five I selected when I made my voice heard. It wasn’t my number one choice though (that would have been the Dragon Ball Super version of Future Trunks), but at least it was a choice. This was to be a special edition too, but all that meant is we were getting a fancy slipcover and a disc stand. For me, someone who never bought this figure before, it seemed worth it. Was it worth it for those who already had it? That’s a much harder question.

Assemble the blue-haired Saiyans!

Vegeta comes in the standard S.H.Figuarts box with the usual assortment of artwork. I don’t know if the photography is the same or not, but the name printed on the box does acknowledge the anniversary edition. There’s also a slipcover that goes over it with an image of the figure posed on the included “stand” with a timeline in the background and “2019” in a larger font since that was the year this one was originally released. The font and printing on the sides is surprisingly plain though. Like bootleg plain. If you’re an in-box collector you may be underwhelmed. If you’re not then you probably don’t care.

This figure will likely feel pretty familiar, whether you bought the first release or not.

The actual figure is basically the same Super Saiyan Vegeta figure that’s been released multiple times. This is my third version, personally. He has the same Cell Saga style of Saiyan armor only now it’s painted gray with a brighter yellow on the straps, abdomen, and lower back. The body suit is a very dark navy that’s almost black while the gloves and boots are more of an off-white. The only difference with this figure for me are the feet which feature a more rounded toe. I think they’re from the Resurrection F version of Vegeta? I’m not positive though.

I don’t have an all blue aura so this one will have to do.

It all means that this release of Vegeta has the same pros and cons as the other ones, only with more paint means more room for error. The paint on the abdomen, actually not a new spot to be painted, sucks. It doesn’t come all that close to the edges considering we’re dealing with a premium collectible here. At least the brightness of the yellow obscures that to a degree, but in-hand it’s pretty noticeable. The gray parts are okay and I like how it contrasts with the white piping. There is a scuff under my figure’s right arm and there are a few spots where it doesn’t properly fill the area.

The face printing on this release is not on par with the recently reissued Super Saiyan “Awakened Super Saiyan Blood” Vegeta. That one cost $35 at Target, this one cost $70 with a $10 shipping charge.
The Super Saiyan head looks pretty good on this body too.

The two portraits are the defining feature of this Vegeta. You basically get two hair pieces: one metallic magenta and the other a metallic blue. The sculpt is different from Super Saiyan Vegeta. It’s more narrow and less spiky, though still plenty spiky. I literally poked holes in the skin on my fingers swapping all of these heads as I moved them around the different bodies I have to figure out which combination I liked most since I intend to display all three versions. Nevertheless, I prefer the more full version of the Super Saiyan head’s hair, but this is fine. What’s not fine is the lack of options. Yeah, it’s great we get both the red and blue hair, but we only get one faceplate for Super Saiyan God (cocky smirk) while Super Saiyan Blue gets three expressions (stoic, teeth baring, and yelling). This is a re-release with 100% reuse sold at a fairly high price, why not just toss in more expressions? I feel like both looks need the cocky smirk, that’s just a Vegeta necessity, while the God head should at least have an angry look too. And perhaps more disappointing is that the face printing isn’t all that great. It’s not up to the new standards of the line and I don’t know if they’ve been improved at all since I don’t have the original release. Last year’s re-release of Super Saiyan Vegeta looks way better than the original release when it comes to the faces, it’s a shame the same can’t be said of the prestigious Premium Bandai 15th anniversary version.

For the God head you only get the one face. At least it’s the right one.
The stand is pretty lame, and hard to photograph since it’s so glossy.

Other than the heads, you get the usual assortment of Vegeta hands: fists, open, clenching, martial arts posed, and a lone right thumbs up hand. The crossed arms piece is also included and is just as annoying to fiddle with as it’s always been, but it does also look pretty good once you manage to get it into place. That’s it though as there are no effect parts or anything like that. You do get a special stand, but it doesn’t really earn that title of “special.” It’s just a black disc, the same that came with the event excusive stands a few years ago that featured Goku’s insignia as well as Whis and a Saiyan Space pod. Now it’s just all black with a 15th anniversary logo printed on it in metallic blue. It doesn’t say Vegeta or even Dragon Ball. It has slots that can be punched out for an action stand, but one wasn’t included.

This one is going to articulate just like the past iterations, which is pretty good.
I do think I prefer the red hair on the darker body.

The articulation for this guy is the same as the old one, so you can check the link down below if you want the full rundown. This figure is supposed to be a celebration of the line and it should have appeal to longtime collectors of the line because of that, but I don’t know if many would agree. Simply put, if you have the first release of this figure there’s really no reason to get this one. The extra stand sucks. It’s cheap and lazy. There are really no extra bells and whistles that I can see with the figure itself and the paint job is lackluster and not really reflective of the price point. If you’re like me and you wanted a version of Vegeta in these forms then it’s fine. It’s still a good figure despite the flaws, it’s just as a special release it seems phoned in. There’s nothing special about it.

“Yawn! You Saiyans bore me.”

Can’t get enough Vegeta? Here’s some things you may enjoy:

SH Figuarts Super Saiyan Vegeta

He’s the Prince of all Saiyans. The last survivor to have laid eyes on Planet Vegeta, home world of the mighty warriors and birthplace of the legendary Goku. And he’s also a pretty fine toy. Vegeta, arguably the most popular character to emerge from Dragon Ball Z, has seen his likeness cast in numerous forms…

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Dragon Ball Super: Broly

The first movie under the Dragon Ball Super umbrella is one that sets out to take what was previously non-canon and adapt it into the main series. The most recent two Dragon Ball Z films; Battle of Gods and Resurrection ‘F’, ended up being the start of Dragon Ball Super which is now well over…

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S.H.Figuarts Dragon Ball GT Super Saiyan 4 Vegeta

We’re back with another action figure review from everyone’s favorite version of Dragon Ball: Dragon Ball GT! And really, the only thing people remember from Dragon Ball GT is the Super Saiyan 4 transformation. Designed to bring the Saiyans back to their more primal roots, the Super Saiyan 4 transformation is pretty much on an…

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February 19, 2024

S.H.Figuarts Dragon Ball Z Event Exclusive Raditz and Son Gohan

By Joe
The beloved nephew and uncle duo.

I’ve been getting a little taste of July of late in the dead of winter as not one, not two, but three action figure exclusives from San Diego Comic Con have arrived at my door. That’s because the nature of the exclusive has changed over the years. Why make a limited number of something and sell it at one location when it’s something a lot of people want? As a company, you’re just denying yourselves more sales and letting resellers reap the rewards. That is why Bandai has been making its event exclusives available to non-attendees when it comes to most conventions. The lone exception thus far as been last year’s World Tour version of Son Goku Awakening Super Saiyan, a re-release of Super Saiyan Goku from the moment where he first transformed. And I think the only reason why that one was kept exclusive to the events and store fronts it was sold at is because shortly after a similar, but new, version of Super Saiyan Goku was put up for preorder (we’ll be talking about that one in due time).

Vegeta: ”I’m surrounded by idiots.”

When I first got into Dragon Ball action figure collecting I intended to only get my favorite characters. This was back in the early 2000s when Irwin Toys had the license. One of their earliest figures was Raditz, and since he wasn’t a favorite of mine on par with the likes of Vegeta and Piccolo, I passed. Then as more figures came along I got caught up in the frenzy and just started buying everything and only passing on the figures I felt turned out exceptionally poor. I regretted not getting that Raditz in the end and for some reason I didn’t consider that when it came time for Bandai, via the Premium Bandai route, to do its own Raditz. I hemmed and hawed, but at the time I was (stop me if you’ve heard this) just getting my favorites. Fast forward a few years and my collection is bigger than I intended. While I have never gone full completist or anything, I do have my favorite arcs and such from the manga/anime and Raditz represents a hole. The same was true of Nappa and thankfully he got a re-release via the convention route. Now, it’s Raditz’s turn.

Raditz is a pretty big boy. Here he is between some Piccolos.

Raditz comes in the event exclusive packaging which is just the standard package, but with a two-tone approach. In this case, it’s orange on black. This version also comes with a buddy, or rather a foe, in nephew Gohan (more on him when we get to the accessories since that’s essentially what he is) though it isn’t a moment specific release since at that point in the fight Raditz had some battle damage. And since Premium Bandai is intended to be a one and done affair, Bandai couldn’t just re-release Raditz with some new accessories. No, he necessitated a new color scheme. In both the manga and anime, Raditz had black armor with dark brown shoulder pads. When Bandai made its first Nappa figure, it featured the same color scheme as that’s how he appeared in the manga and his first appearance in the anime. When the event version came around, it meant Nappa could have his anime colors from when the Saiyans land on Earth. Raditz, unfortunately, has no real other look so he’s recolored to have light brown shoulder pads. It’s not accurate to the show or manga, but beggars (i.e. me) can’t be choosers.

Raditz could really mess with some folks if he dyed his hair blond.

Raditz stands a tick over 6″ to the top of his portrait and considerably taller when you factor in that giant mass of hair he’s got going on. He has his scouter, which features a blue lens now, and the muted brown shoulder pads and other plating over dark navy, almost black, armor. The scouter is removable, but only so you can swap the faces. There’s no replacement ear if you want to go without the Scouter look since Raditz never took it off. The hair is pretty damn huge, as expected, but done in a more simpler manner when compared with Super Saiyan 3 Goku. It’s thinner and lighter so it isn’t the impediment to standing that it is with Goku, which I guess is why we don’t get a flight stand for Raditz. In addition to the color change on the armor, the bands Raditz wears on his left arm and left thigh are now silver instead of red. It does pair well with the white piping of the armor, though I wish they had just left it red. One advantage this release has over the original is that the faces are using the new printing process recent DBZ figures have featured so they look very nice. My lone complaint is that they didn’t do the portraits in the same manner as they’re done for Vegeta with much of the front hair part of the face. This means there is an unsightly gap between the hair and sideburns. It’s a small thing, but we are talking about an $85 figure.

I think this cocky expression is going to wind up being my preferred look.

As is customary with S.H.Figuarts releases, there isn’t a ton of paint on Raditz. There’s basically no shading and the paint is reserved for the trim work on the armor and the bands on his arm and leg. What’s there is pretty clean. His skin tone is on the pale side, but I think that is to differentiate it once more from the first run of the figure. It looks good, but it’s also a bit of a shame for those with the old one since I think these faces are a slight improvement, but probably would look off when placed on the old figure. The joints are colored pretty well and don’t feature any extreme differences from the softer parts, a problem we’ll be talking about on another SHF release in the not too distance future.

This face, on the other hand, is definitely the worst.

For accessories, Raditz gets a solid complement of faces. We have a stoic/grumpy face, a smirk where he’s giving a side eye, a yelling face for when he’s angry, and a perplexed/surprised face for when he spies an unexpected power level on his scouter. Unfortunately, my stoic face is not aligned properly and his eyes (in particular, his left eye) is printed partially over his eyebrow which makes his pupil all but disappear. I reached out to Bandai about a potential replacement, but they send the error essentially wasn’t “bad enough” to warrant any action on their part. I guess they don’t take the “Premium” part of their store too seriously. For hands, he’s got a set of fists, open, and clenching. His left hand was a bear to swap as the joint kept coming apart at the forearm, not the wrist, so I had to hit just the fist to get it off. The other hands are also tough to get one snug and may need some heating up.

I like the idea behind the crossed-arms piece, but it just doesn’t work with this figure.

We get two versions of his tail. There’s the “belted” version that goes around his waist and an extended version. The extended version has a bend to it and I suspect that’s so Goku can grab it, provided you have a Goku with gripping hands (I don’t think I do). He also has a crossed-arms piece like many a cocky fighter before him. The arms can disconnect at the bicep and the crossed arms piece can be inserted. It’s a piece that’s never fun to put on, and with Raditz the shoulder pads and his incredibly spiky hair cause some issues. I mentioned that Raditz is easier to stand than Super Saiyan 3 Goku, but he’s still not as easy to stand as other figures in the line. For that reason, he actually has a panel on his back that can pop off and there’s a replacement part that features a port for a stand. We saw something similar with Piccolo, though Raditz required the adapter so it can get around the hair. You basically take any stand, remove the claw, and it can slot into that for easy posing.

This is easily the most paint I’ve ever seen on a SHF figure.

The big accessory Raditz comes with is, of course, his nephew Gohan. Gohan is a mostly static figure and it’s depicting him when he emerges from the Saiyan pod to confront his dear uncle. Unlike Raditz, this little guy is fully painted because he’s basically a slug figure. The paint is done quite well as the emblem on his shirt is clean and there’s even little tears under his eyes. Gohan has an angry expression, but he also has a second faceplate which features his eyes closed like he’s smacking into Raditz. There is a tiny bit of articulation at the head which is on a ball and the ponytail is as well. Now, I lamented that Raditz doesn’t come with a flight stand like Super Saiyan 3 Goku, but there is one in the box. It’s here for Gohan though. Yeah, it probably would have been a little greedy to expect two, but it is what it is. Gohan needs the stand because he literally can’t stand on his own given the sculpt. It would have been cool if he was supplied with a second lower half that you could pop out so he could stand, but if such a thing were at the expense of the stand then I guess I’m fine. If you don’t value the Gohan much, you can just leave him in the box and give the stand to Raditz, but I personally can’t see myself doing that.

Take that, you mean old space man!

Raditz being a bulky character in Saiyan armor isn’t the most poseable of figures. He’s pretty similar to Nappa when it comes to restrictions, only now you have to deal with that big mass of hair. The head is, like SS# Goku, on a hinged ball peg and there’s another ball joint at the base of the neck. This gives the figure solid range at the head looking in all directions, and since the hinge is behind the face plate, you’ll always know which war it’s oriented. The hair curves away from the body in such a way that it provides for more clearance than one might have expected. There’s also a joint maybe a third of the way down the hair to give it a little nuance. The shoulders are hinged ball pegs and they lift out to the side beyond 90 degrees as the shoulder pads are on hinges and lift out of the way. Those shoulder pads are a nuisance with the crossed-arms piece though and getting them to stay flush with the chest armor is damn near impossible (even the glamour shots feature a gap). The biceps swivel and that’s all good while the double-jointed arms are a bit too beefy to go much past 90 degrees. The hinged ball joints in the wrists are pretty standard, but the design of the Saiyan armor restricts the range pretty severely.

If you switch to the extended tail you technically gain another point of articulation.

In the torso, we get a ball joint. I’m not detecting a hinge in there so it just goes forward and back a bit. There’s some rotation and tilt, but do be mindful of paint rub on the abdomen when doing so. The waist does rotate a little bit, but it’s pretty minimal, while the armor bits down here are all hinged as well. There’s a decent chance they’ll pop off repeatedly when fiddling with this guy, but try not to get too frustrated. The hips go out to the side maybe 45 degrees, so no splits for Raditz. They kick forward nearly 90, and go back a bit. There is a thigh swivel and it’s incorporated into the sculpt rather well and the double-jointed knees, like the elbows, only go a little past 90 because of the chunky anatomy. It’s one of the better looking knee joints as a result since there’s no gapping present. The ankles are restricted like the wrists, but you get a bit of a rocker and they’ll move forward, but not much back. There’s also a toe hinge, if that’s something you value. It’s not a good one though as it doesn’t stay flush with the sole of the boot.

“Ah hahahaha! Need a hand, green man!”

Raditz is a bulky figure and mostly moves like one. His biggest issues from an articulation standpoint stem from the design of the Saiyan armor. Bandai hasn’t really come up with a good way of doing it as the hinges just don’t work very well. Yes, they’ll get out of the way for certain poses, but it looks stupid when there’s this big gap between the chest and shoulder. They almost need to be on a track instead so then can slide back and create the illusion that the armor is bending. Or, Bandai should just supply different shapes that plug in. That would probably be the most aesthetically pleasing approach, but it would probably be more expensive. Though given the amount of characters that wear this style of armor, I think they’d be able to make their money back. It would also provide for a reasonable excuse to reissue the Ginyu Force, and since they’d be a little different from the original P-Bandai releases, it’s something they could do without betraying the intent of that service. My figure did have a fairly loose left hip joint. I popped the leg off and found it was drowning in some kind of a lubricant. It wasn’t a clear oil, but more like Crisco as it was a milky color. I ran some dry Q-Tips through the hip and leg and it’s much better now. If yours is loose you may want to take a look for yourself.

“What?! His power level is rising?!”

Despite some qualms I have with this figure, I do mostly like it and I think it’s a great representation of Raditz. Yes, the colors are no longer anime accurate, but they’re close enough. If the armor had been a carbon copy of Nappa’s then it would bother me more, and really the only thing that bothers me are the red bands now being silver. Everything else looks great and the little, in-scale, Gohan is a fun inclusion. I wish we could get more of these slug style figures for the various kids and little guys in the show because the articulated figures of Kid Goku, Krillin, and others are way too big. The bad portrait is a definitely a bummer though. Some could wave it off as not a big deal since he has other display options, but we’re talking about an $85 release. That shouldn’t happen, and for a company in this business to just throw their hands in the air over it does not engender much consumer loyalty. For whatever reason, I’ve always been drawn to the design of Raditz so I’m glad I finally gave in to my own wants and picked up a figure of the character. Maybe this means we’ll now get a new Goku from this fight with a special, snap-on, Special Beam Canon to reenact one of the most iconic shots from the anime? I’m honestly surprised it hasn’t happened yet, but we also still haven’t received a Kamehameha Goku vs Vegeta’s Galick Gun style of release so there’s still plenty of iconic moments left wanting and it wouldn’t shock me if Bandai gets to them all some day.

If you’re interested in more S.H.Figuarts releases then I got you covered:

S.H.Figuarts Piccolo: The Proud Namekian

When the S.H.Figuarts line was launched years ago and Dragon Ball Z was at the forefront, it wasn’t Goku who got to be the first figure out of the gate. Nope, it was Piccolo. That figure caught my attention when it was announced even though I had not purchased a Dragon Ball figure in quite…

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S.H.Figuarts Nappa – Event Exclusive Color Edition

When it comes to my S.H.Figuarts collection, I’ve been able to largely keep to just Dragon Ball. And by Dragon Ball, I mean the original anime and manga that centered on a young boy named Goku. Even though that’s my favorite edition of the venerable series, it doesn’t mean my favorite is the one shared…

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S.H.Figuarts Dragon Ball Z Super Saiyan 3 Son Goku

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…

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Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , | posted in Television, toys