Tag Archives: marvel

July 25, 2024

Marvel Legends Retro Card Scarlet Spider

By Joe
Look whose come (wall) crawling back.

It was in this space last year that I shared my fondness for the Scarlet Spider costume when I reviewed the Medicom MAFEX Scarlet Spider action figure. I don’t buy much from Medicom because their figures are really expensive for what they are, but I sometimes break my own rule when I think they’ve made something I might not get elsewhere. Silly me, because Scarlet Spider would be featured in the Across the Spider-Verse movie that summer which meant, of course, that the character was on Hasbro’s radar. And it made further sense we’d see him once again in the Marvel Legends line since Hasbro seems to be updating all of their Spider-Men with pin-less limbs and toe hinges. When this particular Scarlet Spider went up for preorder, I put in an order because, what the hell? – I can use another one. Now that I have it, what do I think and how does it compare to its much more expensive counterpart?

If only they could literally fight it out.

Since I do have that MAFEX edition, I figured we could do this review a little differently. It’s going to be more like a comparison because that sounds fun to me. Besides, this Scarlet Spider from Hasbro is pretty much par for the course when it comes to a Marvel Legends Spider-Man. And from just a quick glance, it doesn’t look like a piece of crap next to the figure that’s roughly 4x more expensive. I mean, we are comparing a $100+ action figure to a $25 one in the same scale so, really, the more expensive one should be the better figure without question. Rather, we’re asking the question of does the gap in price correlate 1:1 with a gap in quality between the two? And do the more subjective elements of the figures play much of a role as well?

This Scarlet Spider is new, but not.

Before we can dive into it, we should at least do a quick rundown on this new version of Scarlet Spider from Hasbro. It’s on the newer Spider-Man body which most refer to as the Renew Your Vows body since that’s the two-pack it first debuted in. It’s not that different from the previous retro card body as demonstrated by my symbiote Spider-Man in the image above (left). The articulation is essentially the same, but the figure has new arms which are pin-less and the knees have been made pin-less as well. And it has the added toe hinge. It’s the same body as the animated symbiote Spider-Man (above, right) which I reviewed awhile back, only this one has the overlay for the sweatshirt. It’s fine, though not without flaws. This Spider-Man still sucks at doing splits and Hasbro is so bad at implementing double-ball pegs in the neck that they had to hollow out a cavity on the back of the neck to give the figure more range. It gives the head a floaty quality, at times, and for some reason the head is rather hollow. From most angles, it will be fine, but there are others where it looks downright goofy. And Scarlet Spider is a character that can get into some odd positions so it may be more of a problem here than it would be on another character.

I really hate this dumb neck cut-out.

All that aside, I like the look of this one. The red is rather saturated and pretty close to an actual scarlet. The hoodie has a nice look to it as it’s a dark blue with the big spider logo. The hood isn’t functional, but are you really going to display him with it on even if it were? I like the texture to the hoodie and and Hasbro at least painted the drawstrings white. The rest of the figure is mostly bare plastic. The eyes are painted on, but not all that well. There’s some paint on the ankle pouches and belt and it’s fine, nothing worthy of praise, but also not worthy of scorn. The web shooters are floating pieces and can come off if you so desire while the ankle pouches appear to be glued into place. I very much enjoy that he has the classic hoodie, but I wish the eye shape was more in-line with the character’s earliest appearances.

It’s a thwip-off!

The figure looks fine and I think the hoodie helps hide the small shoulders that plague a lot of Marvel Legends. It also helps to make the head look more appropriately sized. And it’s in the visual component where this figure will compare as well as it can to the MAFEX version. If we bring in that figure, it’s easy to see that the Legends figure is a bit bulkier. The hoodie is darker and has the bigger logo and the belt is more of a first appearance Scarlet Spider than the one Medicom went with. Both figures don’t “wow” in the paint department. While Medicom did apply some red shading to their figure, it’s barely noticeable. Their Scarlet Spider is also a brighter red and the soft goods hoodie is a lighter blue that even has a bit of a pearl finish. The smaller logo is not my preferred look as well, though Medicom did include my preferred eyes. The other heads included with that figure feature a more generic Spider-Man eye shape with one looking a little angry. They’re kind of worthless.

Thinking about how cool of a figure we’d have if I could combine the elements of both figures into one.

Am I giving Hasbro the nod in the looks department? Yes and no. I much prefer the art direction of the Hasbro figure. The bigger body, classic shirt and belt, but it does still have that not-so-great head. And I’m not just talking about the style of the portrait, but the lollipop effect it has going on. And while it has less articulation, the cuts present are more of an eyesore. The thigh twist looks awful if you use it and the same can be said of the waist twist and boot cuts. Meanwhile, the Medicom figure does a good job of hiding the joints even if there are a bunch of them. I guess that level of engineering is what we’re paying for?

MAFEX Scarlet Spider likes to show off all of his stuff.

That and the accessories! This aspect isn’t even a contest, because the Legends release blows. The only items included in the box are a set of fists, wall-crawling hands, and thwip hands. That’s it. No unmasked head, no webbing, no nothing. The Medicom release also lacks an unmasked portrait, but that’s pretty much the only thing it’s missing. You get all of the hands you could want: fists, thwip, grip, open, and even magnetic hands and feet to adhere the figure to a metal surface. There’s also a ton of web lines to mess around with and a stand. In fact, I’d say a hidden piece of value to these Medicom Spider-Man figures is that buying one can outfit about a half dozen so your Legends figures can partake in the webs. The only hindrance there is Hasbro almost never includes gripping hands with their Spider-Man action figures so you’re limited to the thwip effects or the ones that fit over a forearm.

My attempt at the card art pose with both figures. Hasbro left, Medicom right.

Articulation is an area where the Medicom figure should be better, but also one where the Hasbro release should at least be able to compete. And for the most part, it’s true. Basically, anything the Legends figure can do the Medicom figure can as well and probably better. The joints are just smoother, possess more range, and are just all around engineered better. However, there’s not much the Medicom can do that the Hasbro one can’t as well. About the only thing I feel like the Medicom figure clearly does better is crouch and get into a low crawl. Both figures feature some annoying drop-down hips that really don’t enhance the range of the legs all that much. Both can’t do forward splits either, though the MAFEX can do the splits out to the side where as the Legends figure needs to rotate its legs forward a bit on the ball joint. The butterfly on the MAFEX figure also works better and it’s aided by the soft goods hoodie. I will say, I was surprised at how little the plastic hoodie of the Legends figure got in the way. You can still engage the diaphragm joint pretty easily and there’s enough room to take advantage of the butterfly joint. It’s just a butterfly joint that doesn’t offer a whole lot to begin with.

And this just seemed like a fun swinging pose. With effort, the Legends figure can do some cool things, but it’s definitely way easier with the MAFEX release.

All right, so I think it’s pretty clear that the MAFEX Scarlet Spider does a lot more than the Legends one. We knew that though. What is less clear is if it’s superior by 75 bucks or so. And I think the answer there is “probably not.” Sort of like comparing a conventional sedan to a luxury model, yeah you’ll like the luxury model more, but you might prefer to keep the money it costs to upgrade over the standard model and spend it elsewhere. That’s just on a much bigger scale, but even here 75 bucks is nothing to sneeze at. That’s about what it costs to take my family of four out to eat at a decent restaurant, maybe before tip. It also can get someone three more Legends figures or maybe some third party web effects, stands, and some more stuff. I got the Medicom one first and I’m happy with it. I like the Legends release too, and I might even prefer the aesthetics of it over the Medicom one, but not enough to toss the MAFEX one on eBay or something. If I had neither and was thinking of getting just one, I’d probably be okay with the cheaper Marvel Legends release. There would be some temptation to go with the Cadillac, but pragmatism would probably win out.

If you only have the Legends figure, you’ll probably be all right. Though you may want to hunt down some webs.

That’s just me though. You may place more of a premium on articulation and “stuff” to the point where it’s much easier to just get the Medicom figure and be all set. I definitely didn’t need to get the Legends Scarlet Spider, but I justified it to myself because I’ll probably never buy another Scarlet Spider. Unless a really bad ass cel-shaded one surfaces from either company. Then we’ll be talking about this 90s relic for a third time.

“Why can’t we be friends…?”

We have more spider men to talk about if that’s your thing:

Medicom MAFEX Marvel No. 186 Scarlet Spider

When I was a kid, one of my favorite past times was drawing. Like most, I started really young with a box of crayons and coloring books. I’d eventually start keeping markers, colored pencils, and other instruments in a plastic McDonald’s case that came from a Happy Meal. It was blue and had a map…

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by Joe

Marvel Legends Spider-Man ’94 Spider-Man vs Carnage

Last year, Hasbro celebrated the 30th anniversary of X-Men, the animated series that premiered on Halloween 1992 and would become a ratings hit shortly thereafter for the Fox Kids Network. It was responsible for getting a lot of kids into the X-Men and Marvel comics in general and the first, prime, benefactor of that rise…

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by Joe

Marvel Legends Spider-Man (Animated)

It was in 2021 that Hasbro released a PulseCon exclusive Venom figure on a Spider-Man retro card. The retro card series is meant to stir-up nostalgia for all of the adults who were buying toys and watching cartoons in the 90s as the retro card is a facsimile of the old cards Toy Biz used…

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by Joe

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July 18, 2024

Marvel Legends Iron Man Retro Card Series War Machine

By Joe
War were declared.

Recently, we took a look at the Marvel Legends retro-carded Iron Man. In that review, I mentioned I was always more of a War Machine guy than an Iron Man one. As a kid, The Avengers and associated characters appeared outdated and were largely off my radar. Then War Machine was introduced and suddenly Iron Man seemed cool again. War Machine was the only figure from the 90s Iron Man toy line I would acquire. The snap-on armor of that line better suited War Machine, who was just Iron Man with a bunch of stuff affixed to him. And that stuff was mostly guns, very large guns.

Iron Man is undoubtedly the more famous of the two, but War Machine was always cooler.

War Machine feels like a post-Reagan era antihero. The name is almost grotesque for a superhero – war machine? He makes war? Does he seek it out? It’s quite silly, not that I paid it any mind as a kid because an armored guy with a bunch of guns is cool. And if you have spent any time looking at this blog then you know I’m still very much affected by things I thought were cool when I was a kid. As a result, when Hasbro released its retro-carded War Machine figure a little while back it got my attention. Not enough to get me to buy it right away (and I first encountered the figure at a comic store that wanted more than MSRP), but it was on my radar enough that I kept an eye on it. I was hoping to get it for a discount some day, but after getting Iron Man I felt like I needed this War Machine and had to settle for a discount of only a couple bucks.

Dude has guns everywhere.

War Machine comes on the same retro card as Iron Man, only the art has been swapped to change Iron Man to War Machine. This is consistent with how the Toy Biz line sold the character back in the day so I do like that Hasbro kept that tradition going, even if this is going in the trash eventually. Unlike Iron Man, this War Machine is much more closely aligned to his animated, season one, appearance of the Iron Man cartoon. He’s mostly a mix of white and black plastic with few painted details. The face is painted as are the lenses found on his head and mini gun as well as the center of the chest armor. The armor of the body is a bit more detailed than it was in the cartoon. To make it closer to 100% accurate, the panels that come across his traps should come to a point and the boots should end at the bottom of the knee pad. It’s pretty minor stuff, but the most “off” aspect are the eyes and mouth which should be red rather than black. Personally, I’m not bothered by that as I think the black looks better, but if you wanted a true representation of the character from Iron Man then it is inaccurate..

The effect parts that come with the retro card Apocalypse will fit this gun on the right forearm.

Ignoring the inaccuracy, I do like the look of this figure. It’s what drew me to it in the first place. The white and black complement each other so well and the mixture of finishes works really nice. The black parts have a satin, or matte, appearance while the white is glossy with a slight pearl quality to it. A matte finish would have probably looked nice too for the white (which is true of the face), but I like the juxtaposition. The paint on the mouth is a little messy, in particular the right side. The edge of the face is also imperfect. It’s not something to notice from the shelf, but it is apparent in-hand. As far as I can tell, nothing on this figure is reused from the Iron Man figure I looked at previously. The arms are pin-less, but the legs are not so I am assuming the legs are reused from a previous War Machine or Iron Man release for Legends. The presence of pins doesn’t bother me as they’re colored properly. The arms look fine as well as the joining elbow piece maintains the finish of the rest of the arms. There is some excess plastic on the right elbow that I’ll have to trim away. The sculpt of the character is a touch more slight than Iron Man, which is odd. I’m not really bothered by it when it comes to the upper body, but his thighs could use some beefing-up. Overall though, I find the color combo so appealing that I can overlook my otherwise minor criticisms.

He certainly does look like a machine of war.

War Machine is basically known for two things: looking like Iron Man and having big guns. This War Machine comes with two, shoulder-mounted, guns: a mini gun and a cluster rocket launcher. They snap onto pegs that are affixed to channels on the armor so they can slide back and forth and pivot. Both also come with effect parts. For the mini gun, it’s a fairly simple blast effect done on translucent orange plastic which pops on and off easily. The rocket blast effect is a bit more robust. Also done on translucent orange, it features three “trails” for three, orange, rockets to peg onto. The rockets are way too big to plausibly come out of the weapon, but I’m willing to bet that was true of the illustrated ones as well. There’s a bit of black spray at the base of the plume which is kind of odd, but doesn’t ruin the look. Aside from the guns and effects, the only other items in the box are two sets of hands: fists and open, repulsor, blasting hands. Like Iron Man, we don’t get any effects for the blasting hands and, oddly, they’re unarticulated. I’m a bit surprised we didn’t get an unmasked head, but I’d never use it so I can’t rightly complain. It’s more than we’re probably used to getting these days, so it’s fine.

The mini gun effect is simple, but effective.

The articulation for War Machine is fairly consistent with that of Iron Man. One change that is for the better is his head is on a double ball peg. It works great and the only limitation is the shape of the armor around the base of the neck prevents the figure from having much range looking up, but I’ll take it over the hinge which doesn’t work much better on Iron Man. The shoulder hinges are not impeded by the shoulder pads which move out of the way just fine and we get the standard biceps swivel, double-jointed elbows, and hinged peg for the hands (fists only). Even with the large forearm gauntlets, the elbow still bends past 90 degrees. There is a small canon on the right forearm that unfortunately does not swivel or anything so you have to use the bicep swivel to aim it. A forearm swivel would have been nice to accommodate such.

The missile blast is a bit more elaborate.

The torso features an ab crunch that’s just okay. It has better range going forward, which is preferred to having it going back, but more range would have been nice. There is a waist twist and it’s fine while the hips are affixed via ball sockets. They don’t quite go out to the side for splits, but they kick forward plenty far. There’s almost no range going back while the thigh twist and double-jointed knees work as well as expected. The ankle hinges go back all the way, but not forward very far due to the cut of the boot and the ankle rocker is fine. The articulation in general moves well with the appropriate tolerance. The knees are a touch gummy though and I don’t care for that. It’s fairly standard stuff though and the only aspect of the articulation that bums me out is the lack of forearm articulation for that gun.

Yeah, it’s pretty cool.

If you’re into Marvel Legends then you’ll probably like this War Machine. It looks quite a bit like the character from the cartoon and also works well enough as a comic book version. He has the weaponry one would expect and even some effect parts to go with them. He’s missing effect parts for his hand blasters and the gun on the forearm. And like Iron Man, a flight stand would have been really nice. We got all of that, or nearly all of that, with the Toy Biz Marvel Legends version of the character so it’s a bummer to remind one’s self of that fact. I’m sure it’s also disappointing to some to not have a James Rhodes head as well. Aside from that, the only other negative here is that this figure won’t work for your Marvel vs Capcom display. That’s through no fault of the figure though as the MvC War Machine was just a palette swap of Iron Man when Capcom found out late in the game that Iron Man was off limits for contractual reasons. If you really need that version of War Machine, Hasbro did release such a figure a little while ago so it’s out there. I’m just not interested in it.

90’s characters – assemble!

If you like this War Machine then here are some other figure reviews that will likely be of interest:

Jada Toys Mega Man

We just had 11 consecutive weeks of action figure reviews on Super7’s line of figures based on The Simpsons. Things were getting pretty negative in that sphere as that line went out with a whimper. I don’t like reviewing bad figures and it’s mostly because everything I review here I buy for my own collection.…

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by Joe

Marvel Legends X-Men Retro Card Series Apocalypse

It is Halloween and that means it’s time for costumes, candy, and spooky fun. It’s also Halloween 2022, a pretty important date if you grew up loving those mutants who ran around in colorful spandex fighting for a better tomorrow. That’s because 30 years ago on this very night, the animated series X-Men premiered on…

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by Joe

Marvel Legends Retro Iron Man and Plasma Canon

90’s nostalgia has taken me on a ride of late. I could blame X-Men ’97, but it could just be me getting older and having more fondness for the decades that have come and gone. It’s not a bad thing, but it can be bad for the wallet. Lately, I started looking at my somewhat…

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by Joe

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

July 11, 2024

Marvel Legends Retro Iron Man and Plasma Canon

By Joe
The 90s are here to punch you in the face.

90’s nostalgia has taken me on a ride of late. I could blame X-Men ’97, but it could just be me getting older and having more fondness for the decades that have come and gone. It’s not a bad thing, but it can be bad for the wallet. Lately, I started looking at my somewhat tidy Marvel shelf and the figures from X-Men and Spider-Man which all refer back to their 90s animated counterparts and I felt like I had a hole. And that hole’s name is Iron Man.

This portrait is the only aspect of the figure that is dedicated to recreating the 90s animated series look.

X-Men was my jam when it aired on Fox Kids and Spider-Man was firmly situated in second place. On another channel though was Iron Man. It never sunk its claws into me like the other two shows, but I watched a fair amount of it. I can’t recall a single plot and only remember characters, but I liked it enough to find the accompanying toy line enticing. I never did go deep on it though. While the show was called Iron Man, my favorite character was War Machine. War Machine felt like a more 90s appropriate Iron Man. The name is inelegant and a bit stupid, but kids loved an armored dude covered in guns. I allowed myself to get his action figure and it would be the only figure I would get from that toy line. And he was cool, I just never felt like I needed any other characters.

Well, okay, mullet Tony is also pretty much lifted from the cartoon as well.

Despite that, I do love me some 90s Iron Man. The aesthetic, that is. The modular suit works for me even if it’s kind of stupid. He definitely does not look like a guy in an iron suit. He looks like any other superhero, but with some iron plating in places. No matter, I like what I like and what I like is this look for Iron Man. I did get the Toy Biz Marvel Legends version that came in a two-pack with The Mandarin and it was probably one of my last Toy Biz Legends. I’ve resisted the urge where modern figures are concerned, but obviously I decided to give in.

This guy is definitely more at home in a Marvel vs Capcom display.

In 2022 Hasbro released a retro Iron Man that’s at least an approximation of the animated series look. It’s at least the closest version they’ve felt inclined to release, though it’s mostly a repaint of a more comic accurate modular Iron Man. It’s also less an animated Iron Man and more a Marvel Super Heroes or Marvel vs Capcom 2 version of the character and if that wasn’t obvious by looking at the figure the big gun certainly drives the point home. Like X-Men and Spider-Man, Hasbro has found success releasing Iron Man figures on retro cards that harken back to the 90s. This guy is released on such a card, but also in an oversized box similar to the Pulse Con animated Venom from a few years ago. Only in this case, the box just repeats the art of the retro card with a fake window rather than go with original artwork. Inside the box is the figure on said retro cardback as well as another box for his big, freakin’, gun.

One thing I don’t like about the sculpt is this red hinge.

This Iron Man stands a tick over 6.5″ to the top of his dome. He’s a very glossy yellow and red with almost every part of the figure being colored plastic. It’s an aesthetic that I think works for both the animated series and the video game sprites this deco is based off of. As far as animated Iron Man goes, there’s actually not much to tie it back to that source aside from the default head. It has the full yellow facemask with some yellow piping on top that is consistent for the look of the show’s first season. It’s also really large which is a Marvel Legends trend that has cropped up over the past few years. Comic book characters, if anything, tend to have smaller heads than a real person would since it helps make their usually impressive physiques look even more so. Hasbro apparently sees things differently and whatever they use for their proportions likely wouldn’t agree with an actual Marvel artist.

He has hands for the repulsor blasts, but no blast effects for them.

Aside from that head though, most of this figure matches up with the video game Iron Man. The knock-off Superman logo on the chest is from the game and that’s the clearest tie there. The shoulders should be bigger and scalloped really for both, but the smooth appearance of the figure is certainly closer to that of the video game. The only aspect of the figure that doesn’t really tie back to anything is the angled cut of the “pants.” Some of the artwork from the cutscenes in Marvel Super Heroes makes it look like that angle may be present. Some of those scenes also include the yellow piping on the head so consistency isn’t really its strong point. All that is to say that if you want a true, animated, Iron Man then this is suboptimal. In that, it’s similar to a lot of the animated figures Hasbro has released over the years as rarely are they 100% accurate to the source. If this guy is going on your Marvel vs Capcom shelf though, then it’s pretty damn close if you’re looking to match his first appearance in that franchise. He’s definitely not as beefy as that character sprite. This is very much a Marvel Legends Iron Man with a video game deco and accessories.

It’s light on the Capcom, and that’s the wrong War Machine, but it’s a decent start to an MvC display.

And if you’re screaming at me “Wait! What about the head?” then don’t worry, I’m getting to it. Hasbro included a second head that omits the yellow piping and features a faceshield that matches the shape of the one featured in the game. It basically ends just below the mouth so Iron Man as a red chin. It’s a repaint of the head from the original release of this body and it looks fine. Actually, it looks better than the new head as it doesn’t seem to be as out of scale. Pop this on your figure and you get the true Marvel vs Capcom 2 Iron Man. It’s also the same style of helmet the character wore during his appearance on the Spider-Man cartoon, though the rest of the body was pretty different. We also get a Tony Stark head featuring his mullet hairdo from the cartoon. It’s…fine? He looks like Charles Bronson to me and it too is oversized, but if mullet Tony is your jam then here you go.

Did I mention this figure comes with a very big gun?

The other accessories in the box are hands and effect parts. For hands, we get fists, open, and gripping. The open hands feature pegholes for blast effects, but none are included. They at least painted the rim of the ports yellow so it looks okay. On the gripping hands, the blast holes are filled and painted over. Even though Iron Man doesn’t have blast effects for his traditional, blasting, pose he does have some effect parts. The first is a burst effect that plugs into his chest opening. In the video game he can fire a beam from this spot so I guess this is like a charging effect before that beam emits. The other effect part is for his fist to plug into for his victory pose from Marvel vs Capcom 2. It’s molded for his right fist, but you can squeeze the left one in there if you prefer. Both effects are molded in blue, translucent, plastic with white shading. The burst effect looks pretty nice, while the victory pose effect has the white applied too heavily. It looks more like a sea creature or something and some of the “spikes” are bent and warped.

Iron Man: “To me, proton canon!”

Now, that obviously isn’t everything included with this guy. Oh no, we still need to talk about that gigantic gun of his. The box labels it a “plasma cannon,” but all who have played the video games from where this came know it as the proton canon. It’s Iron Man’s big attack as this giant gun comes out of no where and sends a massive beam across the screen. Hasbro definitely wanted to get the size of this thing right as it’s about 6.5″ long making it roughly the same size as Iron Man himself. It’s around 3″ wide from the widest parts. Since no 6.5″ action figure would stand a chance at holding this thing, Hasbro included a 3″ clear, plastic, stand for it to plug into so that Iron Man can basically fake holding it on his shoulder.

Mega Man: “Oh no! After he hits me with that there won’t be anything left for Dr. Light to repair!”

The canon itself is mostly gray plastic, but with darker gray paint applied in parts. There’s a hit of metallic pink on the front and a few places where red is applied for lights or buttons. The one thing not painted that should have been is the targeting reticle that Iron Man looks through. There’s a sculpted bull’s eye on it, but it’s unpainted. It’s probably mostly a hollow piece, but there is some heft to it. The stand plugs in without effort and works as intended. It’s not particularly challenging getting Iron Man into the proper position to look like he’s firing the weapon and the gripping hands are able to grasp it securely.

Mega Man: “Heh, heh…”

Hasbro also included yet another effect part in the form of a blast effect for this gun. If you’ve played the games this thing comes from, then you know it unleashes a devastating beam effect not unlike something one would see out of an anime character. The blast effect Hasbro included is…less than adequate. They included a blue version of the same effect they included for the retro card Apcalypse’s gun. You know, that gun that’s probably a fifth of the size as this one? This dinky little blue thing looks ridiculous when plugged into the center of the gun. There are peg holes all around the center and if this thing was meant to go in one of them (and there were more of the effects) it might look passable, but as-is it looks stupid. And what sucks is the diameter of the peg on the effect means it’s too big to be used with Iron Man’s hands and feet. I wouldn’t have expected Hasbro to include a gigantic beam here, but how about a charging effect? Or just a half sphere or something? I can’t see anyone displaying this canon with this blast effect. You know that popular Bart Simpson meme with the “At Least You Tried” cake? I’m not even willing to give Hasbro that much credit here.

Iron Man: “Sigh….damnit…”

We should probably talk about the articulation on the actual figure before we wrap this one up. Iron Man articulates like most Marvel Legends figures save for the lack of a butterfly joint. The arms and legs are pinless and the torso uses the old style of ab crunch that’s just a big hinge. I do like that the yellow panels on the sides of his thighs come over the thigh cut so the whole piece rotates with the joint when usually Hasbro would just cut right through it. The waist twist is just a standard twist so it gets ugly real fast when you rotate more than one click. Which is a bit of an issue all around with this guy. Very little would be described as smooth as the shoulders, elbows, knees, ab crunch, and waist almost feel ratcheted. The shoulders especially feel like they’re fighting back when moved which is a touch unsettling. I also don’t like how Hasbro did the shoulders as the red caps are cut into for the shoulder hinge. It looks fine on top as the hinge is red, but that also means the underside is red so anytime his arms are lifted it looks goofy. They could have simply pegged the red parts in to avoid this. I’d consider a big red hinge in the armpit uglier than yellow and red pegs in the arms and legs, but I guess Hasbro disagrees.

Animated friends unite to take on evil!

Retro Iron Man is a flawed Marvel Legends release as most are, but not one that is critically flawed or anything. I think most Legends collectors will likely be satisfied with this take on Iron Man. I personally wish the shoulders were done differently and that the heads were more proportional. I also would have scrapped the fist accessory for some repulsor blast effects, or better yet, a better effect for the proton canon. The effect included for that is laughably bad to the point where it would have almost been better to not include one at all. Yeah, we would have complained about the lack of one and would have been justified in doing so, but that would somehow feel less insulting.

He’s not without his flaws, but I’ll allow him to end this with a victory pose.

If you are a fan of the 2D fighting games from the 90s and want an Iron Man for such a display, this gets the job done. I don’t know if there are any third party beam effects that would pair well with this one, but I’m almost tempted to try and tack-on the fist effect to the end. Even a piece of paper with the beam printed on it would look better than the included one if positioned right. The only other drawback to this release is the price tag of $40. A repainted Iron Man with a big gun warrants a $15 mark-up over the standard Marvel Legends figure? Eh, that’s a hard sell, which is why it took me so long to take the plunge (thank you Amazon gift card) as I don’t know if it’s really worth it. If it had a worthwhile blast effect then sure, but you’re going to need to dedicate additional blast effects you may have laying around or dedicate time and/or money into coming up with something better to really make this guy be all that he can be and that sucks. If you do want him though, Amazon still has this one for MSRP. Maybe the patient will score it on clearance at some point too.

For someone who isn’t a Marvel Legends collector, I sure have reviewed quite a few at this point:

Marvel Legends X-Men Retro Card Series Apocalypse

It is Halloween and that means it’s time for costumes, candy, and spooky fun. It’s also Halloween 2022, a pretty important date if you grew up loving those mutants who ran around in colorful spandex fighting for a better tomorrow. That’s because 30 years ago on this very night, the animated series X-Men premiered on…

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by Joe

Marvel Legends Spider-Man ’94 Spider-Man vs Carnage

Last year, Hasbro celebrated the 30th anniversary of X-Men, the animated series that premiered on Halloween 1992 and would become a ratings hit shortly thereafter for the Fox Kids Network. It was responsible for getting a lot of kids into the X-Men and Marvel comics in general and the first, prime, benefactor of that rise…

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by Joe

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June 10, 2024

Mondo X-Men TAS 1/6 Scale Rogue – Limited Edition

By Joe
Rogue is here to add a little drama to your shelf.

The conclusion of X-Men ’97‘s first season has left behind a void. For 9 consecutive Wednesdays, we had something awesome to get up for. Now the long wait for a second season has begun, but here to help fill the void while we wait is Mondo. Mondo has been dishing out some very impressive sixth scale action figures based on X-Men, the ’92 version. I’ve been waiting since that show debuted for action figures dedicated to that show that match the quality and accuracy that I want from a figure line. I probably wouldn’t have selected this scale for such a line, but basically everything else has been great. And now here to bolster the ranks of the X-Men is the best female member of the team: Rogue.

The only surprise with the packaging is that they didn’t use the storyboard from the Apocalypse episode. You know the image I’m thinking of.

X-Men was my formal introduction to the character Rogue. I had seen her on the cover of comics, but always in her 80s look. When the cartoon debuted I only knew the two characters were the same because of her unique hair color. Rogue, despite looking like a super model, is the muscle of the team. She can knock a Sentinel’s head clear off with a punch and look good while doing it, but like all good characters her powers come with a price. And for her, it’s that she can’t touch another living person without sucking the life from them. This allows her to steal other powers from her fellow mutants which is pretty cool, but not being able to physically touch or kiss another human is a trade-off she often wrestles with. Her inability to touch makes her one of the most empathetic members of the team and someone that’s easy to sympathize with. Despite that personal torment, she is often able to maintain an upbeat personality, can dish out puns with the best of them, and doesn’t mind getting her hands dirty when the situation calls for such.

There’s a lot to like about this figure, but I don’t think they quite nailed it with this default portrait.

Rogue from Mondo is a lot like the other figures released so far. She’s designed and sculpted by Alex Brewer and comes in a box featuring original artwork by storyboard artist for the show Dan Veesenmeyer. Tom Rozejowski handled the paint master and the rest of the packaging is adorned with recreations of original storyboards from the show from the episode “Till Death Do Us Part.” Original series showrunner and writers Eric Lewald and Julia Lewald provide the character bio which is situated on the inner flap of the box. Behind that is a window box showcasing Rogue and her array of accessories. This version of the figure is the limited variant which sold out much faster than any other limited edition to come before it in this line. Is that the popularity of Rogue or did she get an X-Men ’97 aided boost since anticipation was building to a fever pitch when she went up for sale?

That’s more like it!

Per Mondo, Rogue stands at approximately 11.75″ and I’m willing to take them at their word. She’s taller than Wolverine and Jubilee, but shorter than Gambit, Magneto, and the rest. That seems suitable and she seems much closer to true sixth scale than some of the other characters. She is wearing her show accurate yellow and green bodysuit with olive drab coat. She sports a variation on thigh-high boots in the show and Mondo’s approach for that was to make the green straps at the top of the boot as well as the yellow cuff separate, floating, pieces. Perhaps going this route made the figure easier to paint? Or maybe it was to allow these legs to be repurposed for a Storm down the road? Either way, the moving parts on a figure with so much paint are a little worrisome, but they can be seated in such a way that they’ll seldom move. Just do be careful when positioning them to not create a paint rub situation.

And if you want to get cheeky.

The head on the figure has received some criticism and it’s not unwarranted. The default portrait is basically a neutral expression. Rogue’s face has always been tough to duplicate in plastic for some reason. I think it’s because the female characters tend to not have hard facial features so there’s not a lot to key-in on. For the figure, Rogue features a very glammed-up look. Her eyes are narrow with long lashes and her lips are full and pouty. The paint is applied well as are the eyes (Mondo sent out a warning before the figure shipped that some heads featured poor eye placement. If your figure looks off just email their customer service and they’ll replace it), but it doesn’t really resemble Rogue. More like an artist’s interpretation of what a more sultry Rogue might look like. Or Rogue if she were in a Barbie line.

It might not be show accurate, but this power absorption hand is pretty neat.
Sorry Logan, not this time.

Thankfully, we have other, better, heads to choose from and the limited edition has far more than the standard. The alternate head for the standard edition is an angry expression and this works just fine. The right eye on mine features a dot of skin tone, but otherwise looks great. I think a lot of people will go with this for their display, whether they bought the limited edition or standard. If you did grab the limited version then you have some harder decisions to make. First up is the winking smile. The smile is very wide so this head doesn’t quite resemble the character from the show, but damn if it isn’t cute. I really like this one, though it does make me wish we had a non-winking smile portrait as well. Or perhaps a more subtle smile.

This is just fantastic.

Our next portrait is pulled directly from the show. In the episode “Deadly Reunions,” Cyclops gets knocked unconscious and stops breathing momentarily. Rogue, in an effort to save him, gives him mouth-to-mouth (C.P.R. back then called for this) and it works, but it also causes Rogue to absorb his powers. Rogue’s eyes start blasting red energy until Cyclops is able to instruct her to just shut her eyes. The included portrait is a screaming Rogue with those lasers streaking from her eyes. They’re done with translucent, red, plastic and it looks awesome. In some ways, I think this head most looks like Rogue from the show, probably because we can’t see her eyes and she looks kind of angry. The last head in the box is a bit of a gimmick one as it’s Rogue from X-Men: Evolution. Like the fairy Jubilee or unmasked Sabretooth, this head doesn’t work with the body since that Rogue had a very different look. It’s more of a fun inclusion. It looks fine, but I do think they should have added a touch of shading to the brim of her nose since that was something always present in the show.

I guess this one is for the younger fans.

That’s a whole bunch of looks for Rogue and one, if not more, are sure to please those who pick this one up. Also included are a whole bunch of hands. Rogue comes packaged with open hands, but she also has a set of fists, a right trigger hand, a left gripping hand, a more casual gripping right hand, and a bare left hand. When the left hand is removed, the yellow cuff is a separate piece which slides off to sell the look of her going ungloved. There’s also a removed glove accessory which slips into the casual gripping hand quite well. I do wish we got two bare hands since she did grab enemies with both hands at times, but one is better than none. If you want her to look like she is actually draining someone’s energy, she has yet another open left hand, but this one is encircled in translucent blue plastic. I don’t think her power absorption abilities were ever depicted like this in the show, her hand usually just glowed white and the light sometimes traveled up her arm, but I can’t deny that this hand looks pretty cool. Another included effect part of sorts is a gripping right hand that’s crushing a small gun. I don’t recall this gun or scene, I remember her crushing Bishop’s armband, but it’s an effective accessory at showing her strength.

This thing is all kinds of rad.
And the base works pretty damn well as a stand too.

The last major accessory included in the limited edition version is a base. Rogue is the first figure to get a base and Mondo stated they felt it was important to include something that hinted at her power. To do that, Mondo decided a decimated Sentinel head made the most sense. It’s well sculpted and really well painted and resembles a Sentinel from the show. There are two foot indentations, one towards the front and one towards the back, that the figure slides into rather effortlessly. It does a pretty good job of holding Rogue up too, though she has tumbled to the side on me once already. It’s not super heavy, so the figure took the base with it in falling over. I’ve resituated the figure on the base amongst my other figures in the line and hopefully she holds true. She also comes with a standard Mondo stand and I could potentially use that in conjunction with the base for added stability. One of the stands from a past release (Magneto?) that I have also has worked well to hold her off the ground just a little bit. That particular one has a very strong, telescoping, arm to it and can support the figure’s weight while some of the others feel too loose. I’m sure there will be folks in search of a proper flight stand for this figure and if I come across any that work I’ll be sure to update this.

Magneto has something to show you, Rogue.
A little X-Men ’97 preview, I suppose.

The visual aesthetics are what this line goes for, but this is an action figure so it does articulate. Rogue moves about as well as the rest of the line, and in some respects, perhaps a bit better. The head, shoulders, elbows, and wrists are all standard for the line. We’re talking a double ball peg at the head, single-hinges and swivels at the elbow, ball-jointed wrists, and ball-hinged shoulders. The head is limited by her big hair, but they did a decent job of sculpting out some room so the head can turn a bit and tilt. The shoulders and elbows are the most limiting. She can’t bring her arms across her chest or her hands to her face and it’s just something you’ll have to work around. Rogue does not have a waist twist, but does have a ball-jointed diaphragm. Mondo used a curved cut for it and I’m a tad surprised they didn’t try to conceal the cut under her bust or perhaps along the rib cage. It at least works well enough as a rotation point and it allows for a little forward and back. The hips are big ‘ole ball sockets and have probably the best range of any joint on the figure. They’re almost loose and I’m curious if they’ll get to the point where I do consider them loose, but for now they hold their pose fine. The knees are double-jointed and work okay while the ankles feature a hinge and an ankle rocker.

“Hey Remy, you got any plans tonight?!”
“I didn’t know you could read minds, ‘cherie.”

Since Rogue does wear high heels, she is a bit of a challenge to stand. It’s not as bad as I was expecting though. If you’re just looking to place her in a vanilla pose, she’ll stand okay. It might take a bit of adjusting, but it’s do-able. If you want her to do anything more dynamic then you’re better off with a stand. Even lunging positions are a challenge because she’s so top heavy, and I’m not talking about her chest. That hair adds a lot of weight, but since she doesn’t feature a trench coat or a cape, the Mondo stands actually can help out with this figure when normally I consider it useless. And if you have the limited version then you also have the base to rely on.

Cyclops and Jean kind of dominate the conversation, but this was the couple I was always rooting for.

Rogue is perhaps not a perfect, 1:1, encapsulation of the character model from the show, but she’s still a damn fine addition to the Mondo roster. The paint on this release is incredible. Not in the sense that it’s perfect and free from blemishes, but in that it just pops and really nails the cel-shading from the show. Yeah, you will likely find a dab of paint here and there where it shouldn’t be or even a slight smudge, but that’s the nature of hand-painted items. On the whole, the figure looks terrific and I’m very happy with the limited edition. With the Sabretooth figure, I wasn’t sure if the limited version was really worth it, but I feel completely different about this one. I love the base and the extra heads are probably the best heads in the box. The articulation may not be on par with figures in the 1:12 scale, but I haven’t had any real challenges in finding a display pose and I doubt many will.

We’re about halfway through the main roster and Cyclops is soon to be on deck.

Unfortunately, if you do want this version of the figure with extra stuff then you’ll have to score it secondhand. As I mentioned earlier, it sold out surprisingly fast leaving just the standard version as an option. Mondo sold out of the standard version as well, but has another preorder open right now on their website for $210. Other retailers may have open preorders as well that could be fulfilled sooner than Mondo’s estimate of September 2024. Even if I could only get the standard version, I’d consider it well worth it. She has the angry portrait and comes with all of the same hands as the limited edition version so you’re just missing out on the three extra heads and base. Rogue is an essential character for any X-Men display and she will certainly look good in your collection.

Now, nobody fall!

Interested in seeing more from Mondo’s X-Men line of sixth scale action figures:

Mondo X-Men TAS 1/6 Scale Gambit

It is my belief that when it comes to X-Men, the animated series which debuted in 1992, the breakout star of the show was Gambit. Wolverine was the closest thing we had to a household name going into the show and was the de-facto pick for favorite character of many. And while the whole roster…

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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

Mondo X-Men TAS 1/6 Scale Magneto

If you showed a random individual this blog and asked them what my favorite cartoon was as a kid I’m guessing they would go with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. And they wouldn’t be wrong as that was my favorite for a time, but come 1992 I was starting to drift away from that show. Batman:…

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by Joe

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May 15, 2024

X-Men ’97 – “Tolerance is Extinction – Part 3”

By Joe
Written by Beau DeMayo and Anthony Sellitti.

Today, X-Men ’97 dropped the curtain on its first season and what a way to bring it to an end. Last week’s episode was a roller coaster of emotions for me. I couldn’t go into much detail of my review of “Tolerance is Extinction – Part 2” without wading into spoiler territory, so allow me to indulge myself before we get to this week’s episode. When one thinks of childhood trauma baked into media, the death of Bambi’s mom is probably the most often cited. If you’re an 80’s kid it might be the death of Optimus Prime in the first Transformers movie or the death of Littlefoot’s mother in The Land Before Time. The 90s kid has Mufasa while the comic book readers like me have X-Men #25. No one truly died in that issue, but it’s the infamous issue where Magneto decides he’s had enough of Wolverine and uses his magnetic powers to rip the metal off of his bones and force it through his pores and open wounds. It’s all anyone wanted to talk about concerning X-Men when it happened and it changed the character of Wolverine in a big way. Like basically all things in comics, Wolverine eventually regained his awesome adamantium skeleton, but it took a surprising amount of years for that to happen.

They did it. I can’t believe they did it.

Despite being one of the most singular, powerful, moments in X-Men history, that confrontation with Magneto has really just been confined to the page. The original X-Men animated series had just kicked-off its second season when it happened, but never touched it during the rest of its run. I remember feeling anxious during the Asteroid M episodes, “Sanctuary,” out of fear it might happen, but Wolverine escaped that arc unscathed. I remember my friend jumping in his seat when we saw the first X-Men movie in theaters when Magneto lifts Wolverine up on the train and asks “Does that remarkable metal run all through your body?” He thought, and I too, that Magneto might give a tug in that moment and I certainly thought it could be him laying the groundwork for a future confrontation that never arrived. Other animated efforts and movies that followed never did go to that well, but in its ninth episode X-Men ’97 did.

For a brief moment I thought we may be jumping straight to the mind wipe Xavier inflicted upon Magneto in response to his attack on Wolverine.

When Magneto emerged from Bastion’s imprisonment in the eighth episode and used his magnetic powers to attack the whole planet’s electrical grid is when I first felt X-Men #25 was on the table. It was similar to his attack to open that issue on the planet’s satellite defense system which knocked out power all across the globe. Even though much of the events of last week’s episode were mirroring the events of New X-Men from 2001, there was always the possibility of multiple plotlines converging. As I said in my review of last week’s episode, that “Greatest Hits” approach the original series and this one is able to take is part of what makes it so successful. When it was Wolverine who was tabbed to deliver the opening, “Previously…on X-Men,” line I pretty much knew what we were in for. It became even more obvious when Rogue basically assumed the role of Colossus from the Fatal Attractions plotline X-Men #25 is a part of by joining Magneto (along with Roberto) midway through the episode. It made it hard to enjoy all of the fan-service leading up to the final act with the return of the old costumes, the Hulk cameo, or Cyclops’ return dig at the film costumes as I was expecting the worst for old Wolverine. And even during the episode, my X-Men animated Wolverine figure decided to take a shelf dive. I’d love to say it was during that scene, but I don’t remember because I was engrossed in the show and only after it was over did I check to see who fell. He knew.

Wolverine’s claws covered in blood – something we never could see in the original series.

The final scene of the episode was done exceptionally well, though it still left a glimmer of hope that Wolverine would not be subjected to his worst injury to date. When he removes Magneto’s helmet to allow Xavier a chance to attack him with his telepathic powers, the imagery was evocative of Xavier’s answer to Magneto’s brutal assault on Logan from X-Men #25. For a brief moment, I thought he might be spared. Then Cyclops blasted his mentor, not because he was turning on him or anything, but because Gold Team had not yet taken down Bastion and they couldn’t risk Xavier, through Magneto, re-activating the Prime Sentinels.

“Been in a lot of wars, bub – the brave always die first.” A great callback to Magneto’s line from the season finale of the original show’s first season, “The Final Decision.”

That’s when Wolverine struck. In actually more graphic fashion compared with the comic from which the story was taken, we get to see a flash of his claws and then the ends protrude through Magneto’s torso. At that moment, I could only watch with both dread and awe since there was no going back now. The attack was brief. We got just a quick shot of each character’s reaction, friend and foe alike, at Wolverine’s attack. It was like all of the participants in the melee up to that point were just made aware that violence has consequences, like a bunch of kids play-fighting in the yard until someone gets really hurt. The final image of Wolverine in mid-air with the adamantium oozing out of his body was a near 1:1 recreation of Andy Kubert’s artwork. It was chilling and a hell of a way to end an episode of television. I was riding an exercise bike on my first viewing and I wish I had thought to check my heartrate readings on my fitness app when it was all said and done. I was covered in sweat, more than usual after a workout, and that same pit in my stomach I felt as a 9 year old in 1993 had returned.

The plot with Wolverine made me completely forget that we may have witnessed the death of Jean. Again.

The moment was so captivating that it practically erased everything that came before it. I had to watch it again to be reminded of the fact that Morph and Beast had been defeated and were at the mercy of Bastion last we saw them. Sinister had taken control over Cable like he did his mother before him unleashing his telekinetic powers on Jean. She was able to make psychic contact with Cyclops, and through her, he saw what was going down just long enough for her to tell him she loved him before Cable’s blast engulfed her. And at Asteroid M, Magneto is likely mortally wounded or damn close to it while Xavier had Magneto’s helmet basically crushed around his skull neutralizing his psychic powers. This concept is new to the show as when the original aired the idea that Magneto’s helmet was designed to protect him from Xavier had not been invented yet. You can even see in the show’s fourth episode Xavier attack him with the helmet on, but I don’t mind it being a new wrinkle for this show as basically every version of the X-Men has done the same.

We open on a flashback we’ve heard about before.

As a kid, I don’t know how many times I read X-Men #25 and its follow-up, Wolverine #75, so I had a good idea what was going to happen in this season finale (in case you forgot, that’s what we’re here to talk about today) in space. I was less certain about the Bastion plot, but I had some ideas. Given the nature of how the last episode ended, there isn’t much I can say about the plot of this one that doesn’t spoil something, but I’m sure I can find something to talk about. The “Previously…” line is delivered by Magneto and our opening credits contain few surprises. More Dark Phoenix, more Apocalypse, but also a new scene of Magneto and Xavier unleashing their powers for the first time in front of each other on some terrorists from “Enter Magneto.”

Wolverine will not be doing much this episode.

And we’re shown that flashback because that is essentially where the episode begins. A young Xavier and Magneto having some drinks in a bar in a war torn country chatting about the potential for mutants. The war setting is even established by the opening chords of the famous song by The Byrds “Turn! Turn! Turn!” which I thought we all agreed we were done with? That and Credence Clearwater Revival. It’s at least brief which probably saved Disney a few bucks. Outside of the flashback, the episode is going to pick-up right where we left off with Wolverine in bad shape and the Earth heading for catastrophe. The only one who can heal the Earth’s magnetic field is Magneto and he needs some convincing.

Gold Team! This is no time for a nap!

At ground level, we last saw Bastion essentially victorious. And he will be ready for his victory lap that villains are so fond of, but as is often the case, the celebration is premature. Again, I’m not here to spoil anything, but I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say that the X-Men will need to deal with this guy. If last episode was more of the Magneto conflict, then this one is definitely more on Bastion. He is pretty set on eradicating mutants, and once that is done, he intends to rule over humanity since they can’t exactly be trusted either. And if he can’t do either, well, let’s just say that’s something he won’t respond to very well. And if that weren’t enough, the world super powers are left mulling what to do about the Magneto Protocols. Should the grid get restored, not only will the Prime Sentinels be reactivated, but President Kelly will have access to the missile defense system crafted especially for targeting Asteroid M.

Okay, perverts, happy now?!

The X-Men had split into Blue and Gold teams last episode, but it’s going to take all able-bodied X-Men to stop Bastion. A large portion of the episode is devoted to the battle that you knew was going to happen and, as has been the case with this show, it’s quite satisfying and spectacular. The action direction continues to be a strong point and the animation staff is up to task. Since we’re dealing with a finale here, there is an effort to give everyone some time to shine, provided they were able to stand at the conclusion of the last episode. The episode also pays more than lip-service to actual character growth and this is the episode that is able to cash in on the smaller moments (and some big ones) that we saw throughout this first season.

Sunspot has been allowed to cut loose these past few episodes which has been fun to see.

Where this episode did stumble a bit for me is that it’s basically a small portion of fallout from the previous episode, then a whole bunch of action, and then setup for next season. It’s become routine in the streaming age for shows to be serialized and include a lot of cliffhangers and X-Men ’97 is no different. I received some Game of Thrones vibes from the show when watching this one as the penultimate episode was where a lot of the spectacle was while this one felt a bit more like clean-up followed by setup. They left no room for the characters to really respond to what happened last week. It’s mentioned only in passing and we see Wolverine’s banged up body a few times, but we get almost nothing from the characters. How is Jubilee processing this? She and Wolverine were tight. Is anyone mad at him for pushing Magneto as far as he did by getting all stabby on him? Again, we don’t know and the way the episode ends makes it seem like it’s a thing we’re just not going to address at all and that feels like a real missed opportunity for a show that loves the soapy drama.

At least Morph seems to care.

Like last week, expect to be tickled by several cameos. Some are repeat cameos, but many are all new. Sure, it can feel like stunt-casting or something akin to it, but considering the plot in this episode has worldwide ramifications it makes sense to get a look around the globe. It’s certainly interesting and makes me wonder if X-Men ’97 will turn into a launching pad for an animated universe set in the 90s. Nostalgia for the period will likely never be hotter than it is now so it wouldn’t be Marvel and Disney’s worst idea. As long as my X-Men show doesn’t become overrun by non-mutant superheroes I’m all for it. Even if I personally have little interest in revisiting the other 90s Marvel cartoons.

I love everything about this shot.

I may seem a little down on this episode, but that’s only because the prior two were so strong. This is indeed a good episode, and it’s a long one at that, and DeMayo and Sellitti do some great stuff with their dialogue. There are certain characters they write so well and it’s on display in this episode. There’s also more callback lines to the original series and its woven in effectively and with purpose. There’s some heavy stuff intermingled with the action concerning Xavier and Magneto and this episode is one of the first pieces of X-Men media that really convinces the audience that Xavier and Magneto care deeply for each other. They’re not just paying lip-service to the “old friend” label they like to toss around so casually.

This episode concludes what has inarguably been a successful first season for X-Men ’97. The second season is in production so the wait should not be as long as it was from announcement to premiere. I suspect we will hear more at San Diego Comic Con this summer. Series creator and showrunner Beau DeMayo was heavily involved in the second season and it can be assumed much of his vision will make it to air. Following that, we’ll be heading into some unchartered waters with the show. Disney and DeMayo have remained tight-lipped on why he was let go from the series just before the premiere which is unfortunate because it would be nice to know if fans should be advocating for Disney to reverse that decision. If he was fired because of an OnlyFans account or creative differences, then that was probably a stupid decision given how well this show has turned out (and for the record, the OnlyFans thing would be stupid if the show sucked too). If he was fired over workplace misconduct or something (and full disclosure – I have no idea why he was let go and I’m just tossing out examples) then all right, that’s not someone I’d want to go to bat for. This stuff has a way of getting out so it’s more probable than not we’ll know in time, but for now, I’m extremely satisfied with how X-Men ’97 turned out. I’m also extremely bummed about not having a new episode to look forward to next week. This is going to be an intolerable wait.

Previously…on X-Men ’97:

X-Men ’97 – “Tolerance is Extinction – Part 2”

Magneto was right. That was the realization many characters seemed to share at the end of last week’s episode of X-Men ’97. As we roll into the penultimate episode of the show’s first season, a lot is on the line and the show is drawing inspiration from several different sources related to the X-Men over…

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by Joe

X-Men ’97 – “Tolerance is Extinction – Part 1”

Ever since the episode list was released for X-Men ’97 I’ve been looking forward to what reads like an epic, three-part, season finale. In truth, given that X-Men ’97 is a serialized show you could basically call every episode “X-Men ’97 Season 1 Part 1” and so on, but the titles do add a dramatic…

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by Joe

X-Men ’97 – “Bright Eyes”

When we last saw our beloved X-Men, their world had just been destroyed. An idyllic place set to the soundtrack of the very on-the-nose choice of “Happy Nation” by Ace of Base in Genosha was laid to waste. Mutants of all backgrounds were slaughtered including our beloved Gambit and less beloved Magneto. In the aftermath…

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by Joe

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

May 8, 2024

X-Men ’97 – “Tolerance is Extinction – Part 2”

By Joe
Written by Anthony Sellitti.

Magneto was right.

That was the realization many characters seemed to share at the end of last week’s episode of X-Men ’97. As we roll into the penultimate episode of the show’s first season, a lot is on the line and the show is drawing inspiration from several different sources related to the X-Men over the course of decades. We’ve seen costume changes for both Storm and Jubilee, one to her original look harkening back to the ’70s while the other jumped forward to a slightly more modern interpretation. We’ve been seeing scenes of the Dark Phoenix Saga play out in the opening credits much of this season while Bastion, an enemy associated with the new millennium, has been the puppet master for much of the show, though only recently outed.

Have we witnessed the death of a dream and the realization of another?

And then we had the conclusion of last week’s episode. The still alive and well Charles Xavier was outed to the world by Bastion through the media while the world would be reintroduced to another thought dead individual – Magneto. Valerie Cooper, heralded as the show’s center by showrunner Beau DeMayo before the season began, made the choice to free Magneto from Bastion’s clutches. We don’t know what Bastion had planned for the Master of Magnetism or if some of those plans may have already begun, but we do know that once freed Magneto immediately turned to a familiar refrain – revenge. Traveling to one of the Earth’s poles, Magneto unleashed a massive EMP through his magnetic powers which were likely amplified by the Earth’s own magnetic field. This both saved the mutants and quite possibly doomed humanity as the power grid was effectively neutralized. Wolverine called it a declaration of war.

A “blink and you’ll miss it” moment from the opening title is the insertion of Prime Sentinels in the middle of the Xavier and Magneto confrontation.

And this is what made the original series and now this one so effective. It’s a melting pot of different eras of the team and their stories distilled into one. I’d call it a greatest hits, but some misses still managed to slip in (looking at you Cody and the Not Brood) and X-Men ’97 hasn’t been immune from that. It’s a great approach and whoever at Disney or Marvel is put in charge of bringing the X-Men back to cinema really should go back and watch the original series and this one. Not because they’re perfect, mind you, but because they had the right approach. And whomever does so can see what worked and what didn’t or what stories could have been expanded upon or resonated in a different way. Just maybe don’t do Phoenix. I know it’s a classic, but everybody does it. Or if you’re going to do it, make sure to bring something new to the table (or maybe don’t just jump right to the Dark Phoenix Saga).

Look who came back.

That’s another a discussion for another day, today is all about “Tolerance is Extinction – Part Two.” The opening “Previously…on X-Men” responsibilities are turned over to everyone’s favorite Canadian Wolverine and the credits feature the return of Storm in her classic threads. We’re still checking out the Dark Phoenix Saga, Asteroid M, and Cable facing down Apocalypse as clips from the old show as clues to what is to come. When the episode begins, we’re reintroduced to Charles Xavier, better known as Professor X, as he wakes up in what remains of his bedroom. The mansion has been destroyed (really, no one should be trying to sleep in it) for the second time this season and at least the third overall (not counting the time Rogue put a hole in every floor of the thing including the roof). Xavier has to deal with not just the fallout of what Magneto has done, but the fallout for leaving the school in his care. Elsewhere, Bastion is seen collecting his mother’s deactivated body as the EMP deactivated all of the Prime Sentinels. This allowed both Roberto and Jubilee to escape, and they’re quickly rescued by the duo of Storm and Forge from a gang of angry humans.

It’s quite a mess Charlie returned home to.

Reckoning needs to happen between Xavier and his pupils. There’s a nice conversation between he, Scott, and Jean over his decision to leave the school to Magneto where Xavier’s intentions are well illustrated. Still, this isn’t a happy reunion as Cyclops wasn’t the only one displeased with the professor’s decision and they’re certainly not happy he wasn’t there when the world went to hell. There isn’t much time for all of that though as Magneto returns and he brought his asteroid with him. There’s no more words to be shared between he and his old friend. Magneto has made his choice and he is only there to offer an invitation to any who wish to join him on Asteroid M. Some will leave, most will stay, and for the first time the show will separate the members into Blue and Gold teams, though the membership of each doesn’t really align with such from the books aside from the leaders being Cyclops and Storm.

Not the happy homecoming Charles may have been looking forward to.

And why do we need two teams? Because in order to save the world, or at least prevent a full blown war, the X-Men must take down Bastion and restore the damage done to the Earth’s magnetic field through Magneto. That means one team seeks out Bastion while the other heads into space to confront Magneto. The tricky part might not be defeating either one or convincing Magneto to undo what he has already done, it’s that both teams need to be successful, but at different times. If the Blue Team succeeds before the Gold Team neutralizes Bastion then they very well may restore all of the Prime Sentinels to a functional state which would probably doom the Gold Team. Unfortunately for the Gold Team, Bastion is revealed to be what the show refers to as a technopath, meaning he can communicate with machinery like his Sentinels. He is likely unaffected by what Magneto has wrought so both teams are in for a fight.

Magneto has an offer to make to his X-Men and it’s an offer he’s made before.

And fights are what we get! One aspect of X-Men ’97 that has not been as strong as that of the original series is how the original was able to spotlight basically every member of the team. The show didn’t do it in every episode, that would have been foolish, but found a way throughout and especially so in the show’s second season. What X-Men ’97 has done instead is give characters their own moments typically in action scenes. And this week it’s Jean’s turn to kick some ass while Morph gets to unleash another cameo. We also get to see Mr. Sinister in action (I hope you didn’t forget about him) which is a lot of fun for those who grew up with the ’92 series. Perhaps those watching didn’t even realize it at the time, but that show’s animation budget just wasn’t what it needed to be for a complicated character design like Sinister. As a result, he basically just stood in fairly neutral positions. He couldn’t turn or do anything dynamic, but in X-Men ’97 he is unburdened by such constraints and it’s pretty cool to see in action.

I don’t like to spoil the easter egg moments from this show, but this time I’m making an exception: Raise your hand if you had that Wolverine motorcycle as a kid!

Another major change for X-Men ’97 where the original is concerned is that it’s not afraid to change the status quo nor is it afraid to “go there.” The X-Men can’t expect to come out of every confrontation unscathed and this penultimate episode ends on a pretty major development. This is one of those episodes where I’m a tad jealous of the bingers who are just waiting patiently for the whole season to be available to them. Instead, we have to wait until next week to see how this all sorts itself out. That melting pot I referred to keeps us folks who know these stories from the comics slightly in the dark. We know how they all end, but the show is setting up for these stories to just smash in to each other. The results could be largely the same, or radically different. And that’s the beauty of it.

Previously…on X-Men ’97:

X-Men ’97 – “Tolerance is Extinction – Part 1”

Ever since the episode list was released for X-Men ’97 I’ve been looking forward to what reads like an epic, three-part, season finale. In truth, given that X-Men ’97 is a serialized show you could basically call every episode “X-Men ’97 Season 1 Part 1” and so on, but the titles do add a dramatic…

Keep reading
by Joe

X-Men ’97 – “Bright Eyes”

When we last saw our beloved X-Men, their world had just been destroyed. An idyllic place set to the soundtrack of the very on-the-nose choice of “Happy Nation” by Ace of Base in Genosha was laid to waste. Mutants of all backgrounds were slaughtered including our beloved Gambit and less beloved Magneto. In the aftermath…

Keep reading
by Joe

X-Men ’97 – “Lifedeath – Part 2”

Last week’s episode of X-Men ’97 ended in spectacular and heartbreaking fashion. If you were hoping to experience the fallout of that one, you’re going to be disappointed by this week’s episode. Like the week before which saw an episode end with Forge and Storm in a precarious situation, this week’s episode is willing to…

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by Joe

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May 1, 2024

X-Men ’97 – “Tolerance is Extinction – Part 1”

By Joe
Written by Beau DeMayo and Anthony Sellitti

Ever since the episode list was released for X-Men ’97 I’ve been looking forward to what reads like an epic, three-part, season finale. In truth, given that X-Men ’97 is a serialized show you could basically call every episode “X-Men ’97 Season 1 Part 1″ and so on, but the titles do add a dramatic element. Pretty much all of the episodes have been linked and the only two that feel even a little stand-alone were the two containing parts of the Lifedeath arc. Otherwise, X-Men ’97 has pretty much stuck to its central conflict of humanity and mutants and the violence that can lead to. Violence like what we saw in the fifth episode, “Remember It,” which has proven to be the catalyst for what’s to come.

Look who is back in the opening title.

The “Previously…” intro is delivered this week by Cyclops once again, so apparently Wolverine, Morph, and others had their turn skipped. Returning to the character lineup this week is Professor X. I guess knowing he’s alive and likely on his way back to Earth is reason enough to add him in. Nothing really new in the opening credits to speak of when it comes to the scenes. The inserted scenes are the recreated Danger Room scenes from the original show’s intro plus a quick look at Magneto orbiting Asteroid M from the “Sanctuary” arc and a return of Cable vs Apocalypse (he’s got to be coming at some point, right?). This also reminds me that showrunner Beau DeMayo shared a list of recommended episodes of the original series for viewers to brush up on before embarking on this three-part finale. Those episodes include: One Man’s Worth (Parts 1 and 2), Sanctuary (Parts 1 and 2), Descent, and Graduation Day. I’m pretty well-versed in all of those episodes, but I never need much of an excuse to go back and watch episodes of the original series, especially good ones like the ones above.

Cable and the X-Men must work together to find Bastion.

Last week’s episode ended with a lot of reveals, some more shocking than others. Rogue had been searching across the planet and trying to figure out what “OZT” referred to. Well, now we know and it’s Operation Zero Tolerance. And the one leading that is called Bastion (Theo James), a mutant-sentinel hybrid. It was actually revealed by DeMayo that Bastion has been lurking this whole season and has brief cameos in other episodes. The only one I saw on first viewing was in the fifth episode, but I do plan on going back to search for more (if it’s not spoiled for me ahead of time). At the end of “Bright Eyes,” it was revealed that Trask was converted into one of these hybrids and he packs a hell of a punch since he felled Rogue in one blow. Old pal Cable resurfaced to put him down and in the process Jean mind-zapped him to discover that he is Nathan Summers from the future (a detail she seemingly forgot after doing the same in the “Time Fugitives” arc from the original series – that’s probably why it wasn’t on the recommended viewing) and he’s tangled with these things before. We also learned another detail about the attack on Genosha and it’s the one reveal I mentioned I felt the show had given away and it’s that Magneto lives. We got to see the Master of Magnetism strapped in a barber’s chair and collared as Bastion shaved his face to the sounds of “Flying Purple People Eater.” He seemingly has plans for Magneto and he needs him to look his best.

Bastion takes smug to another level. Also, I’m sure there are some cameos bathed in pink on those monitors some of which are revealed later.

Another reveal for the characters, but not the viewer, was Bastion revealing to Sinister that Xavier lives. He was able to get footage of Xavier’s introduction as emperor to the Shi’ar people via a satellite or some nonsense. Either way, it’s a catalyst for stirring anti-mutant sentiment as Bastion has released that footage to the globe via the United Nations. The news paired with the assassination of Henry Gyrich (by Bastion in last week’s episode) is not well-received by humanity as the conclusion many seem to be drawing is that the X-Men faked Xavier’s death to gain sympathy for mutants. Never mind that the last the world heard from Xavier was a recording that he’s fine (which was Morph) so I have no idea how his death was faked. Did no one demand to examine his corpse? A man was presumably tried for murder over it or at least detained.

I’m loving the addition of Nightcrawler to the team as he serves as a moral anchor for the group.

Early in this episode, Cable explains what’s going on and all he knows about Bastion and his new Prime Sentinel creations. Perhaps the most important detail, and likely the question all would be asking if it wasn’t explained, is that Cable has tried in vain multiple times to stop the attack on Genosha, but every time he gets pulled out as we saw in “Remember It.” The poor guy has likely witnessed the murder of his mother more than once. He’s taking a new approach now as he gained some intel on where Bastion may have been operating from. He, Cyclops, and Jean are dispatched to check it out while the rest hang back.

Two people the world assumed were dead are very much alive.

Elsewhere, Bastion has Magneto chained to a wall on a giant “X” evoking memories of a famous Uncanny X-Men cover featuring Wolverine. And it’s here in his base we learn the fate of another – Valerie Cooper. It seems she survived and has some connection to Bastion. She is here to give Bastion a soundboard, someone to explain his plans to, and react in a manner similar to the audience. At the mansion, Beast is busy examining the remains of Bolivar Trask while Nightcrawler keeps vigil over an unconscious Rogue. Jubilee is also still hanging out with Roberto’s family and isn’t really enjoying herself since Roberto’s mother, Nina (Christine Uhebe), is far more concerned with making sure no one knows her son is a mutant rather than helping out in a meaningful way. As someone who has maintained a life of privilege, she sees no reason for involvement in human-mutant conflicts outside of sending some money Genosha’s way and doesn’t understand why the status quo should ever change.

In true X-Men ’97 fashion, all of this build-up is for an action-packed third act. The X-Men can’t go looking for a guy like Bastion without getting into some fights and viewers will be treated to some fun. There’s fan-service to be had in these battles and if you’re someone who has been waiting for Wolverine to do something ever since he and Gambit’s team-up move back in the first episode then you’ll be happy with what unfolds.

There has been some great action in this series, but this sequence from Wolverine’s perspective as he impales a robot and Nightcrawler teleports them is amazing.

This first part of the season’s finale is mostly as expected. It needs to lay the ground work for what’s to come and there’s plenty of exposition to be found in order to get there. We’re fed breadcrumbs when it comes to the X-Men’s adversary and we’re likely to learn even more over the coming episodes. The show has done a tremendous job of not losing sight of its central conflict and the racist undertones that conflict contains. Bastion is a great example of this as he highlights how portions of humanity has felt left behind. It echoes real world racist manifestos like The Great Replacement Theory only in this world there’s actually a touch of truth to it as Bastion explains how a mutant-powered human can do things a normal person can’t which could actually cut into job opportunities. Mostly, Bastion is like any other figurehead preying on ignorance and fear who sees racist tropes as a path to power. Racists typically do not function on logic and reason so having even a kernel of truth to his replacement theory makes it all the more powerful.

Storm a couple of episodes ago plus Jubilee here has me wondering if we’ll be phasing out the Jim Lee looks for the characters.

The episode does end with a “bang” moment that is sure to leave viewers eager for more. We’re adapting an era of the X-books I’m not as intimately familiar with as other eras and it’s nice not knowing where this is headed. It’s unlikely the adaptation will be direct anyway, but I’m doubtful this will all be wrapped up in a neat little package in two weeks since a second season is in production already. And that’s fine, give me all the X-Men ’97 you can, Disney!

Previously…on X-Men ’97:

X-Men ’97 – “Bright Eyes”

When we last saw our beloved X-Men, their world had just been destroyed. An idyllic place set to the soundtrack of the very on-the-nose choice of “Happy Nation” by Ace of Base in Genosha was laid to waste. Mutants of all backgrounds were slaughtered including our beloved Gambit and less beloved Magneto. In the aftermath…

Keep reading
by Joe

X-Men ’97 – “Lifedeath – Part 2”

Last week’s episode of X-Men ’97 ended in spectacular and heartbreaking fashion. If you were hoping to experience the fallout of that one, you’re going to be disappointed by this week’s episode. Like the week before which saw an episode end with Forge and Storm in a precarious situation, this week’s episode is willing to…

Keep reading
by Joe

X-Men ’97 – “Remember It”

Last week’s episode of X-Men ’97 saw the show take a breather with a fairly low stakes plot involving Jubilee and Roberto getting sucked into a video game. The last 7 or 8 minutes of the episode concluded with a more serious tone as Storm and Forge found themselves at odds in the wildlands of…

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by Joe

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

April 29, 2024

Marvel Legends X-Men ’97 Nightcrawler

By Joe
The newest member of the animated team.

Since we don’t have a post this week for Turtle Tuesday I decided we should have a Mutant Monday. X-Men ’97 has returned the mutant superheroes to the spotlight and one of the main beneficiaries has been Hasbro. Their first wave of Marvel Legends based on the new show arrived last fall and, aside from Wolverine, found themselves in the clearance section by Christmas. The second wave arrived in-time with the premiere of the show, and wouldn’t you know, that seems to have helped sales as the wave rarely hangs around on the pegs longer than a day or two. Hasbro’s poor timing with wave one likely wasn’t the fault of the company, but Disney who had originally scheduled the show for a fall 2023 premiere, but opted to move it to the spring. This sort of thing has happened to Hasbro quite frequently with the MCU releases as well, but what are they going to do? The House of Mouse is far too powerful to concern itself with how well action figures are selling.

X-Men ’97 has seen the return of all of the principal cast members of the original X-Men cartoon as well as many of the cameo characters. And one such character is Nightcrawler. He appeared in two episodes of the original series and was an ally to the X-Men, but never a member. That happened a lot in the original series, but X-Men ’97 appears to be more willing to have a fluid team of mutants for the show’s fifth episode saw Nightcrawler reemerge and the sixth episode even added him to the opening title like a full-fledged member of the team. As I write this, the eighth episode has yet to air so it remains to be seen how long the fuzzy, blue, elf plans on hanging around. After all, Bishop received the same elevation early on, but has since left the team.

He looks good beside his new teammates.

Nightcrawler is a pretty classic character at this point having been part of the first expansion of the X-Men way back in the first giant-sized issue of the book. Had the pilot “Pryde of the X-Men” been picked up as a full series, Nightcrawler would have been on television sets every Saturday morning in several households. His absence didn’t seem to harm his popularity as I personally had many friends who referred to Nightcrawler as their favorite. Perhaps that was helped by his inclusion in the first wave of Toy Biz action figures for the property, his inclusion in the arcade and Genesis games, or maybe people just think he’s neat. While he’s never been my absolute favorite, he’s always been near the top and it’s mostly for his design as a blue devil which goes back to creators Len Wein and Dave Cockrum. I like the dichotomy of his appearance being devilish, but his spirit being one of faith, which is a fun juxtaposition and plays on expectations. I suppose it’s a little derivative of Beast, who despite his appearance and name is a gentle soul who relies more on brains than brawn, but I’m fine with both existing.

The two portraits Hasbro went with are just okay.

Nightcrawler’s appearance in X-Men ’97 is identical to his appearance in the first cartoon which was simply an adaptation of his original look. Marvel apparently nailed his look on the first try because he hasn’t changed much since the ’70s. As an action figure, it’s a relatively easy costume to capture since it’s just red, black, and white. Since I’m not a regular Marvel Legends buyer I can’t say with absolute certainty how much of this figure is new sculpt. My understanding is the torso is reused from a past Nightcrawler, but the head and limbs are new. It’s surprising Hasbro would spend money to re-tool Nightcrawler’s unique hands and feet if there was nothing wrong with the old ones, but maybe there was room in the budget and these can be used elsewhere? I’m not sure how such decisions are made, but collectors aren’t likely to complain in this case.

We’re a Creed away from a full family reunion.

Nightcrawler’s head is the most obvious connection to X-Men ’97. Similar to the wave one Gambit, his hair is a bit embellished. Unlike Gambit, I think this is less indicative of the source material though as his hair in the show seemed a bit more tame. The head is molded in blue with black dry-brushing on the hair to create some texture, but not quite the flat, black, shading of the show. That is reserved for the face and it’s applied well as is the yellow for his eyes. His default portrait has the vaguest hint of a smile while his alternate portrait is more of a grimace like he’s going into a fight almost reluctantly. I wish the default portrait featured his big, toothy, grin as that is the enduring image I have of Nightcrawler from the show and it’s even reflected in the artwork for him as well. Neither portrait is bad, it’s just there were better options out there.

This is a figure that would have definitely benefited from an included flight stand.

The body of the figure is mostly black plastic with little need for paint. The red portions on the upper torso are actually a red, plastic, insert which allows the shoulder pads to be soft and obviously reduces the need for paint. The red on the abdomen and crotch is painted and Hasbro actually did a really good job of matching the shades of red here. The painted portions of his wrists and shins is just okay. The red trim on the left arm is poorly applied and it doesn’t come up all the way to the shin cut either on both legs. The left arm is the only spot that’s bad enough to be visible from the shelf. The tail is pre-posed and not bendy and I suppose it’s okay. It would have been nice to have another option since Nightcrawler so often has his tail curl in front of him, or even wield a sword, but accessories were apparently not in the budget. In addition to the second head we just get two sets of hands: fists and style-posed. No gripping hands and no swords for said gripping hands even though his character card in the show features him dual-wielding his sabers.

“What is this?!”

Articulation is where an acrobatic character like Nightcrawler needs to shine and this figure has some good about it and some not so good. The ball-hinge is in play so you’ll get decent up and down range, but little in the way of nuance. The arms are standard for Marvel Legends and he does have butterfly joints in the shoulders, but they’re almost useless because there’s no cut in the chest to let the arms come forward. The torso only features an ab crunch and a waist twist with no diaphragm articulation. Hips are ball and socket joints and the knees and ankles are standard stuff with no boot cut. The tail is just a swivel joint. The lack of a diaphragm joint and proper butterfly joints means he can’t do Nightcrawler-type crouches. His articulation should be on par with Spider-Man, but it’s not. It isn’t terrible and for Marvel Legends it’s fairly typical, but that means it’s also not impressive.

Siblings need to look after one another.

I picked up this Nightcrawler for my animated X-Men shelf and he’ll look fine there, but this is an action figure that definitely could have been better. The almost complete lack of accessories means the aesthetics and the articulation have to carry the $25 asking price and they’re not quite up to task. Hasbro spent some money on new tools here so it’s a shame they didn’t use that money to just make the body work better. And they already have past gripping hands and swords they could have tossed in, but opted not to which is to say nothing of a BAMF! effect. It’s a figure that’s pretty illustrative of Marvel Legends these days, a sort of high floor action figure line without much of a ceiling. This figure makes me want to see what a company like Medicom would do with the character, though I can’t see myself being excited about paying their asking price.

If you want to read more of my thoughts on the action figures from X-Men ’97 then read on:

Marvel Legends X-Men ’97 Gambit

Everyone can relax – Gambit has returned. Or arrived, since I’ve never reviewed a Gambit action figure in this space, but that’s because I haven’t bought a Gambit figure in about 20 years until now. When X-Men arrived on airwaves in the fall of 1992, hardly anyone on that team could be considered a true…

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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

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

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

April 24, 2024

X-Men ’97 – “Bright Eyes”

By Joe
Written by Charley Feldman and JB Ballard.

When we last saw our beloved X-Men, their world had just been destroyed. An idyllic place set to the soundtrack of the very on-the-nose choice of “Happy Nation” by Ace of Base in Genosha was laid to waste. Mutants of all backgrounds were slaughtered including our beloved Gambit and less beloved Magneto. In the aftermath of the episode’s airing, series creator Beau DeMayo took to social media to explain his reasoning for writing such a destructive story. In his view, the first four episodes were the nostalgia episodes. Things weren’t perfect, but a lot of what the X-Men had fought for in the original series had come to pass. Genosha was now their place where they belonged. It was a safe haven, but it was all so fragile.

DeMayo likened the attack on Genosha to both September 11th and the Pulse nightclub shooting. As a gay man himself, DeMayo designed much of the atmosphere of Genosha to mimic that of a gay club. Both are places where individuals who may normally feel pressured to hide who they really are can be themselves. And who they are is what also makes them a target. The world is not a safe place and we’re reminded of that constantly. In that, the world these characters inhabit is not unlike our own.

Rogue gets to do some ass kicking in this one.

This week’s episode doesn’t just have the events of “Remember It” to dwell on, but also those of last week’s episode, “Lifedeath – Part 2.” In that one, Storm regained her powers and also seemingly rediscovered some classic threads while Xavier had a vision of what transpired on Earth and was compelled to give up his life with the woman he loves. And in the closing moments, we saw who orchestrated the attack on Genosha. Mr. Sinister, with an assist from the DNA of Bolivar Trask, has seemingly assumed the role of catalyst for what could be a war between humans and mutants. It’s not surprising that a man who literally named himself Sinister is the one behind such a thing, but what does it mean for the character? Did he find another way to synthesize his perfect mutant from the DNA of Scott Summers and Jean Grey and is now ready to unleash his creation upon the world? Or is he acting on behalf of another? Perhaps someone who has always desired to bring about the apocalypse itself?

The opening “Previously…” for “Bright Eyes” is delivered by Rogue. In the scenes to follow, we mostly bare witness to what took place in episode 5 with the only piece from last week’s episode being Xavier’s voice over as he received his vision of what transpired. The opening title appears to be completely unchanged from last week. Storm has not been added back in and Nightcrawler gets to go two weeks in a row in a prominent spot. When the episode does begin, it gets right to the aftermath we have been waiting for. It’s Gambit’s funeral, and in attendance aren’t just X-Men, but Gambit’s former allies and would-be wife from the Thieves Guild. They’re just window dressing and it falls on Nightcrawler to lead the service since he’s a man of the cloth. It’s an understandably somber scene, but once absence garners much attention.

Perhaps Nightcrawler’s role will be like a team chaplain going forward?

Rogue, apparently not yet willing to deal with her grief, is on a one woman mission to find the man she believes is responsible for the loss of Gambit and so many others on Genosha: Bolivar Trask. Her mission will take her all over the globe and include in some interesting cameos from the greater Marvel Universe. She’ll eventually be forced to deal with her grief, but there’s a lot of anger in the woman and it’s fun to see Lenore Zann get to play Rogue in a different manner from what we’re used to. Elsewhere, the X-Men have decided their place is on Genosha helping out with the clean-up. Scott and Jean are still in a bad place, but this isn’t an episode with much room for the soapy drama we’re used to. Sunspot is also left to ponder if keeping the fact that he’s a mutant a secret the right way to go about things. After all, what if he was on Genosha that day and his parents found out he’s a mutant by IDing his corpse?

Eventually, anger gives way to sorrow when confronted by a great loss.

The last act of the episode is what pushes the narrative forward. We’ll learn more about how the attack on Genosha came about and the show is clearly setting the stage for the three-part finale that’s to follow. The X-Men will have a new enemy, and if there is a theme to this enemy it’s probably escalation which has been building since the start of the season. Whenever humanity scores a win over bigotry, be it in the real world or a fantasy like this one, the bigots always fine a new way to attach the marginalized. When the Emancipation Proclamation was put in place, the country went to war to actually free those from the bondages of slavery. When the war ended, Jim Crow surfaced followed by segregation, Tulsa, the Voting Rights Act, etc. Victory is often temporary, and the X-Men learned that the hard way. The end of the episode contains a pair of reveals as well. One we, the audience, were already in on and another we technically weren’t, but the show basically telegraphed. As such, I don’t think the final scene lands with the impact the show may have wanted, but people are sure to remember the song for the scene, at least. If you thought Ace of Base was an interesting pull, just wait until you hear this one.

“Bright Eyes” is another slow episode, one that is clearly building towards something. The show is clearly setting up for something spectacular, and now we get to see if it can stick the landing. I’m a bit sad there are only three episodes of X-Men ’97 left before the first season comes to a close, but I am very excited to see how it ends.

Previously…on X-Men ’97:

X-Men ’97 – “Lifedeath – Part 2”

Last week’s episode of X-Men ’97 ended in spectacular and heartbreaking fashion. If you were hoping to experience the fallout of that one, you’re going to be disappointed by this week’s episode. Like the week before which saw an episode end with Forge and Storm in a precarious situation, this week’s episode is willing to…

Keep reading
by Joe

X-Men ’97 – “Remember It”

Last week’s episode of X-Men ’97 saw the show take a breather with a fairly low stakes plot involving Jubilee and Roberto getting sucked into a video game. The last 7 or 8 minutes of the episode concluded with a more serious tone as Storm and Forge found themselves at odds in the wildlands of…

Keep reading
by Joe

X-Men ’97 – “Motendo/Lifedeath Part 1”

X-Men ’97 continues on into it’s fourth episode with a bit of a change-up. The first three episodes were rather weighty dealing with the fallout of Xavier’s death, Storm losing her powers, and the whole clone situation of the third episode. And that third episode did reveal a few cracks in the foundation of the…

Keep reading
by Joe

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April 17, 2024

X-Men ’97 – “Lifedeath – Part 2”

By Joe
This week’s episode was written by Charley Feldman, his first sole writing credit on an episode of X-Men ’97.

Last week’s episode of X-Men ’97 ended in spectacular and heartbreaking fashion. If you were hoping to experience the fallout of that one, you’re going to be disappointed by this week’s episode. Like the week before which saw an episode end with Forge and Storm in a precarious situation, this week’s episode is willing to let those characters dangle a bit longer because now we’re going back to check-in on Storm. And we’re also going beyond the stars to check-in on the one major plot thread still left unaddressed from the original series.

This week’s episode, “Lifedeath – Part 2,” begins with the usual “Previously…” tagline and this time it’s delivered by Storm (Alison Sealy-Smith). In keeping up with current events, both Magneto and Gambit have been removed from the opening title because it does not care about your feelings. There is a surprising addition in the form of Nightcrawler, but if you’re wondering just what’s going on with that situation then it’s again something that will have to wait until next week. The recreated clips of the old show inserted include shots of the Shi’ar along with a shot from “One Man’s Worth,” Mastermold, Nim’rod, and Apocalypse.

Look who has been added to the opening title!

The episode opens with a battle taking place in space. The Shi’ar are taking on the Kree, and people just jumping over from the Marvel Cinematic Universe may be surprised to see a comic accurate depiction of Ronan The Accuser (Todd Haberkorn). He’s in some trouble as upon him is the Shi’ar Imperial Guard lead by the virtually indestructible Gladiator (David Errigo Jr.). Also there is princess of the Shi’ar, Deathbird Cari Kabinoff), who was last seen in the original series serving at the pleasure of Apocalypse. They’re interrupted by a transmission from the empress herself, Lilandra (Morla Gorrondonna), who has an important announcement to make: she is to be wed. Her chosen suitor? None other than Charles Xavier.

Xavier (Ross Marquand) being alive isn’t what I would consider a spoiler. The final episode of the original series depicted Xavier being taken to space by Lilandra where the technology of the Shi’ar could potentially save his life. This outcome was expected and it was only a matter of time before we’d hear from Charles Xavier once more. And it would appear he’s made a full recovery from his mystery ailment, and not only that, the Shi’ar have a suit capable of allowing him to walk again. Still, the announcement from Lilandra that she intends to wed what the Shi’ar term a Terran is met with resistance, especially from her sister, Deathbird. It would seem even in the far reaches of space, Xavier is still a victim of racial prejudice. And it turns out, there’s an ancient, Shi’ar, custom that allows for the people to make a demand of any outworlder looking to marry into power. It’s played as a “gotcha” from Deathbird who clearly hopes to draw a wedge between her sister and her lover first, then between her sister and her people following that, all in a bid to take the throne for herself.

Ronan The Accuser makes his X-Men ’97 debut.

In order to wed Lilandra, Xavier will have to make a terrible sacrifice that will prevent him from ever seeing his X-Men again. As an audience, we’re privy to more information than Charles and we obviously want him to not make a decision that will keep him from returning to Earth. The show does a good job of framing the decision in a sympathetic light so that we can see why Xavier might do so, and needless to say, we’re pretty invested in where this will go.

Elsewhere, the other plot of the episode concerns Storm and Forge. When we last saw them, they were under attack by The Adversary, a demonic entity (also voiced by Sealy-Smith, but with a monstrous quality), which had grievously injured Forge. The bite of the demon is poisonous, and Forge is in bad shape when we find them. The Adversary is there to prey on fear and self-loathing which is what draws it to Storm who needs to overcome both the demon and herself in order to save Forge. And the only cure for this demon bite rests with a certain cactus known to grow in dark places. In other words, an old mine shaft which is a place that will be a challenge for Storm to traverse given her extreme claustrophobia.

It can’t be fun having a literal demon dwelling in your rafters.

Storm’s plot is one of self-discovery, while Xavier’s is more on the lines of cultural integration and power. The events in Texas move at a fairly brisk pace as they did in the previous episode featuring this pairing. It does lead to some problems, but it feels less severe than it did before. As for the events in space, they move at a much more leisurely pace. It helps that we’re getting reacquainted with two characters with a lot of backstory and a pre-established relationship and the show operates in a manner that tells the audience you better know your stuff because it’s not slowing down to bring new viewers up to speed. And as much as I want to see the show deal with the Genosha fallout, this is the right time to bring Xavier back into the fold as a plot element. The X-Men have lost their Xavier replacement, it’s foundational pieces in Cyclops and Jean are at odds, and they have lost members of their team and community on top of that. It’s a time of tremendous turmoil and uncertainty and I bet they would love to have the guidance of Charles Xavier once more.

Deathbird has designs on her sister’s throne. She should really hire a PR firm because that name “Deathbird” seems like it would be a hard sell.

“Lifedeath – Part 2” might not be the episode people wanted to watch this week, but it’s the one we got and it does tie-up some loose ends of its own. It’s another cool down episode (what episode wouldn’t be following last week’s?) for X-Men ’97 and it moves at a more deliberate pace. Those waiting for a big action piece may be left wanting, but it has its own moments of elevation and there is some nice action bits at the front of the episode. There are also some cameos for those who enjoy them, and one in particular definitely feels like one the show wants you to notice. My only real gripe was some tonal changes in the Storm/Forge plot, but I think that’s just the reality of a show speeding towards what showrunner Beau DeMayo has described as a big one. And that finale is going to air in three parts which means we only have one more episode of setup before it can begin. I expect next week to be the show setting the stage for a major climax. And I’m already bracing myself for a major cliffhanger of a finale and, if so, the wait for Season Two will be excruciating.

Previously…on X-Men ’97:

X-Men ’97 – “Remember It”

Last week’s episode of X-Men ’97 saw the show take a breather with a fairly low stakes plot involving Jubilee and Roberto getting sucked into a video game. The last 7 or 8 minutes of the episode concluded with a more serious tone as Storm and Forge found themselves at odds in the wildlands of…

Keep reading
by Joe

X-Men ’97 – “Motendo/Lifedeath Part 1”

X-Men ’97 continues on into it’s fourth episode with a bit of a change-up. The first three episodes were rather weighty dealing with the fallout of Xavier’s death, Storm losing her powers, and the whole clone situation of the third episode. And that third episode did reveal a few cracks in the foundation of the…

Keep reading
by Joe

X-Men ’97 – “Fire Made Flesh”

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…

Keep reading
by Joe

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