By Mark Rodriguez
The 90's X-Men animated series made a comeback with the new X-Men 97 series on Disney Plus. Trick or Read reprinted the first issue of a 4-issue mini series which serves as a prelude to the series. So this pretty much would take place between the original show and the new one. Whether or not the actual show acknowledges these events are a different story, but let's check it out.
The issue opens with Magneto launching an attack upon Time Square, New York. The X-Men team of Cyclops, Storm, Wolverine, Bishop and Jubilee step in to stop him. Wolverine jumps ahead as Cyclops tells him to stay in formation. Magneto, predictably so, knocks Wolverine back with his powers. Storm uses her powers over wind to make sure Wolverine lands safely. She tells him the others have to fend for themselves as she's taking care of him. Magneto drops a car near the X-Men and Jubilee asks if the insurance would cover this.
Cyclops tells the others to stick to the plan, and Magneto makes steel girders rise from the ground, knocking him back. We find out that this was a Danger Room exercise and Jean Grey decides to shut it off before anyone gets hurt.
Wolverine says Cyclops has been on their case so long it's a wonder they lasted this long. Cyclops asks if Wolverine has a problem with his leadership. Wolverine says a leader leads, not controls. Cyclops says his teammates should work together rather than flying off in a berserker rage. Storm sends a small cyclone between them to break it up. Bishop comments that the historical holo-vids didn't mention the X-Men fighting with each other. Jubilee says he has no idea. Just then Beast gets on the screen and tells everyone that there's something he thinks they should see.
The X-Men watch the news and see that Dazzler has been kidnapped by the Friends of Humanity, a mutant hate group. The news report that this coincides with the Charles Xavier Memorial Concert that Dazzler was scheduled to perform at. Jubilee complains about how long she had to wait in line for tickets. Beast says she might still have a chance, as he was able to pinpoint the Friends of Humanity's escape route.
Cyclops tells Beast to send the coordinates to the Blackbird so they can head off. Jubilee wants to pilot since it would be a short distance, but Wolverine says his healing factor isn't that good. Jubilee says she has a learner's permit.
Jean offers to stay behind since she has an upset stomach. Cyclops agrees and says she shouldn't be on the field if she's too ill to fight. Beast also offers to stay as he is making progress on Bishop's time travel device. He says assistance also happens to be nearby.
Gambit and Rogue are shopping for clothes for the concert. Rogue says shopping is less fun since she has to cover up. Gambit says it's a shame she has to hide all that Southern beauty. She says if she doesn't anyone around her at the concert will really 'feel the music'. Just then they get a holographic message from Storm to help a mutant in the coordinates she provides to them.
The Blackbird arrives and Cyclops sets it to hover so they still have the element of surprise. Jubilee says it's too late for that as Rogue is already smashing through walls, lugging members of the FoM with her. Gambit is charging up his cards and tells the rest of the X-Men that's it's nice of them to join the party.
The X-Men jump in and start fighting off the FoM, even when they're packing heat. Gambit tells Cyclops to enjoy himself, the FoM aren't as serious a threat as the Shi'Ar Imperial Guard. Cyclops says the FoM are terrorists and their job is to rescue Dazzler, not spout one-liners.
Jubilee says she's on it as she uses her powers and a cool spinning kick to take out more of the terrorists. She finds and rescues Dazzler. Dazzler thanks the X-Men and she tells Cyclops he missed his chance before she hit the big time. Cyclops says they'll drop her off at the concert once they tie up the criminals. Suddenly someone calls out that they will take things from here.
A blonde woman introduces herself as Valerie Cooper, the U.N liaison for mutant affairs. She tells her men to cuff the X-Men. Cyclops says they haven't broken any laws, and Jubilee tells Valerie that they're the good guys. Then man actually handcuff the members of the Friends of Humanity and take them away. Valerie says she's there to back up the X-Men as President Kelly is taking a sympathetic stance towards mutants.
She shakes Cyclops' hand and says she's an old friend of Xavier and adds that his sacrifice was not in vain. She says public opinion has changed and Uncle Sam is on their side. Cooper's men arrest the FoM as one of them says that they should be working with each other instead of siding with mutants. The man tells him that he's right and says if he keeps quiet he'll make sure the guy goes free on a technicality by the weekend. Valerie tells the X-Men she hopes they can work together soon, and she is sure she'll find respect among Agent Denti and the other people working with her. As Agent Denti walks past, Wolverine recognizes his scent but can't place it.
The X-Men return to the mansion as Storm discusses that the tide might really be turning on mutant/human relations and wishes the Professor was there to see it. As they head inside, Jean wants to talk to Scott in private. Scott assures her there's nothing going on between Dazzler and himself. Jean says she has something to tell him. Scott says it can wait if it's not an emergency. He wants to debrief the mission with Beast. Beast has experience working with the government and he wants his thoughts on this. As the X-Men head inside, Jean says Scott's vision can burst through walls but he can't see what's in front of his face. She holds a positive pregnancy test in her hand.
Moments later, Storm shows off her new look and snazzy outfit for the concert, which impresses Jubilee. Meanwhile Beast is still trying to fix Bishop's time machine but it's proving to be more challenging that he was expecting. Bishop says at this point he'll make it back to his time the old-fashioned way, by aging day by day. Storm says he'll at least be in good company. Bishop likes the new look and Storm says he should embrace change as well. Jubilee says she'll change into Doctor Doom if Gambit and Rogue leave without them.
Jean is looking for Scott and Bishop said he was headed towards the Danger Room. Jubilee says she will flip out if she misses the opening act. Storm says she will sit this one out, and Jubilee says she doesn't want to be stuck as the third wheel to Gambit and Rogue. Storm gives Bishop her ticket. Jubilee drags him along saying that Dazzler upgraded their tickets since they saved her life.
Storm finds Jean and knows that something is on her mind. Jean says she loves Scott but feels he's so focused on the mission that their relationship becomes an afterthought. Storm says Scott is ensuring they all have a future and he has taken the burden of leadership in Xavier's absence. She adds that Scott has no excuse to ignore the present and she advises Jean to talk to him.
Elsewhere, Cyclops resumes the Magneto simulation from earlier, but just for Wolverine. Wolverine tells him to shut off the Danger Room so they can train the real way. He says the goons they fought earlier were chumps and they might something more dangerous tomorrow. Wolverine says they don't have to be friends or respect each other, but he wants to make sure Cyclops is fit to lead the X-Men without losing it trying to fill in for Xavier. Cyclops says if he wants to go, then they'll go, and he blasts him with an optic blast.
Beast overhears the fighting as he is talking to Dr MacTaggert via video call about fixing Bishop's time machine. Currently stranded in their time, Beast says that Bishop is a valued member of the team but he does deserve the option to go back to his era. MacTaggert hopes he is at least enjoying his stay.
Over at the concert on Governors Island, New York City, Rogue, Gambit, Jubilee and Bishop arrive. Bishop feels it's not tactical to have left his weapons behind and the rest tell him to relax. Jubilee runs ahead, excited about the concert. Dazzler gets the show started as she tells the crowd the concert is in honor of Professor Xavier. Jubilee asks Bishop if this isn't the best concert ever. Bishop says he wouldn't know since music is illegal in his era.
Dazzler tells the crowd to make some noise. Just then the Nasty Boys arrive to make their own noise as Ruckus sends Dazzler flying back with a sonic scream. Rogue catches her and is surprised to see the villains show up. Jubilee tries to keep the crowd under control. Bishop says he should have brought his guns. Jubilee says that wouldn't have helped keep the crowd calm.
Gambit leaps in and kicks Hairbag and Slab back. Dazzler angrily blasts Gorgeous George and Vertigo. Vertigo says their plan has failed. Ruckus says they should make the a run of it. The group escape and Rogue asks if they should follow. Dazzler says to forget about them and to continue the show.
Back at the mansion, Jean and Scott have their talk.. and Jean finally tells him that while she felt it already, she took a test to be sure. Jean announces that she is pregnant. Wolverine is just outside and is saddened to hear the news.
Back at the villains' hideout, Vertigo berates Ruckus on attacking Dazzler, of all mutants, with sound. Mr. Sinister shows up and asks them what they were hoping to accomplish by attacking the X-Men at a public event. Gorgeous George says usually when they cause trouble, the X-Men get blamed for it. Mr. Sinister says that's an outdated tactic since humans have accepted mutants as their heroes, especially after Xavier's sacrifice. The only thing their stunt has accomplished is garner even more of the public's favor towards the X-Men. Mr. Sinister blasts them back, saying he blames himself for having tolerated them for so long.
Ruckus says they can still be of help. Mr. Sinister says the Nasty Boys are no longer suited for the next stage of his battle against the X-Men. His hidden sensors has detected that Jean Grey is pregnant and her offspring is the genetic key he has been after for years. To obtain it, he has to undermine the public's favor towards the X-Men and he will need help. He watches several view screens with other mutants including Boom Boom and Sabretooth....
My thoughts-
Pretty fun read, and even though the cartoon is a more simplified version of the original comics, it's nice to return to the 90's era X-Men. I especially like how the comic does a great job of imitating the art style of the X-Men 97 cartoon. Like I said several times, whenever you're trying to make a comic based on a cartoon, the closer you get that show's art style, the better. Ironically their first run on this back in the day, X-Men Adventures, which adapted those episodes had an art style closer to the actual comics rather than trying to emulated the more colorful and simplified look of the Saturday Morning Cartoon show.
Since this comic takes place between the 90's cartoon and the 97 revival show, we get a couple of lead-ups, namely Storm's new look and hairstyle and Jean being pregnant. I'm guess somewhere during the four issues we'll see how Morph and Sunspot joined the team since they have become core members in the new show. I do wonder how Bishop ended up in present day. It seems sometime after the cartoon ended, Bishop arrived and was stranded in the present era? I wonder why he went back to the past to begin with, since he isn't the type to just drop in to say hi for the hell of it.
Speaking of 'for the hell of it', it's kinda odd for the Nasty Boys to just attack the X-Men at the concert on their own. They're usually Mr. Sinister's lapdogs and don't really do anything without his sayso.
Mr. Sinister has always been obsessed with Scott and Jean's DNA, so naturally finding out about Jean's pregnancy will get his attention. Morph has some connection with Mr. Sinister, so maybe his re-emergence will bring him into the story and get him to rejoin the team in a more permanent fashion.
I do like the references to the original 90's show, mostly how Cyclops first met Dazzler. I always did like Dazzler since the classic X-Men arcade game from Konami, so I always appreciate any time she's included in something.
I am a bit confused as to 'Xavier's big sacrifice'. I know he fell ill in the final episode and the Shi'Ar took him with them so they can cure him with their advanced technology... but I don't think the public at large knew about this. Even if they did, Xavier didn't become a martyr or die in some epic battle in an attempt to bridge the gap between mutants and humans... he just got sick, in the privacy of his own home. Maybe more will be explained?
I'll eventually get into the Disney Plus series as I hear the second season is on the horizon. I might track down the other three issues, though they're a year old by now and due to the success of the revival show, they might cost a bit. We'll see.
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