Pryde of the X-Men

When I was a kid we had an awesome video rental store in town.  I have fond memories of my brother and I beating Golden Axe II in the mini-arcade with $1.25; I didn't remember what character he used, I was older therefore I got the dwarf with the axe and that was that.  On several occassions I would run into the store out of breath because I had sprinted from my house once I realized I was an hour and a half late returning my movie and they would say no problem and waive the late fee.  A real homegrown small town shop.

It was at this store that I first rented Transformers: The Movie.  I recall being really confused about who all of these new Transformers were, and I was disapointed that Optimus Prime and most of the original crew were only in the first act of the film.  Still, it was Transformers and the animation was gorgeous so I rented it a few times over the years.


1 of at least 4 different
covers from various
releases of the show.


The movie I rented the most though was Pryde of the X-Men.

As a kid this X-Men cartoon mystified me.  I had only ever seen the one episode, and longed to find more episodes of the series.  While I will always have an undying love for the 90's Fox X-Men cartoon, which doesn't get enough credit for being the amazing series it was, there was something kind of special about that single episode from 1989.

While I would keep an eye out for more episodes for years (before that new fangled Internet caught on), I would eventually learn that this single pilot episode was it.  The show was never picked up, despite some truly beautful animation for the time.

Why do I have such a special place in my heart for Pryde of the X-Men?  There are plenty of reasons!

Professor Xavier, Devourer of Worlds

The cast - This team of X-Men featured three of my favourite mutants; Colossus, Nightcrawler, and Shadowcat (as the no-codename-yet Kitty Pryde).  I've always loved this trio of mutants, whether they are members of the X-Men, Excalibur, or whatever team they may find themselves on.  Colossus is the gentle giant with the soul of a poet, Nightcrawler the devout man of God in the form of a demon, and the brave young girl who can walk through walls, Shadowcat.  Add in Cyclops, Storm, and Wolverine and you've got a pretty solid line-up.  The cartoon also featured Dazzler, which I'd love to hear the reasoning for, considering more well-known female X-Men like Jean Grey or Rogue could have been used (though to be fair, was Rogue really popular before the 90's cartoon?).  This was actually my first exposure to Dazzler, I'd never heard of her before.

The animation - As I noted before, the animation was gorgeous.  Very smooth, very dynamic, the characters looked really good.  I really liked Magneto with bare hands, it kind of symbolizes he isn't afraid to get his hands dirty for what he believes in.

Land ho!

The villains - Sure, some of the Brotherhood are kind of duds (Toad and the Blob, for example), but who doesn't get excited to see Magneto AND the Juggernaut together!  The White Queen was a good boost in the power department over using Mystique, and Pyro allows for some creative power applications.

The plot - For a late 80's cartoon the plot was pretty solid.  Sure you can poke holes into it you want to, but you can do that with almost anything, particulary cartoons.  Some concessions are made for story purposes, and I'm okay with that.

I wanted the ducts cleaned, not crushed!

The fights - Yes, most of the battles were pretty brief, but each mini battle gave the characters a chance to show off their powers, a great way to introduce them to the audience.  My favourite fight, hands down, was Colossus against the Juggernaut.  Ol' Jugghead pulls a masssive air duct down to crush the team, but Colossus armors up to catch it.  The two then charge each other while crushing the air duct in a massive display of strength, trash-talking each other on the way.  They then toss the duct to the side and start duking it out.  I would have given anything to see that fight to conclusion!

Now, don't take my praise to mean the show was flawless.  Too many characters don't speak in full sentences (Colossus and the Blob, though at least Colossus has the second-language excuse).  Half of the Brotherhood are complete morons.  Wolverine is for some reason Australian (don't believe me?  If you check it out, he calls the Toad a "dingo"). 

G'Day Bub.

While making their big charge to get to Magneto aboard Asteroid M the team splits off to hold off individual Brotherhood members.  Storm has to stay out of the fight to maintain the station's atmosphere since Cyclops blew a hole in it (which is a great reason to keep her out of the fight!), and then the team encouters Pyro.  Dazzler urges the team on while she holds him off, and that's fine.  But next the team encouters the Toad.  Wolverine matches his own agility against the Toad's, and traps him pretty effectively.  So why in the world doesn't Wolverine keep going with the rest of the team?!  Cyclops even says they need Wolverine's tracking power to find Magneto!

Do yourself a favour and check this episode out.  It's easily findable on Youtube, but I'll go one better and provide it for you here!  If you've never seen it before, give it a looksee and let me know what you think of it in the comments!

Young Justice

I recently discovered that the new Young Justice cartoon can be viewed on Youtube; when it first came out I'm assuming the copyright gestapo where out in force because I couldn't find it.  I am about 5 episodes in right now and hope to finish the rest in the next few days.
Minor spoilers ahead.


Kid Flash got into
the Atom's stuff again.


The show is based on the Young Justice comic book by Peter David, created by Peter David and Todd Nauck, and merged with the Teen Titans as well.  The show features Robin, Kid Flash, Superboy, Aqualad,  Ms. Martian, and Artemis (apparently the show chose not to use the name Arrowette for the archer as was the case in the Young Justice book).  Green Arrow's former partner, who started out as Speedy but redubs himself Red Arrow after severing ties with his mentor, is also in the mix but not as a member of the team.  Red Tornado and Batman round out the cast as the team's supervisors and to assign missions.  Various Justice League members are in the mix as the plot demands; in one episode, Black Canary drops by to do hand-to-hand combat training with the team, for example.

While I have yet to see evidence of it on the show, a little research on the internet reveals that Robin is Dick Grayson.  I find that a little disappointing because the trio of Tim Drake, Connor Kent, and Bart Allan was always the heart of Young Justice, and then later the Teen Titans.  To me Dick & Wally belong to the Titans, with Starfire, Donna Troy, Cyborg, Raven, and Beast Boy.  The revelation that this is Dick doesn't detract from my enjoyment of the show, but it would be enhanced if this were Tim.  Anyway, Robin is one of the younger members of the team, if not the youngest, but also the most experienced.  He has a real flair for technology, and a habit of butchering the English language for his own amusement.

Kid Flash was quickly revealed to be Wally West, which I wasn't terribly happy about.  In my mind Wally West is the Flash, but since we've seen an adult Flash it has to be Barry Allan in the Justice League.  As I said before, the big draw of Young Justice, and then later in Teen Titans, was the relationship between Bart Allan, Tim Drake, and Connor Kent.  Considering their identities I do like the relationship between Robin and Kid Flash, as they are the two original (comics) Titans members on the team.  Wally is impulsive, as many speedsters are, and his speed isn't over the top like in the comics; while he can vibrate through objects, it is very draining on him, and I'd estimate that the speed of sound is probably his top range.

On the other hand though, I really like what they've done with Superboy.  He has a lot of anger at the world, and considering he grew up in a test tube a lot of it is justified.  He doesn't like letting people get close, and he feels lost.  Young Justice gives him a place to belong, but he is definitely not a team player yet.  What I also really like is his relationship with Superman; basically, he weirds Superman out.  The man of steel basically wants nothing to do with him because he makes him feel uncomfortable (a perfectly natural reaction), which future fuels Superboys feeling of rejection.  There is a scene I really liked with Batman giving Superman parenting advice, which makes total sense since Batman has raised Robin.

Aqualad is a new character with an old name; he's been reimagined as a black character, presumably to bring diversity to the cast rather than using another Teen Titan character like Cyborg or Bumblebee.  It doesn't really bother me though because the new Aqualad is pretty cool, and I'm a lot less harsh on these kind of changes in a cartoon than in the comics themselves (more on that topic in another post).  He is the leader of the team, but only until Robin feels he is ready, which is a great compromise I think to take some of the focus off of Robin (as he was the star of the Teen Titans cartoon).

Ms. Martian is said to be the Martian Manhunters niece, which is a change from the comics (where she is actually a white martian, not a green one) but a nice and easy way to include her.  She is less powerful than her uncle but she provides a fresh, innocent perspective on things, such as Starfire did on the Teen Titans cartoon.  Also interesting is that she and J'onn are not the sole survivors of Mars, as she mentions she has twelve sisters on Mars.


Finally, Artemis.  I've only seen one episode with her so far so I'm not sure how similar she is to Arrowette of the comics; at a glance I think the only similarity is blonde hair and archery, to be honest.  She is the team mystery, as she and Green Arrow claim she is his niece but Red Arrow dispels that pretty quickly (privately, not to the rest of the team).
What really surprised me about this show was the inclusion of the Justice League.  Unlike the Teen Titans cartoon (which is highly underrated in my opinion), where the Justice Leage was kept completely separate (Batman's name was never mentioned once in the entire 5 seasons the show aired), here the League is represented in full force.  These kids are the sidekicks, much to Speedy's disapproval.  One fun aspect of the original Young Justice comic, as well as the early issues of the relaunched Teen Titans, was the kids trying to find their own way and gain trust from their mentors.  These kids are privy to the secrets of the world's greatest heroes, and also want to prove themselves.  Having the Justice League around for the kids to look up to and rebel against should make for some fun television.

If you can park your DC continuity at the door and enjoy the show as a new take on the DC Universe, you're in for a treat.