Show Some Pryde For Your X-Men!

Today we're taking a bit of a break from the actual printed pages of comics.  But I WILL say, if you really are dyed-in-the-wool about pursuing a reading experience about today's entry, see if you can find a copy of the "X-Men Animation Special" graphic novel.  ... But just expect a photo-novel approach to that book for today's material.  Y'see, if you grew up during the 90's, you are well-familiar with the regular FOX "X-Men" animated series.  Based off of the SUPER-HOT relaunch of the X-Men line in 1991, the series was a massive success.  And I was just as much of a part of that success.  (Though revisiting the series is NOT a kind experience.  Oh sure, the voice acting and scripting of the episodes are solid enough, but that animation... Oof... Rough times...)  But that was HARDLY the first time the X-Men saw animated life.

In brief, before the subject of today's blog arrived, the X-Men had two specific appearances on "Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends".  Those appearances do add to the Marvel Universe feel of the show, but they didn't really feel like the "X-Men" we knew.  For example, Thunderbird is still alive?  Wolverine... a noted Canadian citizen... has an Aussie accent?  Kitty Pryde is wearing that gawd-awful Sprite costume?  Still, it was a treat to young viewers, like myself, to see Spidey, Firestar, and Iceman encounter yet more heroes from the fictional setting.  But in 1989, we had a wee bit of an experiment for Marvel to expand back into the animation field with their propertied characters.  An experiment that resulted in the X-Men animated pilot, "Pryde of the X-Men".

Let's have a bit of a roll call, shall we?

• Cyclops: Able to project force beams from his eyes, contained by a ruby-quartz visor that can be controlled for blasts.  And in the animated pilot, he is QUITE OBVIOUSLY voiced by "Duke" from "G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero".  But as a whole, he serves as our noble field leader.
• Storm: Master of the weather, and actually should have been team leader by comics' standards around this time.  But she still manages to come off as compassionate by nature as she would in the printed page.
• Colossus: Able to turn his entire body to steel, and possesses super-strength in that form.  He's not quite Soviet-era Russian stereotype in his characterization, but expect to hear more than a few "Da's".
• Nightcrawler: Can perform "sight of line" teleportation that results in a sulphurous gas expulsion.  ... And takes the place of Colossus, in the comics, of having a rather creepy age differential attraction to Kitty Pryde.
• Dazzler: WHA?!?  As much as I love Alison Blaire, I find it rather bold decision to cast her in the animated series.  But to be fair, she was a member of this time period's X-Men team.  And her power is the ability to use sound as a light-powered weapon.
• Professor Charles Xavier: I wasn't sure if he did have a powered wheel chair in the comics around this comics' era, so maybe the animated series was forward-thinking to where he would be in the 90's.  But Charlie X specializes in psychic abilities, such as mind reading, psychic communication, and occasional mental manipulation.
• Kitty Pryde: 14 years old, a "fireplug" of attitude and worry, and is able to "phase" through solid objects.  Get used to her character arc in this pilot, because she practically hinges on this entire plot.  Gee... You think Joss Whedon watched this a few times in preparation for his "Astonishing X-Men" run?
• Wolverine: Adamantium claws, enhanced senses, healing ability, appears in about 100 separate Marvel teams... and STILL can't shed his Aussie accent for cartoons around this time.  You'd think they were advertising to a young Hugh Jackman to try his hand at the role!

"G'day, mate.  Crikies!"

 

But our heroes would be NOTHING without a suitable threat to challenge them!  And if you're anything like me, the first major threat you associate with the X-Men is one certain Master of Magnetism, Magneto.

The interesting thing is that Maggy has some rather... unique... selections for his... and I quote from the pilot, "Brotherhood of Mutant Terrorists".  Some we HAVE seen Magneto interact with in the comics, but others have not only come into conflict with Magneto, or just never met him at this period of continuity, anyways!  Bring on the bad guys!

• Toad: At THIS frame of time, his main abilities were enhanced agility.  That's... really about it.  But Toad was with Magneto right from the beginning, as part of his original Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, so it makes sense he would receive an animated nod.
• The Blob: "NOTHING MOVES THE BLOB!".  I applaud you for having that be the first thought to come to mind about Fred Dukes, a mutant who has the ability to increase his mass so he cannot be shifted.  And yes, he HAD encountered Magneto both as ally and foe in the past.
• Pyro: Aside from competing with Wolverine about who has the best Aussie accent... which Pyro is SUPPOSED to have... his mutant ability is to control flame.  And the only encounters he had with Magneto around this time was as a certified foil as part of the "Freedom Force", integral in the arrest and trial of Magneto in X-Men continuity.
• Juggernaut: Since this is a toned-down blog, I can't write the OTHER main character quote I'm thinking of for Charles Xavier's step-brother, Cain Marko.  But you know what I mean.  And I find it unusual that he would be included in ANY mutant group, since JUGGERNAUT IS NOT A MUTANT.  Sure, that Jewel of Cyttorak grants him invulnerability, and can power his mass through nearly anything, but it is NOT a mutation.
• White Queen: Emma Frost's milkshakes bring all the boys to the yard.  And in general, she does possess mental abilities to read and control minds.  ... And I find it hilarious that during the Asteroid M battle sequence, she is paired off with Cyclops.  I KNOW Grant Morrison must have seen this pilot more than a few times... (But thankfully her ability to shoot brain lightning bolts didn't stick from this pilot.)

The basis of this pilot is Magneto is rescued from armed forces imprisonment, where he brings back the Evil Mutant gang.  Kitty Pryde arrives at the Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, where she receives the grand tour, and gets to watch a highlight reel of the X-Men in the Danger Room.  The X-Men are called away from the Mansion by an Evil Mutant attack at an observatory, where Pyro and Blob steal the co-ordinates for the Scorpio comet.  (I'd call this a fight, but aside from Storm blowing away a wall of flame, there isn't really a "battle".)  Kitty wants to come along, but Wolvie is a grouch about the "new kid".  Though I'm sure if she did come along, Nightcrawler would be rather... distracted playing "ladies' man".  Magneto and Juggernaut attack the mansion to steal the Cerebro Mutant Chip, and smash up the place pretty good.  Kitty inadvertently helps them out by phasing through the defense computer, and short circuiting the works.  The X-Men return, help Xavier and Kitty recover... where Wolvie complains about Kitty, AGAIN... and Xavier establishes a psychic connection with Magneto to find out about his plans.  (Which should NOT work, because of Magneto's helmet which blocks psychic powers.)  And the plan?  Why, eliminate most of humanity with the help of an Asteroid M device powered by the Mutant Chip to control the trajectory of the Scorpio comet!

Space trip time for the X-Men... and time to showcase just how BAD they are at actual teamwork.  I would be neglectful if I didn't mention that Cyclops blasts a hole into the Asteroid with his eye-beams... WITH AN ASTRONAUT'S HELMET ON.  ... Think about that for a bit...  Anyways, back to the pathetic team organization.  As they make their way to Magneto, the team are challenged by the Evil Mutants.  But instead of fighting them as a unified front, they tackle the issue in a "brilliant" stroke of depleting their resources by squaring off in one-on-one battles with their threats.  The pairings goes as follows:

• Dazzler VS Pyro (Ends with Alison basically pelting Pyro with her light beams.)
• Wolverine VS Toad (Wolvie basically slashes the asteroid walls, trapping Toad in a cave... which he just stands next to.  I guess being the "Best he is at what he does" involves lazy accomplishment at tasks...)
• Cyclops VS White Queen (Cykes zaps one of White Queen's brain bolts, blinding her.  I like to think after the team moves on from this fight, Scott and Emma begin to make out like crazed teenagers.)
• Colossus VS Juggernaut (This makes SENSE that Peter would separate from the team, because he's the only one that could go toe-to-toe with Cain, realistically.)
• Nightcrawler VS Blob and Magneto (The former only counts as him ducking the Blob by teleporting behind him, with Blob saying in reaction, "WHERE GO?!?".)

I nearly forgot another unusual twist: While Magneto is an incredibly abusive pet owner, he DOES own a pet in... Lockheed!  That's right, the tiny dragon being shows up in the pilot!  Anyways, Kitty Pryde sneaks into the X-Men jet, and helps Nightcrawler stall out Magneto's plan.  But the control circuit of the comet control is damaged.   I HIGHLY doubt Nightcrawler could realistically channel electricity through his body, but he serves as a severed power-line connection, while Kitty reprograms the comet controls so it strikes Asteroid M, instead.  Loose ends abound for the conclusion, as somehow the X-Men make it back to their Blackbird jet, and we're left with the impression that while Asteroid M was destroyed, the Evil Mutants still survived.  But Nightcrawler has to teleport at the last minute out of the asteroid, and he does... RIGHT INTO SPACE where he is burning up in atmospheric re-entry towards Earth.  Will this episode end in noble sacrifice?  ... Actually, I'll withhold that piece of information, because you CAN watch this entire pilot on Youtube!  So no spoilers on this front!

The legacy of this pilot did not, sadly, lead into a regular animated series.  (It was apparently rather expensive to produce, and from the animation quality, I can agree; it's pretty sharp for the very late 80's.)  BUT it did lead to a fun... but VERY challenging... arcade game from Konami in 1992!

The cast of players remains ESSENTIALLY the same.  You still have the six core X-Men to select from, and if you were lucky enough to encounter the deluxe cabinet, you and five other friends could play as the entire team at ONCE!  The villains, though... We had a few twists...

We still had our animated pilot core group of Magneto, White Queen, Pyro, Juggernaut, and the Blob.  For all of Toad's loyalty, he is left out of the arcade game.  Poor guy... But it takes almost an ENTIRE group of villains to make up for that loss.

• Master Mold
• Wendigo
• The Living Monolith
• Mystique (Who REALLY never got along with Magneto at ANY POINT of her character history.  Ugh... Nice planning.)

And the one constant about this game is you will fight Sentinels.  A lot of Sentinels.  Which are apparently under control of Magneto.

I can only quote vagaries about the latter stages of this game, because I KNOW that the level following the boss battle with the Blob is usually the one where I bite the dust on my own.  Like all arcade brawlers of the time, if you enjoy them, they can be fun... but they can be INSANELY difficult to last on your own for extended periods of time, because you are incessantly pummeled by foes.  And if you don't enjoy them, the lack of gaming variety will make you just sigh in ill amusement.  But the best part about the X-Men Arcade Game is that it's VERY easy to find to purchase!  I bought a copy off of the Google Play store to play on my tablet, and I believe it's still an established purchase on the Sony and X-Box marketplaces.

I like to think that while this initial foray into the animated universe for the X-Men was ill-timed, it did provide a marker for what would come for later subsequent series like the 90's series, "X-Men Evolutions", and "Wolverine and the X-Men". (Who did not hold on to his Australian animated heritage... BUT started to become the overpowering presence in all these series.  Maybe being a glory hog WAS what he was "the best at what he does", after all...)

P.S.  Here's the link for the pilot for you to watch.  Now don't say I never gave you anything.  Heh!