My mother always made sure my Halloween costume matched my younger sister’s. When I was in kindergarten I was Rajah the tiger from Aladdin while my sister was Jasmine. When I was in third grade I was Rodney King and my sister was a white cop with a tire iron. In first grade though, my whole family went all out on costumes. We all participated by at least wearing a mask. We were the X-Men. I was Wolverine, my younger sister was Storm, my older sister was Gambit, my mother was Beast, and my father was Drunk.
It’s almost pointless to tell you about the different characters from X-Men by now because you’ve seen the movies. You’re such a lazy bum, you know that? Instead of watching an animated episodic series you watch a couple of crappy movies. And yes, the X-Men movies were pretty crappy. They were just an excuse to put another article up on Yahoo about Hugh Jackman’s workout regimen. We get it Hugh, you’re in shape and gay.
The animated series of X-Men was actually quite brilliant at times. Like others I was a big fan of (Spider-Man, Batman) there were a multitude of great heroes and villains. The most important thing I’ve always found in a comic book based animated show was the quality of bad guy. X-Men had just that.
As the story goes, Professor X is a bald Jew (according to movie he was a Jew, or maybe he was a Gypsy, or maybe even a homosexual, the Nazis hated them too) who builds a school for mutants to live at. It’s not so much a school as it is a breeding ground for mutants to mate with other mutants. It’s like those midget conventions they have in big cities every year. This is nothing more than a chance for midgets to get together and have midget sex.
(Professor Xavier only ever used his powers for good as displayed here)
The characters on the show were all unique which was probably pretty easy to create for the fact that all they had to do was give a person a mutation and it became everything they were. The whole feud of the show was based on how Professor X wanted his mutants to live amongst regular people in peace while the evil Magneto wanted the mutants on his side to war with the humans. I honestly don’t think too many mutants in real life would war with regular people. Then again real life mutants are bearded ladies and the unusually tall. They’re not as exciting as the X-Men. They just become carny folk, not super heroes.
The show did deal with some more racy topics at times. Certain episodes covered divorce, Christianity, the Holocaust, and AIDS. When I originally watched this show these topics probably went right over my head. Are they really necessary on a children’s show? I know most of the writers probably wanted to work on something a little more prolific. Maybe they only brought up AIDS as a way to get Magic Johnson to do a guest voice. Is it really that hard to do a Magic Johnson impression thought? All you have to do is get a black man to smile while talking. Has Magic ever had a bad day?
(The opening credits for the show when the good guys and bad guys run directly into each other rather than use their mutant powers to win…yeah that makes no sense to me either)
Overall my opinion on this show is favorable. I wouldn’t call it the best animated comic book series of the 90s. X-Men’s biggest problem was the staying power of their bad guys. Magneto, Sabertooth, Mystique, and the Juggernaut are the only mainstream ones. Luckily this show wasn’t called “Mutants Fighting Mutants.” The show was called X-Men and those members in the group known as X-Men were for the most part fun lovable characters who make great family Halloween costumes.
Kidz Showz 
I adore X-men. This was one of my favorite shows as a child. And now (Netflix carries it!!)…
I had the biggest crush on Gambit growing up. I’m aware that’s crazy considering he’s a cartoon. I was disappointed by his brief crummy appearance in the Wolverine movie with Hugh Jackman. Poor Gambit got screwed in that one.
Anyway, in high school I got really into the spin-off X-men Evolution because I thought they did a good job making the X-men more my age. And they did a good job making Scott an epic tool and Jean an epic bitch.
I could totally write a post on X-men Evo…
Gambit was always a favorite mainly because his silly voice. People don’t really talk like that! You’re more than welcome to write up the post. I never watched anything other than this version so be sure not to lie because I’ll have no clue if you are.
Hahaha. Perhaps I’ll do that.
He did have an epic goofy voice. One of my favorite. It was thick in X-men Evo too 🙂
I started watching the X-Men tv show with my brother because he was interested in it. I became more intrigued once he bought more “guys” at KB Toys for us to play with. Soon, I became fluent in every character’s backstory, power, and original “human” name.
I love that your sister was Gambit. Did she do a Louisiana accent? Probably not. I like that your dad was drunk. You should’ve shaved his head and put him in a wheel chair. Almost too easy.
I always liked Rogue and Wolverine the best. I love that they made a movie that only focuses on him. Perfect. I hate that Jean Grey didn’t have a mutant name. So lame.
You were a better sister than mine. I had all of the X-Men “guys” too and they never got too interested in it beyond Halloween.
To be fair aren’t most people named Jean pretty mutant like? I knew a girl named Jean Jones who lived near me. She was definitely part mutant for sure.
Hah that is actually very true. Okay makes sense now.
I’m a gambit girl, myself. I had a big crush on him, like your other reader. My family was fully immersed in the world of X Men. Everyone wants a super power – that must be why these super hero shows do so well, right?
I think X-Men is particularly popular because other than having the powers the characters were very human and flawed. The most popular parts of any comic book based characters were always the more human-like qualities they would have. Nobody ever likes the Fantastic Four the most because they’re so lame and never have real problems.
You’re right! I agree. Good point.
I was a big fan of the X-Men comics, so I was super excited when this show came out. I was very disappointed by it. Sure, I watched religiously (because you know X-Men!) but each week I was hoping for something that matched the quality of the comics and was left still hoping.
A few examples of the issues:
Comic Wolverine – A deeply layered character
TV Wolverine – Angry guy who screamed a lot
Comic Jean Grey – She was one of the strongest members both mentally and power-wise
TV Jean Grey – Someone who would occassionally try to read someone’s mind and then she would scream in pain.
Comic Storm – Tough, compassionate, and ruthless when she had to be
TV Storm – Melodramatically spoke to the weather
Good points. I was never big into the comic so my knowledge is a basic mash-up between this show and the films. The only show I can think of that may have pulled off the deepness of characters would be Gargoyles. If you haven’t seen it check it out. It’s really dark and the monsters are more human than most cartoon characters.