X-Men ’92 Is A Nostalgia-Filled Delight

When Marvel announced its many, many Secret Wars tie-in series, one stood out to me instantly – a comic featuring the cast of the 1992 X-Men cartoon series.

That cartoon holds a dear place in my heart, and the hearts of many people my age. It was my first introduction to the X-Men, and indeed to any Marvel characters not associated with Spider-Man, and it captured my imagination in a way that few shows managed. It also features unquestionably the greatest theme song of all time.

The other big selling point of X-Men ’92 for me was the writing team, or at least one half of it. I’ve been a big fan of Chris Sims’ output on ComicsAlliance and the splendid War Rocket Ajax podcast for some time now, and was excited to see how he and co-writer Chad Bowers would handle this series.

So it’s with some relief that I can write that I absolutely loved this first issue of X-Men ’92. Bowers and Sims have brilliantly captured the feel of the cartoon, with dialogue that feels like it has come straight from the show.

There’s Storm, every line filled with exposition about just how her powers work and always referring to Jubilee as “child”. Jubilee is straight out of the early 90’s, suggesting others “take a chill pill”, while Cyclops of course is just overbearingly, irritatingly earnest and straight-laced. He really is the dirt worst.

The art from Scott Koblish (Deadpool) and Matt Milla (Wolverine & The X-Men) is great too, with terrific reproductions of the cartoon’s style and colours. It’s a wonderful walk down memory lane.

It’s worth pointing out that this is an Infinite Comic, a line launched by Marvel back in 2012 where the stories are designed to be read digitally. I’ve not read a comic in this format before, but it works really well, with characters and panels appearing over the top of each other at times. The opening, where each character is introduced with their powers, is particularly well handled.

While X-Men ’92 is a Secret Wars-related comic, the good news if you’re like me and not actually following the event is that there isn’t too much Secret Wars knowledge required.

The comic takes place in that most 90’s of settings, a lasertag at the mall. Apparently Wolverine got a bit carried away and damaged the danger room back at the mansion, so the X boys and girls have taken up lasertag as the next best thing for their training. Obviously.

Things inevitably go awry when sentinels show up, before we find out that a new facility has been set up to ‘rehabilitate’ formerly evil mutants.

We all know where this is going, just as we did with similar plots in the cartoon, but that’s part of the fun. The appearance of Baron (formerly Senator) Kelly is bizarre in the extreme, but honestly I can always get on board with a comic that features a character riding a chariot pulled by what appear to be demon horses.

If you have a soft spot for the 90s X-Men cartoon, then X-Men ’92 is absolutely the perfect comic for you.

All together now