The excitement, adventure and cheesetasticness continues with volumes 3 & 4 of X-Men, the animated series from the mid-’90s.
Your favorite X-Men are back for 29 more episodes. Too bad they aren’t included here in the order they were meant to be seen. After the Phoenix Saga, episodes began airing in a random order due to animation setbacks and they are presented on these DVDs in their air date order. As such, there are still episodes from season 3 and 4 that are missing and will most likely wind up on the last DVD installment.
Regardless of order issues, these are pretty fantastic group of episodes. You get to see more great characters for the first time like X-Factor, Nightcrawler, Ice Man, Silver Samurai and Maverick, as well as the return of classics like Mr. Sinister, Magneto the Morlocks and others.
You get more of Wolverine’s past revealed, you get more time travel fun with the likes of Cable, Bishop and Apocalypse and you get one of the greatest X-Men stories ever: The Dark Phoenix Saga! Seriously, what more could you ask for?
There are a couple really cheesy episodes that don’t hold up, but if you like the X-Men and you like cartoons, there is no reason you won’t want to snatch up these two volumes to add to your mutant collection.
Episodes:
(Note: Numbers after the episode indicate the correct viewing order. Episodes 35-52 are from season 3 and 52-66 are from season 4.)
Vol. 3
Disc One:
Savage Land, Strange Heart (Part 1) (09/10/94) 38
Savage Land, Strange Heart (Part 2) (09/17/94) 39
A strange magician convinces Sauron to kidnap Storm and bring her to the Savage Land. Using Storms powers the evil magician, Garokk, is able to escape his prison. The X-Men follow Storm to the Savage Land to find their hands full and they realize they’ll need Sauron’s help if they want to put a stop to Garokk’s evil ways.
Obsession (09/24/94) 35
Archangel becomes obsessed with finding a way to destroy Apocalypse once and for all and gets Rogue to help him. But the whole thing was a set up by Apocalypse and now the X-Men must find a way to stop him and save the day.
The Dark Phoenix (Part 1) (11/12/94) 40
The Dark Phoenix (Part 2) (11/12/94) 41
The Dark Phoenix (Part 3) (11/19/94) 42
The Dark Phoenix (Part 4) (11/26/94) 43
This epic four-part story tells the fall of Jean Grey as she succumbs to the Phoenix Power and is enslaved by the Hellfire Club. The Shi’Ar show up and put Jean Grey on trial for destroying a planet and the X-Men must battle Lilandra’s Imperial Guards in order to protect her. Xavier may have the Phoenix at bay in Jeans mind, but when the Guard lay waste to the X-Men, the Phoenix won’t stay subdued for long!
Disc Two:
Cold Comfort (02/04/95) 37
Iceman tries to break into a Government building and the X-Men rescue him. He won’t tell anyone why he tried to do it, but Jubilee over hears the truth that his girlfriend Polaris may be trapped there so they go to free her and run into X-Factor! The rest of the X-Men show up and the two X-teams have a huge fight.
Orphan’s End (02/25/95) 44
When Corsair crashes in the X-Men’s backyard Cyclops finally learns that Corsair is his father, but the Shi’Ar authorities are hot on Corsair’s tail and want to arrest him. Now Cyclops must decide who is telling the truth, the Shi’Ar police or his dad?
The Juggernaut Returns (05/06/95) 46
The Juggernaut shows up to take out his brother, Prof. X, once and for all, but someone else uncovers the truth of the Ruby of Cyttorak and steals his powers. Now Cain Marco may die if the X-Men don’t track down this new Juggernaut and get the Ruby back.
Nightcrawler (05/13/95) 53
When Gambit, Rogue and Wolverine take a vacation to Germany they end up following a lead to a monastery where they hear tales of a blue demon. Here they find the religious mutant Nightcrawler and help the locals come to understand him. Also, Nightcrawler gives Wolverine something to think about in the way he looks at the world.
Weapon X, Lies And Video Tape (06/11/95) 61
Haunted by jumbled memories Wolverine returns to Canada to uncover his past. Beast, concerned, follows him. In Canada they uncover the Weapon X project and find Logan’s old partners, Sabretooth, Maverick and Silver Fox there as well. They all begin to uncover the mystery of their hidden memories, but they may not like what they find.
One Man’s Worth (Part 1) (09/09/95) 54
One Man’s Worth (Part 2) (09/16/95) 55
Trevor Fitzroy and his assistant Bantam travel back in time to assassinate Prof. X in 1959 at the behest of Master Mold. Bishop and Shard go back in time to stop this but are too late and arrive in an alternate timeline where a human-mutant war has ravaged everything. Bishop and Shard are able to get Storm and Wolverine (who are married in this timeline) to come back in time with them to save Charles Xavier. The four fail to save Prof. X again and must go back to the future in an attempt to stop Fitzroy from ever going back in time and attempting the assassination. They succeed and the Storm and Wolverine that love one another vanish forever.
Courage (09/23/95) 51
After much therapy on Muir Island, Morph finally returns to the X-Men, but after a run in with a Sentinel he’s not sure he’s ready. Then Prof. X is kidnapped by a Sentinel and only Morph can save him, but will he have the courage to do so?
Vol. 4
Disc One:
Proteus (Part 1) (09/13/95) 56
Proteus (Part 2) (10/7/95) 57
In this two-part episode, Moira MacTaggert’s son Proteus escapes his prison and runs amok Ireland and only the X-men can stop him before he destroys all reality. But will Wolverine be able to handle having his realty ripped apart by the young mutant?
Sanctuary (Part 1) (10/21/95) 48
Sanctuary (Part 2) (10/28/95) 49
Magneto creates an asteroid base as a haven for all mutants but the crazed Fabian Cortez wants to destroy all humans even if he has to kill Magneto to do it. Will Gambit and the other X-Men be able to save the earth from utter destruction?
Beyond Good And Evil (Part 1) (11/04/95) 63
Beyond Good And Evil (Part 2) (11/11/95) 64
Beyond Good And Evil (Part 3) (11/18/95) 65
Beyond Good And Evil (Part 4) (11/25/95) 66
In this epic four part story that crosses all times Cable sets out to destroy Apocalypse once and for all but he escapes back in time before this can happen and he finds the Axis Of Time. Here he spends centuries learning it’s secrets and hatches a plan to destroy good once and for all. He brings on Mister Sinister, Magneto and Mystique to help him capture the universes strongest telepaths. Now it’s up to Bishop, Cable and the present day X-Men to figure out what’s going on and stop Apocalypse before it’s too late.
Disc Two:
Have Yourself A Morlock Little X-Mas (12/23/95) 62
Storm, Wolverine and Jubilee learn that the Morlock Leech is sick and dying. So they descend into the tunnels on Christmas Eve to try and save the young mutant before it’s too late.
The Lotus And The Steel (02/03/96) 60
Needing to find himself, Wolverine travels to Japan to escape fighting only to find that the town he is staying in is being bullied by the Silver Samurai.
Love In Vain (02/10/96) 45
In New Mexico Wolverine sees an alien spacecraft crash in the desert, when he goes to check it out he is captured by the insect-like creatures within. Meanwhile, Cody, Rogues first love and the first victim of her powers, tracks her down and wants to be with her again. It turns out he is in league with the insect creatures who need hosts to keep their people alive and the queen wants to use Rogue. So the X-Men must save the day before it’s too late.
Secrets, Not Long Buried (02/17/96) 52
Cyclops travels to a small desert town to visit and old friend he’s not heard from in some time only to learn that three evil mutants have captured him and enslaved the town with fear. So it’s up to Cyclops, who has temporarily lost his powers, to rally the town to rise up against their oppressors.
Xavier Remembers (04/27/96) 50
When Prof. X suffers a concussion it is enough to release the Shadow King from his prison and he takes over Xavier’s body. Now it’s up to Jean Grey and the Prof. To defeat the Shadow King on the astral plane or Xavier will be lost forever.
Family Ties (5/4/96) 58
The High Evolutionary and his New Men capture Magneto, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, Beast and Wolverine to do experiments on them. Here Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch learn that Magneto is their father. The other X-Men show up and they defeat the High Evolutionary, but now Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch have a lot to think about.
The show is presented in a fullscreen format. Sound is in 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo Sound. The show looks and sounds fine, except for a few moments in some of these episodes where the animation seems to get a little weak..
Again, nothing.
These are, for the most part, pretty solid episodes. It’s a shame they aren’t in the proper order, and it’s a shame there are no special features, But if you’re an X-Fan, then this cartoon is definitely essential viewing and would make a great addition to any collection. All we have to do now is wait for the last volume, the last 14 episodes.
Buena Visa Home Entertainment presents X-Men: Volume 3. Created by Larry Houston and Frank Squillace. Starring Cedric Smith, Cathal Dodd, Norm Spencer and Iona Morris. Running time: 345 minutes on 2 discs. Not Rated. Released on DVD: September 15, 2009. Available at Amazon.com.
Buena Visa Home Entertainment presents X-Men: Volume 4. Created by Larry Houston and Frank Squillace. Starring Cedric Smith, Cathal Dodd, Norm Spencer and Iona Morris. Running time: 322 minutes on 2 discs. Not Rated. Released on DVD: September 15, 2009. Available at Amazon.com.
