Pinpointing your exact entry-point into fandom is tricky when your interest in all this stuff started sometime before you were six. I know, for sure, that I had random SPIDER-MAN and SUPERMAN comics before the 90s X-MEN cartoon’s debut. I know, for sure, that I watched the PRYDE OF THE X-MEN TV special and played its tie-in arcade game before the show began, too. However, Fox's X-MEN was unequivocally the thing that kicked my casual interest over the cliff and into the valley of fanaticism I'm still walking in.
Back in the early 90s, when Saturday mornings were still a special time slot, kids my age had a whole slew of shows to choose from. POWER RANGERS, CAPTAIN PLANET... the list would get way too long to fit here. Yet, there was something about X-MEN that made it stand out so distinctly from the pack. After some reflection, I've concluded that it was because it was almost exactly like the comics of the time. == TEASER ==
Typically, a comics-based toon will be more of cumulative adaptation. BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES, for example, was meant to capture all seasons of the caped crusader at once, timelessly, rather than being a direct translation of any one era. Even the latter X-MEN shows re-tooled the comics' characters, costumes and concepts enough to have identities distinct unto of themselves. You look at images from this show, though, and the only discernible difference from the X-books of the time is that Jean Grey opts to wear her hair in a ponytail instead of letting it flow freely. The line-up's the same as the Blue Team from the mid-Claremont period (with Jean and Storm cherry-picked from the Gold) and the characters are all wearing the costumes Jim Lee designed for them just a year prior.
The progression of our interest would basically follow like this: we loved the show so, of course, we wanted the action figures. A lot of the action figures came with trading cards so, of course, we then wanted to get the way over-priced packs from Fleer. The packs contained cards for the regulars on the show, of course, but they also had ones for those who'd only shown up in the aforementioned Easter Eggs. With these additional kernels of information we, of course, wanted to get the full story about these characters in the comics. After seeking the comics out, we were, of course, summarily hooked.
Why, it was almost like it was planned that way...
Because it didn't for a timeless approach, maybe this show hasn't aged as well as BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES has. For one, the character models were often more detailed than the animation could handle sometimes. However, I wonder how well its cartoon-to-comics fan conversation rate stacks up in comparison to others, as I know many fans whose interest started with this show, too. Actually, let's put the question out to community. I'm sure most of you remember this show (though, then again, it has been 20 years) - - how many of you Comic Vine maniacs started your fandom with this one? If your memory's fuzzy, why don't we give it a jog with this catchy ditty...?
Tom Pinchuk’s the writer of HYBRID BASTARDS! & UNIMAGINABLE . Order them on Amazon here & here . Follow him on Twitter: @tompinchuk
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