Marvel 30-Day Challenge, Day 24

My Favorite Cartoon Adaptation

Do you remember the first time you saw Marvel Comics adapted as a cartoon? I may not, but that doesn’t stop me from loving them, all the same. The 1990s were famous for giving us X-Men: the Animated Series, and while I never saw it, I know how much of an impact its had on my generation. My favorite cartoon adaptation is about the X-Men, but it’s a more recent one that combines some of the best stories in X-Men history.

Wolverine and the X-Men

The X-Men were once some of the most prominent champions of Mutant Rights, but after mysterious explosion led to the disappearance of Professor Xavier and Jean Grey, they disbanded. A year passed, and life for mutants got worse as humanity began to persecute them. Realizing that war’s on the horizon, Wolverine takes it upon himself to reform the X-Men before things get worse.

All this ends up being the tip of the iceberg. After finding Xavier in a coma, they receive a warning from him twenty years in the future. A future with the world in ruins, humanity enslaved, and the Sentinels hunt down any mutants they find. Unless they change things, this is the future that awaits the world. With Armageddon at the gates, the world needs the X-Men now more than ever.

A Love Letter to the X-Men

This show only lasted a year, running on Nicktoons Network from January to November of 2009. Even so, I consider it as a love letter to the team that helped carry Marvel for years. The art and animation already make it enjoyable on its own, but then you look at the voice cast, and you realize it reaches god-level. The show has an all-star roster of voice actors that include Steve Blum as Wolverine, and the talents of Nolan North, Kevin Michael Richardson, Tara Strong, Tom Kane, and more. It’s uncanny how they got so much talent behind this one show.

Then you have the plot, which is what makes it my favorite cartoon adaptation. The show combines two of the greatest stories in X-Men history into a single, cohesive unit: The Dark Phoenix Saga and Days of Futures Past. Interspersed amongst all this are elements from crucial stories from the X-Men’s history.

Unfortunately, the show got canceled due to Disney buying Marvel, meaning any unresolved, secondary plot threads were left unresolved. They were able to finish the main story, though, so I consider it a win in my book. I loved watching this as a teenager, and I call it my favorite cartoon adaptation of any Marvel property.

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