DVD Review: X-Men, Volume 2 (Marvel DVD Comic Book Collection)

TV Show Info:
Writers: Stan Lee and Others
Directors: Larry Houston and Others
Cast: Cathal J. Dodd, Cedric Smith, Norm Spencer, Lenore Zann, George Buza, Alison Sealy-Smith, Catherine Disher, Alyson Court, Chris Potter
Rating: PG
Studio: Walt Disney Video

Release Info:
Original Air Dates: November 13, 1993-
DVD Box Set Release Date: April 28, 2009
Online Availability: Amazon for $19.99
Episodes: #2.4-#3.7

The first time I happened to see the X-Men cartoon series was when I reviewed X-Men, Volume 1. The two-disc DVD was released on the same day as this X-Men, Volume 2 two-disc set. I’m a huge fan of the X-Men comics, so it was nice to get a chance to review what is considered one of the most faithful adaptations of the comic book series.

One thing I never mentioned in my previous review was how retro the characters’ looks are. I love the late 80s/early 90s hair styles and fashion sense. The outfit of Jubilee, especially, is so early 90s, and both Rogue and Jean’s hair (sans Phoenix) remind me of the styles many top actresses wore back in the late 80s. While this cartoon tries to capture the unique look the X-Men have been given over the years throughout the comics, the television animation also distinctly reflects the era in which this show aired.

I have a minor complaint with the episodes in this set. It concerns the storyline with Magneto and Professor X. For many of the episodes, especially those on the first disc, Magneto and Professor X are only seen in brief snippets. In each of these snippets, they are shown enduring harsh conditions and that’s it. I know that the point was to get the X-Men to work together, on their own, away from Professor X, but the storyline seemed rather pointless as it dragged on from episode to episode. By the time ‘The Reunion’ episodes came around, I was bored by this storyline. Luckily this set ends with a bang!

On the other hand one thing I really liked about this set concerns the back stories of many of the characters. We see part of Logan’s past, Gambit’s history, and a peek into Rogue’s past. We even get a very brief glimpse into Beast’s childhood in “Beauty and the Beast.” I really like these episodes, because they reveal a lot about the characters, and how much they have in common with their comic book alter egos is appealing.

Storm doesn’t get on my nerves quite as much as she did in the Volume 1 set. I think this is because she isn’t as central to the plots of these episodes, like she was in the first Volume of episodes. The voice talent is pretty good, and the storylines are excellent. Some of the dialogue is a little goofy, but for the most part, everything flows together nicely.

The X-Men (Marvel DVD Comic Book Collection) Episode Plots

Just like on the Volume 1 DVD, <em>X-Men, Volume 2</em> offers a wide selection of episodes. There are 8 episodes on the first disc and 9 on the second. This finishes up Season Two (which was started on the Volume 1 set) and delves into a healthy portion of Season Three. I’m not sure why this wasn’t released in seasons. StillI’m grateful I had a chance to see part of season three, thus far.

Here is a list of the 17 episodes included in this two-disc set.

DISC ONE

“Red Dawn”: Magneto is saved by Professor X in the Savage Land. Without his powers, Magneto has to come up with an inventive way to defeat a hungry dinosaur who wants to eat them. A living weapon by the name of Omega Red is brought back to life by three Russian generals. The corrupt generals have Omega Red attack the capital, which falls, but the crumbling world is too fragile to endure the wraith of Omega Red. Colossus returns to ask for the X-Men’s help in ending Omega Red’s diabolical scheming and he ends up saving Jubilee in the process.

“Repo Man”: Vindicator sends for Wolverine, recruiting nearly every mutant in Canada. They are upset he left their group, Alpha Flight, and want to take him somewhere. Naturally, Wolverine resists, learning they want to send him to a lab. This flashes Logan back to a time at a lab when Dr. Cornelius and the Professor coated his bones with adamantium. Jean tries to mentally connect with Professor X, who is still missing, trapped in the Savage Land with Magneto. When Logan is finally captured, he learns the truth behind why they want him and who is behind his capture.

“X-Ternally Yours”: When the team is doing an exercise, Gambit is in charge. He receives a phone call from someone named Pierre mid-exercise and accidentally turns the simulator up, nearly killing Scott/Cyclops. Gambit is given the news that something bad is going to happen to his brother. Every ten years, an offering is given by The Assassins Guild and The Thieves Guild to The X-Ternal. The chosen one, this year, is Gambit/Remy’s brother Bobby. It is Bobby’s time to offer the tithe for the Thieves, and if he doesn’t offer it, he will end up dead. Bobby shows up missing and Gambit heads down to save him. When he finds out who has taken him, he’s shocked because they want Gambit in exchange for Bobby and the tithe, and they have interesting, ulterior motives.

“Time Fugitives (Part One)”: Apocalypse’s troops are attacking Cable, and other mutants fighting with them. The year is 3999 AD and this is New York City, which is pretty much being destroyed. Time is changing, so it has affected the future. Bishop realizes that when he traveled back to the present from 2055 AD to the present, he stopped a plague, which continues to rage on for ages, since the antibodies that were created to protect from further plagues have not been created. Bishop heads back in time again, to warn the X-Men and help them stop the plague before it destroys them all.

“Time Fugitives (Part Two)”: With Apocalypse responsible for the plague, Cable time travels to the present to save his own future. He must stop Bishop from completely stopping the plague, though his fight with Bishop and the X-Men does not go well. Eventually, Cable is able to find an alternative route he might be able to use in order to keep the current world in tact and still save his and Bishop’s own worlds.

“A Rogue’s Tale”: Mr. Sinister sends Mystique to get rid of the X-Men now that they don’t have Professor X watching over them. Mystique, Rogues former foster mother, wants to reclaim her as her daughter, but her presence in Rogue’s life gives her very painful visions. The visions are so realistic, as Rogue is tormented, mentally, by her very first enemy, Ms. Marvel. With Rogue turning deeply into her psyche, Jean must use Cerebro to try and reach her and help her stop the tormenting visions. The rest of the X-Men have to fight Mystique who is trying to destroy all of them.

“Beauty and the Beast”: Beast/Dr. Hank McCoy is working at a hospital for the blind. He ends up falling in love with one of his patients, Carly. Carly is blind and she too loves Beast. She is the daughter of a man who absolutely abhors mutants. Her dad refuses to accept their relationship, even though Hank is responsible for developing the surgery that gives Carly her sight back. When Carly is kidnapped by the Friends of Humanity for loving Beast, her father wants the X-Men to find her. Its up to Wolverine who leads the rest of their team to the Friends of Humanity headquarters, where he confronts Graydon Creed, their evil leader. In the meantime, Magneto and Charles are barely surviving in the Savage Land.

“Mojovision”: Mojo, an alien, rules a world that is dependent on television for everything. The X-Men are kidnapped by Mojo who turns them into the next television, action/superhero hit show. Using his abilities, he turns the X-Men against one another and the show is popular across the entire galaxy. When Longshot, the original action hero, frees the X-Men, betraying Mojo, the tables turn on the alien. Meanwhile, Magneto and Professor X still struggle as they travel through the Savage Land.

DISC TWO

“Reunion (Part One)”: Morph sends a message to the X-Men. Jean, Cyclops, and Wolverine show up, but are ambushed by Mr. Sinister and the Nasty Boys. In the Savage Land, Charles and Magneto finally make it to their ship. They are ambushed by mutates, who have turned their back on Magneto, the man who created them, for a new master. During their escape, they are assisted by Ka-Zar and his sabertooth tiger friend, Zabu, who lets them know that all of his people have been kidnapped by the mutates and are being held in the citadel. He blames Magneto for all of this. Mr. Sinister ends up kidnapping Jean, taking her off to the Savage Land to join Charles.

“Reunion (Part Two)”: The X-Men discover where Jean is and head to the Savage Land thanks to a message from Professor X, who has been brainwashed by Mr. Sinister. When they get there, they realize they’ve lost all their powers and are easily defeated by the mutates. Only Wolverine escapes. He teams up with Ka-Zar to save the X-Men and to stop Mr. Sinister. Ka-Zar flies him to the citadel, where he plans to free his people.

“Out of the Past (Part One)”: When Leech steals a weapon for Callisto, who wants to use it to open an alien ship in the underground tunnels, Lady Deathstrike, the person who Leech stole the weapon from, heads underground with her cyborg friends. Disarming and disposing of all the Morlocks, Deathstrike is drawn to the ship for its power. Wanting it so she can seek revenge on someone from her past, Deathstrike calls upon Wolverine, her past lover, when she went by Yuriko, to open the ship for her.

“Out of the Past (Part Two)”: When Wolverine accidentally opens the ship, a Shi’ar vessel which is actually a prison cell, an evil entity, the M’Kraan Spirit Drinker is released. As he sucks the life from everything around it, including Yuriko, the X-Men must find a way to defeat it, or risk dying themselves.

“Phoenix Saga, Part 1: Sacrifice”: Professor X keeps having disturbing visions and hearing a woman call out to him. He knows that a major battle will be happening in space, so he has the X-Men sneak on board a ship piloted by Dr. Corbeau. They are heading to the Eagle One Space Station. It is a trap, and Jean realizes it too late. The Shi’ar emissary Erik the Red has taken over the space station. Luckily, the X-Men are able to escape, but not before Jean must sacrifice herself by piloting the plane through fiery heat that is filled with radiation.

“Phoenix Saga, Part 2: Dark Shroud”: Unable to hold her shields up the entire time she pilots the ship through the radiation layers, Jean crash lands into a bay on Earth, emerging as the stripped down, super powerful Phoenix. Scott takes her to the hospital, where Professor X recommends she stay until they find out what is going on with her new powers. With Professor X’s visions becoming more vivid, he heads to Muir Island to recuperate under the watchful eyes of Moira McTaggert and her new love, Sean Cassidy/Banshee. While Moira and Sean are outside Charles is visited by Lilandra Neramani, the Shi’ar Empress who is essentially his other half. Lilandra needs his help. She is the woman from his visions. Unfortunately, Black Tom Cassidy and Juggarnaut kidnap her, and Moira believes Charles dreamed the entire thing up, his delusions getting worse.

“Phoenix Saga, Part 3: Cry of the Banshee”: When Wolverine smells Juggarnaut in Charles room they know he isn’t lying or too crazy to know the truth. The X-Men and Banshee head out to Sean’s home castle where his brother, Black Tom, is keeping Lilandra. Black Tom is planning to trade her for a lot of money. She alone knows where the M’Kraan Crystal is, something she hid so her evil brother, the evil Shi’ar Emperor cannot use it to destroy the world. When his top military guard, the Gladiator shows up, only the Phoenix can stop him.

“Phoenix Saga, Part 4: Starjammers”: Jean teleports the X-Men and Lilandra to her ship where she has hidden the M’Kraan Crystal. When the Starjammers, led by Corsair (who is actually Christopher Summer’s, Scott/Cyclops’ dad – a fact neither of them know), a group of intergalactic pirates, steal the M’Kraan Crystal and Scott/Cyclops. They plan to offer the crystal and Cyclops as a slave in a trade, with D’Ken, but Corsair has ulterior motives that involve Scott getting close to D’Ken and destroying him for his past misdeeds.

“Phoenix Saga, Part 5: Child of Light”: D’Ken manages the get into the crystal, where Jean ends up trapping him. In a tough, but necessary decision, Jean, as Phoenix, says goodbye to the X-Men. She takes the crystal to the sun and is presumed to be dead. Scott takes the loss the hardest, and Charles has to say goodbye to the woman he loves, as well, Lilandra. She is now the new Empress of Shi’ar and has a lot of changes to make to her planet.

Storyline/Plot:
Replayability:
Acting:
Directing:

Audio/Visual:
The video for was decent, if not good. The 1.33:1 aspect ratio worked well for the cartoon. For the most part, the colors are bright and the level of detail was high. There really wasn’t much to complain about here. There weren’t any real problems with compression, noise or dirt. It was a pretty steady transfer from start to finish.

The Dolby Digital audio got the job done nicely. It wasn’t perfect, but it was certainly passable for this sort of cartoon. The sound effects came through nicely, the dialogue was always easy to understand, and the music was fairly dynamic. Man is that X-Men theme song catchy. I’ve probably heard it over 100 times in the past few days, but I still like it.In addition to the English track, French and Spanish tracks were also included. Subtitles are available for English for the Hearing Impaired, French, and Spanish.

Visual:
Audio:

Bonus Features:
The only thing you are offered in the way of special features are previews and sneak peeks. When it comes to previews you have them for G-Force, Monsters Inc. (Blu Ray), Lost: The Complete Fourth Season, and a Disney Blu Ray Promo. The included sneak peeks are for The Black Cauldron, Lost: The Complete Fourth Season, G-Force, Monsters, Inc., Morning Light, and a Disney Blu Ray Promo.

This is a very lame offering. There should at least be a featurette or a commentary, but alas. There is nothing.

Bonus Features:

Bottom Line:
The X-Men, Volume 2 (Marvel DVD Comic Book Collection) two-disc set continues where Volume 1 left off. Each episode is as engaging as the last. X-Men fans will definitely want to own both Volume 1 and Volume 2. There are a nice selection of episodes available in these sets, so there is more than enough X-Men action to whet your appetite. X-Men, Volume 2 (Marvel DVD Comic Book Collection) comes highly recommended for both parents (adults in general) and children age 5 and above.

Overall Rating:

Technorati Tags: DVD Review, TV Show, X-Men, Volume 2, Marvel DVD Comic Book Collection, Stan Lee, Wolverine, Rogue, Professor X, Charles Xavier, Magneto, Cyclops, Jean Grey

Written by Dominick Evans - Visit Website
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Dominick is in his late 20s. He lives in Michigan with his life partner, Ashtyn, their 14 year old son Robert, and their Shih-Tzu, Oliver. Dominick is a writer and the head editor for both LI Kids and Literary Illusions. He enjoys composing music and is an aspiring director/screenwriter. In his free time he enjoys spending time with his family, playing and watching sports, playing video games, watching movies, and singing.