X-Men '97 Review

 X-Men is a labyrinthine franchise, you've got thousands of comics, most of them of questionable quality and continuity. I flit into that universe very occasionally, if I hear good things about a comic run, like Tom Taylor and Mahmud Asrar's X-Men : Red or if a writer or artist I love is involved, which was the case with the magnificent House of X/Powers of X written by Jonathan Hickman. When he left, so did my interest, as the comics went back to being messy and complicated. But I've recently returned to X-Men, reading Peach Momoko's reinvention of the premise in the ongoing Ultimate X-Men which boasts gorgeous art and a manga-style pace and narrative. All this is to say, while I'm not a constant reader of the franchise, I always find myself seduced by some aspect of the premise to stick around. It's an inherently potent sell. There's the scifi aspect of the premise, which operates with themes of persecution and minority rights, ensuring that it'll sadly be relevant for all of time, and then there's the superhero aspect of it, the costumes. These people are fighting for their rights and looking sexy as hell doing it. Most people want to be part of a rebellion and look sexy as hell doing it. Hence Lee and Kirby's merry band of mutants endure.  

I was apprehensive of X-Men 97, fearing it would be easy nostalgia-bait to satiate forty year olds who grew up on the series but I was surprised by how it turned out to be an enjoyable distillation of a certain era of comics, trimmed of its fat and reduced to its main dramatic beats. I haven't read the run of comics that it adapts but they have a reputation for being messy and bloated. The series keeps the whiplash of the original's soap opera-esque dramatic beats and wild twists. It is adaptation as bloodsport, receiving every instance of clones, killer robots, a demonic owl among others and righting its carriage with strong characters, who react to every trauma with a degree of believability and poetic acceptance. 

Its principal characters, Magneto, Cyclops, Rogue, Storm and Jean, all carry significant trauma, some incurred prior to the series, some as the series progresses, and contend with it, emerging as their better or worser selves. Cyclops and Jean bear the brunt of the soap opera shenanigans that the X-Men have to deal with and their travails are nothing if not entertaining. Cyclops is a far more poignant figure in this series than he has ever been, bearing the weight of tragedy and responsibility. Magneto never ceases to be the most compelling character of the ensemble, reacting to a history of persecution with murderous rage. Rogue, with her politics and shifting allegiances, I would argue is the heart of the series, and the audience stand-in every time the X-Men contend with new horrors. 

Smack-dab in the middle of the series is a devastating episode that brings to mind the visuals we are seeing out of Gaza. Horrible things are perpetrated against mutants and every moment is a twist of the knife. That episode makes way for even more depictions of bigotry via comicbook poetry as hatred literally transforms people into unfeeling robots out to kill mutantkind, a superpowered lynchmob of sorts. This is, for good or ill, another strength of the premise. The X-Men have always been a funhouse mirror of the world, whatever happens here, happens there, just dressed up in superhero clothes. 

The question is whether such parable works to make a better world. Will the events of episode five change the mind of anyone on the other side of pro-Palestine protests, or even give them pause? Will the bigots see themselves reflected in the Sentinel robots and change their ways or continue to rage when a person of color is cast in a role? Is the trauma of the oppressed, through the X-Men grinder, turned to mute entertainment? I think so. The X-Men cast, especially in the 90s, is predominantly white, despite having some people of color like Storm and Bishop, and it's heteronormative to a fault, despite closeted-ness being a story arc in the show. What is metaphor remains metaphor and while there is an elegance to it, I wish its message penetrated a little stronger. I fear ultimately art of this sort preaches to the choir and those blind to the issues being discussed grow up into the sort of people who populate Youtube with rants about how feminists are making Superman gay. 

I think this show will appeal to most people, but people of my political bent, who would probably be denigrated as Mutie lovers in the Marvel universe, will find some of it especially cathartic. Don't let the opening fool you, X-Men 97 is its own beast, and a solid addition to the franchise.