Previously on X-Men! The nostalgia hits so hard in the X-Men ’92: The Saga Continues trade paperback collection, which is the one to get. Granted, this trade is just a new collection set, but it has all the more recent X-Men: The Animated Series-style stories in one handy trade. In this collection, you get the original return with X-Men ’92 (2015), the following series, X-Men ’92 (2016), and the House of X adaptation, House of XCII. This vast collection plays nicely in its world and harkens back to a great time in X-Men comic books.
Thankfully, Secret Wars by Jonathan Hickman gave a way that the animated X-Men could reappear in Battleworld. This was initially released as an eight-issue series of Infinite Comics that were all digital before finally being collected as four comic books and eventually its trade collection. The creative team consists of Chris Sims and Chad Bowers as writers and Scott Koblish as artist, with Matt Milla on colors. We are treated to a world similar to the animated series we recognize; bits of humor and nostalgia will tackle you, making you want to fire up those episodes. I did like the twist that Senator Kelly was now Barron Kelly, and he was the master of their section in Battleworld. Things are a little more peaceful with Kelly and the X-Men, which is an exciting story avenue. While the art and action are beautiful, be prepared for heavy dialogue on the pages. I’m sure with these initially presented for the digital age, the dialogue was hidden after a panel, but it reads differently on paper; it can get crowded.
Luckily, two exciting epilogues will help you jump onto the next round of stories in X-Men ’92 Vol. 2. I felt that these issues read a lot better as they were initially presented as comic books, so with this ten-issue series, we get to continue the action established in Battleworld yet see newer concepts of the X-Men, post-Animated Series, be revisited and redefined in the animated style. The exciting fun and drama we’ve come to love were nicely recaptured in these issues by returning creative Sims, Bowers, and Millia with new art by Alti Firmansyah and Cory Hamscher. Looking at the two volumes of X-Men, it is excellent to see concepts like Cassandra Nova, fighting the vampires, and the Shadow King reappear to plague our heroes. It feels like reading a What If… with a more substantial bite, as this has its world and matters within itself.
The final portion of the trade is an animated-style adaptation of House of X by Jonathan Hickman. We owe him some major credit for getting these stylized adventures. For more details on that adventure, check out my previous review. This trade paperback collection is a great way to get the multiple miniseries that helped return the 1990s X-Men in their animated form for your collections. It will work perfectly with your X-Men: The Animated Series – The Adaptations Omnibus that was recently released; with those two books, you will have a complete collection of animated series tie-in comics that feature our merry mutants. Considering the back issue market, this is the cheapest way to get the single issues or the four trade paperbacks inside for a deal in one volume. Whether brand new or returning, you will be entertained by the adventures within.
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