In a little less than a month, X-Men ’97 will return for its second season, which sees the X-Men scattered across the winds of time and facing the seemingly eternal threat of Apocalypse. The question remains: what happens to the world and the mutants that the X-Men left behind? X-Men ’97: Season 2 #1 brings an answer to those questions and also manages to pack quite a few familiar faces into its pages in the process. After the X-Men ’97 Season 1 finale “Tolerance Is Extinction”, the X-Men are presumed dead – but Bishop, who’s quite familiar with the nature of time travel, enlists Forge to help rescue them. Meanwhile, Jubilee and Sunspot struggle to move on in a world without their friends, and tensions between mutants and humans once again rise to a fever pitch.
One of the best parts of X-Men ’97: Season 2 #1 is the focus on Jubilee and Sunspot. Anyone who’s watched X-Men ’97 or X-Men: The Animated Series knows that Jubilee fills the “kid” position in the group; losing the rest of the X-Men is a way to both test her mettle and serve as a coming-of-age experience. Nowhere is this more clear during a mutant/human clash, where Jubilee struggles between embracing Wolverine’s “fight first, ask questions later” approach and Cyclops’ more tactical methods. Sunspot also gets some great character moments, particularly in a heartbreaking scene involving his mother. While the idea of mutants serving as a metaphor for the marginalized has its ups and downs, Sunspot’s story in this comic is a great example of how to make it work.
This strong character work, along with the visual aesthetics, comes courtesy of the creative team of Steve Foxe and Salva Espin. The duo worked on the first X-Men ’97 comic series, where they delivered a story that provided the perfect segue between X-Men: The Animated Series and X-Men ’97 Season 1. The same is true here; while you don’t have to have watched X-Men ’97 to enjoy this comic, Foxe’s script doesn’t shy away from the events that happened in Season 1 and how they’ve rattled the world. Case in point: a vigil at the ruins of the Xavier Mansion turns ugly when a group of humans accosts Pyro and Avalanche. Foxe also starts showcasing how different mutant teams start to form in the X-Men’s absence; those teams include X-Factor, who hunts down mutants in the name of the government, and X-Force, who take a more proactive method to stopping threats to mutantkind.
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Espin’s artwork has become more refined since the first X-Men ’97 series, to the point where certain panels look like actual production stills from the series. A key moment of this is the meeting between Bishop and Forge, where Bishop says he needs to find where the X-Men are stranded in time. As he speaks, flashes show Cyclops and Jean Grey in a futuristic wasteland, while Professor X and Magneto are in a wasteland. Anyone who’s seen the trailer for X-Men ’97 Season 2 has probably seen the outfits that Cyclops and Jean are sporting, and Espin has every detail of those outfits down to a T. There are also the fight scenes, which have the heft and weight of good animation. Matt Milla’s color art shouldn’t be overlooked, either, as it perfectly captures the vibrant tones of the 1990s and the various mutant powers deployed throughout the issue.
X-Men ’97: Season 2 #1 serves as the start of a solid prequel story, leaning on its character work and vibrant visuals. While fans are waiting for new episodes of X-Men ’97, they should definitely check out this series if they want the full experience.
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