The second volume is as thought provoking as the former was action-packed. The episodes on the second volume of the classic animated X-Men series focus much more on developing character than the previous collection, though the latter did introduce several important character arcs, such as Professor X's relationship with Juggernaut, Magneto's troubled post-War past, and Rogue's inner conflict about accepting her life and fate as a mutant. But this volume consists of episodes from the second and third seasons (whereas the first volume consisted of episodes from the first two seasons,) and this time they delve further into the past lives of many characters, building the stories upon interesting, multilayered and, most importantly, existing conflicts. Too often a show's writers will get overwhelmed with ideas after the first season, especially if that first season happened to be a successful one. This often leads to having to resort to pulling plot lines out of thin air, disrupting continuity, and ungracefully inventing back stories that don't fit their respective characters. Such is not the case with X-Men. The characters are what drive the stories, and not vice versa. Because of this, the stories seem to progress organically and seamlessly.
Episodes like "Beauty & the Beast" - wherein Beast falls in love with a blind girl whose father is a racist, er, mutant hater - recall the very minority-heavy allegory that makes the show significant and compelling, proving that the metaphor is more than just a clever, temporary gimmick. If anything it actually comes off as being a little heavy-handed, though not enough to detract from the poignancy of that same central idea.
Other episodes focus on the pre-X-Men pasts of such popular characters as Wolverine and Gambit. "Repo Man" touches upon the origins of Wolverine's mysterious invincibility, but it does a good job of keeping the viewer in suspense, and it doesn't reveal the entire story in one shot, managing to maintain audience interest for the duration of the series. The next episode has to do with Gambit's past, another story which was never really touched upon in previous episodes.
The thing that's always set X-Men apart from other animated comic book adaptations, at least for me, was the consistent attention they paid to style. The dialogue is sharp and quick, but still accessible for kids. The animation itself clearly borrows from Japanese animation, but it follows through with a distinctive flair all its own. Most importantly, the characters are incredibly complex and original, as well as easy to identify with, for kids and adults. Style and substance are not mutually exclusive by any means.
The second volume of the X-Men series concludes with the five part "Phoenix Saga," which deals with Jean Grey's transformation into the iconic character. The elegant trajectory of the animated series' version of the story calls to mind Brett Ratner's inferior depiction, and re-viewing the series has made the contrast more apparent than ever. It's amazing when a feature length cartoon can surpass a medium as expansive and limitless as film. I actually even prefer the cinematic Jean Grey to her animated counterpart, but X3 did her rich character absolutely no justice. The cartoons have it once again.
DVD Bonus Features
Like its predecessor, the second volume of the X-Men series collection contains a few special features, but they are quite lackluster, as they mostly have to do with technical specifications (e.g. Dolby Digital surround sound, French and Spanish language tracks, and French and Spanish subtitles.) You know a DVD is going to be severely lacking when they start listing the aspect ratio under special features. Nonetheless, the episodes and the characters alone make the volume completely worth it, and they are definitely a must for any fan of solid 90s comic book animation. Even if they continue to release the series with minimal special features, the show holds up without any fluff, which is saying quite a lot.
"X-Men: Volume 2" is on sale April 28, 2009 and is rated PG. Animation, Comic Book, Sci-Fi. Directed by N/A. Written by Francis Moss, Ted Pedersen, Len Wein, Julianne Klemm, Michael Edens, Elliot S. Maggin, Robert N. Skir, Marty Isenberg, Stephanie Mathison, Brooks Wachtel, Mark Edward Edens. Starring Alison Seasly Smith, Alyson Court, Cathal J Dodd, Cedric Smith, Lenore Zann, Norm Spencer.
