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Posted on May 16, 2010 - 11:48 PM by Admin |
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With a new Iron Man blockbuster on the big screens worldwide, it’s a great time to be a Marvel Comic Fanatic! And that time just got even better with two must-have additions for the small screen at home - Iron Man: The Complete Animated Series and X-Men Volume 5!
I proudly admit that I'm a child of the 80s. If my wife would let me, I would still be leaving the house wearing parachute pants! (They were cool…trust me.) My love for all things 80s may very well be clue as to why I have always been a fan of the Iron Man Animated Series from 1994.
Wait a minute…that cartoon series wasn't released during the great decade known as the 1980s…Well, it wasn't…but…
The first season of the all-too-short Iron Man Animated Series played out like a newer version of one of my favorite 80s guilty pleasures - He-Man & The Masters of the Universe. The similarities are there for anyone to see and - to be honest - these similarities may have played a role in the series only lasting for 2 seasons.
The first season of the Iron Man Animated Series featured Iron Man/the mullet wearing Tony Stark and his superhero pals battling the big bad Mandarin and his crew of villainous cohorts. Sure, we Comic Fanatics recognized Iron Man's good buddies as none other than the 90s version of the West Coast Avengers known as Force Works. (Show of hands for those who remember the awful pop-up cover for Force Works #1!)
The characters - heroes like the Julia Carpenter Spider-Woman, Scarlet Witch, Hawkeye (who apparently replaced the USAgent), the long-forgotten Century and the redundant War Machine - were a cool cast. The villains - bad guys like Dreadknight, M.O.D.O.K., Ultimo, the Grey Gargoyle, and Blizzard - were all formidable foes. Heck, even President Bill Clinton shows up! But, for the most part, Season 1 gets a bad rap simply because it follows the old Masters of the Universe formula - one and done stories, slightly slapstick heroes, fearsome foes who aren't really that fearsome, and a new villainous plot each week in which the Mandarin does his best Skeletor impression in his quest to rid the world of Iron Man and his friends each week.
However, this is what I liked about Season 1 of the Iron Man Animated Series. Well, that and I'm a closet Force Works fan. (I recently even bought my son one of those awful pop-up covered Force Works #1 at a flea market…he didn't get the coolness of it, either.) But, if the simplistic, albeit kind of hokey storylines are what you didn't like about the Iron Man Animated Series, then you'll be thrilled to know that Season 2 is also included in this 3-DVD set.
Season 2 featured a somewhat different style of animation, along with more complex stories and - sadly - the breakup of Force Works. Season 2 episodes weren't all one-and-done tales, with the entire series shining moments coming in Season 2 with the two part episodes the animated take on the classic "Armor Wars" and the series finale "The Hands of the Mandarin," which also features the reunion of Force Works.
Here's the complete lineup for Iron Man: The Complete Animated Series:
Disc 1:
1. And The Sea Shall Give Up It's Dead
2. Rejoice! I Am Ultimo Thy Deliverer
3. Data In - Chaos Out
4. Silence My Companion, Death My
Destination
5. The Grim Reaper Wears A Teflon Coat
6. Enemy Within, Enemy Without
7. Origin Of The Mandarin
8. Defection Of The Hawkeye
Disc 2:
9. Iron Man To The Second Power (Part 1)
10. Iron Man To The Second Power (Part 2)
11. Origin Of Iron Man (Part 1)
12. Origin Of Iron Man (Part 2)
13. Wedding Of Iron Man!
14. The Beast Within
15. Fire And Rain
16. Cell Of Iron
17. Not Far From The Tree
Disc 3:
18. Beauty Knows No Pain
19. On The Inside
20. Distant Boundaries
21. The Armor Wars (Part 1)
22. The Armor Wars (Part 2)
23. Hulkbuster
24. Empowered
25. Hands Of The Mandarin (Part 1)
26. Hands Of The Mandarin (Part 2)
Aside from Iron Man's Force Work pals, "guest stars" aren't too abundant in the Iron Man Animated Series, however Season 2 does feature a surprising villain along with his famous green-skinned heroic nemesis.
If you are a voice-person like myself (I can't help it…I've worked in radio for over 25 years now), you will hear some strange, yet familiar voices in the Iron Man Animated Series. Straight from the "Airplane" films you have actor Robert Hays playing the role of Iron Man and Tony Stark. And straight from Bel-Air (as in "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air"!) you have actor James Avery supplying the voice for War Machine/James Rhodes and the villains Whirlwind and Blacklash. Plus, you are treated to special guests like Scott Valentine (remember Nick from "Family Ties"?), Matt Frewer and Ron Perlman, playing the role of a well-known heroic guest star in Season 2.
All in all, the Iron Man Complete Series 3-disc DVD is another Marvel must-have and a bargain at twice the price (around $20 at most retailers). This is one for the kids and the kid in you. These days, I can't just hand my kids any Marvel comic book and hope they will get hooked like I did back when I was their age. In many cases, I can't even take them to see the latest Marvel blockbuster on the big screen. However, Iron Man: The Complete Series is just what the doctor ordered for young, would-be Marvel Comic Fanatics. Not a rental…a must buy.
 
This a great time to be a Marvel Animation fan. Sharing shelf space with Iron Man The Complete Series is the much-anticipated final season of one of the gems of Marvel animation, The X-Men.
X-Men Volume 5 is another Marvel must-have, especially if you have been buying the previous 4 volumes on DVD. (I'm a diehard completist…) X-Men Volume 5 brings an end to one of the best animated series that Marvel ever had a hand in, with this 2 DVD-set that includes all 13 episodes from Season 5 and one episode that was actually held over from Season 3 ("No Mutant Is An Island").
Here's the lineup for X-Men Volume 5:
Disc 1
Episode 63 The Phalanx Covenant (Part 1)
Episode 64 The Phalanx Covenant (Part 2)
Episode 65 A Deal With The Devil
Episode 66 No Mutant Is An Island
Episode 67 Longshot
Episode 68 Bloodlines
Disc 2
Episode 69 Storm Front (Part 1)
Episode 70 Storm Front (Part 2)
Episode 71 Jubilee's Fairy Tale Theatre
Episode 72 The Fifth Horseman
Episode 73 Old Soldiers
Episode 74 Descent
Episode 75 Hidden Agendas
Episode 76 Graduation Day
From the get-go, X-Men Volume 5 just feels like it's leading up to some kind of finale. I remember watching this series when it originally ran on TV and thinking to myself, "This will be the last season for this." However, while many outgoing series - animated or otherwise - seem to peter out or just "go through the motions," X-Men Volume 5 doesn't fall into that trap.
Although starting out a little shaky with the less-than-spectacular 2 part "Phalanx Covenant" and despite a visit from Mojo (no one really likes Mojo) in "Longshot," Volume 5 wraps up the entire series on a rather strong note. Storm is featured prominently in her one 2-part episode; as indicated by the cover of the DVD, Captain America makes an appearance in one of my personal favorite episodes of the entire series with "Old Soldiers"; and things are all wrapped up in a blockbuster way in "Graduation Day," in which the team and another surprising character come together to say goodbye to someone near and dear to the X-Universe.
Once again, the folks at Buena Vista Home Entertainment have made this collection - an already ideal addition to the family DVD case - even more attractive by offering the whole shebang for around $20.
 
 
And for your reading pleasure, a previous unpublished review on the previous 2 Buena Vista X-Men DVD collections:
While I am now and always will be a child of the 80s, I have to admit that when it comes to comic books, I have a special place in my heart for the 90s - the decade of gimmick and multiple variant covers, bad girls and big hair. However, one of my favorite comic book related memories from the 90s has always been Marvel's X-Men Animated Series.
Now, you have to understand that for the biggest part of the 90s, I was still an unmarried 20-something year old comic fanatic. Sure, I filled part of that classic geek stereotype…I lived at home with my parents, I made weekly runs to the nearest comic book store with my best friend, you had to navigate your way through my room by following a narrow path through hundreds of long boxes, and Star Wars collectibles covered the walls. Meanwhile, I was bucking the geek stereotype by working full time as a program director/morning man for a nearby radio station - to finance my habit - and I was dating a super model-looking petite princess who was clearly out of my league. So, for my part, I was doing my best to appear "cool." And admitting that I religiously followed a cartoon series - which I would quickly point out that it was an "animated series", like that made a difference - didn't do wonders to boost a reputation for being anything other than a geek.
But, I loved the X-Men Animated Series then, and with the release of the new DVDs I do all over again.
Volumes 3 & 4 contain some of my favorite episodes from the entire series, especially the memorable "Dark Phoenix" 4-parter. I should mention here that storylines like "Dark Phoenix" were one of the reasons why I always thought of the X-Men Animated Series as more than just a cartoon. While the series didn't follow the comic books to a tee, they did make massive storylines make sense to viewers, boldly offering up multipart episodes, something that many other cartoons didn't do at the time.
Everything I loved about the X-Men in the 90s and everything that truly made the X-Men great and made the 90s one of the biggest decades for the team can be found on these DVDs - the big hair (check out guest star Ka-Zar's do in the "Savage Land" 2-parter from Volume 3); the intricate, yet exciting storylines; my favorite set of X-Men costumes ever; and the totally unexpected (Apocalypse teaming up with the X-Men!?!).
Myself, I am especially glad that the X-Men Animated Series has been released on DVD and at a price that is extremely reasonable and affordable - each 2-disc volume should cost you right around $20. In addition to being one of the best comic-to-screen series ever, the X-Men Animated Series is also a great way to introduce younger comic fanatics to the world of Marvel's merry mutants. While I'm not comfortable handing one of my children one of Marvel's current X-Men titles, I have no problem sitting down with my kids and watching these DVDs from beginning to end over and over again. And when my 5 year old daughter asks me why I like comic books so much, I can always pop in one of these DVDs and tell her that this is one of the big reasons why.
The folks at Buena Vista Home Entertainment deserve a HUGE pat on the back for bringing this series to DVD, looking and sounding better than it ever did way back when before the days of my big screen HD TV and theater sound.
Volume 3 includes the following episodes:
Savage Land, Strange Hear (Parts 1 and 2)
Obsession
The Dark Phoenix (Parts 1-4)
Cold Comfort
Orphan's Edge
The Juggernaut Returns
Nightcrawler
Weapon X, Lies, And Video Tape
One Man's Worth (Parts 1 and 2)
Courage
Volume 4 contains the following episodes:
Proteus (Parts 1 and 2)
Sanctuary (Parts 1 and 2)
Beyond Good And Evil (Parts 1-4)
Have Yourself A Morlock Little X-Mas
The Lotus And The Steel
Love In Vain
Secrets, Not Long Buried
Xavier Remembers
Family Ties
Oh, and in case you were wondering…I don't live with my parents anymore. I still read any and every comic book I can lay my hands on, but I no longer decorate the walls with Star Wars action figures - that space is now reserved for sketches, original art and signed comics! And that super model looking petite princess? Well, she's now the queen of my comic book castle and she's sitting right there next to me watching the X-Men Animated Series DVDs along with our two kids!
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