To date, the X-Men have had four animated incarnations on TV.The first was 1989's " Pryde of the X-Men "(unless you count some sporadic appearances of X-Men characters in episodes of " Spiderman & His Amazing Friends ", from the early 1980's).Then from 1992-97, Fox network aired, " X-Men ", which used some the art from " Pryde ", but was much more involved.After the release of the first live action film in 2000, " X-Men Evolution " aired on Kids WB, though I still don't understand to this day why the main characters were made to be high school students? So the latest version is "Wolverine and the X-Men", which is, in a word-Excellent! In W.A.T.X.M., the more purist characters and atmosphere of the 1992 series, is combined with the superior graphics of ' Evolution '.The result is a show that is superior to its predecessors in nearly every way-I say NEARLY because the writing & voice acting of the 1992 series still remains unmatched in my opinion. This series also seems to closely follow the continuity of the live action films.In addition, it should be noted that the late Boyd Kirkland, who was one of the creators of the original ' Batman: The Animated Series ', served as Producer on both " Evo ", and " W.A.T.X.M. ".M

This cartoon really isn't impressive and anybody who doesn't agree is a Wolverine fan. Wolverine AND HIS X-Men as I call it is all about Logan. I know he's popular but the whole point of a team is so that everyone get their own time in the spotlight. This show was all about "Wolverine" not the X-Men they are merely his lackeys. It's not impossible for Wolverine to become leader but the circumstances have to be right. Storm, Nightcrawler or even Beast would have been better at the job especially considering they have successfully fulfilled that role in the past.The overall plot was disappointing we were led on from episode 1 and only saw progress right before the season finale. Some characters simply just fell flat, Blob and Toad were empty shells of their former selves. These guys were never smart or powerful but you could get where they were coming from and what motivated their actions but in this series they were just numb skulls. Emma Frost was also disappointing. I know there were challenges making her character more appropriate for kids but she seemed to be pointless and boring whereas the Emma I'm used to is complex and intriguing. I expected that a team led by Logan would encounter more action but the fight sequences were mainly disappointing.Continuity was also screwed up. Forge was a kid/the tech guy and Kitty was acting like his babysitter on their mission. Here's an accomplished Native American Shaman and a veteran from the Vietnam war who needs the protection of a teenage girl. I wasn't aware X-Men were in the business of babysitting mutant babies. Mystique had this whole fabricated history to tie her in with Wolverine more than her kids Nightcrawler and Rogue. I realize the series tried to incorporate a multitude of x-characters which was noble but ultimately it fell short in the characterization dept.The only reason I gave this show 3 stars is because I enjoyed the Nightcrawler and Cyclops solo episodes, the season finale and a few scenes with Kitty and Rogue.

So, I was a bit skeptical at first glance of this show. I mean, I hate Wolverine, and seeing him a leader just didn't sit right with me. But It is the X-Men and I love the X-Men, so of course I was going to tune it. And I was blown away. For a modern "children's" animated series, this show is full of action, drama, emotion, and character development (for the most part). Now, the first few episodes didn't exactly send me flying out of my seat, but it does have a pretty long (26 episode) season, so of course there as going to be some good and some bad episodes. I waited to review the show until seeing the entire first season, and it's great. I'd say about 2/3 of the first season is good. My favorite episodes of the season would be Hindsight Parts 2 & 3 (ep.2-3), Time Bomb (ep.8), Future X (ep.9), Greetings from Genosha (ep.10), eXessive Force (ep.12) Backlash (ep.18), and Foresight parts 1-3 (ep.24,25,26). Before this, Evolution was my favorite X-Men show, but this just blows Evolution, Pryde, and TAS right out of the water. If you don't think so, just wait until the final three, which will give you a payoff you can't wait to be followed up on.

Okay... while I don't share everyone's enthusiasm i must say that this version of the mythos is just good enough to keep me entertained. Great stories, great voice work, and great action sequences.Wolverine did lead the team on occasion in the books and he is the oldest in the house... makes sense for him to be the leader here. The other thing is that cool is the other characters' personalities. I love the way they portrayed Mr. Sinister, he's absolutely perfect. One of my favorite villains that I've yet to learn everything about. It's like they took both Evo and TAS and mixed them in for a better series. Not perfect in my book, it still leaves me wanting an upbeat soundtrack and brighter style. The whole "we're making it darker" thing doesn't work for me. Every individual X-man is dark and tortured enough. Through some happiness on these characters.When I first saw the ads I got sick to my stomach. The way they designed wolverine's arms and torso is like something out of Fist of the north star... just way to big. Did Rob Liefeld draw this? X-men Evo is a little exaggerated as well but not as much as this one. But I digress, it's very entertaining when you just need another hit of X-men in your veins.Anyway, until Bruce Wayne buys the X-mansion and evicts all the muties to the morlock tunnels... make mine Marvel. :P