X-Men ’97 #1: To Us Our Beloved X-Men

X-Men ’97 #1 is a comic designed to bridge the gap between the end of X-Men the Animated Series and the new Disney+ series of the same name. It is a nostalgia trip that reminds everyone why X-Men the Animated Series, despite its animation challenges remains so beloved.

It is a nice nod to X-Men history, name-dropping characters who appeared in the series, it provides the reader with just enough Easter eggs to tickle those memory receptors and go “Oh yeah, he was in this too,” even for one episode.

Jubilee gets a nice moment to shine, as the team races to save Dazzler from the clutches of everyone’s least favorite supremacists, the Friends of Humanity. For the most part character personalities shine through and the art matches the animation style well. It also serves to set up relationships with each other. Jubilee to the team, Storm and Jubilee, Rogue and Gambit, Jean and Scott, Jean and Storm, Scott and Wolverine, Bishop and the present, etc.

It is a good reminder of where these characters were at the end of the series, while also giving characters that have yet to get a lot of screen time in the show a chance to be seen. Bishop’s personality shines in a few moments outside of the man of the future stuck in the present. Rogue and Gambit’s dynamics are on full display and Jubilee shows she is not just the kid on the team anymore. The dialogue also does a great job of capturing each character’s unique voice.

The comic sets the stage to get into the weeds of the series which will likely answer a few other questions the first issue leaves out, that either it or the series will answer. It laid the groundwork for what it wants to accomplish while delivering a lighthearted, and even hopeful comic for the mutant future.