X-Men: Evolution still ranks as my most favorite animated series. And while the animated series was airing on television, Marvel published a few comic books covering smaller chapters in the life of these X-Men. X-Men: Evolution showcases all our favorite mutants during their teens before they turned into fully grown X-Men. It is quite exciting to watch these X-Teens, who have no clue what to do with their powers and how to fit in society. It was easy to connect with these characters who were just teens going to high school, finishing their homework, and trying to deal with their superpowers.
If you’ve seen the cartoon series, the first episode begins with a few of our favorite characters like Scott Summers (Cyclops), Jean Grey (No Codename), and Todd Tolenski (Toad) already studying in Bayville High School. While Ororo Munroe (Storm) is a Professor at the X-Institute and Logan (Wolverine) is running some personal endeavors like hunting his past. But how did they all land up in the Institute, how did Charles Xavier (Professor X) find them or meet them? How did he convince them to join the institute? How did their powers manifest and what was their story before they joined the Xavier’s Institute? Well, that’s the kind of story you can expect from the X-Men: Evolution comic books.
Now if you don’t want me spoiling all the fun of reading Issue 01, stop right here and go read the Comic Book. And if you’re still interested in brushing through the story in a few words, keep reading.
Issue 01 is named ‘Lines in the sand’ and goes back a year before the cartoon series began.
Logan is found unconscious in the snowy forests of Canada. Ororo is just a college student at Bayville High School. Charles bumps into Ororo outside the school as she rescues a person from a car accident with the help of her powers. Charles approaches Ororo later that day and explains how he is a mutant too. He strikes Ororo’s interest, but the way Charles approaches Ororo on a lonely street was a little creepy. Even the part where he holds her hand and invites her to discuss more over a cup of coffee.
At this time Charles and Eric Lehnsherr (Magneto) are friends and meet up from time to time. Charles expresses his delight about finding another mutant. Charles and Eric disagree about their vision for the future of mutants. This part was classic Professor X and Magneto, Professor X being very naïve and optimistic, while Magneto, a vengeful sociopath biased toward preparing for a war against humans. Now just as Professor X is connecting with mutants like Ororo to build a strong community, Magneto is doing the same, but he is building an army, and one of his associates is Raven Darkholme (Mystique). But for some reason, Magneto keeps her a secret from Professor X. Understandable, as he is devious and always has ulterior motives of his own.
Professor X and Magneto both take an interest in Logan, who has now escaped his captors and is in America. Professor X uses Cerebro to locate Logan. I am not sure how Magneto locates Logan though. Perhaps he just follows Professor X. I bet that’s why Magneto shows Professor X the footage of Logan in the first place. Very shrewd of Magneto. Logan is on the run and is oblivious to his past or his future. But when Professor X and Magneto both approach him with their vision of the future. Eric presents the option of War, while Charles presents Peace. And to my surprise, Logan chooses Peace. At this time Logan doesn’t seem to recollect much of his past. But we all know he has participated in countless wars, is an ultimate killing machine, and has fought alongside Captain America in the Second World War. So it was nice to know that Logan is a peace lover and chose Peace over War. Logan was never interested in becoming the ultimate weapon, he was merely a victim of genetic experimentation and was forced into being a killing machine. I’m really glad that Logan continues to show a soft heart underneath his rude external mean attitude, and that he is a preacher of goodwill, compassion, and peace rather than being an agent of murder, catastrophe, and destruction.
Wolverine and Storm are the first to join the X-Men. They are the forces of good who thwart whatever megalomaniac schemes Magneto puts into play. It seems Professor X hasn’t found another mutant in over a year as his X-Men still comprises Wolverine and Storm. But his X-Institute is in the process of opening soon and looking forward to welcoming gifted youngsters to the school. And just then Cerebro notifies Professor X of another teenager whose X-gene has just activated and who could be in trouble. The teenager is our beloved Scott Summers who blows the ceiling of the hospital with his optic blasts. That’s the cliffhanger at which the comic book ends.
Overall, it was a very quick wrap-up of how Professor X met and recruited his first two X-Men. Not a lot of action, but decent mutant-related drama. I liked Professor X in the animated series much more, he seemed wiser and more level-headed. The Professor X in this comic book issue seemed a little naïve, but perhaps that was intentional. Not many teenagers in this issue. I think the writers needed to set a foundation of the original X-Men first before they could begin introducing the teenagers one by one. Not an amazing issue, it could have been written much better, but not as bad either as it covers some of the important fundamentals. The cartoon series is definitely fantastic, but for diehard fans like me, additional information about this amazing world of X-Men: Evolution is always welcome and appreciated. Especially since the cartoon series was canceled after 4 seasons. Even though they had plans to make a 5th season. I hope you enjoy reading X-Men: Evolution Comic Book Issue 01.
