10 Must-Read Marvel Comics Inspiring X-Men ’97 Season 2

At the end of X-Men ’97’s first season, the team is separated across time, with half going to a dark future ruled by the conqueror Apocalypse. There, Cyclops and Jean Grey reunite with their son Nathan, who they sent to the future in a desperate act to save him from an incurable virus. Nathan will, of course, return to the present as an adult, now the grizzled warrior Cable. Despite all the time travel shenanigans involved, X-Men ’97 tells the story in a fairly clear manner. The same cannot be said of Cable’s comic book origin, which was retold and retconned throughout the early nineties.

The four-issue limited series X-Men: The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix represents one of Marvel’s clearest attempts to solidify the backstory. By 1994, Cable had been fully established as the son of Cyclops and Jean Grey (well, a clone of Jean Grey, but we don’t have time to get into that). Written by Scott Lobdell and drawn by Gene Ha, The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix not only sends the titular heroes into the future to raise their son, but also provides a coherent narrative to explain how their baby became a cyborg solider from the future.

In spite of, or perhaps because of, the initial mystery surrounding his backstory, Cable was a sensation almost immediately when he debuted in 1990’s The New Mutants #87. Between the clamor for Cable and the sensational response to artist Rob Liefeld’s kinetic (if compositionally unsound) art work, The New Mutants soon transformed from a dramatic book about teenagers at Xavier’s school to a story about a mutant military. To facilitate that change, The New Mutants was canceled and X-Force debuted in June 1991. It quickly became one of Marvel’s most popular books.

X-Men ’97 does a truncated version of X-Force’s introduction, as Cable decides to form a team of mutants who will fight to protect their people while the X-Men are scattered across time. Those left hungry for more after X-Force’s spotlight episode of the show should go straight to the source and check the first five issues of the original series, collected in Under the Gun. Although co-writer Fabian Nicienza can only do so much to craft a coherent narrative around plotter and artist Liefeld’s plots, no one who craves over the top mutant action will leave disappointed.

X-Force officially forms in the second episode of X-Men ’97’s second season, “A Force to Be Reckoned With.” They’re not the only new team at work, however, as they run afoul of X-Factor, a government-sponsored team led by Cyclops’s brother, Havok. The episode highlights the ideological differences between the two teams, but one look at the groups’ first comics reveals some stylistic contrasts as well.

Introduced in X-Factor #71, written by Peter David and illustrated by Larry Stroman, this team has to be the public face of the mutants, presenting a comforting, smiling presence to a world that hates and fears them. A master of characterization and sharp humor, David makes the team feel like fully-realized, three-dimensional people, despite the fact that X-Factor consists of Z-listers like Strong Guy and Multiple Man. Even better, Stroman’s distinctive and expressive pencils acknowledge the oddity of X-Factor’s situation, making the series one of the most interesting superhero books of its time.

So if half of the X-Men are in the future, and X-Force and X-Factor are in the present, where is everyone else from X-Men ’97? The answer is the far past, and its not an accident. Magneto, Xavier, and others have been sent to Ancient Egypt, where they encounter an outcast named En Sabah Nur. When Magneto and Xavier meet him, En Sabah Nur has been shunned from his tribe for his mutant appearance. But he will soon gain advanced technology that renders him immortal, allowing him to become the futuristic conqueror known as Apocalypse.

Although Apocalypse first appeared in an early issue of X-Factor, his true history was unknown until the 1996 miniseries, X-Men: The Rise of Apocalypse. Written by Terry Kavanagh and penciled by Adam Pollina and Anthony Williams, Rise of Apocalypse shows how En Sabah Nur joined the Sandstormers and accepted their “Survival of the Fittest” ethic. Further, it outlines his first encounter with the god-like Celestials, who not only give him his unstoppable armor, but also gives him a reason to test the weak and reward the strong.

Some people watching the first episodes of X-Men ’97’s second season may feel a bit of disappointment. Yes, the action is all there and all our favorite characters are back. But none of those issues resolve the cliffhanger from the first season, when Magneto ripped the adamantium skeleton out of Wolverine. In fact, when we see Wolverine, he’s mostly fine. Yes, he now has bone claws instead of metal claws, but he looks pretty cool in the bandana he wears as a mask.

If only you knew what was under that bandana… the fallout of Wolverine losing his adamantium was one of the weirdest periods in X-Men history. The story managed to get at the central questions surrounding the character, especially the tension between man and beast. But it did so in a way that’s absurd, even for superhero comics. We won’t spoil that here, but you can start getting the details by reading “The Road to Casablanca,” by Scott Lobdell and Joe Madureira, a key story in Wolverine’s transformation, and an important Apocalypse tale as well!

As already stated, the X-Men were largely running on fumes throughout the 1990s. They got a jumpstart in 2001, when gonzo Scottish writer Grant Morrison took over the book, bringing along their countryman and frequent collaborator, penciler Frank Quitely. Season one of X-Men ’97 already integrated some of Morrison and Quitely’s run, namely the annihilation of Genosha that kicks off their first storyline, E is for Extinction.

However, there’s still plenty from that storyline to go into season 2. The trailers have already shown the team in the black leather costumes that Quietly designed for the run. In E is for Extinction, we learn that the team dons the costumes to distinguish themselves from mainstream superheroes.

Although he started out as a basic Silver Age villain, Magneto has been a more complicated figure since the 1970s. As in the animated show, Magneto even fully joined the X-Men on several occasions. However, Magneto began to turn back to the dark side in the ‘90s, culminating with the Fatal Attractions crossover. That story builds to an event that has already happened in X-Men ’97, the removal of Wolverine’s skeleton.

Season 2 will add another aspect of Fatal Attractions, one of the story’s driving figures, the mutant known as Exodus. Introduced in 1993’s X-Factor #92, Exodus was born in 12th century France and fought in the crusades until he was discovered and reshaped into a servant of Apocalypse, until a defeat left him in stasis for centuries. After Magneto freed him in the present, Exodus became the Master of Magnetism’s most devoted follower… and perhaps the person who brings out the worst tendencies in a man who could be an ally of the X-Men.

Because it has decades of new material to adapt, X-Men ’97 moves fast, burning through entire arcs in just over twenty minutes. While that pace is usually thrilling, it can sometimes leave fans wanting more, as their favorite characters get too little screen time. Fortunately, the show has gone back to its roots, returning to comics for a prequel series that not only fills in some gaps between the two seasons but also gives some extra attention to side characters.

In the first issue of X-Men ’97: Season 2, written by Steve Foxe and illustrated by Salva Espín, focuses on Jubilee and Sunspot, but also features X-Factor and the trio that will soon become X-Force. X-Factor in particular gets more developed here than they are in the cartoon show, in a plot that’s extra fun for longtime readers, as it involves deep cut villain teams such as the Freedom Force, the Mutant Liberation Front, and the Alliance of Evil!