Wolverine and the X-Men: First Impressions.

I've watched the first four or five episodes of Wolverine and the X-Men and it's pretty decent. It's kind of cross between the X-Men series on FOX in the '90s and the X-Men: Evolution series from a couple of years ago, in that it's faithful to a lot of elements of the comic book, but they have also made a lot of the characters younger and they are trying to develop their own stories.

Yes, it is strange to see Wolverine in a leadership position, and there is at least one episode so far where his is the only "X-Man" featured (Gambit was also in that episode, but he hasn't officially joined the team yet). There is an attack targeted against telepaths, and Professor X and Jean Grey go missing. Cyke is despondent after losing Jean, so he really isn't in the frame of mind to pull the team together, and after a visit from Professor X from the future, he tells Wolverine he has to put the team back together.

The animation is alright, it is obviously a kids show, because Wolverine doesn't get his costume trashed every time he fights like he does in the comics, even when he gets hit square in the chest with a laser. There was also a car chase involving the Blob that was kind of awkward.

But overall, I like it. It's entertaining, I'm probably not going to go out and buy it on DVD, but I will certainly make sure that my DVR is recording every episode.

X-Men News 11/19/08

Over on Marvel's site, you can watch two new Wolverine and the X-Men clips. The second one is a short behind the scenes with the vocal actors, and I'm pretty sure I've seen the first one. If you haven't checked it out, head over there, I personally can't wait until it starts in January.

There's another article called Archrivals: X-Men vs Marauders. It features one of the very first X-Men comics I ever bought; X-Men #211. I loved the Mutant Massacre story, which was the first appearance of the Marauders; it's pretty much one of Chris Claremont's last good storyarcs and it's what got me interested in the X-Men. The back-to-back issues where Wolverine fights Sabertooth (#212 & 213) blew me away when I was a kid and think I read my copies probably 938 times.

There's also a First Look at X-Men: Kingbreaker. As I said yesterday, I'm going to pick this book up because it involves Havok, and I think he's one of the most underutilized X-Men. He had a good run as the leader of X-Factor in the mid-to-late 90s, but he really hasn't been used too much lately.

Wolverine and the X-Men Trailer #2.

Marvel released another article about the new Wolverine cartoon today. You can see the newest trailer for the series there as well. I've been psyched to see this show for awhile, it looks really cool and really well-done. I can't wait for 2009 to get here.

Wolverine and the X-Men Trailer.

Marvel released a trailer for Wolverine and the X-Men. You can see it here. It. Looks. AWESOME. I can't wait for it to start. As I've said before, I've gotta figure out a way to get Nicktoons Network before the end of the year. Hmmm, I just checked my cable provider, and it looks like I get it. I will have to verify that tonight. If I do get it, that makes me even more excited for this show to start.

Iron Man & Wolverine Animated Series.

Exciting news! Marvel announced that the both the Iron Man & Wolverine Animated Series will be on Nicktoons in 2009. Each will get 26 episodes. Sounds awesome, the only problem is; I don't think I get Nicktoons. I need to figure that out before 2009.

In other X-Men news, Marvel also released a Q&A: X-Men: Divided We Stand Part 1 article.