DVD: Wolverine and the X-Men Vol. 5: Revelation
Release Date: May 4, 2010
The Wolverine and the X-Men cartoon from Lionsgate is one of the most consistently enjoyable animated projects to spring out of the Marvel Universe in a long time. It’s a shame, then, that Marvel’s director of animation development recently announced at the C2E2 convention that there would be no second season of the series. The single first season will be the entirety of the TV show, and its DVD release is nearly complete with this week’s penultimate volume, Revelation. Lionsgate sent us an early copy of the DVD, and it lives up to the high expectations set by everything that’s come before this volume in the series.
Revelation collects episodes 19 through 23, all leading up to the final trilogy of episodes, which undoubtedly will be on the sixth DVD volume. The episodes collected here on volume 5 are:
- “Guardian Angel”
- “Breakdown”
- “Rover”
- “Aces & Eights”
- “Shades of Grey”
The DVD also features audio commentary by Craig Kyle, Greg Johnson, and Chris Yost, as well as a trailer gallery. These three showrunners also are behind a number of the X-Men comic books, so it’s been really interesting to hear their comments on the animated series as it progresses.
As a longtime Marvel fan, I really love Wolverine and the X-Men, not just for being a quality Marvel product but also for the way in which it tells its stories. The series is comprised of one long story arc, rather than many disconnected episodes. The story somewhat mirrors some events from the X-Men’s history, but it mostly is an original story that is good for fans and first timers alike. With familiar themes, characters, and events borrowed or modified from stories ranging from Days of Future Past to The Dark Phoenix Saga, this series manages to build a modern X-Men mythology that keeps the spirit and tone of the source material while making everything seem fresh and original.
Wolverine and the X-Men is arguably better than at least one of the X-Men’s motion picture outings, and it trumps most other current animated series. It’s sad to lose such an excellent show to cancellation, and if you’re a Marvel fan who hasn’t seen it yet, you really owe it to yourself to check it out.
