X-Men '92 #1

Grab your Lisa Frank stationary and some Ring Pops, put on your neon windbreaker, and maybe listen to some pop stars fresh out of the Mickey Mouse Club because we’re going back to the 90s in this wild X-Men adventure. And trust me, this is the most fun you’ll have all summer. 

Writer: Chad Bowers & Chris Sims

Artist: Scott Koblish

Colourist: Matt Milla

Letterer: Travis Lanham

Publisher: Marvel

X-Men ’92 is part of Marvel’s big summer event, Secret Wars, first released digitally as a Marvel Infinite Comic and will be released in print in June. For any nostalgic comic fans X-Men ’92 comes HIGHLY recommended— especially in digital form. The panel flow in a Marvel Infinite digital comic will add to the feel that the comic is more ‘animated’ and seeing as it’s meant to emulate the animated series it’s a nice little touch to its reading experience. 

Those who are familiar with the X-Men animated series of the 90s will immediately be drawn in, the characters, their costumes, speech patterns, everything, is just like the series. You can actually hear their over the top accents and it’s beautiful. And a little heartbreaking because you’ll realize it never gets better than this. Back when Rogue could fly, and Cyclops was Scott ‘wet blanket’ Summers (in the best way possible), and Storm was incredibly dramatic, Professor X is father figure/mind manipulator extraordinaire, and Jubilee is just the cutest/coolest. 

The story starts off with the X-Men training at a LASER TAG ARENA because there’s nothing cooler than laser tag. It’s a brilliant way to start off, easy enough to introduce the characters, letting each of them speak as the smack talk each other, and it’s absolutely perfect to display the art. Stunningly vibrant, some neon colours, plus it’s just one of the many great callbacks to the animated series— when the sentinels attack the mall! 

Now this isn’t just a rehash of the animated series, just to be clear. Though the story takes much from the series (which is its drawing factor), it doesn’t let you forget that this story still falls into Secret Wars, and there’s some good twists that occur to create a unique story that fans haven’t experienced yet even if they’ve watched every episode of the animated series.

The writing is so on point for this series so far which makes it such an enjoyable experience. But in addition to the writing, huge kudos must also go to the rest of the creative team for giving it the perfect visual accompaniment. While it’s obvious that it’s not Jim Lee on art, the style is reflective enough that it still feels like you’re going back in time a little, with the bold lines and bright colours but with just enough rendering to still keep it feeling modern enough. If you wanted to read an X-Men comic from the 90s exactly, just look at a comic shop’s back issues box. 

What this series does is bring all of the fun of the 90s series into something that still reads a little more modernly which is a perfect balance. To be honest, I can’t speak for how readers who are unfamiliar with the 90s series are going to take to this series. It’s fun, a little campy, and extremely nostalgic and it’s perfect for a fan like me. 

yes i'm biased. yes i'm nostalgic. yes this is all i ever wanted.