1) The Night Of The Sentinels
The two-part series opener introduces us to the world of the X-Men through the eyes of Jubilee, acting as a brilliant welcome to the team and the threats they face. It’s amazing how quickly it’s all established.
2) Days Of Future Past
Bishop tumbles back through time to stop an assassin from killing Senator Kelly, but who is the hitman? It’s superbly done and an incredibly ambitious first season two-parter, and shows how confident they were.
3) Til Death Do Us Part
X-Men shocked everyone when they killed a mutant in their first episode. This chilling two-parter brings him back, as a brainwashed Morph does the bidding of Mister Sinister and runs amok at the mansion.
4) Repo Man
Wolverine gets some back story as he runs across Vindicator and Alpha Flight. Turns out someone’s desperate to get the secrets of his adamantium skeleton. It’s a great mostly solo outing for Logan, which fills in some history and some motivation.
5) Time Fugitives
Bishop is back for more time travel antics with the even-more-tricky-than-’Days Of Future Past’ two-parter, as he’s followed through time by Cable, who must stop him from stopping Apocalypse to stop a
deadly plague.
6) The Phoenix Saga
Technically cheating because this spans seven episodes, but this is the show at its finest, introducing alien threats and sending Jean Grey to the edge. It’s not just huge in scope; it’s genuinely moving.
7) Cold Comfort
The show gave us a look at a time before Jubilee’s arrival with this excellent episode focusing on Bobby ‘Iceman’ Drake. We get to see someone else rile Cyclops, and how a X-Man could decide to leave the mansion and the team.
8) Nightcrawler
Wolverine tended to do best when it came to the psychological exploration, and this sweet one-hander confronted him with his loss of faith, while giving our favourite teleporter a great classic monster-movie story in a German monastery.
9) Sanctuary
Magneto was never just treated as a one-dimensional villain, and in ‘Sanctuary’ we get to see his efforts to find a new home for his fellow mutants. Naturally, it doesn’t work out, as he’s double crossed by
Fabian Cortez.
10) Graduation Day
The finale saw Xavier on the brink of death thanks to Henry Gyrich. The mutants tell Magneto, who calls off his plan to destroy mankind, and they all gather to bid him farewell. It’s a touching end to a brilliant show.
You can buy X-Men: The Animated Series in various box sets on Amazon, distributed by Clear Vision Ltd. For more news on the biggest TV shows, pick up the latest issue of SciFiNow.