Welcome to Adventure(s) Time's 123rd installment, a look at animated heroes of the past. This week, we're concluding our look at Magneto's introduction on X-Men: The Animated Series, which featured a memorable adaptation in Japan. And if you have any suggestions for the future, let me hear them. Just contact me on Twitter.

"Deadly Reunions," written by animation vet Don Glut, premiered on January 23, 1993, the first episode of the show not to air as a "sneak preview." As mentioned last time, the manga adaptation (reprinted in America in 1998) omitted Magneto's closing monologue from the third episode, but the opening of the "Deadly Reunions" adaptation is apparently an attempt to establish the same information, which is simply Magneto affirming he'll meet the X-Men again.

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What's truly remarkable about the comic is how it takes the cartoon's opening sequence for the episode -- Xavier exploring the depths of Sabretooth's mind to locate the source of his violent rages -- and uses it as a means to create some truly intense imagery.

The episode is adapted by the writer/artist team of Reiji Hagihara and Mutsumi Masuda (with some touch-ups in America by Dan Nakrosis and Rob Kuzmiak), and reprinted in America as X-Men: The Manga #7-9.  It's unclear if the manga creators had access to the actual cartoon or were simply going off translations of scripts, but it's remarkable to see how they've interpreted "Xavier and Sabretooth do battle with his inner demons." In the cartoon, they're multi-colored, almost cute little creatures. In the manga, they're truly disturbing!

We even have a monster Wolverine who emerges from Sabretooth's subconscious, ready for blood.

Quite a departure from the show's rendition of a "Wolverine monster."

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After Xavier recounts his attempts to treat Sabretooth (and Wolverine once again reminds us of just how much he wants to kill the mystery mutant from his past), the X-Men are alerted to Magneto's attack on a nearby chemical plant. Leaving Jubilee behind to guard Sabretooth, the X-Men suit up for battle. As Magneto awaits their arrival, he speaks one of the worst lines of the show's run: "I wonder how you'll look, Charles, after so long. Perhaps a toupee?"

To be fair, the show was still finding its footing in these early episodes, and it's unlikely such an out-of-character line from Magneto would've made its way into a later show. What's interesting is how that line shows up in the manga. Magneto instead states, "I'm looking forward to seeing you, Xavier. Are you still as bold as before?" Amazingly, it seems the translators garbled a reference to Xavier's baldness and interpreted it as Xavier being bold. Either that, or someone in the comics division simply hated that joke and made a quick edit, replacing one letter to create a less cringey line.

The X-Men's confrontation with Magneto is slightly blunted by the network's censorship, but the manga does provide a suitably intense fight scene.

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Storm's battle with her claustrophobia is dramatized well in the manga, as is Rogue's reluctant choice to provide Cyclops CPR, leaving her with uncontrolled optic blasts. The battle ends when Xavier telepathically forces Magneto to relive his past, which compels him to flee. It's not quite as intense as Sabretooth's psychic surgery, but the imagery remains impressive.

Meanwhile, Sabretooth tricks Jubilee into loosening his restraints as they watch news footage of Senator Kelly announcing his presidential bid. (These episodes would've aired concurrently with the 1992 election, were the show not delayed by numerous issues with the overseas animation.) Sabretooth’s prepared to kill her, boasting he was faking all along as a part of Magneto's scheme, but Wolverine emerges from the darkness to stop him. When Sabretooth is blasted out of the building by Jubilee, he runs off into the night.

Meanwhile, Magneto floats above a cliff overlooking a city, lamenting that Xavier has sided with humanity. Oddly, these last few seconds of the episode spill over into issue #9's adaptation of the Morlock episode, covering for the episode gap with a simple "some time later..." narrative caption.

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DESIGN-Y

It's important to emphasize just how cool many of these sequences look in the manga adaptation. Magneto is intimidating, the action is kinetic, and as mentioned above, the Sabretooth therapy sequence is worthy of a Denys Cowan or Bill Sienkiewicz. It's also truly manga in places, such as Rogue's crazed reaction to receiving Cyclops' powers.

CONTINUITY NOTES

As Xavier mentally examines Sabretooth in the episode’s opening, there are cameo appearances from Deadpool, Shiva, Maverick, Omega Red and a female secret agent named Janice, who was introduced in the flashbacks of 1991's X-Men #5. She was Wolverine’s love interest, senselessly killed by Sabretooth during a Cold War mission. While she's the most obscure of obscure characters, she featured prominently in a Jim Lee arc, and Jim Lee is all over these early episodes.

The show establishes Storm’s claustrophobia for the first time during Magneto's attack. The flashback to Storm as a child initially featured her with dark red hair during the episode's first airing. It was corrected to white in the repeats.

Rogue really should've absorbed Cyclops' powers instantaneously, not a minute or so after finishing their CPR session. Also, given that Cyclops' inability to control his optic blasts comes from a childhood head injury, it's unlikely Rogue would've had such a difficult time with the blasts.

Traditionally, Magneto’s helmet protects him from Xavier’s telepathic probes, but clearly not in this episode.

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"Huh?" MOMENT

You've really got to wonder why the assembled X-Men allow Sabretooth to simply run off their premises at the end of this episode.

APPROVED BY BROADCAST STANDARDS & PRACTICES

The manga adaptation doesn't have to dance around language like the cartoon, so Wolverine is able to bluntly state his solution to the issue Magneto poses: "It's not so hard a problem. We should just kill him," the living BS&P note says before slicing off the top of a beer can with an extended claw.

It's worth noting, though, that the actual episode features what could be the most violent confrontation of the series' run, as Sabretooth clearly cuts Wolverine's stomach during their fight.

"YOUR SEARCH FOR ACCEPTANCE, A FAILURE."

Overall, this is one of Season 1's better episodes, balancing the subplots, character moments and obligatory fight scene. A rather intense one this time, as Magneto directly threatens innocent civilians, who's chemical plant he's set ablaze. There's a sense of danger here, amplified by Storm's bout of claustrophobia, Cyclops' injury, and Rogue's inability to control the powers she's absorbed. (Putting Rogue in a position where she has to give a fellow mutant CPR might seem obvious, but it had rarely been done at the time of this episode.)

If we'll forgive that toupee joke, the material between Xavier and Magneto remains strong, and Sabretooth is about as intimidating a villain as you'll find on Saturday morning. (It's interesting in retrospect that the censors allowed Jubilee, the most vulnerable of the X-Men, to be his target this episode.) Regarding the manga translation, this might be the best one yet. The art conveys the mood perfectly, selling certain moments of the script hindered by certain limitations of the show, such as the budget and censorship issues. The American reprints of the manga might seem like superfluous material, but issues like this a worthy of a fan's attention.

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