The Captivating Case of the World’s Strangest Heroes

Dearest Reader. 

As the eagle-eyed amongst you may have noticed, R&R Investigation’s has been preoccupied these past few weeks with one subject, and one subject only. That is the X-Men. A plethora of mutant themed prints have hit our socials, and indeed, our website (go buy them), and it is time to tell you why. But first, a little background.  

 

One of us adores the X-Men and has for decades. The other is a relative newcomer, who remembered the theme tune, and that they very much enjoyed watching the cartoon when they were eight years old, and not much else. Don’t worry. That has been remedied by the last few months’ steep learning curve. Comics have been read! Action figures studied! The cartoon rewatched from the very beginning! We’ve also watched the live action films together but let’s not dwell on that. Most importantly, X-Men'97 has been greedily consumed. 

 

Long time fans of the franchise are appreciative of every easter egg, reference, and cameo appearance. The team behind this new iteration have not only done their homework, but they all got straight A’s. The comic inspired story strands are so deftly woven and come at you at a pace so cutthroat that it leaves you the impression that every episode is an impossibly dramatic finale. That may be the delicious icing on the cake, but it isn’t what makes it so delicious. The success of this continuation isn’t in the spectacle, despite it being spectacular. It’s in the vibrancy of the characters, and exquisite balance of terrifying real-world allegory, with a tightly written script still fraught with goofy moments of fun. It’s a smart show that doesn’t talk down to its audience. The stories have heart, and characters that we are invested in. A huge departure from MCU’s recent offerings (we’re looking at you Thor 4, Quantumania, and The Marvels).  

 

However, you don’t have to have any familiarity with the X-Men franchise to appreciate this cartoon. You just need the intellectual ability to recognise that just because something is animated, doesn’t mean it is childish. Adult content doesn’t have to be characterised by sex, violence, and swearing. Superheroes aren’t just for children, and comic books can, in fact, be high art. And the X-Men, perhaps above all the other super groups, has always dealt with not only grown up, but downright philosophical content. Since Jack Kirby and Stan Lee first conceived of the X-men all the way back in 1963, it has been a tool for exploring themes of racism, xenophobia, and othering. How sad that half a century later these issues are still in need of examination in mainstream media. Bigotry and prejudice haven’t gone out of style, making that merry band of mutants and their battles as relevant as ever. They are characters that force us to ask questions and interrogate our own assumptions. The inclusion of LGBTQIA+ heroes is a giant step in the right direction. The comics may have been exploring gay issues with storylines like the legacy virus as an analogy for AIDs, but nothing beats having actual representation in a mainstream cartoon. Unlike the Marvel films, which seem to include queer characters only in isolated scenes which can be easily cut out to appeal to foreign markets.  

 

The point is that we have both looked at all the available evidence and concluded that X-Men as whole is, quite frankly, X-ellent. The most recent on-screen Marvel offerings have set a low bar for quality, so there was no need for ‘97 to clear it with a leap so high that it has breathed new life into the MCU. We laughed, gasped, and cried while watching this series.  If that isn’t a ringing endorsement, we don’t know what is. What’s the point of media, art, and yes, even cartoons, if they don’t make us feel something? 

 

 

Our exploration of '97 wouldn't be complete without mentioning the quote that we love the best, and the one which compelled us to add Magneto to our long list of portraiture. 

"Val Cooper: Most other nations don’t allow a terrorist to be their leader.

Magneto: Yet so many allow their leaders to be terrorists."

 This line hits so hard not because Magneto is the undisputed king of zingers, but because it is absolutely true of the world the mutants inhabit, and of our own. It doesn't matter whether you see this character as a countercultural anti-hero, or a violent lunatic, because in this instance, Magneto really was right. The question is what are you going to do about it? If the answer is 'nothing', then you wouldn't be on the same side as the X-Men.  

So thank you for coming on this journey with us and following our obsession with X-Men'97. We hope that you’ve enjoyed it as much as we’ve enjoyed drawing it. Stay tuned for the next rabbit hole we fall down and attempt to navigate our way out of.  

 

Yours Sincerely,  

R&R Investigations