With the animated show, X-Men ‘97 continuing to air on Disney+, and continuing to delight fans in the process, Marvel Comics has been busy publishing a tie-in comic to link to the show. The comic, set before the events of X-Men ‘97, is designed as a prelude to the television show to fill in a few gaps not covered by the series.
Issue #1 was published last month and provided a great little set up to the comic book adventures. Today, sees the release of Issue #2, which continues the story.
For those who follow the animated show, but don’t pick up the comic, there are a few references and in-jokes included in the comic which link to X-Men ‘97, X-Men: The Animated Series, and the wider world of the X-Men. I’ve previously talked about references included in Issue #1 and now it is turn of Issue #2.
Below you will find eight references or points of note from Issue #2. Whether you’re reading the comics or not, here’s what you need to know.
__
Good job, guys!
First up, to get readers up to speed, the opening page of X-Men ‘97 issue #2 provides a quick recap of Issue #1, highlighting the X-Men’s battle with the Nasty Boys at the Charles Xavier Memorial Concert. The events of this encounter are relayed via a news report by news anchor, Trish Tilby.
As Tilby brings her report to an end, she notes the X-Men’s defeat of the Nasty Boys is the “latest high-profile act of heroism from the formerly controversial team, who have become increasingly popular with average Americans in recent months.”
This whole line is important as it makes clear that after years of hard work and discrimination, the X-Men are finally starting to win people over. The world might still have issues with mutants, but the X-Men’s persistence and good deeds is making them appear like the heroes they are, and less like mutant vigilantes, outcasts, or villains as they were often viewed in X-Men: The Animated Series.
__
Who’s that girl?
Straight after Tilby ends her report on the Nasty Boys, she cuts to a story about a psychic ninja. The report is cut off before Tilby can name the ninja, but the accompanying imagery shows that it is Psylocke – a powerful mutant who appeared briefly in X-Men: The Animated Series, most notably in the multipart story, ‘Beyond Good and Evil’.
__
Old school tech
A quick observation: The TV set which displays the news report is a good ol’ chunky CRT set. As a reminder, the reason the TV set looks like this is because X-Men ‘97 is set in the 1997, so the television set is very much in keeping with the time period.
__
On-screen and off
It’s also worth noting, this whole sequence with Trish Tilby opening the issue matches the opening of Episode Five of X-Men ‘97, which also begins with a Trish Tilby news report. This is notable because Issue #2 of the X-Men ‘97 comic debuts on the exact same day as Episode Five of the X-Men ‘97series (April 10th 2024).
__
Enter: Hazard
Next up, as the story starts to get underway, Mr. Sinister sends his new team to attack the X-Men, beginning with an assault on the X-Mansion. It is here that Hazard is properly introduced, following a brief cameo in Issue #1.
Hazard’s general appearance/pose in his initial panel is not too-dissimilar to how he looks on the cover of X-Men Vol 2 Issue #13 (published 1992).
__
A revival
While Hazard is at the X-Mansion fighting Cyclops and Jean (and later Beast), a second attack takes place away from the mansion. This attack, which is targeted at the Blackbird jet carrying Rogue, Jubilee, Gambit, and Bishop, is carried out by Siena Blaze.
Similar to Hazard, Blaze was a minor character in the X-Men comics, created during the 1990s when the X-Men (and comics in general) were having a boom in sales. It’s interesting that Blaze and Hazard are being utilised in this ‘90s-set X-Men ‘97 tie-in comic, because at the time of this issue’s publication, both characters are dead in the regular comics.
To date, neither character has featured in X-Men ‘97, and neither character appeared in X-Men: The Animated Series.
__
The Marauders
The third and final attack on the X-Men takes place in a bar, with the Marauders (led by Sabretooth) confronting Storm and Wolverine. For those unfamiliar with the Marauders, the group originated in the pages of Uncanny X-Men #210 (1986), where they were sent by Mr. Sinister to slaughter the sewer-dwelling Morlocks.
The storyline was known as the Mutant Massacre and is regarded as one of the more notable stories in the X-Men comics.
__
Morphin’ time
And finally, just before the issue ends, Morph pops up to join Wolverine and Storm in battle against the Marauders. This issue marks Morph’s first appearance in the X-Men ‘97 comics, as he was entirely absent from Issue #1 (he didn’t even appear with the rest of the team on the front cover).
__
__
Thank you for taking the time to read this post about X-Men ’97: Issue #2 on It’s A Stampede! – I hope it has proved useful. For more useful posts, be sure to check out the recommended reads below.
It's A Stampede! 
Leave a comment