11 references and in-jokes in X-Men ’97: Season Two comic Issue #3

By Alex Wiggan

The third issue of the X-Men ’97: Season Two comic is now out in shops and on digital. The comic – a tie-in companion to the second season of X-Men ’97 – expands the stories being told on television, to highlight what characters are doing when they aren’t on screen.

I’ve previously discussed the highlights, in-jokes, and references from Issue #1 and Issue #2, and below I’m highlighting all the references and insights which appear in Issue #3. So, if you want to know what you might have missed from the comic, this post is for you.

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The Acolytes

First up, the issue opens with a “Previously on X-Men” recap which includes X-Force meeting the Acolytes. Fans of the X-Men ‘97 TV show know the Acolytes turned up in the series in the episode ‘Strange Land, Savage Heart’.

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Madripoor

As the story gets underway, the action kicks off in Madripoor. Fans of the comics will know Madripoor is a fictional island city located in Southeast Asia, which appears regularly in X-Men stories.

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Scum and villainy

Cut to an auction scene which is attended by some of the Marvel Universe’s most vile villains, including members of Hydra and AIM.

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Where does he get those wonderful toys?

The auctioneer is selling off a number of items taken from various Marvel heroes and villains, including a goblin glider from the Green Goblin / Hobgoblin, as well as some of the Hulk’s clothing from his Joe Fixit persona. Joe Fixit is the Hulk’s mob enforcer personality.

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Pestilence

One of the attendees at the audition is Pestilence – former Horsewoman of Apocalypse. She also namechecks Famine.

While the TV show focuses on War as a target of X-Force, the comic is making it clear the team is going after other key players in an attempt to track down Apocalypse.

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Archangel of death

There’s also a hint here of what is to happen to War when X-Force catch up with him (i.e. they kill him in the episode ‘A Force to Be Reckoned With’).

In the comic, when Jubilee asks Cable what is to be done with Pestilence, he responds: “Archangel will… contact the local authorities.” Nope, he’s going to kill her.

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The other Horsemen

After retrieving a gemstone from the auction, Psylocke uses her mutant powers to see if she can access some information about Ozymandias and Apocalypse. This leads Psylocke to see a vision of Apocalypse and his Horsemen.

The Horsemen seen here are the quartet who appear in the four-part X-Men: The Animated Series story, ‘Beyond Good and Evil’.

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What’s in a name?

As Psylocke looks to the past she sees Apocalypse in a romantic embrace with the X-Ternal. In X-Men: The Animated Series and X-Men ‘97 the X-Ternal has so far remained unnamed, but here she is given the name Candra.

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Set in stone

The flashback sequences also include a scene in which Ozymandias betrays Apocalypse and is turned to stone in the process. When Ozymandias appears in X-Men ‘97 it is in his stone form, so this issue briefly explains some of his backstory.

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Exodus

An early version of Exodus also appears, but in his more human form of Bennet Du Paris. Apocalypse is involved in his transformation into the mutant who is later seen in X-Men ’97.

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A new evil?

And finally, as the issue comes to an end, a big reveal is dropped: Apocalypse has a child. This is something which has never been mentioned on X-Men: The Animated Series or X-Men ‘97.