Early X-Force Super Computer
by Jacob Malewitz
The best of X-Men The Animated Series:
Beyond Good and Evil
An article that defines why Beyond
Good and Evil was the best of the great X-Men animated series of
the 1990s
Beyond Good and Evil was the
best of the stories told in the X-Men animated series, which, for
those who aren’t familiar with the series, ran 1992-1997. The
series was incredibly popular, told many of the best stories, but,
with all the grace of The Phoenix Saga, proved that
complicated stories could be told even to series intended for
children and young adults.
It’s sad that Beyond Good
and Evil was never released onto DVD like The Phoenix
Saga was. The story combined many of the best characters
available in the X-Men world. All the main cast, including Charles
Xavier, Wolverine, Cyclops, Jean Grey, and Gambit. The dynamic
characters of Bishop and Cable were also added to round out the major
characters.
The opponent for the X-Men in Beyond
Good and Evil was Apocalypse, one of the most evil characters in
the rogues gallery of the X-Men, who would make even Magneto look
like a boy scout.
The story was set around Apocalypse’s
desire to rule all time. As Cable said while trying to assassinate
him, “for over 5.000 years the world has had to put up with
Apocalypse.” Cable is intent on killing the villain once and for
all.
The master of evil, the man who created
the four horsemen, decides that he is cursed to fight commoners like
Cable and X-Men to the end of his days. While trying to assassinate
Apocalypse, Cable is led into a trap and his computer, which allows
him to travel through time, is taken from him by the villain.
Apocalypse’s taking the computer is
the first move of his plans for world domination. He devises a plan
to conquer all time by kidnapping all the psychics of the world,
which includes Jean Grey and Charles Xavier, and to use their powers
to control the axis of time. The plan spreads across the universe, as
far as the Shi’ar empire (one of the more powerful galactic
civilizations in the X-Men mythos), and it takes the X-Men time, and
help, to figure out what Apocalypse’s plan. Can they stop the
villain?
Characters like Cable and Bishop bring
in enough dynamics to make the story a classic for X-Men fans. Cable
isn’t one to quit. He hatches a plan to battle Apocalypse across
time, to defeat him and save the universe. Bishop finds himself stuck
at the axis of time, the place where all time passes and where
Apocalypse resides, and, being a super hero, decides to attack the
villain there.
Apocalypse recruits other villains in
his cause for domination: Mr. Sinister, Magneto, Sabretooth,
Mystique, and others play parts in battling the X-Men and their
allies.
Sounds complicated, but that’s just
what makes it one of the more original X-Men series storylines. If
there was any story in the entire X-Men series written just for
adults it was these episodes. Other classics like Days of the
Future Past, could also be considered to be written for the adult
comic fan, but none were as epic as Beyond Good and Evil.
According to Wikipedia, the story was
loosely based on Age of Apocalypse, an X-Men comic story.
Many might argue that certain stories
were better. The Phoenix Saga seemed to have a bigger effect
on the continuity of the series. There were some episodes that
focused on sole characters, like Wolverine and the whole Weapon X
storyline, that were popular as viewers had a chance for some real
characterization. Beyond Good and Evil was so good because it
lasted so long, which made it able to focus on certain stories,
connect other time travel storylines from previous episodes, and, as
a whole, tell a X-Men story like it should be told.
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