The latest rash of superhero movies (Iron Man, The Hulk, Wolverine) has made me even more interested in different media that the stories of my childhood have been translated into and transmitted through for current generations. You can find my thoughts on the dual stories involving the Hulk (Hulk Vs.) elsewhere on HJ but I recently watched a batch of the latest X-Men-related cartoons released by Marvel. Released in two volumes so far, "Heroes Return Trilogy" and "Deadly Enemies" contain the first eight episodes of the series which premiered earlier this year on the Nicktoons Network. While I'm not always good about staying up with the DVR on watching cartoons, it's pretty easy to follow the overarching storyline here, and the level of action and adventure is significantly stronger than cartoons from my childhood.

I've become more of a collector of DC Comics-related stories like the Superman/Batman lines that come every year and Final Crisis, but I do try to keep up with a bunch of the X-Men titles that I can read for free at Barnes & Noble. From what I can tell, the storylines involved in Wolverine and the X-Men are generally speaking part of the overarching themes that the comics have seen over the last few years. Of course, their interpretation is significantly different because the parts are moving, but there are things that stay the same.

Professor Xavier gets hurt/killed/comatose in an explosion, while the Brotherhood of the Mutants "retreats" to Genosha (which had been the home of serious mutant-haters back in the day when I was collecting the comics). The X-Men and the Brotherhood are at odds, but they are also sometime allies. Now, both sides are oppressed by the Mutant Response Division (MRD) and the Mutant Registration Act plans of Senator Kelly (didn't he become soup in the first X-Men movie?). Jean Grey has gone missing since the explosion, and Cyclops hasn't fallen for the White Witch, Emma Frost, who may or may not be up to no good. So, some of those things are similar, some are altered, but most of the characters remain the same.

Wolverine has more of a prominent leadership role; while the comics always paint Cyclops as the leader and Wolvie as the rogue, it seems like the current Wolverine craze has refocused the story around him. Joining him are a group that includes Cyclops, Beast, Iceman, Colossus, Angel, Storm, Nightcrawler, and others, while the evil side revolves around Magneto, Quicksilver, Psylocke, Blob, Toad, and others. It's great fun watching two "teams" who sometimes work together as a whole, sometimes crash into each other, and sometimes disintegrate on their own. Learning teamwork is lesson number one for kids watching this show: how not working together results in catastrophe but teamwork is quite exciting.

While I'm in "lesson" mode, it's worth noting that the ways that people accept each other or don't is crucial to the plot directions in the animated series and is pressed as fully to the audience's attention as if Bryan Singer were still directing. Whether it's the obvious depiction of acceptance that Wolverine finds early on in the home of a biracial couple, or the dialogue revolving around the lack of acceptance that Angel Worthington finds in his own family, kids and adults too will see that the dynamics of acceptance, persecution, and understanding differences are comparable to the real world that we live in. That is, it doesn't seem like a stretch to make up the difference between the lives of these superpowered folks and the lives we lead. In fact, the cartoon seems less about their powers and more about their getting along, their inner thoughts, and the way that they come to grips in community. These comic book characters truly collide with real life, in much the way that the latest live-action films have.

To have the full feel for how these stories develop, and to understand the dynamics of Wolverine's interaction with Xavier, Cyclops, and the most divided of characters, Rogue, it's best to start at the beginning and work your way through. But each story is entertaining and carries with it the promise of a lesson for our younger viewers. In the end, they'll find heroes here, and choices too, but most of all, they'll learn that our community is stronger when everyone is acknowledged as a person of worth.