X-Men: Evolution Season 3 Boxset
Episodes Included: All 13 Season 3 episodes
Month Released: May 2006
MSRP: $20 (U.S.), though I have seen them as cheap as $14
DVD Extras: Cerebro Mutant Files: The X-Men, Cerebro Mutant Files: The Acolytes, X-Men Season 3: X-Posed, Mystique's Trivia Challenge, Trailers
Packaging: The packaging is very nice, and is a bonafied, clear-plastic-covered DVD case now instead of the clip-together cardboard used for the previous X-Men: Evolution DVD released. The artwork on the front is especially nice, and was drawn by Steven E. Gordon (the character designer) just for this set. The art is about on par with the best of the previous DVD covers, and is shaded and proported very nicely-- it hardly looks like a rush job. I do kinda wish that they'd steer away from the "random X-Men in battle poses rushing at the camera" that they've done for nearly every DVD cover now, but eh, whatcha gonna do. I also think it's odd that Wolverine is in his orange-and-black costume on the cover, when he wears that costume in all of one episode in the season... but hey, it still looks good. On the back of the DVD case, another image of several of the X-Men clustered around each other in battle poses is used, this one taken from an earlier Kids' WB promotional image. A somewhat long paragraph explains the major happenings in the Season-- namely, the revealing of Mutants to the public and the rise of Apocalypse-- but doesn't describe each episode like the other DVDs, as you really can't with 13 episodes in the set. On the inside of the case, an double-sided insert lists what's on each DVD included, and also has a few nifty screen caps. The first DVD has a promotional image of Rogue in her civvies, while the second DVD has a promotional image of Nightcrawler in his uniform. Both DVDs are well protected, and kept seperate from each other by a plastic divider, so no scratch worries here.
Cerebro Mutant Files: The X-Men: During this five-minute run-through, Professor Xavier gives brief descriptions, along with various clips, of the X-Men. He gives you all the basic stuff-- their name and codename, their powers, their personality, and in most cases a brief history. There's also some really kickin' background music throughout the feature. However, the title of this feature is somewhat misleading-- if you were an expecting a run-through of all the X-Men, including the students, you're bound to be surprised, as I was. "The X-Men," in this case, refers to Wolverine, Storm, Beast, Angel, and for some reason, the Morlocks as well. The run-through is rather thorough for its length, however, and gives a bit more background to Angel and the Morlocks than is given in the actual TV episodes. We also get the first confirmation in an "official" X-Men: Evolution product on the codenames (but not the real names) of Lucid, Facade, Cybelle, and Torpid. Before this DVD extra, the only places these names had come up in relation to this show as via the show creators' posts on the Web.
Cerebro Mutant Files: The Acolytes: Roughly the same length as the previous extra and following the same format, this run-through gives brief bios for Magneto's Acolytes, including Magneto himself and the often-ignored Mastermind. For long-time fans the series, no new information is given out, but it is officially confirmed that all of the Acolytes have the same real names as their comic counterparts-- which is somewhat news-worthy, given that most of the Acolytes were never called by their real names in the TV show. This feature, like the previous one, has excellent background music (though different from the Cerebro Files X-Men feature, which is certainly good).
X-Men Season 3: X-Posed: The main feature of this set, this five-and-a-half minute long bit is a interview with many of the series creators-- such as Boyd Kirkland, Greg Johnson, Frank Paur, and Craig Kyle-- as they describe the main aspects of the season. Namely, this feature is broken up into sections talking about the exposing of Mutants to the public, the Morlocks, the Acolytes, X-23, and Apocalypse. Like most of the other interview features in past DVD sets, this really doesn't reveal anything new to us (though it does highlight that, yes, X-23 in the comics was spawned from X-Men: Evolution), but it is nice to just have the creators talk about the season. Probably my favorite X-tra in this boxset. (See? I can make corny X-Puns too!)
Mystique's Trivia Challenge: Ugh, yet another lame trivia challenge. Well, okay, this one isn't QUITE as bad as the previous ones, and at least Mystique asks the questions instead of the random announcer guy in the previous trivia challenge, "Toad's Test". Mystique asks you seven easy peezy multiple-choice answer that any casual fan should know in a split second. Still, at least two or three of the questions aren't ridiculously easy, so I suppose that's at least a little bit of an improvement. Mystique's comments are also classic Mystique as well, and liven up the quiz a bit. My least favorite extra of the bunch.
Trailers: No biggie, just the commercial trailers for the Season 1 compiled set, Powers Revealed, Enemies Unveiled, and Mystique's Revenge DVDs. They're fairly cool trailers, and I've never seen them on TV anywhere so there were firsts for me, but it's kind of pointless to include commercials on a DVD advertising DVDs for earlier episodes in the series.
Last Words: My opinion of this set should be pretty self-evident from these three facts: A. Although not mind-blowingly awesome, the DVD extras are certainly above average and fairly entertaining; B. Season 3 is the best season in the series, both in my opinion and, it seems, the opinion of the general population of online X-Men: Evo fans; and C. You get 13 episodes plus extras for $15-20, which is definitely a better deal than any of the previous DVD sets. From this, it's obvious to see what a good buy this long-overdue Season 3 boxset is, and is definitely worth adding to the collection of any X-fan.
Overall Rating: 9/10 Excellent
(Image of DVD set taken from Amazon.com.)