We all waited. And waited. X-MEN:TAS originally aired from 1992-1997. It ran in syndicated reruns all over the planet. A decade and billions of episode views later, there still weren’t any DVDs available (besides bad pirated ones on the web). Finally, in the second half of 2009, Disney/Marvel came out with the 76 episodes on five separate DVDs. No extras. Minimal production effort. Not in the right episode order (nobody asked us). But because of the level of fan love for the series, the basic DVDs were huge best-sellers. That was seven years ago. You’d think simple self-interest would prompt the studio to put together a nice boxed set of the entire series. The cast and artists and writers that I have been interviewing for the “Making of…” book would be eager to participate in a glorious package of extras material. Outside companies (like the excellent Shout Factory) would love to do all of the work on, say, a 25th-anniversary boxed set. But no. Nothing. I’ve asked. I recently discovered that the company that has the rights to the episodes for the European market (Clear Vision: see below) actually has a full boxed set. But again, no extras. A proper tribute edition wouldn’t need a lot of money (the current DVDs don’t look bad), just a lot of care in its organization. Those of us who worked on X-MEN:TAS are willing to contribute that care. The fans of the show deserve no less.
