Normal humans live in constant fear of a race called mutants, and sometimes with very good reasons. Mutants are people who are born with special powers ranging from telekinesis, to manipulation of the weather. Humanity's fear causes them to act out in very negative and violent ways.
A mutant by the name of Charles Xavier has a dream. He believes that one day humans and mutants can coexist in peace, and to help see his dream realized, Xavier created the X-Men. A team of mutants who are every bit as determined to see the dream come to reality. But, there are humans and mutants who don't share the same beliefs, and they're every bit as determined to see their own dream realized.
Previous Volumes:
X-Men Volume One
X-Men Volume Two
X-Men Volume Three:
After the events that took place at the end of The Phoenix Saga. The X-Men continue to move on after losing one of their own. However, their friend soon returns still possessed by an entity called The Phoenix. For her own reasons, this being refuses to leave her hosts body. The Phoenix then reveals that she's been experiencing new emotions that are completely alien to her. This causes the X-Men to drop their guard, and are now forced into a battle with a group of mutants calling themselves The Inner Circle. -summary
X-Men: Volume Three continued to stick with what works. This volume introduces more of the popular and original X-Men, in the forms of Iceman, Nightcrawler, Dazzler, and even X-Factor members Havok and Polaris. Also once again, another very popular and well known storyline goes through a transformation and is well delivered, this happens to be The Dark Phoenix Saga. This is the sequel to The Phoenix Saga.
This volume has a very entertaining batch of episodes. The first two are a very slow start in my view, but things literally kick off with a vengeance by the third episode, which is called Obsession. This episode features Archangel on a revenge driven mission to find the fatal weakness, which can put and to the mutant Apocalypse, who happens to be a very powerful mutant, and claims to have lived for thousands of years. He is believed to be immortal. This is a very good episode of blind revenge and hatred.
Next is the four part series The Dark Phoenix Saga. Once again, those who are unfamiliar with the source material will more than likely enjoy it. Others may only enjoy it if they come into it with an opened mind. This chapter is very action packed, and it can also appeal to the drama oriented. I really enjoyed how the deception that took place remained very faithful to the source material. The mutant psyhic abilities of The White Queen Emma Frost, and the mutant illusionist Mastermind, are very well used while working in unison performing their mind games on Phoenix. It's nowhere near as good as the comic, but it gets the job done and the ending is pretty good as well.
A majority of the second disk consist mainly of stand alone episodes, that range from ok to very good. The stand out for me is the two parter One Man's Worth. These episodes take place with the time traveler Bishop, and in an alternate time with a civil war taking place between mutants and humans. These two episodes are packed with action, which consist of some heated battles with the futuristic sentinel Nimrod. This volume also takes a crack at religious themes in the episode featuring Nightcrawler.
The animation and artwork is again very good, but not on par with The Phoenix Saga or Out of the Past. The episode Cold Comfort happens to be the best visually. The soundtrack remains stellar, but nothing new to really point out.
One of the best features of this volume is definitely the characters, because the line up really needed some new faces. However, it's a mixed bag in a way, because so many characters make appearances only to be once and done. Iceman makes such a great impression that it's sad to see him go. The same can also be said for Archangel. This also leads into my major problem with the series, and it's the overall misuse of characters. Most of the original X-Men are nothing more than guest stars, despite being far more popular than some in this line up. I also have to mention that episode 45 has some problems with its editing. Such as dialogue being removed while Wolverine fought Sabretooth, and they were even speaking with each others voices.
This is the episode listing spread across the two disk set:
Disk 1
34) Savage Land, Strange Heart Part 1
35) Savage Land, Strange Heart Part 2
36) Obsession
37) The Dark Phoenix Saga Part 1: Dazzled
38) The Dark Phoenix Saga Part 2: The Inner Circle
39) The Dark Phoenix Saga Part 3: The Dark Phoenix
40) The Dark Phoenix Saga Part 4: The Fate of the Phoenix
Disk 2
41) Cold Comfort
42) Orphan's End
43) The Juggernaut Returns
44) Nightcrawler
45) Weapon X, Lies, and Video Tape
46) One Man's Worth Part 1
47) One Man's Worth Part 2
48) Courage
Volume three is another solid collection of episodes, but I feel the second volume is better, because there's more episodes on this one I may never watch again. Still, definitely worth it if you're a fan of X-Men or American animation. This volume has a 345 minute run time.
Pros:
-Another nice take on old stories, more classic characters make appearances
Cons:
-X-Men line up needed revamping because the usual characters were getting stale
