1993 wasn't just the year when Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers entered. Haim Saban had a contract with Marvel with X-Men: The Animated Series. The late Stan Lee was an executive producer of this show via Marvel Productions. Unlike most Marvel cartoons (which are toned-down versions), the animation came first before the comics. This was another show I remember watching and enjoying the crazy antics. Behind the crazy antics were some injuries that hit the heroes. Throttle has bionic eye. Vinnie's face was mutilated. Modo lost an arm. Okay, those happened OFF-SCREEN but you do know it's not a laughing matter. It's got some comedy involved but not to the point of being slapstick.
I confess to having a crush on Charlene Davidson (aka Charley). It's hinted she and Vinnie are an item. I must admit she was a lame reason to watch the show. If there was Kimberly Hart for Mighty Morphin' then there was Charlene for this show. Need I mention I also crushed on Jean Grey from X-Men: The Animated Series and ended up liking Cyclops a lot for her?!
The recurring villains are Lawrence Limburger who runs some evil firm. Limburger wears a realistic rubber mask to hide his true alien identity as a fish humanoid. Along with him are Dr. Carbunkle (whose species is unknown), the test subject Fred the Mutant, and the bumbling henchman Greasepit. They would sometimes hire alien mercenaries to deal with the Biker Mice. The running gag is that they tend to see the Limburger Tower break down only for it to be back together later on. It's unexplained but it seems that they have more advanced technology to allow the running gag. However, I prefer to blame it on Plot Armor as to why Limburger and his gang keep surviving.
Like some lead Saturday morning cartoon villains - some of them did answer to a higher power. Hordak in She-Ra answered to Horde Prime. Wrath-Amon in Conan the Adventurer answered to Set the Serpent God. Tex Hex answered to Stampede. The true main antagonist or Greater-Scope Villain was Lord Camembert. Camembert is the head of the Plutarkian High Council. Limburger would be the CEO and Camembert would be the chairman. Plutark is dying probably due to mismanagement of resources. It's a shame that nothing's ever been done with Camembert but as a comedic plot device. Camembert can be scary but he's practically just another regular Saturday Morning Cartoon Villain. Most of the attention goes to Limburger who's got a more personal interaction. What's sadder is that the Catatonians of the 2006 sequel even chose to mistreat the character. Come on, Camemburt's supposedly the guy Limburger is afraid of and is pulling the strings. I'm afraid Camembert is disrespected presumably due to how random he may have felt. After all, Limburger's got a more personal antagonism with the heroes.
I never got to see the 2006 sequel even in college. This was one of those campy cartoons that would help de-stress back in the 1990s.
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