Needless to say, I’m a huge fan of Saturday morning cartoons. I consider those days something of a lost art, and X-Men: The Animated Series was a premiere piece in that collection. But that was then.

The twinge begins in the afternoon: toes. At my desk, toes, itching. Toes, toes, toes. I don’t normally think about my toes. But as I commute home in a crowded subway car, my feet are burning, and I ...