Dear Everybody,
On April 13, 2014, we posted the first episode of this ridiculous little podcast: two nerds, at a table, explaining the convoluted continuity of one of our favorite comics.
Almost two years later, it’s like looking back from a different universe. Our weird hobby has become a part-time job. We’ve interviewed some of our favorite creators; traveled across the country; thrown parties and panels; shown up in an actual X-Men comic; been part of an enormous crossover; and explained a quarter of a century of comics continuity. We’ve gone from an audience of friends and family to around 15,000 regular listeners–who, together, have become one of the coolest and tightest-knit communities we’ve had the privilege to be part of.
And you’ve been with us through a lot. In addition to all the stuff above, you turned out for two (soon to be three!) live episodes. You’ve been there through our tenth wedding anniversary; a gender transition and name change; and–as of this week–100 episodes of Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men.
Thanks are in order:
To you, listeners, for sticking with us through 100 episodes of time travel, crossovers, and clones.
To our Patreon subscribers, who let us keep doing what we do ad-free and answerable only to our listeners.
To Kyle Yount, our current producer, who makes us sound way better on the air than we do in the studio.
To Bobby Roberts, our first producer and podcasting mentor, who set one hell of a high bar, and without whom it’s fair to say that none of this would exist in the first place.
To our illustrator and friend David Wynne, who’s bridged what we do back from the audio to the visual.
To AdminstratriX Tina, mistress of the spreadsheets and question files.
To the creators, guest X-Perts, and co-hosts who’ve brought their voices and ideas to our show: Elisabeth Allie, Kris Anka, Marguerite Bennett, Chad Bowers, Elle Collins, Russell Dauterman, Kieron Gillen, Dennis Hopeless, Graeme McMillan, Peter V. Nguyen, Annie Nocenti, Paul O’Brien, Jeff Parker, Greg Rucka, Kieran Shiach, Chris Sims, Si Spurrier, G. Willow Wilson–and last, but far from least, today’s guest: Chris Claremont.
To our off-air partners in crime, Katie Moody and Anna Sheffey, who are just the absolute damn best.
And to the many, many other friends and collaborators who’ve helped make Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men what it is.
Here’s to the next 100.
Love,
Jay Rachel Edidin & Miles Stokes
And thank YOU for making me look forward to my Monday commute every week, helping me think more deeply about these crazy superhero stories I’ve spent so much of my life reading, and generally making that monthly Patreon payment such a bargain.
Thank YOU Jay & Miles; X-men has always been my favourite book, and your podcast in April 2014 was my gateway podcast. I look forward to this all week, every week. It’s been an honour!
Congrats, Jay and Miles. Long may you run!
Thank you both for reigniting and deepening my love of the X-Men and comics in general.
Yours is the only “must listen” podcast in my queue, and it is always a delight. Cheers!!
Thanks for reigniting my X-love, Jay and Miles.
Congrats, you awesome X-perts. And I add my thanks to all the people mentioned in the post. This show adds so much depth and context and whimsy to my enjoyment of the X-men.
THANK YOU for being awesome!
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Thank YOU for giving this casual X-Fan the courage to actually start tracking down back issues of this weird and wonderful franchise! That intimidating fifty-year history seemed less daunting once you started explaining the highlights. I realized I could get away with just tracking down the issues and stories that sounded interesting.
Well, except for The New Mutants, which, after picking up Slumber Party and The Demon Bear Saga at ECCC last year, became an “I must have every issue from the graphic novel until the Liefeldening!” title. I’ve gotta give you a special thanks for that one. These kids are my heroes.
Most of all, thank you for making this a welcoming space for X-Fans old and new. Thanks for tearing down the ol’ gatekeeper mentality of “What do you mean you didn’t read this stuff as a kid? Don’t you know that X was explained in issue Y when Z fought the As?” A handful of bad experiences as a teen and a fear of reliving that kept me out of comic shops for years. Now I can carry on a conversation with my comics-reading friends without having to steer the topic to the movies or Evolution! (By the way, those recaps are a gift that keeps on giving. I’m glad we can all poke fun at the teen angst and the early 2000s fashion.)
A toast to the next 100!
p.s. Are we absolutely positive that none of your guests have been Mystique in disguise?
Thank YOU for giving us the chance of taking delight in our darkest secret pleasure in a so funny and yet emotional way (boy, and how deep these X-people have touched us!).
No, wait –DAMN you for taking up so much time from me. I should be swotting right now!
Congratulations to the whole team on the milestone from this old fart, who has been thoroughly enjoying you younguns wandering the highs and lows of the X-verse of his youth!
If I am apprehensive about the next 100 it’s only because we’re heading into the time period (Liefeld on NM, Lee on X-Men, etc) where I pretty much gave up on the franchise for quite a few years (Excalibur excluded).
However, I know the podcasts will, at the very least, be enjoyable to listen to, and who knows, you may open my eyes up to what I was missing all those years ago!
so, see you at your Bicentennial celebrations!
Thank you for sharing your passion and joy for these crazy comics, and congratulations on 100 excellent podcasts. I’m eager for the next hundred.
Jesus! You give us 100 amazing episodes clarifying the most convoluted soap opera ever printed and you’re thanking us? Dudes, you guys are the uncanniest, extrasuperordinariest of them all. Thank you so much for all your work and dedication.
This interview gave me goosebumps. I honestly feel inspired to have listened to it. I bet everyone has a question they wished you’d asked him. Hell, I bet you had questions you didn’t think to ask until he was out the door. What I would have really been itching to ask him was about his latter-day contributions to the X-books. I think it’s the general consensus that fan reaction to them has been hot and cold, but I really would have liked to hear his take on the more maligned books he worked on in the 00s and why they’re actually worthwhile reads.
One word to describe the wild ride that this podcast has been. Yaybo
Congratulations on reaching the 100 mark!
I found this podcast after reading the interview you did with CBR. It sounded great, since I’ve been trying to read more X-Men, but backfilling 50 years of history is hard. This has been a great way to learn about older stories, while also reading along whenever I can/want to buy the issues on Comixology (if interested: the entire Uncanny X-Men, minus some annuals, are on Comixology, though New Mutants, X-Factor, Wolverine, Excalibur, etc. are a bit more sparse). So thanks for being both great educators and reading buddies!
Seeing the new episode in my feed makes Monday mornings more tolerable. 🙂
I would say “here’s to 100 more!” but I’m a fan of logarithmic scales and orders of magnitude. So here’s to one day celebrating 1000!
Thanks, Jay & Miles! X-Plain the X-Men continues to entertain, and it’s the first podcast I listen to each week. Thank you for making Mondays way better than they ever were before!
Thank you for your passion. Yours is the only podcast I listen to.
Yay for 100. So glad to have found your show, thanks for sharing your passion with us all.