Listen to the episode here!
METOXO the lava man, as teased in X-Men #48–but never revealed!
Beast and Iceman teach METOXO the true meaning of Christmas in the 1994 Marvel Holiday Special.
Angel X-Plains the Phoenix retcon. (X-Factor #1)
In X-Men #37, five reasonably normal-looking teenagers dive out of a plane…
…and then this happens. (X-Men #37)
In which Jean Grey, given the choice between the Silver Age’s two stock career options for female protagonists, opts for option A. (X-Men #48)
Scott Summers’ radio career lasted five whole panels. Here are four of them. We remain annoyed that none of them actually show him recording, because that would be really useful as a podcast graphic. (X-Men #48)
The Coffee-a-Go-Go made its debut in X-Men #7, along with regular Bernard the Poet and acerbic waitress Zelda.
There are a lot of Coffee-a-Go-Go stories, but Bobby’s 18th birthday, from X-Men #32, is probably the best.
Bernard the poet sells out in the name of birthday cheer. (X-Men #32)
Zelda’s original line, from X-Men #7 (she was originally a redhead)…
…and Busiek’s homage in the 1994 Marvel Holiday Special.
Iceman vs. ice skating. (X-Men #29)
We’ll be giving it its own post on Monday, but David Wynne’s art of the original X-Men as Enid Blyton’s Famous Five goes way too well with this episode.
Next Episode: Fast-forwarding to 1994 for the wedding of Scott Summers and Jean Grey.
Links & Further Reading:
- Kurt Busiek
- Unpublished X-Men
- The X-Axis Silver-Age Index (archived)
- Marvels
- X-Men #32
- X-Men #37
- X-Men #48
- Marvel Holiday Special 1994
- Slan, by A. E. van Vogt
- Children of the Atom, by Wilmar H. Shiras
- Mutant, by Lewis Padgett (Henry Kuttner)
- The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, by Michael Chabon
- The Dark Is Rising Sequence, by Susan Cooper
- Astro City
- Tooth and Claw
Just finished listening to the interview. I would watch the X-Men’s YouTube channel only always!
The story as told by Kurt Busiek about the Phoenix retcon and the original X-Factor plans is nothing short of amazing. I never had any inkling about any of this prior to this episode – what a treat!
You guys know the little story of Wolverine and the eggs by Faith Erin Hicks? ‘Cause it sounds like it’s fit right in with the Coffee A Go Go stories!
YES.
Yes, it would.
Started listening on the car ride home and had to fimish once I got in the house. Great episode. Loved the Busiek interview. I dont know if I should love or hate you two! On one hand, you remind me of all the stuff I loved reading the x-men, and it makes me want to start collecting again. BUT then you cover recent history I missed(the vampire episode)and I get reminded why I stopped. Congrats on the ten years(it would be cool if my wife read comics with me). And PLEASe stop cramming so much in one episode and please dont talk so fast!
make mine Mar–Miles and rachel!
Ohh that amazing Marvel Age X-Factor special issue – I’ve got that. What an amazing, unique idea that was.
I think this may have been the geekiest episode of the podcast, which is saying something given it’s about X-Plaining the X-Men.
Seriously though, all of the background history Kurt brought to the podcast was great. I didn’t even know that Children of the Atom was a thing outside of the X-Men. The Dark is Rising poetry was also pretty great too.
So I was listening the episode again, and during the part about X-men moving on and having normal lives I suddenly remember this fanfiction-website-thing, “The Mutant Problem”, and I don’t know if you know it, but if you don’t it’s great. It’s a fake article of the New York Times website by Toby McGuire!Peter Parker with profiles of several x-characters as regular people and I wish more X-men was like that