Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men

Author: Miles

X-Discussion: July 2024

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Uncanny X-Men #700 cover art by Pepe Larraz and Marte Gracia
Hey, it’s another month, and another X-Discussion post! June went by fast.
A reminder about our ground rules (which are especially relevant since Fall of X just finished):
  1. Keep your posts at least tangentially comics-related, please!
  2. If you want to share a link, talk about why you’re sharing it and what you think – this post should be about what you have to say, not just links!
  3. Spoilers are okay, but please mark anything from the last three months like:
    ***SPOILER***
    Miles is really a clone of Stilt-Man!
  4. No AI-generated content.
  5. Be respectful! We don’t have to agree about everything, but don’t be a jerk!

454 – X-Men ’97, Part 2

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SPOILER WARNING: ALL OF THEM, NONSTOP

In which Barry Windsor-Smith is too sexy for television; we know what happens when unstable molecules get struck by lightning; X-Men gets political and does it spectacularly; this Captain America would not sew the cape; Magneto continues to throw things into space; and they kissed and we missed it.

X-PLAINED:

  • Fabian Cortez’s name
  • X-Men ’97 episodes 6-10
  • Lifedeath I & II: a surprising adaptation
  • Varying levels of going in blind
  • A somewhat different and possibly better Forge
  • The Adversary vs. the Owl Queen
  • Stormiest and least-Stormy costumes
  • Professor Charles Xavier, Official Space Boyfriend
  • Colonialism vs. Identity
  • Delayed catharsis
  • The narrative power of altered opening credits
  • What makes allyship effective (and not)
  • Justified mutant anger
  • The worst version of Nina DaCosta
  • What makes Prime Sentinels scary
  • Summers family feels
  • The best damned fight scenes out there
  • Bastion, robo-avatar of conservative white patriarchy
  • Simultaneous crossovers
  • A psychic gay bar
  • A last boss arena
  • Acolyte equivalencies
  • Phoenix Ex Machina
  • Crying
  • Whether Magneto was right
  • Apoca-futures and Apoca-pasts
  • A bulletin board and our hopes for its contents
  • Soft Serve
  • Kitty Pryde’s coffee shop AU
  • X-Men ’97 as the perfect gateway

NEXT EPISODE: Skrulls!

LINKS AND FURTHER READING:

No visual companion this week!

Find us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify!

Jay and Miles X-Plain the X-Men is 100% ad-free and listener supported. If you want to help support the podcast–and unlock more cool stuff–you can do that right here!

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X-Discussion: June 2024

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Episode posts are great for comments and discussion about our episodes themselves, but we want to try something new – a place to discuss episode-unrelated X-topics each month! Want to enthuse/complain about the latest issue of X-whatever? Want to talk about an old comic you love? An X-related event you attended? A cool comics article you found? This is the place!

But first, some ground rules:

  1. Keep your posts at least tangentially comics-related, please!
  2. If you want to share a link, talk about why you’re sharing it and what you think – this post should be about what you have to say, not just links!
  3. Spoilers are okay, but please mark anything from the last three months like:
    ***SPOILER***
    Miles is really a clone of Paste-Pot Pete!
  4. No AI-generated content.
  5. Be respectful! We don’t have to agree about everything, but don’t be a jerk!

As Mentioned in Episode 449 – Dressing the X-Men, with Russell Dauterman

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The Marvel Art of Russell Dauterman!
Storm’s X-Men Red design.
The Scarlet Witch’s new design.
Nightcrawler’s original design by Dave Cockrum.
Hellfire Gala redesigns!
And some close-ups.
Jean Grey costume variant cover for X-Men #1.
Rogue costume variant cover for Excalibur #18.
Gambit costume variant cover for Gambit #5.
Thor costume variant cover for Thor #31.
Speaking of Thor – Russell’s wraparound cover for The Mighty Thor #1.
More covers! Here’s Marauders #1.
Scarlet Witch #3.
Giant Size X-Men: Jean Grey & Emma Frost #1.
Variant cover, X-Men Legends #1.
Variant cover, X-Men ’97 #1.
NEXT EPISODE: Jay & Miles live at the Clinton Street Theater!

LINKS AND FURTHER READING

As Mentioned in Episode 448 – Skamageddon

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The two Emma Frosts: Shadowy and Pouty. (X-Force #87)
James Proudstar x-plains Uncanny X-Men #281. (X-Force #87)
Reconnecting via X-Factoring. (X-Force #87)
Now that is a lair. (X-Force #87)
Magma’s back! And she’s a jerk! (X-Force #87)
Meet Paradigm. (X-Force #87)
The New New Mutants vs. the New Hellions. New. (X-Force #88)
We can accept covering Empath’s face with word balloons – but hey, show some respect to Firestar! (X-Force #88)
Feral’s back – just in time to wreck Jay’s voice again! (And Siryn’s, but we’ll get to that later.) (X-Force #88)
Life got complicated since the last time these two saw each other. (X-Force #88)
X-Force’s x-treme tactics have just saved us like half an issue of misunderstandings! (X-Force #88)
The techno-organic virus: bad for free will and not great for skin health. (X-Force #88)
Paradigm x-plains X-Force. (X-Force #89)
This party sucks! (X-Force #89)
Blood relation has no inherent virtue. (X-Force #89)
Aww, there’s plenty of logic! Just look at the little manual that comes with most Tarot decks! (X-Force #89)
Among Dani’s new powers is the ability to turn robot-guys into eggs. (X-Force #89)
Kind of a weird font choice. Times New Armageddon? (X-Force #89)
Feral never misses an opportunity to learn the worst possible lesson. (X-Force #90)
Tarot, is that really a new manifestation of your mutant power, or did you just rob a Spirit Halloween? (X-Force #90)
Welp, I guess the entire West coast is completely demolished and will take decades to rebuild. Funny how no other comics have mentioned that… (X-Force #90)
Sorry, Jesse. Your brother is the absolute worst. (X-Force #90)
Sam Guthrie: annoying people into virtue since 1980-something. (X-Force #90)
BADDA BOOM (X-Force #90)
Aww. (X-Force #90)
NEXT TIME: Talking X-costumes with Russell Dauterman!

LINKS AND FURTHER READING:

448 – Skamageddon

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Feral’s back – just in time to wreck Jay’s voice again! (And Siryn’s, but we’ll get to that later.) (X-Force #88)

In which timeline math is almost never worth it; Tarot comes back from the dead (kind of) (maybe); Magma makes a heel turn; “King Bedlam” would be a great name for a ska band; not every nude man can turn into a bear; and you don’t have to talk to your supervillain relatives.

X-PLAINED:

  • The Triune Understanding
  • Birthday party follow-up
  • X-Force #87-90
  • Legacy and continuity
  • Bedlam (Jesse Aaronson)
  • Tarot (Marie-Ange Colbert)
  • Goat Simulator
  • King Bedlam (Christopher Aaronson)
  • The New Hellions
  • Perils of body-swapping
  • Linear time
  • Science
  • Armageddon Man
  • Paradigm
  • Senator Owen Danville
  • Family
  • A fancy hat
  • Madame Web
  • Many natural disasters
  • Early Genoshan history
  • Longshot as a villain

NEXT EPISODE: Dressing the X-Men with Russell Dauterman!

Check out the visual companion to this episode on our blog!

Find us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify!

Jay and Miles X-Plain the X-Men is 100% ad-free and listener supported. If you want to help support the podcast–and unlock more cool stuff–you can do that right here!

Buy rad swag at our TeePublic shop!

As Mentioned in Episode 446 – Live at the Magnetosphere

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Listen to the episode here.

Astra, Mistress of Fashion and Jell-O-Tech. (X-Men #86)
Zoom out – out – out – in. (X-Men #86)
We love Alan Davis’s Marrow. (X-Men #86)
Scanner knocked Xavier right out of the panel! (X-Men #86)
No memory, but a righteous beard. (X-Men #86)
Gaming chairs are getting out of hand these days. (Uncanny X-Men #367))
Just adorable. (Uncanny X-Men #367)
Forcefield protrusions? (Uncanny X-Men #367)
Ah, the age-old question: would you scissor your clone while yelling? (Uncanny X-Men #367)
Normally we don’t do this, but here: have an entire two-page spread because it’s beautiful. (X-Men #87)
Punching and drama: two great tastes that go great together! (X-Men #87)
Another Miracle of Magnetism: giving Shadowcat a bad hair day. (X-Men #87)
Jeez, his hair gets even better when he’s cosmic and naked! (X-Men #87)
In which we continue to feel really bad for Joseph. (X-Men #87)
We were harsh on this story, but its good parts are great. (X-Men #87)
Spoiler: this will go poorly. (X-Men #87)
NEXT TIME: Nate Grey meets Generation X!

446 – Live at the Magnetosphere

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Ah, the age-old question: would you scissor your clone while yelling? (Uncanny X-Men #367)

In which the Magneto War comes to a close.

X-PLAINED:

  • X-Men #86-87
  • Uncanny X-Men #367
  • Quite a few other things, which we’ll add to this post tomorrow!

NEXT EPISODE: Nate Grey meets Generation X!

Check out the visual companion to this episode on our blog!

Find us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify!

Jay and Miles X-Plain the X-Men is 100% ad-free and listener supported. If you want to help support the podcast–and unlock more cool stuff–you can do that right here!

Buy rad swag at our TeePublic shop!

As Mentioned in Episode 444 – Damnit, Magnus

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Domino: wine mom, but also good mom. (X-Force #86)
WRONG FREEZER WRONG FREEZER (X-Force #86)
Theresa Rourke Cassidy, mistress of disguise. (X-Force #86)
Remember how Moonstar’s weird new powers are always accompanied by a cosmic blue glow? This issue doesn’t, and is thus… confusing. (X-Force #86)
Odysseus Indigo, the most dapper of antagonists. (X-Force #86)
Some exceptionally efficient visual storytelling by Jim Cheung. (X-Force #86)
Christmas in March! Well, March for us. December for Colossus. (Uncanny X-Men #365)
Hey, it’s that thing Miles used to draw in middle school! How’d that get there?! (Uncanny X-Men #365)
In which Colossus interrupts a very manly threesome. (Uncanny X-Men #365)
The X-Men X-Plain X-Mas. (Uncanny X-Men #365)
I mean, that’s Rusty Collins, right? (Uncanny X-Men #365)
“My favorite X-Men character? You probably haven’t heard of him.” (Uncanny X-Men #365)
Oof, my emotions… (Uncanny X-Men #365)
Aww. (Uncanny X-Men #365)
Now that is a cover. (X-Men #85)
In which the first page establishes that this story will be a Big Deal. (X-Men #85)
Sorry, Bill… today’s gonna be a rough one. (X-Men #85)
We missed Alan Davis. (X-Men #85)
Uh oh. (X-Men #85)
Heroes. (X-Men #85)
This issue uses juxtaposition perfectly. (X-Men #85)
Magneto gets the answer he wants… and then the answer he doesn’t. (X-Men #85)
NEXT TIME: The Magneto War begins.

LINKS & FURTHER FESTIVITIES

444 – Damnit, Magnus

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In which it’s difficult to flee with soup; Miles may or may not be haunting the X-Men; Colossus collaborates involuntarily; Marrow is full of surprises; Magneto is a dick; Jay continues to carry a torch for Secret Wars: Siege; and you should totally come to our birthday party.

X-PLAINED:

  • Several rather pointed allusions
  • X-Force #86
  • Uncanny X-Men #365
  • X-Men #85
  • Almost Reno, NM
  • Where mutants come from
  • The Aguilar Institute (more) (again)
  • Abandoned towns
  • Mary the telepathic moppet (more) (again)
  • Odysseus Indigo
  • The Damocles Foundation
  • Sibling names
  • The Fundamental Attribution Error
  • A haunting
  • Christmas beer
  • Christmas ghost exquisite corpse
  • Bill Jones
  • A rescue mission
  • Essential stories of the ‘90s
  • Our weird favorites
  • Siege
  • Our upcoming 10th birthday party (more) (again)

NEXT EPISODE: Magneto War begins!

Check out the visual companion to this episode on our blog!

RSVP to our birthday shenanigans!

Find us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify!

Jay and Miles X-Plain the X-Men is 100% ad-free and listener supported. If you want to help support the podcast–and unlock more cool stuff–you can do that right here!

Buy rad swag at our TeePublic shop!