Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men

Author: Jay

As Mentioned in Episode 187 – Mermaids at the Center of Time

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Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line!
Spoiler: They’re not actually that secret.
This panel really never stops being satisfying.
A surprisingly elegant fall overboard.
Is this Annie’s first comics appearance?
A few variations on Jean’s origins come up over the years, but most of them hew fairly close to this one.
If I had a dollar for every time I’d woken up like that…
In the next panel, he tries to lend them a copy of Atlas Shrugged.
Not cool, Jean.
FUN FACT: Our friend Max went to college in New England, and apparently ice sculpture contests are TOTALLY A THING.
HI, BUBBA.
This looks both tremendously fun and tremendously unsafe.
He straight-up bogarted the entire winter carnival.
This gag really never stops working.
If you’ve ever wondered what sound an ice-enclosed energy-gun cane makes blowing up in the stratosphere, now you know.
Thanks to Doctor Internet, I can accurately identify Nightcrawler’s favorite movie as The Mark of Zorro.
That is quite a caption.
I’d really love to see a full-color version of this splash.
IT’S A METAPHOR.
The oracle!
Remember this from the Nightcrawler limited series?
Consider us warned.
NEXT EPISODE: Live from ECCC!

And here’s a photo of Jay’s mom cosplaying Cable:

Eat your heart out, Josh Brolin.

187 – Mermaids at the Center of Time

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Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line!

In which Lee Forrester deserved better; we have somehow made 187 of these; Bizarre Adventures is accurately named; the Grey sisters do not steal a yacht; trite jerks are doubly offensive; Black Panther is everything and you should go see it right now; Namor has a type; Attuma reads like an import from Game of Thrones; Florida is the Australia of North America; Iceman has a good weekend; half of the Vanisher materializes in Poughkeepsie; and Jay’s mom is the best Cable.

X-PLAINED:

  • What Lee Forester has been up to
  • How this happened
  • Bizarre Adventures #27
  • The not-particularly-secret lives of the X-Men
  • Jay’s Book of Irrelevant Headcanon
  • “The Brides of Attuma”
  • Sara Grey
  • Several incidents in the life of Jean Grey
  • A plan as ineffectual as it is dastardly
  • “Winter Carnival”
  • “Titan Up the Defense”
  • The peculiar predominance of ice sculpture in the Marvel Universe
  • Bubba
  • The Apple Profile
  • Festive bandits
  • A heist
  • A very fancy cane
  • “Show Me the Way to Go Home”
  • Nightcrawler’s favorite movie
  • The Count Duckula theme song
  • Some very friendly ladies
  • ECCC cosplay
  • Sev the Oracle
  • Whether Buffy is a Summers sibling
  • Whom we would merge with cosmic forces
  • The Queen of Nevers

NEXT EPISODE: Live at Emerald City Comic Con!

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

Find us on iTunes or Stitcher!

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!

We’re in the process of migrating our official shop to TeePublic! Click over to check it out! (You can still find the designs we haven’t moved yet at Redbubble.)

As Mentioned in Episode 186 – Right in the Melee

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Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line!
Sunfire’s new costume. (Uncanny X-Men #284)
Spoiler: Nah. (Uncanny X-Men #284)
The shiniest Predators. (Uncanny X-Men #284)
This is gonna seem more ironic in a few pages. (Uncanny X-Men #284)
That’s our Sunfire! (Uncanny X-Men #284)
Yep. The folks in the Predator masks look… exactly like humans. (Uncanny X-Men #284)
Spoiler: The cake is a lie. (Uncanny X-Men #285)
Interdimensional travel faces. (Uncanny X-Men #285)
A very expository landing. (Uncanny X-Men #285)
I would make a “No groveling! This is a proper Soviet household!” joke, but I feel like The Twelve Chairs might be an excessively deep cut even by my standards. (Uncanny X-Men #285)
Oh, hey, it’s a mysterious stranger! Doubt he’ll turn out to be anyone important. (Uncanny X-Men #285)
The Martha Stewart of whatever this dimension is called. (Uncanny X-Men #285)
Meanwhile in a different genre… (Uncanny X-Men #285)
LOOK AT THAT EXCELLENT LIZARD FACE. (Uncanny X-Men #285)
We give Portacio a lot of grief over his costume designs, but this one is really cool. (Uncanny X-Men #285)
He’s explaining the basic tenets of Socialism. (Uncanny X-Men #285)
“Ha! My brother was drawn by Dave Cockrum! You’re no brother of mine!” (Uncanny X-Men #285)
Okay, but Beast and Cyclops did it better. (Uncanny X-Men #286)
Aw, those scamps. (Uncanny X-Men #286)
See this? This is why the world is probably doomed. (Uncanny X-Men #286)
It’s rough being a regular in an ongoing superhero comic. (Uncanny X-Men #286)
NOT OKAY. (Uncanny X-Men #286)
Team-up move! (Uncanny X-Men #286)
“Fortunately, there’s this podcast…” (Uncanny X-Men #286)
NEXT EPISODE: The not particularly secret lives of the X-Men!

LINKS & FURTHER READING:

186 – Right in the Melee

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Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line!

In which you are the wind beneath our wings; Sunfire doesn’t quit the team even once; the X-Men do “Judgment War,” kinda; Iceman’s clothes are mostly incidental; Mikhail Rasputin is a surprisingly accomplished vintner; Colossus has a bad day; Super Doctor Astronaut Peter Corbeau is a core value; and we are REALLY excited about our plans for Emerald City Comic Con!

X-PLAINED:

  • Colossus vs. Breakworld
  • Jay & Miles at Emerald City Comic Con
  • Uncanny X-Men #284-286
  • “Judgment War”-Lite
  • Byrne burns
  • The collective noun for Edidins
  • Sunfire’s new threads
  • The evolution of Whilce Portacio
  • Emma Frost’s dropped plot threads
  • Iceman fashion (or lack thereof)
  • Sha-har-a-zath
  • The Savior
  • A mysterious vintner
  • Archangel’s hair
  • Mikhail Rasputin
  • Space-Person disambiguation
  • Peril and the vanquishing thereof
  • The continuing adventures of the XSE
  • Chuck Cherkle
  • Sara Gray’s unrealized potential
  • The Great Excalibur Bake-Off

NEXT EPISODE: Bizarre Adventures #127

COME SEE US AT EMERALD CITY COMIC CON, MARCH 1-4, IN SEATTLE!

Find links to the stories mentioned in this episode on our blog!

Find us on iTunes or Stitcher!

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!

We’re in the process of migrating our official shop to TeePublic! Click over to check it out! (You can still find the designs we haven’t moved yet at Redbubble.)

185 – Becoming Wolverine (feat. Tom Taylor)

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Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line!

In which All-New Wolverine and X-Men Red writer Tom Taylor joins us to talk friendship, heroism, pelican statues, and how to build on legacy without being bogged down by it.

X-PLAINED

  • The epic awesomeness of Gabrielle Kinney
  • All-New Wolverine
  • The evolution of Best Wolverine
  • Character-first story
  • Family
  • X-Men Red
  • Finding Jean Grey’s voice
  • Gentle (Nezhno Abidemi)
  • Transcending the Silver Age
  • Laura Kinney in Logan
  • Wolverine-style brain surgery
  • Editing down to the bones
  • Tom’s comfort reads
  • Secret origins of Tom Taylor
  • Writing like a street performer
  • Koalas vs. reavers

NEXT EPISODE: The Boringest Rasputin

Find links to the stories mentioned in this episode on our blog!

Find us on iTunes or Stitcher!

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!

We’re in the process of migrating our official shop to TeePublic! Click over to check it out! (You can still find the designs we haven’t moved yet at Redbubble.)

As Mentioned in Episode 184 – Sweetcakes

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Listen to the episode here!

 

For all its flaws, this arc has its moments. Here is one of them. (The Incredible Hulk #390)
Also, let’s all take a moment to admire Rick Jones’s impeccable early-’90s fashion sense. (The Incredible Hulk #390)
And good times were had by all. (The Incredible Hulk #391)
One more Rick Jones fashion moment for the road. (The Incredible Hulk #391)
That’s kind of ingenious, actually. (The Incredible Hulk #391)
Welcome to the deeply depressing main event. (X-Factor #76)
“You can tell, because of his mustache.” (X-Factor #76)
You’d think gods would have less generic armor. (X-Factor #76)
And then Rahne did some killing. (X-Factor #76)
There is literally no good reason to have this in the story; but then, there’s literally no good reason for most of this story. (The Incredible Hulk #391)
“Good talk! So, back to paternalistic interference?” (The Incredible Hulk #392)
How does that… Why would you even… (The Incredible Hulk #392)
That panel in the middle, tho. (The Incredible Hulk #392)
Larry Stroman is back, and everything will be okay, except I guess for a lot of things, because this is a superhero comic. But still! Larry Stroman is back! (X-Factor #77)
Remember that time the Mutant Liberation Front looked legitimately and ironically awesome? Because that happened. (X-Factor #77)
At least Vic Chalker died as he lived: in a large robot suit. (X-Factor #77)
Not technically the most dangerous game, but definitely not recommended. (X-Factor #77)
RAHNE’S HAIR IS SO COOL (X-Factor #77)
X-Factor’s modular uniforms are really rad. Good job, Val. (X-Factor #78)
Know what else is rad? Tempo. Tempo is rad as hell and deserves so much better than the MLF. (X-Factor #78)
Maybe this is the explanation for everyone’s weird eye spots? (X-Factor #78)
[Insert canned laughter here.] (X-Factor #78)
Ouch. (X-Factor #78)
NEXT EPISODE: Tom Taylor and the true meaning of friendship!

184 – Sweetcakes

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David is still on vacation. Please enjoy this reasonable gentleman and his fancy accoutrements!

In which the 616 was inside Age of X all along; everyone is very sassy; an attempt at political commentary falls very flat; Wolfsbane kills a straw man; everything is better with Larry Stroman; the Rule of Cool is not transitive; X-Factor Quicksilver is the best Quicksilver; and some allegories are subtler than others.

X-PLAINED:

  • How to hide a universe
  • Bees
  • “War and Pieces”
  • X-Factor #76-78
  • The Incredible Hulk #390-392
  • Open-ended vs. trade pacing
  • Rick Jones, professional tag-along
  • Trans-Sabal
  • The Eisenhower Doctrine
  • The Reagan Doctrine
  • The ethics of cannibalism
  • Fictional pigeon aficionados
  • As story that isn’t about abortion but is definitely about abortion
  • X-Factor vs. due process
  • A very hazardous game of tug-of-war
  • Gratuitous X-planation
  • An unnecessary but well-intended rescue attempt
  • The death of Vic Chalker
  • Irresponsible parenting
  • The second generation of mutants

NEXT EPISODE: Tom Taylor talks X-Men Red and All-New Wolverine!

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

Find us on iTunes or Stitcher!

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!

We’re in the process of migrating our official shop to TeePublic! Click over to check it out! (You can still find the designs we haven’t moved yet at Redbubble.)

As Mentioned in Episode 183 – Mutant Death Factor

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Listen to the podcast here.

All of those facial expressions are great. (X-Men #4)
Ewwwww. (X-Men #4)
File this one under “references that haven’t aged all that coherently.” (X-Men #4)
She yelled so hard it changed the shape of the panels! (X-Men #4)
These jerks and their delightful wardrobe! (X-Men #4)
Why is he allowed to live there, again? (X-Men #4)
That is… an outfit. (X-Men #4)
You can almost hear the inchoate yelling. (X-Men #5)
Cerebro is officially ridiculous. I mean, more ridiculous than usual. (X-Men #5)
Psylocke, just admit that you were sunbathing. No one will judge you. (X-Men #5)
More Fenris fashions. (X-Men #5)
“We worked really hard to reconcile the continuity between these two titles, and we wanted to make damn sure that you appreciated the effort.” (X-Men #5)
Cyclops was right. (X-Men #5)
That’s actually a really cool way to transition into a flashback. (X-Men #5)
“In addition to a Mutant Death Factor, I come with my own exposition!” (X-Men #6)
Someone’s crossed the X-axis! (X-Men #6)
He’s also got a dark pink tie in some panels. (X-Men #6)
SERIOUSLY WHAT ARE THOSE THINGS HE’S STUCK IN (X-Men #7)
Psylocke is the master of the deadpan plot twist. (X-Men #7)
If you don’t automatically hear this line delivered by Christian Kane as Eliot Spencer, I don’t know what to tell you. (X-Men #7)
Maverick. (X-Men #7)
It’s rough to be Alison Blaire. (X-Men #5)
I unironically love this trio of dramatic poses; and also the fact that I absolutely believe that these characters would pose dramatically before fights. (X-Men #6)
Aw. (X-Men #6)
NEXT EPISODE: Larry Stroman somehow manages to make the MLF look cool. (Also, there’s a Hulk crossover.)

LINKS & FURTHER READING

  • COME SEE US AT EMERALD CITY COMIC CON! We’ll be at T-11 in Artist Alley all weekend; check back here for panel and party details!
  • I’m fairly sure I’ve linked to “Class of ’64” before, but it’s one of the best-developed reimaginings of the X-Men I’ve found, in or out of canon.
  • Unfortunately, R. Orion Martin’s “X-Men of Color” series no longer appears to be online, but you can learn more about it here and here. (Also worth reading: Darryl Ayo’s rebuttal to Martin’s article.)