Blog Posts – Page 29 – Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men

We Interrupt Your Regularly Scheduled Programming…

March 18, 2018 Jay 8 comments

Due to ~~sentinels~~ ~~clones~~ ~~doppelgängers from the future~~ ~~a technoorganic virus~~ ~~Gambit’s accent~~ an electrical fire in Matt’s studio, Episode 189 is going to be up late. It’s looking like everything should be back on schedule later this week; but if not, we’ll be sure to let you know ASAP.

Thanks for your patience!

-J&M

ECCC 2018 Gallery – Part 2 – Look at All These X-Men

March 13, 2018 Jay 4 comments

One of our favorite parts of any convention is the kickass cosplay! Here are some of the many, MANY X-Men (and a few others) from Emerald City Comic Con:

WE FOUND A HONEY BADGER!!! (Well, she found us. BUT STILL! HONEY BADGER!)

Gambit and All-New Jean!

I would 100% buy that Jubilee and Rule-63 Quentin Quire have a mermaid friend.

Speaking of Rule-63, this Emma Frost was killing it!

Janet K. Lee’s art nouveau Emma Frost! (Jay helped make this one.)

A really, REALLY good swashbuckling Nightcrawler!

We first met this punk Storm in 2015, and she continues to be The Absolute Coolest.

Okay, fine, EVERY punk Storm is the coolest. <3

(Same Storm as previous.)

We know they’re not technically X-Men, but NOBODY cosplays Clea, and when I saw this one I kind of freaked out, and she was very gracious about it. (Dr. Strange is okay, too, I guess. But CLEA!)

Several Disney-X mash-ups!

The cutest Pixie!

X-23…

…and her evolved form, Best Wolverine!

This Rule-63 Jubilee was the first X-Men cosplayer we spotted all weekend!

It’s not a convention without at least one Dazzler!

This group is SO GOOD, as is the entirely accidental Young Avengers photobomb in the background.

That shirt. THAT. SHIRT.

Gambit!

Another really good group. I don’t think Cyclops has ever had a beard in canon (not counting his terrrrrible Ultimate version), and that’s a shame.

Rogue!

There was surprisingly little Gifted cosplay, but this Polaris was cool enough on her own to more than make up for the absence of her compatriots.

Colossus and Negasonic Teenage Warhead!

Closing with another non-X-Men costume, because this tiny Hela is amazing and we love her.

ECCC 2018 Gallery – Part 1 – We Drew Some X-Men

March 12, 2018 Jay 8 comments

We’re juuuuust about recovered from Emerald City Comic Con (be sure to check out the live episode), and finally ready to show off our mountains of photos! First up: All the table sketches we remembered to photograph!

(Not pictured: A handful of solos, a couple collaborative pieces, and the marriage proposal Jay was so bewildered that someone asked him to draw that he totally forgot to document it. If you got a sketch from us that isn’t pictured here, please feel free to share it in the comments!)

Emma Frost, by Jay

Cannonball, by Miles

Husk, by Jay

Icarus, by Miles

Boom Boom, by Jay

Maggott, by Miles

Magik, by Jay (t-shirt cribbed shamelessly from Waiting for the Trade.)

Mister Sensitive, by Miles

Warlock, by Jay, who wishes he got to draw Warlock more often

Quentin Quire, by Miles

Nightcrawler, by Jay, in one of our zines

Shatterstar-with-a-mustache, by Miles

Emma Frost redux, by Jay

Usually we only draw X-Men, but if you ask Jay to draw Lois Lane, he will draw Lois Lane.

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

March 4, 2018 Jay 8 comments

Listen to the podcast here.

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:

As Mentioned in Episode 186 – Right in the Melee

February 25, 2018 Jay One comment

Listen to the podcast here!

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:

Come see us at Emerald City Comic Con!
You can hear all about “Judgment War” in Episode 128 – A Stupid Way to Die, and Episode 133 – Feisty Little Fellow from the Stars.
And here’s the Kids in the Hall “Inexperienced Cannibal” sketch.

Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men at Emerald City Comic Con 2018!

February 23, 2018 Jay One comment

TABLE DETAILS

LIVE EPISODE & PANELS

PARTY & LISTENER MEETUP (no badge required!)

As Mentioned in Episode 185 – Becoming Wolverine

February 18, 2018 Jay Leave a comment

Listen to the episode here.

LINKS & FURTHER READING:

As Mentioned in Episode 184 – Sweetcakes

February 11, 2018 Jay 3 comments

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!

As Mentioned in Episode 183 – Mutant Death Factor

February 4, 2018 Jay 7 comments

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.)