Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men

Category: Blog Posts

Choose Our Adventure – Evolution Edition!

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Screen Shot 2015-01-21 at 2.40.03 PM

On September 4, we’ll be sitting down to record our 2016 Giant-Size Summer Special and second-ever tabletop episode.

In 2015, game writer and designer and friend of the podcast Logan Bonner has modified the amazing old Marvel Super Hero Adventures game to be played as it was never intended: in the spirit of the 90s animated series! This year, he’s joining us again–this time with an adventure set in the world of X-Men: Evolution!

In addition to Logan, we’ll be joined at the gaming table by two guests: returning X-Pert Max Carleton of Waiting for the Trade and I Love Television; and writer, developer, and all-around badass Crystal Frasier!

But first, we’ve got a job for you…

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Jay Recaps X-Men: Evolution
S1E10: Shadowed Past

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Ever heard of something called “The Draco”?

No, not the blonde guy from Harry Potter. The “Draco” I’m talking about is an Uncanny X-Men arc where Chuck Austen retconned Nightcrawler’s origin story to involve a father from an ancient race of demon-looking mutants long exiled to a hell dimension by a bunch of quasi-angelic counterparts.1

The Draco is one of the worst arcs of Austen’s already fairly shaky 2 run; and generally considered to be one of the worst X-Men stories ever. It’s the continuity equivalent of awkward makeouts at your company Christmas party: everyone does their best to politely pretend that it never happened, and if anyone brings it up, everyone familiar with the story gets acutely embarrassed by proxy.

I am telling you about The Draco not because it has any relevance whatsoever to X-Men: Evolution–it doesn’t–but so that you will understand where the bar sits when I tell you that “Shadowed Past” is my least favorite take on Nightcrawler’s origin story.

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Jay & Miles Review the X-Men, Episode 96

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Weeks of 8/10/2016 and 8/17/2016:

In which we make a vaguely triumphant return, review two weeks’ worth of books, and have a lot of feelings about fictional teenagers.

REVIEWED:

  • *All-New X-Men #12 (00:53)
  • Old Man Logan #10 (06:41)
  • All-New Wolverine #11 (10:29)
  • Civil War II: X-Men #3 (13:51)

*Pick of the Fortnight (18:23)

Come see us at Rose City Comic Con!

Filmed at Books With Pictures in Portland, OR.

Jay and Miles X-Plain the X-Men is 100% ad-free and listener supported. These video reviews–and everything else here–are made possible by the support of our Patreon subscribers. If you want to help support the podcast–and unlock more cool stuff–you can do that right here!

Come join us on Imzy!

Buy stuff at the shop!

What I Did on My Summer Vacation, by Jay (Age 33)

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The closest approximation of Havok’s powers in the standard emoji set is concentric hearts.

I discovered this a few months back, texting with the amazing Tea Fougner. “It kind of fits,” I remember typing. “I mean, the movie version has very Care Bear powers.”

There followed a Step 3, with a series of question marks; but by the end of the conversation, we had decided to make and exchange Summers Brothers Care Bears.

(I also ended up making a tiny Captain America bear, which astute readers will recognize as a panel-accurate replica of the Captain America bear Cyclops canonically owns, which appeared for one panel sometime in the late ’90s. Jean won it for him at a fair. Comics are great, y’all.)

ANYWAY, here are some process photos and notes. ENJOY!

The only remotely appropriately colored Care Bear was Grumpy Bear. I feel pretty okay about that.
Eyes.
Care Bear eyes are riveted in. Fortunately, I had help from my friend Dave, who owns…
…a drill press!
Since the lights were smaller than the actual eyes, I threw on a few coats of red paint once we had ’em out.
Seriously, I have never identified more closely with Mister Sinister.
And here’s Cyclops Bear, reassembled!
Still not lasers.
The visor is part of a leftover container from Rite-Aid. The actual lens is cut from a ski visor.
Finished Cyclops and Cap bears.
The Cap Bear’s single canon appearance.
The Summers Bears united. Cyclops and Cap stayed in New York with Tea; Havok relocated to the Pacific Northwest with me, presumably to finish his dissertation. For some reason this photo WILL NOT display upright.

UPDATE: Tea just sent me a slew of Havok Bear process photos and notes, so those will be up next week!

Also, since I forgot to link it initially, you can see both bears in action in this video review!

 

 

As Mentioned in Episode 120 – Observed by a Family of Lizard People

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Listen to the episode here.

Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available at the shop, or contact David to purchase the original.
Hi, there. (Excalibur #8)
They’re totally a girl gang, though, right? (Excalibur #8)
Ouch. (Excalibur #8)
Hi, Brian. (Excalibur #8)
Seriously, it’s never not funny. (Excalibur #8)
I want a statue of this cover SO BAD. (Excalibur #9)
Meet Lightning Force: The Nazi Excalibur you really, really don’t need in your life. (Excalibur #9)
The many faces of Meggan (and some slightly disastrous sound effects from Brian). (Excalibur #9)
Alastaire Stuart and his banana. (Excalibur #9)
Kittys Pryde. (Excalibur #9)
HI, BRIAN. (Excalibur #10)
Just gal pals, pallin’ around. (Excalibur #11)
If I had a dollar for every time this had happened… (Excalibur #11)
Well, then. (Excalibur #11)
Sure, why not? (Excalibur #11)
NEXT EPISODE: Deadpool v Gambit, with Ben Acker!

LINKS & FURTHER READING:

Jay & Miles Review the X-Men, Episode 95

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Week of August 3, 2016

In which Uncanny X-Men is somewhat underserved by its art; Deadpool V Gambit remains a delightful confection; and Jay participates via captions.

REVIEWED:

  • Uncanny X-Men #11 (00:44)
  • *Deadpool V Gambit #3 (05:36)

*Pick of the Week (08:57)

Filmed at Books With Pictures in Portland, OR.

Jay and Miles X-Plain the X-Men is 100% ad-free and listener supported. These video reviews–and everything else here–are made possible by the support of our Patreon subscribers. If you want to help support the podcast–and unlock more cool stuff–you can do that right here!

Come join us on Imzy!

Buy stuff at the shop!

As Mentioned in Episode 119 – Red Night of the Soul (Feat. Elisabeth Allie)

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Listen to the episode here!

Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available at the shop, or contact David to purchase the original.
“So you’re saying she’s definitely not my actual, literal grandmother, right? Cool; glad we made that absolutely, incontrovertibly clear.” (New Mutants #53)
Previously, on New Mutants… (New Mutants Forever #1)
“I mean, I know things are urgent what with the gunfight we’re trying to stop, but those old outfits were so 1987.” (New Mutants Forever #1)
Hela’s presence makes any scene in which she appears at least 20% more epic than it would otherwise have been. I mean, damn – that hat, right? (New Mutants Forever #1)
Remember when Magneto and the New Mutants were actually capable of completing a conversation without Sunspot throwing something? (New Mutants Forever #1)
Absorbing that wretch’s life-force also gave her a gift certificate to Frederick’s of Hollywood. (New Mutants Forever #1)
I personally think Warlock is hotter as a Sienkiewicz-style asymmetrical scribble-monster, but tastes vary. (New Mutants Forever #2)
Roberto’s pretty perfect, but what’s up with Warlock’s generic robot form? You’re better than this, Warlock. (New Mutants Forever #2)
Nice visual continuity work, Al Rio. Seriously. (New Mutants Forever #2)
Okay, that’s legitimately horrifying. It’s a good thing nothing bad ever happened to Doug Ramsey in mainstream continuity. (New Mutants Forever #2)
“Selene… What the hell are they wearing?” “I… I have no idea, kids.” (New Mutants Forever #3)
This would be disturbing regardless, but Rio’s rendition of Warlock as more purely mechanical makes his injuries that much more viscerally cringe-inducing. (New Mutants Forever #3)
The art / dialogue disconnect here makes me giggle every time. (New Mutants Forever #3)
Limbo as we’ve never seen it. (New Mutants Forever #3)
Red Skull, you are officially a terrible person. Ew. (New Mutants Forever #4)
Okay, that’s actually pretty awesome. A little silly, sure, but still pretty awesome. (New Mutants Forever #4)
I AM SO UNCOMFORTABLE RIGHT NOW (New Mutants Forever #4)
Cool, Warlock got Muscular Augments and Grooved Spines! (New Mutants Forever #4)
Pathos, thy name is skullified-Doug-in-tighty-whities. (New Mutants Forever #4)
Hey, Amara’s not wearing her weird Nazi fetish outfit anymore! …Oh, she’s still mind-controlled. Damn. (New Mutants Forever #4)
This battle sequence is rad, but I wish we could swap out a couple of those Nova Romans for Dani and Rahne. (New Mutants Forever #5)
Eh, it’s only a bullet to the head. She’ll be fine by the next page. (New Mutants Forever #5)
“I’ll beat you with my fists and my knowledge of first century Roman political history!” (New Mutants Forever #5)
Weirdly, the most perfectly on-model characters in New Mutants Forever aren’t actually the New Mutants. (New Mutants Forever #5)
This was a really weird episode of House, MD. (New Mutants Forever #5)
Next time: even more Nazis. (Excalibur #9)

LINKS:

  • Check out guest host Elisabeth Allie’s blog!
  • And: check out the band she represents, the Doubleclicks: a nationally touring, Billboard charting pop band with a cello, a meowing cat keyboard, and songs about Dungeons and Dragons!

Jay & Miles Review the X-Men, Episode 94

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Week of 7/27/2016:

In which another chapter of Apocalypse Wars wraps up; X-Men ’92 takes on time travel; Old Man Logan has lady problems; and we have a lot of feelings about Ghostbusters.

REVIEWED:

  • Extraordinary X-Men #12 (01:10)
  • *X-Men ’92 #5 (07:41)
  • Old Man Logan #9 (12:06)

*Pick of the Week (19:48)

Filmed at Books With Pictures in Portland, OR.

Jay and Miles X-Plain the X-Men is 100% ad-free and listener supported. These video reviews–and everything else here–are made possible by the support of our Patreon subscribers. If you want to help support the podcast–and unlock more cool stuff–you can do that right here!

Come join us on Imzy!

Buy stuff at the shop!

As Mentioned in Episode 118 – Extrude the Grappling Arms!

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Listen to the episode here!

Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available at the shop, or contact David to purchase the original.
Elaine Grey as drawn by Rob Liefeld. (X-Factor #40)
Perspective? What perspective? (X-Factor #40)
Remember, this is supposed to be taking place inside the cockpit of a fairly small airplane. (X-Factor #40)
Nanny, X-Plained. (X-Factor #40)
Trolls, trollin.’ (X-Factor #41)
“Just, um, don’t call Magneto. He’s a supervillain. Anything he says about us is probably a lie.” (X-Factor #41)
Well, that escalated quickly. (X-Factor #41)
Sure, why not? (X-Factor #41)
The future mutant messiah. (X-Factor #42)
Meanwhile in Excalibur, other stuff. (X-Factor #42)
This is also a problem in Portland. (X-Factor #42)
I like this kid. He makes good choices. (X-Factor #42)
NEXT EPISODE: Miles and Elisabeth X-Plain New Mutants Forever!

LINKS:

 

Jay & Tea Review the X-Men, Episode 93

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Week of July 20, 2016:

In which we take the show on the road; Uncanny X-Men wraps up Apocalypse Wars; All-New Wolverine is a four-generation masterpiece; and Jay and Tea totally made Summers Bears.

REVIEWED:

  • Uncanny X-Men #10 (00:49)
  • *All-New Wolverine #10 (02:53)

*Pick of the Week (05:24)

Special thanks to Guest Co-Host and Partner in Bears Tea Fougner!

Jay and Miles X-Plain the X-Men is 100% ad-free and listener supported. These video reviews–and everything else here–are made possible by the support of our Patreon subscribers. If you want to help support the podcast–and unlock more cool stuff–you can do that right here!

Come join us on Imzy!

Buy stuff at the shop!