Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men

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As Mentioned in Episode 106 – The X-Terminators

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Listen to the podcast here.

Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available at the shop, or contact David to purchase the original.
Hi, Bill Gaines! (X-Terminators #1)
In which Bogdanove goes full Silver-Age romance-cover! (X-Terminators #1)
And so it was. (X-Terminators #1)
Wellp. (X-Terminators #1)
Can Bogdanove draw Boom Boom forever, please? (X-Terminators #1)
THIS KID IS AWESOME. (X-Terminators #1)
The cartoonishness of this series is really, really fun. (X-Terminators #1)
“Classic goblin behavior.” Did she learn about this in school? (X-Terminators #1)
JAIL BREAK TIME! (X-Terminators #1)
Boom Boom vs. vending machines. (X-Terminators #2)
I love the extent to which Hostess Fruit Pies became a running joke within actual Marvel comics. (X-Terminators #2)
So doomed. (X-Terminators #2)
This is probably a little too niche to describe as “every parent’s worst nightmare,” but I’m sure it hit home for someone. (X-Terminators #2)
#WINNING (X-Terminators #2)
Seriously, though–wouldn’t it be funnier if this were just a regular Viewmaster? (X-Terminators #2)
I can’t find the Ghostbusters production photo this is an homage to, but I swear it exists. (X-Terminators #3)
The living landscape of NYC quickly becomes legitimately terrifying, without ever quite losing its cartoonishness. (X-Terminators #3)
Incidental transitional panel, or hidden pitch for a whole new series? (X-Terminators #3)
Magic spells are ridiculous. (X-Terminators #3)
THOSE FACES. (X-Terminators #4)
You know that feeling when a crossover flies in from nowhere and whacks you in the back of the head? Yeah. (X-Terminators #4)
OKAY, THEN. (X-Terminators #4)
Wouldn’t that be multiplying it by 100? (X-Terminators #4)
Are… pigeons particularly notorious for meekly accepting destruction? Is that a thing? (X-Terminators #4)
And they all lived happily ever–HA, NO, JUST KIDDING. GO READ NEW MUTANTS. (X-Terminators #4)
NEXT WEEK: The fall of Magik.

LINKS & FURTHER LISTENING:

Jay & Miles Review the X-Men, Episode 81

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Week of April 20, 2016:

In which Extraordinary X-Men finally lives up to its name; Jay and Miles accidentally wear matching shirts (but don’t bother to change); and Jay fails to come up with something exciting to put in the video-description copy.

Reviewed:

  • Extraordinary X-Men #9 (Pick of the week, obviously)

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!

ECCC 2016 Round-Up!

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Listen to the live episode here.

Miles, Scott, and Jay performing the Hamilton cold open live at Phoenix Comics (video courtesy of Annie Bulloch):

ECCC Show Diaries:

ETA: If you absolutely can’t get enough of Hamilton and X-Men cross-references, here’s the time someone asked Jay to associate songs from the show with specific X-characters and they couldn’t stop.

The Whole Cyclops Has a Good Day Sketchbook, as of April 2016

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Jay here! Because a handful of people have asked for them all in one place, here are the full current contents of the Cyclops Has a Good Day sketchbook, in chronological order.

(In the name of being precise about these kinds of things, I should note that these are not all of the Cyclops Has a Good Day drawings that I have–there are a good 6-10ish that are free-floating or digital–just the ones in the official sketchbook. I may add the others later, but they’re somewhat more scattered at the moment.)

Tyler Crook
Meredith McClaren
Dean Trippe
Steve Lieber
Doc Shaner
Pete Woods
Maris Wicks
Stephanie Lantry
Matt Grigsby
Ibrahim Moustafa
Katie Cook
Kris Anka
Bill Sienkiewicz
Joe Quinones
Art Baltazar
Scott Wegener
Janet K. Lee
Al Ewing
Alex Sanchez
Peter V. Nguyen
Jake Wyatt
Erica Henderson
Dylan Meconis
Ron Randall
Cully Hamner
David Wynne
Scott Koblish
Tea Berryblue
Jessi Jordan

 

Jay & Miles Review the X-Men, Episode 80

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Weeks of April 6 and April 13, 2016:

In which Uncanny X-Men gets a new artist; Old Man Logan takes our breath away; All-New X-Men gives us the team-up we didn’t know we needed; and X-Men ’92 gets the villain we’ve been waiting for.

REVIEWED:

  • Uncanny X-Men #6 (00:59)
  • *Old Man Logan #4 (05:43)
  • All-New X-Men #8 (09:15)
  • X-Men ’92 #2 (12:49)

*Pick of the Week (18:26)

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!

Jay and Miles Try to Draw and Cyclops Has a Good Day at ECCC 2016!

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WOOHOO IT’S SKETCH ROUND-UP TIME!

We do bad X-Men drawings for $1 at cons (although we might end up raising the price, because we spent a somewhat ridiculous amount of time on these). Here’s most of what we did at ECCC, minus a few that we forgot to photograph:

Miles starts with a classic.
Cyclops Has a Good Day, by Jay. (It seems kind of unfair to commission something that’s *my* sketchbook theme–I’m used to other people having to think of these!)
Seriously, y’all, Miles will take ANY EXCUSE to draw Adam X the X-Treme.
If you ask Jay to draw Warlock, you will get a Warlock heart. Every time.
There were a lot of Colossus requests this year! Here’s Miles’s favorite.
This person wanted a shadowcat and a Magik in her zine, so we made them a matched set: Shadowcat by Jay…
…and Magik by Miles.
Jay’s attempt to capture the grandeur of ’90s Rogue’s hair fell tragically short.
Someone wanted Miles to draw the death of Nightcrawler, so, that happened.
What happens when Jay gets tired of coloring in AoA Colossus.
Miles is all about the really sharp dudes; in this case, Stryfe.
Jay REALLY ENJOYS drawing Shadowcat with swoopy Alan Davis hair.
Miles takes a stab at Inferno Colossus.
Jay drew a Warlock that is a heart that is also a bookplate. Your argument is invalid.

David drew a lot of really beautiful sketches and commissions, but for some reason, this is the only one we actually have a photo of:

d_cable

And here are the newest additions to Jay’s Cyclops Has a Good Day sketchbook (the downside of working shows = very little time to run around and get commissions and sketches, alas!):

Cully Hamner
David Wynne (who has actually drawn more of these than anyone else, but also had never previously been on the same continent as the sketchbook proper! Someday I will do an all-David Cyclops Has a Good Day gallery.)
Scott Koblish
Tea Berryblue
Jessi Jordan (who was also our marvelous table neighbor!)

 

As Mentioned in Episode 104 – The Noodle Incident

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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.
Extraordinary X-Men
Uncanny X-Men
All-New Wolverine
Old Man Logan
All-New X-Men
X-Men: Worst X-Man Ever
X-Men ’92
NEXT WEEK: Continuity Has Its Eyes on You: Live from ECCC with Kris Anka, Al Ewing, Scott Koblish, and G. Willow Wilson!

LINKS & FURTHER READING:

ECCC Show Diary: Day 4

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Jay here! It’s 1:30 AM, I’m scrambling to get Episode 104 up, and I’m dead on my feet, so I’m gonna keep this one pretty cursory.

Four days is a lot of convention. I know there are shows where it’s standard, but we really, really felt the extra day today.

  • I don’t even know.
  • I’m really tired, y’all.
  • Some stuff happened?
  • OH! There was some really great cosplay.
  • And we did a bunch of sketches and forgot to take pictures of most of them.
  • The end of a con is always pretty bittersweet. We’re exhausted and very ready to be home, but we also had an amazing time and saw (and made!) a lot of very dear friends who we will now miss dreadfully!
  • Speaking of which, we have to send David back to the UK tomorrow, and that sucks, because he’s awesome. Someone invent safe and affordable teleportation now, please.
  • Ooh, maybe I should do a con highlights list! Yeah, I’m gonna do that.

ECCC 2016 HIGHLIGHTS:

  • MEETING YOU! We know our listeners are awesome, but, man, nothing drives that point home like meeting you in person. You are universally delightful. One of you brought Miles beer.
  • Meeting creators! Scott Koblish is a national treasure, y’all. Also, apparently a lot of people whose work we really, really love listen to the show; which is both awesome and intimidating as hell.
  • Seeing old friends and meeting new. Man, we’re going to miss you so much.
  • THE LIVE SHOW. Oh. My. God.
  • The Hamilton cold open actually gets its own list item, because I am incredibly proud of that ridiculousness, and because Scott Koblish is–again–a national treasure; because he not only dove headfirst into that ridiculousness, but did it again the next night at our birthday party while standing on a chair.
  • SPEAKING OF WHICH, our 2nd birthday party was so damn fun. Phoenix comics was amazing! You were amazing! The cake was amazing! Going to a bar and sitting down and eating non-cake afterwards and talking until stupid o’clock was amazing!
  • Okay, look, this is my favorite show. (Sorry, RCCC: you’re lovely and our hometown con, but ECCC got a seven-year head start working its way into my heart.) I know the people who run it. I know a ton of people who go. I know the city, and I have a great place to crash, and basically I love ECCC and I love all of you and this has been a nonstop-amazing four days. Thank you. So much.
  • I’m going to borrow some words from David, who’s already said it far better than I can at this point: “All in all, ECCC has been an amazingly fun adventure full of life affirming positivity. I keep wanting to do a (series of) tweet(s) acknowledging all the great people I’ve met this weekend, but there are just too many. I would inevitably forget someone, so it’s better if I don’t do it. Just know: if I spent time with you, I’m glad I did, you are awesome.”

AND HERE ARE A FEW PHOTOGRAPHS FROM TODAY:

LOOK AT THESE PUNK X-MEN LOOK HOW AWESOME THEY ARE
LOOK AT THESE PUNK X-MEN LOOK HOW AWESOME THEY ARE

 

Someone wanted me to draw a Warlock book plate in their X-Men sketchbook. The sketch on the facing page is X-Factor Cyclops by Ibrahim Moustafa, which was intimidating as all hell.
Someone wanted me to draw a Warlock book plate in their X-Men sketchbook. (You can only see a corner of it in this photo, but the sketch on the facing page is gorgeous X-Factor Cyclops by Ibrahim Moustafa.)
Remember Tea, that terrific Namor from earlier in the show? Today she was dressed up as Little Marvels AvX Cyclops, complete with a Bucky Bear!
Remember Tea, that terrific Namor from earlier in the show? Today she was dressed up as Little Marvels AvX Cyclops, complete with a Bucky Bear!
The nice folks at We Love Fine gave me a magnetic Goat Simulator goat, which I have spent the evening gleefully attaching to every metal or metal-studded object I could find--including David, who was still wearing his con badge under his jacket.
The nice folks at We Love Fine gave me a magnetic Goat Simulator goat, which I have spent the evening gleefully attaching to every metal or metal-studded object I could find–including David, who was still wearing his con badge under his jacket.

(We didn’t try any new Lush stuff today. Also, I think we accidentally left a bunch of it back in Portland. Maybe I’ll fold the rest into the roundups of cosplay and sketches later this week…)

ECCC Show Diary: Day 2

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The coolest kids in Seattle.
The coolest kids in Seattle.

Jay here! Today was our Really Big Day: the live episode. O.o

BUT WAIT! THERE’S MORE!

  • Stumbled through the morning and managed to get in mostly on time! (Well, I did; Miles almost did.)
  • If you had a coherent conversation with either David or me today, take a moment to thank AdminixtratriX Tina, who swung by shortly after opening with two enormous cups of coffee, because she is a saint/superhero.
  • There was SO MUCH GOOD COSPLAY today, which is particularly cool given that we know Saturday’s generally the big cosplay day at ECCC. People who turn out turned out on weekdays impress the hell out of me.
  • We did a LOT of bad X-Men sketches, and David did a lot of good ones. Also, between yesterday and today, I got Cyclops Has a Good Day sketches from the three people on my “Absolutely No Matter What” list for this show, which I will post eventually.
  • At 1:00, I ran off for my first panel: “We’re not Gonna Take It: How to Deal with Harassment in the Comics Community,” with Casey Gilly, Sarah Gaydos, and Annie Bulloch, and moderated by Jack Bauer. Very low turnout, but one of the best and most productive-feeling panels I’ve ever been on: we spent an hour discussing systemic factors in harassment in the comics industry and community, and hammering out practical solutions.
  • Stopped to see a bunch of friends at 312, and SUDDENLY THERE WERE SUGAR GLIDERS AND I GOT TO PET THEM AND THEY WERE TINY AND SOFT AND WONDERFUL! Also picked up a couple copies of Ma’at Crook’s absolutely lovely self-care comic/coloring book, and immediately gave one away.
  • Miles and I spent most of the spare moments we could grab between panels and talking to folks at the table to hammer out a rough outline for the episode; which was good, because I spent the last 40 minutes before the panel…
  • …outside with Scott Koblish, running through the cold open. I have NO IDEA what passers-by thought we were doing, but to their credit, they were very chill about it. We ended up behind an AMAZING Fury Road Crow cosplay on our way back in and so are probably in a lot of photos of it.
  • THE LIVE EPISODE. OH, MY GOD. WE DID THIS THING AND IT HAPPENED! Everyone was amazing, including Al Ewing, who we ended up dragging up from the audience to explain the current state of the multiverse. The crowd was fantastic, too–100% terrific questions, and pretty much everything
  • Fancy pizza + beer for dinner again; because if it’s not broke, don’t fix it. We briefly flirted with the idea of going to a couple parties, then decided to go home, take off our shoes, and finish proofing Episode 104 instead.

HERE ARE SOME PHOTOGRAPHS OF SOME STUFF!

 

Miles technically drew this Proletarian yesterday, but he just sent me the photo, so.
Miles technically drew this Proletarian yesterday, but he just sent me the photo, so.
In addition to being a kickass Dazzler, Sarah is a roller-derby rock star AND the human behind our pro photos!
In addition to being a kickass Dazzler, Sarah is a roller-derby rock star AND the human behind our pro photos!
Someone asked us to sign their copy of The Incredible Hulk #148, which features what may be the most important character debut in Marvel history.
Someone asked us to sign their copy of The Incredible Hulk #148, which features what may be the most important character debut in Marvel history. P.S. IF YOU ARE THIS PERSON: I FOUND THAT ONE BUTTON, AND I AM HOLDING IT FOR YOU.
I HAD TO DRAW A "CYCLOPS HAS A GOOD DAY" SKETCH CARD AND I TOTALLY BLANKED. Also, I just realized his headphones don't have a cord. Ah, well--there's a reason we bill these as "Bad drawings of your favorite X-Man."
I HAD TO DRAW A “CYCLOPS HAS A GOOD DAY” SKETCH CARD AND I TOTALLY BLANKED. Shoemaker’s children go barefoot, and all that, I suppose. Also, I just realized his headphones don’t have a cord. Ah, well–there’s a reason we bill these as “Bad drawings of your favorite X-Man.”
THIS SUGAR GLIDER IS IMPOSSIBLY TINY AND SOFT AND WONDERFUL AND I GOT TO PET IT AND IT WAS UTTERLY MAGICAL
THIS SUGAR GLIDER IS IMPOSSIBLY TINY AND SOFT AND WONDERFUL AND I GOT TO PET IT AND IT WAS UTTERLY MAGICAL
Our friend Tea as the King of Abs-Lantis. That is a TRAVEL TRIDENT, by the way: she's also got a full-size one, but this one is modular and fits into luggage, which kind of blows my mind.
Our friend Tea as the King of Abs-Lantis. That is a TRAVEL TRIDENT, by the way: she’s also got a full-size one, but this one is modular so that it can fit into luggage, which kind of blows my mind.
True fact: In addition to being a really good artist, Scott Koblish is an excellent and delightful human being.
True fact: In addition to being a really good artist, Scott Koblish is an excellent and delightful human being…
...who has also now set the high bar for the Cyclops Has a Good Day sketchbook.
…who has also now set the high bar for the Cyclops Has a Good Day sketchbook.
And then this happened, and it was PRETTY DARN AMAZING. (Also, thank you to everyone who was there for not spoiling to cold open online. The rest of you can catch it at the party tomorrow night, or when the episode goes a week from Sunday!)
And then this happened, and it was PRETTY DARN AMAZING. Left to right: Me, Miles, G. Willow Wilson, Kris Anka, Al Ewing, Scott Koblish! (Also, thank you to everyone who came; and double thanks for not spoiling to cold open online!! The rest of you can catch it live at the party tomorrow night, or when the episode goes a week from Sunday!)
Lush stuff I tried today: The Sexy Peel soap smells EXACTLY like marmalade, to the point where I kept expecting to be sticky after using it; and a little of the Wiccy Magic Muscles massage bar goes a VERY long way.
Lush stuff I tried today: The Sexy Peel soap smells EXACTLY like marmalade, to the point where I kept expecting to be sticky after using it; and the Wiccy Magic Muscles massage bar is nice, but perhaps over-scented. A little goes a VERY long way. Also, this is the first con I’ve been at in ages where my hands weren’t cracking by the second day, so obviously SOMETHING is working! =D

ECCC Show Diary: Day 1

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LOOK AT THESE GLORIOUS NERDS
LOOK AT THESE GLORIOUS NERDS

FIRST DAY OF THE SHOW PROPER!

We were expecting Thursday to be pretty quiet, but, no. You were NUMEROUS AND ENTHUSIASTIC, and IT WAS AWESOME. Here are the highlights:

  • Got up at stupid o’clock to feed the meter
  • Came back, showered, and put on grown-up daytime clothes. ONE OF US IS WEARING A TIE. MUCH ADULT VERY PROFESSIONAL.
  • Moved the car, because Capitol Hill has no parking. Damnit, Seattle!
  • David had caught inevitable international-travel plague, so we dropped off ibuprofen at his hotel, then…
  • …got lunch at a sushi place that we are fairly sure was actively attempting to make us leave. JOKE’S ON THEM. WE ATE SUSHI AND THEN PAID FOR IT AND THEN LEFT.
  • Went and set up our table.
  • DID A LOT OF CONVENTION.
  • I got two new Cyclops Has a Good Day sketches, from Cully Hamner and David Wynne. Yesssssssss.
  • Miles got a super sweet Silent Hill poster from Mondo…
  • …and I got Miles a super sweet Thors poster from Peter V. Nguyen
  • Once the show let out, we met up with Scott Koblish, and wandered off to get dinner…
  • …then practiced the cold open in an empty parking lot.
  • Our friends Katie and Douglas were hosting a karaoke night to celebrate both the show and recent amazing professional projects (THEY ARE AWESOME! GO KATIE AND DOUGLAS!), so we headed down.
  • Did you know that Miles sings Blondie? Miles sings Blondie. HE IS VERY GOOD AT IT.
  • Also, Al Ewing sang “Let It Go,” and possibly manifested a whole sci-fi rock musical just by being the weirdest and Britishest person in the room.
  • ANYWAY. We are very tired and slightly tipsy, and it is probably time for sleep. OUR LIVE PANEL IS TOMORROW (today; it’s after midnight) at 5:30 PM IN ROOM T304, AND YOU SHOULD ALL COME.
  • Seriously. KINDA FREAKING OUT about this cold open. It is by far and away the most ambitious one we’ve ever done.

PHOTOS:

Jay's first sharpie knuckle tats of the day, for a friend who used to co-run one of our favorite video-game websites EVER in high school. HI, NICH! YOU ARE AWESOME!
Jay’s first sharpie knuckle tats of the day, for a friend who used to co-run one of our favorite video-game websites EVER in high school. HI, NICH! YOU ARE AWESOME!
Miles drew Bill the Lobster. Your argument is invalid.
Miles drew Bill the Lobster. Your argument is invalid.
Jay drew Magik. This was part of a pair, but the other one's in Miles's phone, and we're tired, so we'll post it later.
Jay drew Magik. This was part of a pair, but the other one’s in Miles’s phone, and we’re tired, so we’ll post it later.
A++ milk stout.
A++ milk stout.
DID YOU KNOW THAT SEATTLE HAS AN X-MEN BURLESQUE SHOW? These two are part of it, and they are awesome!
DID YOU KNOW THAT SEATTLE HAS AN X-MEN BURLESQUE SHOW? These two are part of it, and they are awesome!
Lush stuff I tried today! Needles and Pines Shower Jelly smells like camping, but not unpleasantly so; and No Drought dry shampoo is my new best convention friend forever.
Lush stuff I tried today! Needles and Pines Shower Jelly smells like camping, but not unpleasantly so; and No Drought dry shampoo is my new best convention friend forever.