Blog Posts – Page 47 – Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men

Miles Reviews the X-Men, Episode 70

January 22, 2016 Miles 12 comments

Weeks of 1/13/2016 and 1/20/2016:

In which Miles flies solo and reviews two weeks’ worth of comics, Secret Wars sticks the landing, and All-New X-Men remains basically perfect.

REVIEWED:

Secret Wars #9 (00:46)
Uncanny X-Men #2 (02:56)
Extraordinary X-Men #5 (05:26)
All-New Wolverine #4 (07:52)
*All-New X-Men #3 (09:48
X-Men: Worst X-Man Ever #2 & 3 (12:25)

*Pick of the Week (15:25)

Rachel 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!

As Mentioned in Episode 92 – Living in Ship

January 17, 2016 Miles Leave a comment

Listen to the episode here.

Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available at the shop, or contact David to purchase the original.

Love, X-Factor style. (X-Factor #27)

Days later, Manhattan is flooded. (X-Factor #27)

“Everything was going really well for like five whole pages!” (X-Factor #27)

Jean, you knocked! You really have grown up! (X-Factor #27)

Aww, squishface. (X-Factor #27)

“And I was only a few days away from retirement…” (X-Factor #28)

Gotta catch ’em all. (X-Factor #28)

Aww, Hank… (X-Factor #28)

Check out that panel composition – this is how you do show-don’t-tell. (X-Factor #28)

Just sayin’. (X-Factor #28)

Okay, I just posted this one because of Scott’s amazing death-glare. “Damn it, Bobby, I’m the one who gets to do press conferences.” (X-Factor #29)

Nabbit. Whunk. (X-Factor #29)

Aww, Hank..! (X-Factor #29)

I can’t say I fully blame Infectia for monsterizing some of these jerks. (X-Factor #29)

Walter Simonson: master of making soap opera look Epic As Hell. (X-Factor #29)

Whoa. (X-Factor #30)

I mean, she’s kind of endearing in her awfulness, right? (X-Factor #30)

Bobby Drake: overcompensating. (X-Factor #30)

These panels could have come straight out of The Mighty Thor. (X-Factor #30)

Aww, crap, they’re holding hands – you know that means you guys are completely screwed, right? (X-Factor #30)

*cue laugh track* (X-Factor #31)

Well that’s terrifying. (X-Factor #31)

Louise and Walter Simonson do the best Destiny. (X-Factor #31)

Jeez, the USPS is way more hardcore than I thought. (X-Factor #31)

Well crap. (X-Factor #31)

Next time: Sorcerers’ Duel.

A Brief Heads-Up

January 11, 2016 Jay 34 comments

Art by Russell Dauterman. — (Dauterman / Sotomayor)

Jay here!

A quick heads up: for the next few weeks I’ll be out of town, getting and then recovering from top surgery (Yay!).

Here’s what to expect:

PODCASTS: Business as usual! We’ve recorded ahead a few weeks out, and the splendid Elisabeth Allie is going to be filling in so that I can take a few consecutive weeks off. Miles will be handling the copy and visual companions for an episode or two; please be nice to him as he gets his sea legs.

VIDEO REVIEWS: Miles is flying solo while I’m in Florida! Depending on the concentration of books, video reviews will go up either weekly or every other week. Also, I stole the external mic so we could record episode 93, so, that might be a thing. SORRY, MILES!

EVERYTHING ELSE: Blog and social media will probably be pretty quiet for at least the first week; and you should expect significant delays on e-mail correspondence. If you need to get in touch with us about something time-sensitive between now and January 23, please e-mail xplainthexmen(at)gmail(dot)com with “ATTN: MILES” in the subject line.

XO,

As Mentioned in Episode 91 – The Saddest Story Ever Told

January 10, 2016 Jay 8 comments

Listen to the episode here.

Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available at the shop, or contact David to purchase the original.

The vaguely slapstick motifs in this story somehow make it even sadder. (New Mutants #64)

And it really only gets more depressing from here. (New Mutants #64)

No, seriously. (New Mutants #64)

Everything is terrible forever. (New Mutants #64)

=( (New Mutants #64)

Yeah, we do not have a sassy caption for this. Sorry. (New Mutants #64)

Aw, man. These kids. (New Mutants #64)

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT! (Tattoo Tales: X-Men: Masquerade)

Harder than fighting Sentinels, apparently. (Tattoo Tales: X-Men: Masquerade)

“It’s four hours of me, a vacuum cleaner, and a theremin.” (Tattoo Tales: X-Men: Masquerade)

The X-Men take costume parties REALLY DAMN SERIOUSLY. (Tattoo Tales: X-Men: Masquerade)

“Also, that is literally one of the only two non-uniform outfits you own.” (Tattoo Tales: X-Men: Masquerade)

How not to lay out a page for coherent reading order. (Tattoo Tales: X-Men: Masquerade)

SO THEN THAT HAPPENED. (Tattoo Tales: X-Men: Masquerade)

And they all lived happily ever after. THE END! (But Doug Ramsey was still dead.) (Tattoo Tales: X-Men: Masquerade)

Rachel & Miles Review the X-Men, Episode 69

January 8, 2016 Miles 17 comments

Weeks of 12/30/2015 and 1/6/2016:

In which we review two weeks’ worth of books in one video; Worst X-Men is not remotely; and Jay has Opinions about photoreference.

REVIEWED:

All-New Wolverine #3 (00:38)
Uncanny X-Men #1 (02:04)
*X-Men: Worst X-Man Ever #1 (06:58)
Deadpool & Cable: Split Second Infinite Does Anyone Ever Even Bother Reading These Subtitles #6 (10:08)

*Pick of the Week (12:36)

As Mentioned in Episode 90 – Ghosts of the Outback

January 4, 2016 Jay 17 comments

Listen to the episode here.

Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available at the shop, or contact David to purchase the original.

Dazzler is pretty fundamentally confused about the idea of “hiding out.” (Uncanny X-Men #228)

O.Z. Chase: Bounty Hunter, Not a Werewolf. (Uncanny X-Men #228)

WOLVERINE. DON’T FEED DOGS CIGARS. WHY WOULD YOU EVEN DO THAT. YOU ARE THE WORST. (Uncanny X-Men #228)

Oh, hey, it’s the Walter Peck of the Marvel Universe. (Uncanny X-Men #228)

Good times, good times. (Uncanny X-Men #228)

The Reavers. No, not those reavers. The other Reavers. One of them’s a tank. Centank. Tanktaur. (Uncanny X-Men #229)

That tattoo, man. (Uncanny X-Men #229)

Hi, Gateway! (Uncanny X-Men #229)

Do these guys know how to party, or what? (Uncanny X-Men #229)

“Look, we didn’t really think the whole horde thing through.” (Uncanny X-Men #229)

“Also, you’ll start spelling ‘tiger’ with a Y.” (Uncanny X-Men #229)

Those sound effects! (Uncanny X-Men #229)

Chekhov’s mystic portal. (Uncanny X-Men #229)

Really not feeling that costume, Storm. (Uncanny X-Men #230)

SPOILER: This will not end well. (Uncanny X-Men #230)

Question: Based on his powers, is it SUPER AWKWARD for Longshot to use the toilet? (Uncanny X-Men #230)

Alex. You’re the Summers brother who can see colors. There is no excuse for this. (Uncanny X-Men #230)

Elf Dazzler meshes weirdly well with the whole “Baby Boomer Santa” thing from Community. (Uncanny X-Men #230)

Aw. (Uncanny X-Men #230)

Rick Leonardi is so good, y’all. (Uncanny X-Men #231)

Good hat, though. (Uncanny X-Men #231)

Hot, and also hot. (Uncanny X-Men #231)

CAN WE PLEASE TALK ABOUT WHAT STORM IS WEARING? (Uncanny X-Men #231)

Leonardi draws the best Darkchylde by a pretty wide margin. (Uncanny X-Men #231)

How awesome would it be if the Xavier Institute always looked like this? SO AWESOME. (Uncanny X-Men #231)

Aw, man. Right in the feels. (Uncanny X-Men #231)

NEXT WEEK: The saddest story ever.

LINKS & FURTHER READING

We first visited the Australian Outback and met the Reavers (kinda) in Episode 64 – Giant-Size Special #2.
UncannyXMen.net on the probable location of Cooterman’s Creek

The 2015 Super Doctor Astronaut Peter Corbeau Awards for Excellence in X-Cellence

December 30, 2015 Jay 2 comments

(Also, at LONG last: THE RESULTS OF THE 2014 SUPER DOCTOR ASTRONAUT PETER CORBEAU COLORING CONTEST!)

While the Super Doctor Astronaut Peter Corbeau Awards for Excellence in X-Cellence* officially made their debut in this week’s Giant-Size Special, we wanted to take a moment to revisit them: the X-books, creators, and concepts that rocked our year.

Also, last year, we did a Corbeau Coloring Contest, kept extending the deadline, and then forgot about it entirely, because we are slightly terrible. HOWEVER, we have collected all of the entries, and we are AT LONG LAST prepared to declare a definitive winner, which you can find below the 2015 awards.

If your name–or a project to which you contributed–appears on the list below, and you would like an actual, physical Corbeau Award to hang on your wall, please drop us a line, and we will make and mail you one. It will be beautiful, classy, and possibly wearable.

AND SO, WITHOUT FURTHER ADO, CONGRATULATIONS TO THE WINNERS OF THE 2015 SUPER DOCTOR ASTRONAUT PETER CORBEAU AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE IN X-CELLENCE:

Best X-Writer – Dennis Hopeless
Best X-Artist – Mike Norton
Best X-Colorist – Jordie Bellaire
Best Soap Opera – Inferno
Irene Adler Award for Most Anticipated Upcoming Book or Series – X-Men ’92ongoing
Harvey and Janet Award for Best Walk-On – Falcon Pirate (Wolverines #1)
About Damn Time – Iceman comes out (All-New X-Men #40 and X-Men #600)
Cyclops Has a Good Day Award – Uncanny X-Men #600
Shameless Pandering – X-Men ’92
MetaCorbeau for Exemplary Use of Super Doctor Astronaut Peter Corbeau in a Comic Book – Al Ewing (Mighty Avengers #8)
Best Ongoing X-Series – X-Force (w: Si Spurrier; a: various)
Rising Star – Wolverine (Laura Kinney)
Best Withering Sneers* – Kristafer Anka
The Didn’t-Fit-Into-Any-Other-Categories-and-Isn’t-Technically-an-X-Book-but-We-Wanted-to-Give-It-an-Award-Anyway Award – Siege (w: Kieron Gillen, a: Filipe Andrade)
Still the Best Listeners of Any Podcast, Ever – YOU. Again.**

*Kris Anka owns this category so thoroughly that, in the name of fairness, he will be disqualified starting in 2016; at which point the name of this category will officially change to the Kristafer Anka Award for Best Withering Sneer in an X-Book.

**Seriously. We may be a wee bit biased; but honestly, you’re just wildly unfair to the competition.

CLASSIC CORBEAUS (for older X-material covered in the podcast during 2015)

Buried Treasure – Fallen Angels
You Tried – Magneto (New Mutants)
Jack Kirby Award for Best Intersection of Weird and Epic in a Single Character Design – Walter Simonson (Archangel, X-Factor)
Improbably Endearing Moppet – Franklin Richards
High Bar Award – Bill Sienkiewicz (New Mutants)
Most Heroic Hair – Alan Davis
Most Organized Supervillain – Cameron Hodge

Finally, FINALLY, it is our great pleasure to congratulate Lauren Evelyn, the winner of the 2014 Corbeau Coloring Contest and the official Listener Corbeau for this super rad collage:

The runners-up were really splendid–we’re super impressed with how many of them involved physical media–so we’ve collected them in the gallery below. Thank you, so much, to everyone who entered–and to all of you, for once again being the (official!) best listeners of any podcast, ever!

Brandon Masters

Klaasster

Samuel Savage

Kaitlyn Sudol

As Mentioned in Episode 89: Giant-Size Special #3

December 28, 2015 Jay 17 comments

Listen to the episode here.

Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available at the shop, or contact David to purchase the original.

It is probably okay to judge this book by its awesome cover. (Excalibur: The Sword Is Drawn)

Superheroes have the best anxiety dreams. (Excalibur: The Sword Is Drawn)

AUGH. (Excalibur: The Sword Is Drawn)

BEHIND THE SCENES: Jay keeps accidentally calling the Warwolves Whywolves. It’ll probably happen on air eventually. (Excalibur: The Sword Is Drawn)

Hi, Meggan! (Excalibur: The Sword Is Drawn)

The feeling of wanting to yell at Brian Braddock will be your constant and loyal companion in this series. (Excalibur: The Sword Is Drawn)

THAT BEDROOM, THO (Excalibur: The Sword Is Drawn)

Meggan is the nicest person ever. (Excalibur: The Sword Is Drawn)

Sexiest Nightcrawler! (Excalibur: The Sword Is Drawn)

Gatecrasher: never not delightful. (Excalibur: The Sword Is Drawn)

Omniversal Majestrix Opal Luna Saturnine. You can tell she’s important because her hair is extra swoopy. (Excalibur: The Sword Is Drawn)

More Technet. Look at these beautiful people. Look at them. (Excalibur: The Sword Is Drawn)

London takes fancy-dress parties seriously. (Excalibur: The Sword Is Drawn)

Sexiest Nightcrawler stars in the Sexiest Intervention. (Excalibur: The Sword Is Drawn)

“No sense moping. I’m gonna manifest a cosmic force and start dressing like I’m on Dynasty.” (Excalibur: The Sword Is Drawn)

BLIX! JRBL! VOOTIE! Your argument is invalid. (Excalibur: The Sword Is Drawn)

The True Meaning of Christmas. (Excalibur: The Sword Is Drawn)

Elle casts Excalibur:

Captain Britain – Richard Madden
Megan – Hannah Murray
Shadowcat – Isabelle Fuhrman
Phoenix – Karen Gillan
Nightcrawler – Danny Pudi
Saturnyne/Courtney Ross/etc – Natalie Dormer

(Seriously, though, can we all just take a moment to think about Daveed Diggs as Nightcrawler? -J)

Elle casts Technet (and Alistaire Stuart):

Gatecrasher – Kathy Bates
Scatterbrain – Cara Delevingne
China Doll – Tristan Risk
Ferro – Ray Park
Thug – Hornswoggle
Alistaire Stuart – Arthur Darvill

It’s your very own printable Super Doctor Astronaut Peter Corbeau Award for Excellence in X-Cellence! GO, YOU!

Jay knew the Blingee account they had registered to add sparkles to Dazzler covers and photos of Nolan North would come in handy again someday!

THE 2015 SUPER DOCTOR ASTRONAUT PETER CORBEAU AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE IN X-CELLENCE

Best X-Writer – Dennis Hopeless
Best X-Artist – Mike Norton
Best X-Colorist – Jordie Bellaire
Best Soap Opera – Inferno
Irene Adler Award for Most Anticipated Upcoming Book or Series – X-Men ’92 ongoing
Harvey and Janet Award for Best Walk-On – Falcon Pirate (Wolverines #1)
About Damn Time – Iceman comes out (All-New X-Men #40 and X-Men #600)
Cyclops Has a Good Day Award – Uncanny X-Men #600
Shameless Pandering – X-Men ’92
MetaCorbeau for Exemplary Use of Super Doctor Astronaut Peter Corbeau in a Comic Book – Al Ewing (Mighty Avengers #8)
Best Ongoing X-Series – X-Force (w: Si Spurrier; a: various)
Rising Star – Wolverine (Laura Kinney)
Best Withering Sneers* – Kristafer Anka
The Didn’t-Fit-Into-Any-Other-Categories-and-Isn’t-Technically-an-X-Book-but-We-Wanted-to-Give-It-an-Award-Anyway Award – Siege (w: Kieron Gillen, a: Filipe Andrade)
Still the Best Listeners of Any Podcast, Ever – YOU. Again.**

**Seriously. We may be a wee bit biased; but honestly, you’re just wildly unfair to the competition.

CLASSIC CORBEAUS (for older X-material covered in the podcast during 2015)

Buried Treasure – Fallen Angels
You Tried – Magneto (New Mutants)
Jack Kirby Award for Best Intersection of Weird and Epic in a Single Character Design – Walter Simonson (Archangel, X-Factor)
Improbably Endearing Moppet – Franklin Richards
High Bar Award – Bill Sienkiewicz (New Mutants)
Most Heroic Hair – Alan Davis
Most Organized Supervillain – Cameron Hodge

SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR AMAZING GUEST X-PERTS:

KYLE YOUNT
- Kaijucast
- Previously on R&MXtX-M:
  - Every episode from 58 on, ’cause he’s the producer!
  - But you can also hear his voice in Episode 80 – For the Mutant Who Has Everything…
  - …and Episode 85 – Secret Convergence on Infinte Podcasts, Part 9
LOGAN BONNER
- Twitter
- Previously on R&MXtX-M:
  - Episode 62 – Giant-Size Special #2
ELLE COLLINS
- Into It
  - (You can find more Jay, Chris, and general seasonal festivity on the Into It Christmas Special!)
- Hard Times
- Previously on R&MXtX-M:
  - Episode 54 – Who You Gonna Call?
  - Episode 69 – Weird Science
CHRIS SIMS
- Website
- Previously on R&MXtX-M:

LINKS & FURTHER READING:

Rachel & Miles Review the X-Men, Episode 68

December 24, 2015 Jay 15 comments

Week of December 23, 2015:

In which What Cyclops Did has basically become the Noodle Incident; Colossus’s beard is the true hero of Extraordinary X-Men; and Unbeatable Squirrel Girl is just spectacularly delightful.

REVIEWED: