Blog Posts – Page 71 – Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men

The X-Men as they appear in the 90s cartoon opening sequence.

We really just never get tired of Cyclops blowing up robots.

Mr. Sinister is here for your logical causality and possibly also your glam rock!

Creepy Gambit would like you to buy a comic book in which he is probably even creepier in that than in the cartoon it’s based on.

Bruce Timm’s love letter to Broadcast Standards & Practices.

Mojo gets meta.

The first-season lineup of X-Men: Evolution.

X-23 is not pleased with your Harley Quinn comparisons.

In 1989, Dwayne McDuffie sent this pitch to Marvel to make a point about some trends pervasive among their black characters.

Ten years after McDuffie’s letter, Marvel introduced Spyke in X-Men: Evolution: A black kid on a skateboard, who is related to the only other black character on the show.

Nothing you tell us will convince us that Lin-Z from Jem and the Holograms is not secretly Dazzler.

Wolverine and the X-Men was a damn fine show, and the fact that it only ran for one season should be a crime with actual, legal repercussions.

Remember that time X-Men: Evolution did a straight-up homage to girl-gang movies? (S2E10, “Walk on the Wild Side”)

Beast sports a Howard the Duck t-shirt to visit Jean Grey in the hospital…

…but testifies before the Senate in briefs. He’s a complex dude.

Jean Grey’s Jim Lee-designed costume is not our favorite.

This is Morph as he appears in the 90s X-Men cartoon. Don’t get too attached.

In the podcast, Rachel said Morph made his comics debut in Exiles, totally forgetting that he’d previously appeared in Age of Apocalypse. Sorry!

We didn’t actually mention this, but you should probably watch it anyway:

For more Chris Sims, check out:

Chris’s X-Men episode guides at Comics Alliance

War Rocket Ajax

Movie Fighters Kickstarter

For more on X-Men, X-Men Evolution, and Wolverine and the X-Men, check out:

X-Men (90s series) on Toonzone

Broadcast Standards and Practices Notes

X-Men Evolution on Toonzone

Wolverine and the X-Men on Toonzone

The Many Mustaches of Magneto / Ask Rachel and Chris

April 24, 2014 Jay Leave a comment

Wow. Wow. You wonderful weirdos. Last week, we bemoaned Silver-Age Magneto’s lack of a properly villainous mustache, and you have filled that void with distilled awesomeness. Click through for the many miraculous mustaches of the master of magnetism…

David Wynne also drew the kickass Lazerwolf we posted last week.

We’ve already posted Tyler Crook‘s novel(ty) solution to Magneto’s naked upper lip, but we love it enough that we’re posting it again. Deal with it.

Ma’at Crook explores two iconic stache styles, complete with a bonus era-appropriate plaid suit!

Vid Tuesday complements his Magnetostache with some splendid Silver-Age-style patter.

This week, Miles is off at C2E2. He’ll be working at the Dark Horse Comics booth all weekend, so if you’re there, swing by for a high five.

Meanwhile, Rachel will be holding down the fort with Emergency Backup Cohost Chris Sims, X-Plaining some of the (numerous and often terrible) X-Men animated series. If you have questions for Rachel and Chris, please stick ’em in the comments here or our tumblr ask box, or tweet ’em to @RaeBeta, with the hashtag #xplainthexmen!

Hi, War Rocket Ajax Listeners!

April 23, 2014 Jay Leave a comment

Hot damn! We were Matt’s pick of the week on War Rocket Ajax! You should really listen to the whole podcast, because Matt and Chris are awesome, but the really important part–where they say nice things about us–starts at 15:37.

For those of you clicking over from WRA, welcome! You can find an intro to the show here, more on the Rachel and Miles here, and podcast episodes here (as well as on iTunes and Stitcher).

Magneto’s Miraculous Mustache

April 22, 2014 Jay One comment

Friend of the X-Plainers and All-Around Excellent Fellow Tyler Crook has developed what is clearly the ideal solution to the Mystery of Magneto’s Missing Mustache:

The whole thing is pretty splendid, but I think my favorite touch has to be the wee Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch in the corner. Marvel/Disney/Fox/whoever owns the relevant toy licensing rights, you need to make this wonder a reality.

As Mentioned in Episode 2 – Sentinels In the Mist

April 20, 2014 Jay 11 comments

Listen to the podcast here!

Quicksilver is more of a bored mutant, but Magneto got to name the club.

Mastermind’s bookshelf is nothing but Ayn Rand and Pickup Artist handbooks. (From X-Men #4)

Roughly 2/3 of the mutants in the Marvel Universe have variations on this origin story. (X-Men #4)

The last time Quicksilver trusted humans, they dressed him like this. (X-Men #4)

It’s actually sort of a tube that goes around her whole head, but it’s funnier if you pretend the Scarlet Witch is basically just villain-breading. (X-Men #4)

Toad: Career minion. ( X-Men #5)

Magneto is not making a very good case for mutant rule. (X-Men #7)

Either Cain Marko is evil, or he’s unusually prescient and has already figured out what an asshole his stepbrother is going to grow up into. (X-Men #12)

“Y’know–Cyttorak? We covered this in basic training, Cain.” (X-Men #12)

The Juggernaut. (X-Men #13)

A fair and balanced view of the Mutant Menace. (X-Men #14)

Seriously, how did Bolivar Trask not see this coming? (X-Men #14)

LOOK AT THAT KIRBY HAT. LOOK. AT. THAT. KIRBY. HAT. (X-Men #15)

“Intergenerational miscommunication” is a really common villain origin story. Also, check out those Neal Adams layouts. Man, he’s good. (X-Men #57)

“Son, your mother has seen the future. Disco is coming. You must prepare.” (X-Men #58)

When you’ve got a team of good guys with incredibly destructive superpowers, giant robots are a rare chance to really show off. (X-Men #59)

No, really. This scene is from almost 50 years later. Same basic principle. (Astonishing X-Men #8)

Remember that time Cyclops dressed up like Quicksilver and talked the Sentinels into going off and fighting the sun? That totally happened. (X-Men #59)

Sometimes, it’s not all that surprising when a villain doesn’t make it out of the Silver Age. (X-Men #25)

Unus the Untouchable is having a bad day in X-Men #8.

Look at this asshole. LOOK AT HIS BLUEJEANS. (X-Men #61)

We salute Marlene Jablon, early pioneer and unsung hero of X-Plaining. This letter appeared in X-Men #12.

Supplemental Reading:

Marvels, by Kurt Busiek and Alex Ross

“Uncanny Avengers, Rick Remender, X-Men, and Oppression Comix,” by David Brothers

Rachel and Miles X-Plain the X-Men Is Now Available on Stitcher!

April 18, 2014 Jay Leave a comment

Yaybo! Click here to listen or subscribe!

Meanwhile, we’re gearing up for our second episode. If you’ve got an X-question–especially iconic villains of the Silver Age–drop it in the comments below or our tumblr ask-box, or tweet it to @RaeBeta with the hashtag #xplainthexmen!

Lazerwolf Wants Your Questions!

April 17, 2014 Jay One comment

As promised, David sent over a clean scan of his awesome, awesome LAZERWOLF drawing:

Meanwhile, we’re busy getting ready for our scintillating second episode! Got a burning question you’d like to hear Rachel and Miles answer on the podcast? Drop it in the comments below or our tumblr ask-box, or tweet it to @RaeBeta with the hashtag #xplainthexmen!

LAZERWOLF LIVES!

April 17, 2014 Jay One comment

Hot damn! It’s our first official fan art, courtesy of the inimitable David Wynne! (David’s promised a proper scan later (at which point it will become Rachel’s userpic EVERYWHERE FOREVER), but we are too excited not to post this RIGHT NOW, because it is AWESOME.)