Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men

As Mentioned in Episode 27 – NYCC 2014 Special

October 19, 2014 Jay Leave a comment

Listen to the episode here!

Adam X the X-Treme, redesigned by David Wynne!

From left to right: Russell, Kris, Rachel, and Miles.

Thor #1, drawn by Russell Dauterman and written by Jason Aaron. So good it preempted every X-book for our pick of the week.

Kris Anka’s art in Uncanny X-Men #26. For more on this issue, see Anka Was Right.

Generation X Underground Special, by Jim Mahfood. SO GOOD.

New X-Men #34, art by Skottie Young.

Kris Anka’s Psylocke redesign. PANTS!

Kris Anka’s Storm redesign. MOHAWK!

Russell Dauterman’s line art from the Cyclops #1 flashback page.

EMMA FROST, YOU ARE DELIGHTFUL. (Art by Kris Anka, from Uncanny X-Men #24)

We are all Emma Frost, forever. (Art by Kris Anka, from Uncanny X-Men #24)

Hepzibah’s tail, drawn by Russell Dauterman in Cyclops #1.

No, seriously. Miles has a classic Corsair costume…

…which you will never, ever, ever seen worn in tandem with Rachel’s Awkward Space Teen Cyclops costume, because there is a line, man.

Sorry, Namor: Russell Dauterman is definitely the king of Abs-lantis.

That One Octopus Shirt, as drawn by Kris Anka.

Miles is worthy as hell. (Photo courtesy of Jenn Wimmer.)

Next Week: Kitty gets a new codename. What’s new, Shadowcat?

Links and Further Reading:

Russell Dauterman – Website – Tumblr – Twitter
Kris Anka – Tumblr – Twitter
Thor
Uncanny X-Men
A couple times Rachel got craft-wonky about Russell on Cyclops and Kris on Uncanny X-Men
Powerglove’s superlative cover of the X-Men cartoon theme

27 – NYCC 2014 Special with Kris Anka and Russell Dauterman

October 19, 2014 Jay 8 comments

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Adam X the X-Treme, updated by David Wynne!

In which we sit down with two of our favorite X-artists for an hour of continuity, character design, and a lot of wine; Corsair is the coolest; Emma Frost is a secret viewpoint character; Bishop is the anti-Booster Gold; Adam X the X-Treme gets a new hat; and none of us know how to pronounce “Bachalo.”

X-Plained:

The secret X-origins of Kris Anka and Russell Dauterman
Definitive books and artists
Favorite characters and series
Mephistoid spacesuit logistics
Emma Frost as a reader stand-in
The secret origin of Psylocke’s pants
Uncanny X-Men
The best flashback montage ever
Underappreciated / underdeveloped characters
All the Rogues
Plot twists
Bishop
Dream teams
Sexy dudes with sexy abs
How to update Adam X the X-Treme

Next Week: What’s New, Shadowcat?

You can find a visual companion to the episode – and links to recommended reading – on our blog.

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Support us on Patreon!

Rachel and Miles Review the X-men, Episode 10

October 17, 2014 Jay 14 comments

Weeks of October 8 and October 15, 2014

In which we catch up after New York Comic Con, and Wolverine finally dies. (Also, Rachel reorganized her office. YAY!)

Reviewed:

Axis #1
Axis #2
Magneto #11
Death of Wolverine #4
Logan Legacy #1
Nightcrawler #7
Wolverine and the X-Men #10
Storm #4
X-Force #10*
Uncanny X-Men #27**

*Pick of the week of October 8

**Pick of the week of October 15

Video reviews 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!

Cyclops Has a Good Day at New York Comic Con

October 17, 2014 Jay One comment

Last weekend, we were at new York Comic Con! And it was AWESOME! We’ll be posting stuff from there all week–including episode 27, some photos of very cool X-cosplay, and a special bonus mini-episode–but while we’re recombobulating post-travel, here’s what’s new in Rachel’s Cyclops Has a Good Day sketchbook!

As Mentioned in Episode 26 – The Other Team America (featuring Chris Sims)

October 14, 2014 Jay 5 comments

Listen to the episode here!

Art by David Wynne!

Bobby is so very Bobby. (New Mutants #1)

Yeah, so, Dani, maybe get a handle on that. (New Mutants #1)

Remember, at this point, as far as everyone on Earth knew, the X-Men were dead. (New Mutants #1)

Oh, Storm. (New Mutants #1)

Meanwhile on Muir Island, REVELATIONS! (New Mutants #1)

“You’re not the X-Men. You’re just, um, wearing their original superhero costumes. Because, stuff.” (New Mutants #1)

OH, SHIT. THOSE GUYS. (New Mutants #1)

Well, that’ll end well. (New Mutants #2)

Gyrich realizes that part of the price of appearing in an X-Men book is occasionally having your conversation partner drop out for an extended inner monologue. (New Mutants #2)

“Son, I know Peter Corbeau, and you’re no Peter Corbeau.” (New Mutants #2)

Mostly including this to point out that FANDOM ZONE is a great name for a comics shop. (New Mutants #2)

FORESHADOWING. (New Mutants #3)

OH, NO! (New Mutants #3)

Aw, Illyana. (New Mutants #3)

Remember that time Bob McLeod drew a full page of a teenager and casual nudity and there was no sexualization whatsoever? Because that was RAD. (New Mutants #3)

Oooh, clever! (New Mutants #3)

Reinforcing the case for X-Men watching Star Trek. (New Mutants #3)

Aw, bros. And Magnum, P.I. For more on what happens next, see Episode 20. (New Mutants #3)

The more things change… (New Mutants #4)

That one time Professor Xavier wasn’t a jerk. (New Mutants #4)

And then the New Mutants just straight-up broke into a school dance. (New Mutants #4)

AW, SAM. (New Mutants #4)

WHY WOULD YOU PUT ALL THAT TNT THERE? WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT? (New Mutants #4)

… (New Mutants #4)

ETHICS. (New Mutants #4)

For more on these baffling gentlemen, see the links below.

Well, hello, Viper and Silver Samurai. (New Mutants #5)

Oh! Of course! Team America! Because, um, right, those guys. (New Mutants #5)

‘Kay. (New Mutants #5)

Xavier X-Plains the A-plot. (New Mutants #5)

Wait, what? (New Mutants #5)

Aw, Shan. (New Mutants #6)

Aw, Shan. (New Mutants #6)

Not that Black Mesa. (New Mutants #6)

Well, I think we can all be pretty excited that Team America have finally learned to control their dangerous power of making an extra good motorcycle dude. Dodged a bullet there. (New Mutants #6)

Next Week: NYCC Special, with Russell Dauterman and Kris Anka!

Links:

26 – The Other Team America (featuring Chris Sims)

October 12, 2014 Jay 17 comments

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In which Danielle Moonstar is the Wolverine of the New Mutants, Henry Peter Gyrich is the Walter Peck of the Marvel Universe, Michael Rossi is no Peter Corbeau, Xavier is a Brood Queen (who is a jerk), Bob McLeod draws really good teenagers, the New Mutants do an after-school special, Chris Sims drops in for some emergency X-Plaining, Elsie Carson is the Harvey and Janet of Hydra, and Team America is generally sort of baffling.

X-Plained

Viper
Brood stuff
The original New Mutans (more) (again)
The New Mutants #1-6
Denial
Dani vs. the Danger Room
Mall stories
Neighborhood kids
Henry Peter Gyrich
Sebastian Shaw (again)
Project Wideawake (sort of)
Michael Rossi
A poorly-timed crossover
Gabrielle Haller
A profoundly unethical relationship
A Very Special Episode
Overkill
Magnum, P.I.
Team America (but not that one)
Elsie Carson, middle manager of Hydra
The Girl With the Silver Eyes
X-Men reading order

The visual companion for this episode will go up mid-week, due to New York Comic-Con generally kicking our asses (Among MANY other things, Rachel is tweeting–mostly cool X-cosplay pics–from the show floor, and Miles is working at the Dark Horse booth. Come say hi!). Meanwhile, for further supplemental material, we recommend reading Chris’s in-depth history of Team America:

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We’re at NYCC! And You Made Art!

October 10, 2014 Jay 4 comments

Reminder: No video reviews this week, ’cause we’re at NYCC! Meanwhile: Art!

Josh Abraham's Ororo is way too fashionable to care about your bullshit life decisions. (Original here.) — Josh Abraham’s Ororo is way too fashionable to care about your bullshit life decisions. (Original here.)

Michael Corley adds to the archive of Cyclops Has a Good Day art.

Cyclops Has a Good Day, by Jenny Yule

October 7, 2014 Jay 2 comments

Rachel here!

As some of you no doubt remember from Episode 7 (waaaaaaay back when), my con sketchbook’s theme is Cyclops Has a Good Day. While the sketchbook itself is purely physical media, you splendid folks will once in a while e-mail me a digital entry, and they are universally delightful.

This week’s comes from Jenny Yule, who has worked out what I am pretty sure is the absolute best recreational use of Cyclops’s powers AND gave me a total nostalgia rush for the weird old Ambroisia game Harry the Handsome Executive, which I would now very much like to see given a superhero revamp. BEHOLD:

The All-New, All-Different, All-Unofficial Kitty’s Kostume Korner!

October 6, 2014 Jay 3 comments

Last week, we challenged you to help us revive that awesome ’80s celebration of Kitty Pryde’s Spectacular Revolving Wardrobe, Kitty’s Kostume Korner! Much as we love the classic yellow-and-black she’s been sporting for the last decade-plus, we remember when Kitty reinvented her costume twice an issue–and you sent us some great revamps in that tradition. Click through for the full lineup!

Thomas Branch’s Kitty actually comes with an awesome matching Illyana–both inspired by one of the shorts in All-New X-Men #25.

This isn’t the first time you’ve seen a Logan Bonner Kitty Pryde redesign here–he’s the mad genius behind Prydeslaught, as well as this splendid sprite (but not Sprite) set–but we are AWFULLY into the idea of unstable tweed.

Rick Jones (who assures us that, yes, it’s his real name, and he’s heard every possible joke already), designed this modern-minimal costume using Hero Factory.

Jenny Peeters harkens back to one of our favorite one-off Kitty costumes with a roller derby twist–and notes that phasing would make Kitty one hell of a jammer!

Mike Becker goes for a lower-key remix of some traditional X-elements. We dig, especially the short sleeves and the rockin’ yellow kicks.

Michael Kappeler writes, “I figured that with Storm rocking the punk look, Kitty would follow up by going through a goth … phase … (I had to).” SLOW CLAP.

Eric Patton imagines an 80s-era Kitty playing homage to some of her own favorite superheroes with this x-lady mashup costume.

An additional note regarding fan art, costume design, and sourcing: There’s one image we didn’t run, because it was done directly on unsourced art by another artist. We totally get that sometimes that’s the simplest way to do a design, and the person who submitted it was in no way attempting to claim the original art or plagiarize–but if you’re submitting a piece like that, the source needs to be noted and visible in the image–and, ideally, used with the permission of the original artist–for us to run it on this blog, i.e. “Recolored from [artist] design” or “drawn over art by [artist].”

If–like us–you’re someone whose costume design aspirations outpace your drawing skills, we also recommend resources like Hero Factory (again, we recommend citing ’em if you’re using ’em, as Rick did above).

As Mentioned in Episode 25 – The Best at What He Does

October 6, 2014 Jay 4 comments

Listen to the episode here!

Art by David Wynne, after Katsushika Hokusai. Prints available until 10/12; or contact David to purchase the original.

Because you demanded it: Probably a Summers Brother t-shirts (light or dark backgrounds) and other gear are now a thing that exist, and which you can purchase using moneydollars!

Welcome to the Wolverine comic that will forever set the bar for Wolverine comics.

Shingen: Totally a dick. (Wolverine #1)

Seriously. This asshole. (Wolverine #1)

Things that never get old: Frank Miller drawing Wolverine beating up on Ninja. (Wolverine #2)

Other things that never get old: Our favorite lady, Yukio! (Wolverine #2)

Okay, look, like 2/3 of this gallery is just going to be us drooling over these amazing Frank Miller fight scenes. Deal with it. (Wolverine #2)

Mariko is less impressed with Miller’s stylish portrayal of gruesome violence. (Wolverine #2)

MORE NINJA! (Wolverine #3)

Yukio, ladies and gentlemen. (Wolverine #3)

Taking a break from drooling over stylish fight scenes to drool over a stylish chase scene. (Wolverine #3)

If you’re not hearing the narration in Steve Blum’s voice, you’re doing Wolverine wrong. (Wolverine #4)

LOOK AT THAT NARRATIVE SYMMETRY. (Wolverine #4)

We were going to choose one or two panels from this fight scene, but, nope, it’s perfect. Deal. (Wolverine #4)

HOLY BALLS FRANK MILLER (Wolverine #4)

The X-Men show up to congratulate Wolverine on the completion of his first solo miniseries. (Uncanny X-Men #172)

Look at that adorable Ninja meet-cute! Also: Pretty sure Smith is taking a cue from Miller with the sudden influx of vertical panels and silhouetted buildings. (Uncanny X-Men #172)

Yeah, look, remember how we said this was gonna all be Miller fight scenes? There will also be a lot of Storm and Yukio, because, Storm and Yukio. (Uncanny X-Men #172)