Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men

129 – They Don’t Allow Dragons in Here (The Cross-Time Caper, Part 1)

October 10, 2016 Jay 44 comments

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | Email | RSS

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

In which “Cross-Time Caper” is something of a misnomer; Excalibur is an awful lot of fun to summarize; none of us will ever live up to Oscar Wilde’s expectations; Captain Britain secretly derives his powers from genre; sometimes things turn out to be simple; Kitty Pryde is better at everything than you; manipulation and murder are the new flowers and candy; context may or may not ruin everything; Meggan gets a new outfit; Technet takes Brighton; and some universes are just too silly to survive.

X-PLAINED:

Rick Jones, Sidekick Supreme
The Cross-Time Caper
Excalibur #12-15
Three love triangles
Jay’s mom’s late iguana
Captain Marshall, Lord Champion of the Realm
Prince William
Butch the ogre
Princess Kate
Fisticuffs
Instant air conditioning, Excalibur-style
Bagpipe Vader
An anticlimactic solution to a protracted problem
Sorcery 101
Several profoundly unethical ways to initiate a relationship
Arrested Excalibur
The Campsite Rule of relationships
The logistics and social history of tarring and feathering
A protracted parody
A very large number and several names for it
A theoretical team-up
Ultimate Hunger
An unidentified comic that is not Ultimate Hunger
Some less-than-ideal creative choices
A multiversal montage
Jamie Braddock (more) (again)
A duck
The unenviable fate of Doctor Crocodile
Pairing mutants with metal genres
Inconsistent flight safety measures

NEXT EPISODE: Killing the X-Men, with Charles Soule

You can find a visual companion to this episode on our blog!

Find us on iTunes or Stitcher!

Jay and Miles X-Plain the X-Men is 100% ad-free and listener supported. If you want to help support the podcast–and unlock more cool stuff–you can do that right here!

Buy prints of this week’s illustration at our shop, or contact David Wynne for the original!

Jay & Miles Review the X-Men, Episode 101

October 6, 2016 Jay 20 comments

Week of 10/5/2016:

In which Jay pulls no punches; Miles mourns a loss; and Death of X lives up to the hype.

REVIEWED:

Uncanny X-Men #14 (00:50)
All-New Wolverine #13 (02:24)
Death of X #1 (05:21)

Pick of the Week: Deadman: Dark Mansion of Forbidden Love #1 (10:40)

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 128 – A Stupid Way to Die (Judgment War, Part 1)

October 3, 2016 Jay 2 comments

Listen to the podcast here.

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

Jean, I know busting through walls is an X-Factor thing, but some walls are there for a reason. (X-Factor #43)

The Kirbiest of Kirby designs! (X-Factor #43)

Throwing this one in for scale. Celestials are big. (X-Factor #43)

A Stupid Way to Die: The Scott Summers Story. (X-Factor #43)

Aw, man. Monster babies are the best babies. (X-Factor #44)

Seems like a fair trade. (X-Factor #44)

Damn, but that’s satisfying. Not quite punching-a-pterosaur satisfying, but still not half bad. (X-Factor #45)

Of Jean’s three personalities, Maddy is the only one familiar with how hairbrushes work. (X-Factor #46)

NEXT EPISODE: The Cross-Time Caper begins!

128 – A Stupid Way to Die (Judgment War, Part 1)

October 3, 2016 Jay 35 comments

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | Email | RSS

In which X-Factor goes to space; Miles gets judgmental about spelling; Paul Smith returns to an X-title; Celestials are a pain; Judgment War is the Star-Trekkiest story that doesn’t actually involve Star Trek; monster ladies are super important; if you can be a green dude, you should be a green dude; and Cyclops gears up to fight some gods.

X-PLAINED:

One way to kill a Celestial
Judg(e)ment War
Drunk Mark Trail
X-Factor #43-46
Walls you should maybe not bust through even if you’re X-Factor
A completely inappropriate show pitch
Celestials
The true secret purpose of Ship
The Chosen
The Rejects
Dualers
Perfect Seera
Rask
Zarka
Monster ladies in cultural context
Lev
A stupid way to die
Jammers
Plot-relevant amnesia
The Most Perfect
ZZ-105
Baby theft (more)(again)
Ryest
The Beginagains
Whether and when there’ll be another all-question episode
The current status of the Jean Grey school

NEXT EPISODE: The Cross-Time Caper begins!

You can find a visual companion to this episode on our blog!

Find us on iTunes or Stitcher!

Jay and Miles X-Plain the X-Men is 100% ad-free and listener supported. If you want to help support the podcast–and unlock more cool stuff–you can do that right here!

Buy prints of this week’s illustration at our shop, or contact David Wynne for the original!

X-TRA – Sofa Special (feat. Al Ewing)

September 30, 2016 Jay 21 comments

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | Email | RSS

We’re celebrating International Podcast Day with a bonus mid-week episode!

In which Jay and Al settle down in the living room to talk about cats, conventions, X-karaoke, Summers Brothers road trips, and what Al has planned for those New Mutants he’s been collecting in New Avengers!

SOME RELEVANT LINKS:

You can find all of our RCCC minicomics right here!
Here’s the original SPLINK PSA!
David Malki’s Magneto voicemails are a gift to the world. You can find the full collection here.

This episode comes courtesy of our rad Patreon subscribers. If you want to join their ranks and help keep us on the air and ad-free–and unlock more cool stuff–you can do that right here!

Jay & Miles Review the X-Men, Episode 100

September 29, 2016 Jay 8 comments

Week of 9/28/2016:

In which Victor Ibañez should draw Storm forever; Alti Firmansyah should draw everything forever; and somehow we have filmed 100 of these things!

REVIEWED:

*Extraordinary X-Men #14 (02:30)
X-Men ’92 #7 (08:51)

*Pick of the Week (13:22)

Filmed at Books With Pictures in Portland, OR.

Fancy hats provided by Anna Sheffey.

Come join us on Imzy!

Buy stuff at the shop!

As Mentioned in Episode 127 – Disaster City

September 26, 2016 Jay 2 comments

Listen to the podcast here.

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

Tabitha, no. (New Mutants #77)

Well, that can’t be good. (New Mutants #77)

Aw, man, Hela is such a fun villain. (New Mutants #78)

WHOOPS! (New Mutants #78)

Remember when we didn’t like Brett Blevins? MEA CULPA. (New Mutants #79)

TABITHA, NO. (New Mutants #79)

Blevins’s Hela is DELIGHTFUL. (New Mutants #79)

This gag doesn’t really stop being funny. (New Mutants #80)

Aw, Boom Boom. We knew you’d come through! (New Mutants #80)

Hela gets equal billing with her expansive gestures and sweet headgear. (New Mutants #80)

NEXT WEEK: Judgment War!

LINKS & FURTHER READING:

We covered the New Mutants’ first visit to Asgard in Episode 48 – Guitar Solos of the Gods
Read James Leask’s article on Dani Moonstar–and find links to more of his work–here!
Two favorite resources on Writing the Other:
- The workshop series and book by the amazing Nisi Shawl
- A short post on the general principles–and a very solid link roundup–from Jim C. Hines

127 – Disaster City

September 26, 2016 Jay 9 comments

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | Email | RSS

In which we get back on the continuity train; everything is the aftermath of Inferno forever; you should never fight a tractor or a horse without first putting on some damn pants; Vincent Price would’ve made a terrific Doctor Strange; Rusty Collins never really gets a fair break; Boom Boom is in over her head; and Brett Blevins takes his place as the definitive New Mutants artist.

X-PLAINED:

Mirage’s on-again-off-again Valkyrie career
Asgardia
The New Mutants’ previous Asgard adventures
The best single issue of all time
The Naglfar
A proposal for a new calendar
New Mutants #77-80
The Ust-Ordynski Collective (again) (more)
There’s Stuff Going On: The Doctor Strange Story
A very bad decision
Why unicorns are the worst
Doctor Stephen Sanders / Doctor Strange / Doctor Dad
Let’s Make a Deal
Whether arson counts as a personality trait
Several nefarious plans
Creative growth
Disaster City
Fun with the Technarchy
Mindful representation
Miles’s dad’s comics collection

NEXT EPISODE: Judgment War!

You can find a visual companion to this episode on our blog!

Find us on iTunes or Stitcher!

Jay and Miles X-Plain the X-Men is 100% ad-free and listener supported. If you want to help support the podcast–and unlock more cool stuff–you can do that right here!

Buy prints of this week’s illustration at our shop, or contact David Wynne for the original!

Jay & Miles Review the X-Men, Episode 99

September 22, 2016 Jay 8 comments

Week of 9/21/2016:

In which Deadpool V Gambit comes to a close; Extraordinary X-Men gets an annual; Laura Kinney cancels her pull box; and we are so over Civil War II.

REVIEWED:

Deadpool V Gambit #5 (0:58)
*Extraordinary X-Men Annual #1(05:02)
Uncanny X-Men #13 (09:27)
All-New Wolverine #12 (15:13)
Civil War II: X-Men #4 (19:53)

*Pick of the Week (24:00)

Come join us on Imzy!

Buy stuff at the shop!

Rose City Comic Con Gallery!

September 18, 2016 Jay One comment

Listen to the live episode here!

Art by David Wynne. No prints this week, but you can contact David to purchase the original!

We are pretty proud of the new button design, y’all. (Yes, there will be a t-shirt. Eventually.)

Also this one.

OH HEY WE FINALLY UPDATED THE ZINE COVERS, TOO!

The second J&MXtX-M zine is precisely what it says on the tin.

You know it’s true.

Miles and Al at our booth!

Having the wall up at our booth meant we got a ton of rad photos at the con as well as the party. Here’s Administratrix Emeritus Tina as Emma Frost!

A superlative ’90s Cyclops and Phoenix!

Eric also cosplays a super excellent Quentin Quire.

PEOPLE CAME AS BOOM BOOM AND DOCTOR DOOM IT WAS A COUPLE COSTUME IT WAS FANTASTIC

We do quick and very unprofessional sketches for $1 at conventions! Here’s Miles’s Dark Phoenix!

Punk Storm, by Jay (who forgot to take pictures of most of their sketches, most of which were of Warlock).

Adam X gets more X-Treme every time Miles draws him.

Boom Boom, by Jay.

Miles’s Mirage ain’t afraid of no Demon Bear!

If you tell Jay to draw whoever they want, Jay will draw Warlock. Every time.

Chamber, by Miles!

Jay also got in a couple sharpie knuckle tattoos! (Happy belated birthday, Diana!)

Always a classic.

The drinks at this year’s party were Inner Circle (with alcohol) and Hellions (alcohol-free) themed this year! (Inferno Watch was the best, though.)

Shadow is a super awesome local musician, and they came to the party as Wolverine with a viola, which may be the greatest deep-cut cosplay of all time.