Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men

Tag: alex summers

As Mentioned in Episode 156 – Genosha Strikes Back

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Art by David Wynne. Contact David to purchase the original!
Just in case you’ve forgotten since last week! (Uncanny X-Men #271)
Here, have some New Mutants, while we’re at it. (Uncanny X-Men #271)
The Technicolor Knight Returns! (Uncanny X-Men #271)
When even Evil!Sexy Moira has better scientific ethics than you, you’ve got some thinking to do, Moreau. (Uncanny X-Men #271)
“I mean, I know I played a central role in subjugating an entire people and subjecting them to unspeakable horrors, but sometimes I felt kinda bad about it!” (Uncanny X-Men #271)
She’s not wrong, dude. (Uncanny X-Men #271)
Awk-ward. (Uncanny X-Men #271)
Ahhh, THERE it is! (Uncanny X-Men #271)
Spoiler: Nah. (Uncanny X-Men #271)
Liefeld kick! Take a drink! (New Mutants #96)
“Also can I draw on her face with a sharpie?” (New Mutants #96)
When threatened, the wild Jubilee will fan out her tail in a display meant to intimidate predators. (New Mutants #96)
Jean’s face, tho. “Ugh, AGAIN.” (X-Factor #61)
Because we never get tired of those dramatis personae pages. (X-Factor #61)
Bogdanove’s Hodge really is the best Hodge. (X-Factor #61)
I’m pretty sure this is the first hint we’ve gotten at Cable’s mutant powers. (Based on eventually-established continuity, he should be dying of the T-O virus right now, but that wouldn’t be written in until much later.) (X-Factor #61)
These nerds. (X-Factor #61)
I wonder what’s in Xavier’s telepathically-derived files! (X-Factor #61)
That Charles Xavier keeps detailed files on which of his students want to bang each other is the least surprising thing I’ve read in my life. (X-Factor #61)
“I mean, except for the chokehold part! (X-Factor #61)
NEXT EPISODE: Revenge of the return of the X-Men!

LINKS & FURTHER READING

156 – Genosha Strikes Back

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Art by David Wynne. Contact David to purchase the original!

In which we hit the Empire Strikes Back of X-Tinction Agenda; it’s hard to be Laura Kinney; the psychic knife makes its debut; Evil!Sexy Moira retains some moral high ground; if your society is built on slavery, your society deserves to crumble; words mean things; Havok would be a terrible housecat; the mutants do not have the patent on stupidity; the opposite of blades is cotton; we give Cameron Hodge’s severed head a pep talk; and Cyclops goes full Peralta.

X-PLAINED:

  • Uncanny X-Men #271, New Mutants #96, X-Factor #61
  • Laura Kinney’s brief babysitting career
  • Our upcoming hiatus
  • Dramatis personae
  • A figurative battering ram
  • Focused totality
  • Best insults of the 1990s
  • A debate
  • Ethics of rhetoric
  • Housecat Havok
  • Skittering
  • Mutate numbering systems
  • The Prisoner vs. Les Miserables
  • The slow disintegration of reality as we know it
  • Sneaking with Cable
  • A singularly anticlimactic cover
  • A lushly illustrated report
  • Increasingly petty revenge
  • S.H.I.E.L.D.’s most advanced bald cap
  • A rising storm
  • Art teams
  • What we’d like to see out of an X-Men cinematic reboot

NEXT EPISODE: Return of the Revenge of the X-Men

You can find the 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!

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As Mentioned in Episode 155

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Listen to the episode here.

Art by David Wynne. Contact David to purchase the original!
“I HATE THIS SHIRT!” (X-Men #270)
X-Men… (X-Men #270)
…and New Mutants. (Not pictured: X-Factor.) (X-Men #270)
Look, dude, I am PRETTY SURE they have schedules in the future and you’re just being a dick. (X-Men #270)
Strong Guy FTW! (X-Men #270)
The X-Men, summed up in a single perfect panel. (X-Men #270)
“It’s impossible! Unless there was an unscrupulous redhead, or I guess if he got bored…” (X-Men #270)
Fortunately, the Genoshans were able to outfit them with strategically placed shadows and thought balloons. (New Mutants #95)
THAT’S NOT REASSURING. (New Mutants #95)
My first kiss was basically exactly like this. (New Mutants #95)
Well, then. (New Mutants #95)
The weirdly anticlimactic death of Warlock. (New Mutants #95)
In the land of Genosha… and Manhattan… and some random airstrip… and, look, they use this basic plotline a lot. (X-Factor #60)
Ah, THAT’S the Hodge we know and love! (X-Factor #60)
“Son, do you have a license for that esoteric paraphernalia?” (X-Factor #60)
Boom Boom’s dad is a jerk. (X-Factor #60)
Awwww, they’re learning! (X-Factor #60)
You’d think they’d eventually wise up and get clothes resistant to their own and each other’s powers, but, no. (X-Factor #60)
This is just delightful. (X-Factor #60)
Scott, that’s not how you–you know what? Never mind. (X-Factor #60)
I know they hadn’t been retconned to be father and son yet, but this is some great accidental foreshadowing all the same. (X-Factor #60)
NEXT EPISODE: This asshole, again.

LINKS & FURTHER READING

155 – X-Tinction Event

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Art by David Wynne. Contact David to purchase the original!

In which the X-Tinction Agenda begins in earnest; Jim Lee rocks our world; Cable doesn’t need any Mickey-Mouse schedules; Jean Grey is not paid by the word; Havok makes a heel turn; Boom Boom’s pretext of self-interest fools no one; Cameron Hodge is STILL the worst; and Jay and Miles make an announcement.

X-PLAINED:

  • Warlock across the multiverse
  • Uncanny X-Men #270, New Mutants #95, X-Factor #60
  • X-Tinction Agenda
  • The first modern crossover
  • The creative state of the X-line
  • Limitations of Marvel Unlimited
  • Dramatis Personae
  • Mickey-Mouse schedules
  • The X-Men, who do not die the old-fashioned way
  • One-way nude teleportation
  • Magistrate Summers
  • The return of Cameron Hodge’s angry severed head
  • Wipeout (again)
  • Mutates
  • The death of Warlock
  • The esoteric paraphernalia of war
  • Silver Age misogyny
  • What we’d do differently if we introduced the X-Men in 2017
  • Our upcoming hiatus

NEXT EPISODE: It gets worse.

You can find the 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!

We’re in the process of migrating our official shop to TeePublic! Click over to check it out! (You can still find the designs we haven’t moved yet at Redbubble.)

X-TRA – Sofa Special (feat. Al Ewing)

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cathands

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:

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!

As Mentioned in Episode 125 – Giant-Size Special #4

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Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available at the shop, or contact David to purchase the original.
In which a bunch of twenty and thirty-something PNW nerds pretend to be New England teenagers. Left to right: Crystal Frasier as Jubilee, Miles Stokes as Boom Boom, Logan Bonner as the indifferent god of a cruel world, Jay Edidin as Havok, Max Carleton as Shadowcat.
Starring Hachi the Studio Dog as himself, or possibly as Mystique. The jury’s still out on that one.
Bayville or bust!
Fun fact: Miles’s only hot pink shirt is a Gaming’s Feminist Illuminati shirt, which we feel is 100% Boom Boom-appropriate.
Erik. The. Rad.
NEXT EPISODE: Live from Rose City Comic Con, featuring Greg Pak!

LINKS:

125 – Giant-Size Special #4

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

In which Logan Bonner, Max Carleton, and Crystal Frasier hike up their boxers and join us at the gaming table for an X-Men: Evolution tabletop adventure; what happens in virtual reality stays in virtual reality; Shadowcat is great at boats; Jubilee and Boom Boom blow up everything; Havok tries; and Team Reckless Endangerment wins the day!

FEATURING:

  • Logan Bonner as Writer and Gamemaster / Erik the Rad
  • Max Carleton as the Shadowcat / Pirate Kitty
  • Crystal Frasier as Jubilee / the Genie
  • Jay Edidin as Havok / the Corsair
  • Miles Stokes as Boom Boom / Boomavara

NEXT EPISODE: Live from RCCC, with Greg Pak!

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!

As Mentioned in Episode 124 – The Cruelest Planet

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Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available at the shop, or contact David to purchase the original.
“Yep, those four seconds of fighting totally justified the millions of dollars we spent on this Wolverine robot. Thanks, crime!” (Uncanny X-Men #248)
Musical X-Men! Ricochet Rita! Involuntary foreshadowing! This issue’s got it all. (Uncanny X-Men #248)
Goodbye, Longshot. (Uncanny X-Men #248)
“This Jim Lee workout program has been working really well! Also, Ali, maybe you should start using sunscreen?” (Uncanny X-Men #248)
Intentions versus outcomes. Oh, Havok… (Uncanny X-Men #248)
Goodbye, Storm. (Uncanny X-Men #248)
This way, no one will ever forget where to sit! Also, tragedy. So much tragedy. (Uncanny X-Men #249)
We didn’t talk much about this in the episode, but Polaris’s life is pretty terrible when this arc starts. (Uncanny X-Men #249)
Colossus’s teacher is totally going to call Mr. and Mrs. Rasputin in for a parent-teacher conference. (Uncanny X-Men #249)
“Hey, we heard there was a party going on here? We brought brewskis!” (Uncanny X-Men #249)
BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM (Uncanny X-Men #249)
Everything in this issue is both epic and overly abrupt. (Uncanny X-Men #250)
EWWWWWWW (Uncanny X-Men #250)
Psylocke makes some incredibly questionable decisions next issue to get the X-Men out of Australia, but I can’t fully blame her… (Uncanny X-Men #250)
Suddenly, it’s every notable Savage Land character ever! Hi, guys! (Uncanny X-Men #250)
This scene: so weird. So awesome. But also so weird. (Uncanny X-Men #250)
By Crom! (Uncanny X-Men #251)
A fine dose of dream logic, fueled by pure continuity. (Uncanny X-Men #251)
Goodbye, Colossus. (Uncanny X-Men #251)
Goodbye, Dazzler. (Uncanny X-Men #251)
Goodbye, Havok. (Uncanny X-Men #251)
Goodbye, Psylocke. (Uncanny X-Men #251)
The visual equivalent of show, don’t tell. (Uncanny X-Men #251)
Ever have a day so shitty you hallucinated the future? (Uncanny X-Men #251)
Damn, Logan. Damn. (Uncanny X-Men #251)
NEXT WEEK: Giant-Size Summer Special: Evolution Edition!

LINKS & FURTHER READING:

124 – The Cruelest Planet

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

In which everyone dies (or something); every Summers is miserable in their own way; we are pretty done with Nanny and the Orphanmaker; Lady Deathstrike is a surprisingly astute art critic; the X-Men’s digital invisibility does not extend to the White Pages; we venture into slightly less charted territory; Wolverine has a really bad day; and you should totally come hang out with us at Rose City Comic Con!

X-PLAINED:

  • Origins of Lady Deathstrike
  • Jay & Miles at Rose City Comic Con
  • X-Ray party etiquette
  • Uncanny X-Men #248-251
  • The precise inverse of an anticlimax
  • The Siege Perilous (more) (again)
  • Dramatic parallels
  • Summers tragedy disambiguation
  • Jim Lee’s first X-issue
  • The apparent death of Storm (this time)
  • The merged Reavers
  • What it takes for Jay to play a sidescroller
  • An X-band
  • Longshot’s departure
  • A really ineffective rescue
  • Art-critic Deathstrike
  • Administrative assistant Jubilee
  • Zaladane
  • An unconventional approach to genealogy
  • The ickiest method of mind control
  • Dark Claw

NEXT EPISODE: GIANT-SIZE SUMMER SPECIAL!

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!

As Mentioned in Episode 114 – Meltdown

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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.
Welcome to your new favorite miniseries. (Havok & Wolverine: Meltdown #1)
The first 14 pages are a primer on reactor physics and the Chernobyl disaster. (Havok & Wolverine: Meltdown #1)
Also some vaguely sinister chess-playing. (Havok & Wolverine: Meltdown #1)
No, seriously: that’s just straight-up James Dean. (Havok & Wolverine: Meltdown #1)
If you’re not sold on the book by now, please reconsider your priorities. (Havok & Wolverine: Meltdown #1)
Move over, Neal Adams. This is our definitive representation of Havok’s powers. (Havok & Wolverine: Meltdown #1)
Kent Williams is terrifying and wonderful. (Havok & Wolverine: Meltdown #1)
Why, yes, we are going to include every cover. Why? (Havok & Wolverine: Meltdown #2)
Look at how much information this panel conveys. (Havok & Wolverine: Meltdown #2)
General Meltdown! (Havok & Wolverine: Meltdown #2)
Wait for it… (Havok & Wolverine: Meltdown #2)
…and done. (Havok & Wolverine: Meltdown #2)
Havok latches onto genre conventions like a baby duck impressing on the first thing it sees. (Havok & Wolverine: Meltdown #2)
It was really, really hard not to just include the whole damn miniseries in this visual companion. (Havok & Wolverine: Meltdown #2)
(Havok & Wolverine: Meltdown #3)
Well, then. (Havok & Wolverine: Meltdown #3)
I cannot get over the way Muth paints Scarlett’s hair. (Havok & Wolverine: Meltdown #3)
One of my favorite sequences from the entire series. (Havok & Wolverine: Meltdown #3)
Dr. Meltdown and his trusty overlays. (Havok & Wolverine: Meltdown #3)
Best image of Havok, or best image of Havok? Hint: Best image of Havok. (Havok & Wolverine: Meltdown #3)
The palpable violence of the action sequences is really, really spectacular. (Havok & Wolverine: Meltdown #3)
And onward. (Havok & Wolverine: Meltdown #4)
In which Havok transforms from James Dean to a young Peter Capaldi. (Havok & Wolverine: Meltdown #4)
THIS PAGE (Havok & Wolverine: Meltdown #4)
So, so doomed. (Havok & Wolverine: Meltdown #4)
No narrative reason for including this. I just really, really love the art. (Havok & Wolverine: Meltdown #4)
The problem with falling too deeply into a character is that you also end up with their genre-specific weaknesses. (Havok & Wolverine: Meltdown #4)
Ouch. (Havok & Wolverine: Meltdown #4)
Well, that’s one way to do it. (Havok & Wolverine: Meltdown #4)
The way Havok’s powers change when they go out of control is really, really amazing. (Havok & Wolverine: Meltdown #4)
No, seriously. (Havok & Wolverine: Meltdown #4)
HOW COULD NO ONE HAVE REACHED BACK TO THIS SERIES? IT’S A GOLDMINE. (Havok & Wolverine: Meltdown #4)
NEXT EPISODE: The X-Men Anime.