As Mentioned in Episode 474 – Giant-Size Special #13 (feat. Anthony Oliveira)

January 19, 2025 Miles One comment

Listen to the episode here.

Hey, that’s not what Warlock looks like in this series! (Warlock #1)

Jeez, Doug’s coffin needs to put up a NO TRESPASSING sign or something. (Warlock #1)

We had to really try to not just post all of Warlock’s transformations in this visual companion. (Warlock #1)

Meet Hope! No, not that one. The other one. (Warlock #1)

Anime hair, robot dinosaurs, and angst! (Warlock #2)

Classic (x2). (Warlock #2)

Warlock’s health is readable through the length of his cape. (Warlock #2)

Meet the Psi-Cops! (Warlock #3)

Our core cast! (Warlock #4)

Terry Gilliam’s been trying to make this movie for decades. (Warlock #4)

Jack Kirby smiles from the afterlife. (Warlock #4)

We love these kids. Wish they’d stuck around. (Warlock #4)

Mainspring can villain-splain with the best of them. Also… toucan? (Warlock #5)

I mean, to Warlock’s credit, it is pretty cool. (Warlock #5)

Team-up time! (Warlock #6)

“Alas, poor Bastion! I knew him-” SPAKKOW! (Warlock #6)

An oversimplification of the events of this story? Yes. Still hilarious? Also yes. (Warlock #7)

Friendship! (Warlock #7)

Grade A villainy, Mainspring! (Warlock #7)

I WANNA CLIMB IT. (Warlock #8)

“I know writers who use subtext, and they’re all cowards.” (Warlock #8)

If dad bods were evil. (Warlock #8)

/ FIGHT / TRANSFORM / MAGIC / ITEM / (Warlock #9)

“Eel” catch you later, dad! (Warlock #9)

When strength of identity meets strength of robot dinosaur. (Warlock #9)

If most of the cast will never be seen again, that’s not a bad panel to go out on. (Warlock #9)

Avengers Academy: Marvel’s Voices Infinity Comic by Anthony Oliveira!

NEXT TIME: Demon Bear!

LINKS AND FURTHER READING

Find Anthony Oliveira on Bluesky! And lots of other places too.
Check out Avengers Academy on Marvel Unlimited!

474 – Giant-Size Special #13 (feat. Anthony Oliveira)

January 19, 2025 Miles Leave a comment

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | RSS

In which the Warlock ongoing series is fun, and fun is good; people should maybe leave Doug Ramsey’s grave alone; Tony Stark is probably not in touch with the Indigo Girls; the heroes skate awfully close to the “no killing” line; Bastion gets exhumed, rehumed, and re-exhumed; you should really read the Avengers Academy Infinity Comic; and you remain the best listeners of any podcast, ever.

X-PLAINED:

X-related characters of Avengers Academy
Warlock vol. 5, #1-9
Warlock (more) (again)
M-Tech
Jay’s Bluey Test for all-ages media
The visual semiotics of Warlock
Project Mainspring
Hope (Esperanza Ling)
Chi-Chee
Psi-cops
Gatekeepers
Technarchs
The transmode virus
A fancy hat
Many guest stars
The Phalanx (more) (again)
Psiren
Psimon
The techno-mechanic virus
Complicated feelings
Psycho Man (more) (again)
Astro-computers
Hope’s actual powers
Template
Magus (more) (again)
Avengers Academy Marvel Voices Infinity Comic
Why there are so many Canadian comic-book writers
Superhero comics vs. religious texts
Defining heroism
Escapade
Captain America of the Railways
Bloodline
Red Goblin
Moon Girl
Kid Juggernaut
Blackheart
Ongoing storytelling
Emplate as a queer character
Marcus Wetherell
What else to read if you love Avengers Academy Marvel Voices Infinity Comic
The 11^th Annual Super Doctor Astronaut Peter Corbeau Awards for Excellence at X-Cellence
Many people to whom we are profoundly grateful

NEXT EPISODE: The return of the Demon Bear!

Check out the visual companion to this episode on our blog!

Find us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify!

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 rad swag at our TeePublic shop!

As Mentioned in Episode 465 – Right in the Fabric

October 20, 2024 Jay Leave a comment

Listen to the episode here.

Death’s new look. (Astonishing X-Men #1)

He just really likes that snowboard, okay? Leave him alone! You’re not his real dad! (Astonishing X-Men #1)

FORESHADOWING! (Astonishing X-Men #1)

The sassiest severed head since Cameron Hodge. (Astonishing X-Men #1)

Meet the Mannite moppets! (Astonishing X-Men #1)

This Final Fantasy-looking motherfucker. (Astonishing X-Men #2)

Weird but rad. (Astonishing X-Men #2)

Sausage! (Astonishing X-Men #2)

Mind control or just psychic startle? You be the judge! (Astonishing X-Men #3)

It’s fine; he’s a Skrull. (Astonishing X-Men #3)

NEXT EPISODE: All things animated Rogue, with Lenore Zann!

465 – Right in the Fabric

October 20, 2024 Jay 11 comments

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | RSS

In which “Astonishing X-Men” is something of a misnomer; Death has a good look; sometimes you just need a guy who swoops; Miles stops worrying and learns to love Nate Grey; Telekinesis is silly looking; “Wolverine” dies; and nothing really changes.

X-PLAINED:

Astonishing X-Men (miniseries)
Ambience
Nina (again)
Mannites (again)
The third-best way to get out of awkward conversations
The Hulkbuster base
Bastion (again)
Bastion’s worst nightmare
Death (a new one)
Fiddly bits
Cable’s Psimitar
Telekinetic snowboarding
Headcase
Darco
Glub
Beautiful Dreamer
Grace
Totem
Things to do with a severed head
The Changing
The (apparent) death of Wolverine
How to salvage this miniseries
Hypothetical X-crossovers

NEXT EPISODE: Lenore Zann joins us to talk all things Rogue!

Check out the visual companion to this episode on our blog!

Find us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify!

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 rad swag at our TeePublic shop!

454 – X-Men ’97, Part 2

June 30, 2024 Miles 13 comments

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | RSS

SPOILER WARNING: ALL OF THEM, NONSTOP

In which Barry Windsor-Smith is too sexy for television; we know what happens when unstable molecules get struck by lightning; X-Men gets political and does it spectacularly; this Captain America would not sew the cape; Magneto continues to throw things into space; and they kissed and we missed it.

X-PLAINED:

Fabian Cortez’s name
X-Men ’97 episodes 6-10
Lifedeath I & II: a surprising adaptation
Varying levels of going in blind
A somewhat different and possibly better Forge
The Adversary vs. the Owl Queen
Stormiest and least-Stormy costumes
Professor Charles Xavier, Official Space Boyfriend
Colonialism vs. Identity
Delayed catharsis
The narrative power of altered opening credits
What makes allyship effective (and not)
Justified mutant anger
The worst version of Nina DaCosta
What makes Prime Sentinels scary
Summers family feels
The best damned fight scenes out there
Bastion, robo-avatar of conservative white patriarchy
Simultaneous crossovers
A psychic gay bar
A last boss arena
Acolyte equivalencies
Phoenix Ex Machina
Crying
Whether Magneto was right
Apoca-futures and Apoca-pasts
A bulletin board and our hopes for its contents
Soft Serve
Kitty Pryde’s coffee shop AU
X-Men ’97 as the perfect gateway

NEXT EPISODE: Skrulls!

LINKS AND FURTHER READING:

The Judgment of Magneto by Asher Elbein

No visual companion this week!

Find us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify!

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 rad swag at our TeePublic shop!

As Mentioned in Episode 413 – Convergence

June 4, 2023 Jay One comment

Listen to the episode here.

We’re still not sure about the word for a gatefold-and-a-half, but here’s a good one. (X-Force #75)

Welcome to Exploding Colossal Man! (X-Force #75)

Karma and her girlfriends. (X-Force #75)

I’d like to think she spends her time being an asshole at New Age bookstores, too. (X-Force #75)

Wandering down memory lane with Mirage and Warpath. (X-Force #75)

OOOOOOOOOhhhhhhhh (X-Force #75)

This is really about as far as that ever gets X-Plained. (X-Force #75)

I really dig the weirdness of the art of the Colossal Man. (X-Force #75)

If you know, you know. (New Mutants vol. 4 #30)

This gimmick has been used a lot over the years… (X-Force #76)

…but it plays nicely here. (X-Force #76)

Noooooooooooooo! (X-Force #76)

A very fun fight (at least for the reader). (X-Force #76)

Two great tastes that go great together! (X-Force #76)

NEXT EPISODE: X-Factor spirals towards its inexorable lack of conclusion.

413 – Convergence (feat. Douglas Wolk)

June 4, 2023 Jay 12 comments

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | RSS

In which X-Force goes to Burning Man Exploding Colossal Man; Douglas Wolk may or may not have superpowers; Karma gets girlfriends; we are already tired of Reignfire; Meltdown and Sunspot initiate a love triangle; and Jay is writing some more X-Men.

X-PLAINED:

Road trips
X-Force #75-76
New Mutants vol. 4 #30
A gatefold and a half
Burning Man
Exploding Colossal Man
Karma’s name
Echidna Faire
Text
Selene (more) (again)
Crowd scenes
Various character relationships
Callbacks
Mud
A magic box and a fancy stick
Eitri the Dwarf
A grand conjunction
A big, silly fight
Peak late ‘90s queer culture
Echidna Faire
Bowling
Etienne Rousseau
Updating Bastion’s facial hair
Wolverine’s mentees

NEXT EPISODE: The beginning of the end of X-Factor

Check out 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!

Buy rad swag at our TeePublic shop!

As Mentioned in Episode 395 – Boxer Briefs of Humanity

December 18, 2022 Miles Leave a comment

Listen to the episode here.

Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line!

“Weirdest disco ball I’ve ever seen, Sarge, and I used to hang out at that evil disco Dazzler used to play at.” (Cable & Machine Man Annual 1998)

Maybe this is why the X-Men refuse to use the phone. (Cable & Machine Man Annual 1998)

Shades of Weapon X. (Cable & Machine Man Annual 1998)

Jeez Nathan just ring the freakin’ doorbell (Cable & Machine Man Annual 1998)

Rose Gilberti, you were too good for this world. (Cable & Machine Man Annual 1998)

World 1-4 (Cable & Machine Man Annual 1998)

Dun duh dun duh dun, Inspector Aaron (Cable & Machine Man Annual 1998)

Cable’s psychic link x-plains Machine Man (Cable & Machine Man Annual 1998)

Look, I know the IT department has gotten messy over the course of the pandemic, you don’t have to rub it in (Machine Man & Bastion Annual 1998)

EWWW (Machine Man & Bastion Annual 1998)

Aww shit we’ve wandered into a TED Talk (Machine Man & Bastion Annual 1998)

Sometimes I wish PowerPoint had never been invented (Machine Man & Bastion Annual 1998)

And sometimes, as a joke, the Siege Perilous will transform a robot into a naked man with a goatee. (Machine Man & Bastion Annual 1998)

Attacked by exposition (Machine Man & Bastion Annual 1998)

Go-Go Gadget Free Will! (Machine Man & Bastion Annual 1998)

EWWW NOW HE’S DOING IT TOO (Machine Man & Bastion Annual 1998)

NEXT TIME: The Old New Mutants meet the New New Mutants

LINKS & FURTHER READING:

The Marvel Universe of Superheroes Exhibition (currently at OMSI in Portland, Oregon).
- You can check out Jay’s article Beyond the Mutant Metaphor in the exhibit’s catalogue!

395 – Boxer Briefs of Humanity

December 18, 2022 Miles 7 comments

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | RSS

In which Jay has exciting news, Rick Leonardo draws an impressively creepy mad scientist’s lair, the clouds are purple and so is the prose, Powers of X gets a subtle prequel 21 years early, Cable’s own tolerance has finally reached zero, and we summarize Bastion’s backstory way, way faster than Bastion does.

X-PLAINED:

Machine Man (X-51) (Aaron Stack)
Operation Zero Tolerance (more) (again)
Jay’s upcoming parental leave
Bastion (Sebastion Gilberti)
M-Tech
Powerman 5000
Cable & Machine Man Annual 1998
Hobgits and their sound effects
Street Fighter: the Roleplaying Game
Batroc ze Lepair
Jack Kirby’s 2001: A Space Odyssey
X-51 / X-23 overlaps
Classic Summers Family Bullshit
Psionic soapboxes
What makes Bastion a compelling villain
The necessity of companions
Master Mold 3.0 & Nimrod 2.0
Machine Man & Bastion Annual 1998
Terrible font choices
ZORCH
Cable vs. floors
The carbon footprint of robotic fascism
Marvel Comics Presents #17-24 (just a little)
Incredible Hulk Annual #7 (just a tad)
The Siege Perilous
The future of Machine Man
The hypothetical 2022 version of Bastion
Historical events in which we’d love to see long-lived mutants take part

NEXT WEEK: We take a break for the holidays!

IN TWO WEEKS: The Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men 2022 Giant-Size Winter Special!

Check out 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!
Buy rad swag at our TeePublic shop!