Betsy Braddock – Page 3 – Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men

301 – Can’t Beat the Real Thing

July 19, 2020 Jay 19 comments

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

In which we enter our fourth century of podcasting with brand new theme music; we have both Wolverine questions and wolverine questions; it is extremely rough to be Bishop; the creator of Garfield may or may not live in a sewer on Earth-616; Rogue needs better coping mechanisms; bigotry is depressingly timeless; and everything is Onslaught now.

X-PLAINED:

Joseph’s Brotherhood of Evil Mutants
Our new theme music
X-Men Prime #1
A genuinely cool cover gimmick
What happened after the end of the world
Boundaries
War crimes vs. fashion crimes
Destruction of real landmarks in fiction
A mysterious assailant
Actual embodied chaos god Jim Davis and his Earth-616 namesake
Several memorable Garfield stories
Marrow (Sarah Rushman)
The secret origin of the Morlocks
A friendship we miss
Unhealthy coping mechanisms
The perennially dubious journalistic ethics of Trish Tilby
Dennis
The death of Dennis
Flaws of the mutant metaphor (more) (again)
Several refugees from Earth-295
Mr. Summers and Mr. Summers
The secret origin of the Genoshan mutates
The Acolytes
The continuing relevance of the mutant metaphor (more) (again)
Cross-universe characterization

NEXT EPISODE: The fall of Avalon!

NOTE: The Garfield strips Jay mentions appeared in newspapers, on purpose, in October 1989.

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

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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 286 – Family Before Continuity

February 23, 2020 Jay Leave a comment

Listen to the episode here.

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

Don’t worry! The world will end before they can die in that plane crash! (Excalibur #86)

Pete Wisdom is a happy man with a happy life. (Excalibur #86)

MAH PUIR WEE HOVERCRAFT (Excalibur #86)

I want a team that’s just him and Chamber, brooding. (Excalibur #86)

A green and pleasant, &c. (Excalibur #86)

Well, so much for that mission. (Excalibur #86)

Me, too, Sam. Me, too. (X-Force #43)

I relate so hard to Shatterstar right now. (X-Force #43)

Time travel has some good looks. (X-Force #43)

Aw, these dudes. (X-Force #43)

“We’re here for you, in all our oddly-proportioned glory!” (X-Force #43)

He hasn’t, actually, but that won’t be revealed for a while yet. (X-Force #43)

“Man, is THIS what happens when your boss ditches you for another book?” (X-Force #43)

I know, right?! (Cable #20)

Pretty sure that every one of the original five has, at some point, referred to Hank as their best and/or closest friend. (Cable #20)

Ouch. (Cable #20)

OUCH. (Cable #20)

I’M NOT CRYING YOU’RE CRYING (Cable #20)

Aw, these guys. And it didn’t even take a bathtub! (Cable #20)

Sometimes a family is eight people in tight clothing posing dramatically for the end of the world. (Cable #20)

NEXT EPISODE: Welcome to Earth-295! Hope you survive the experience!

LINKS & FURTHER EVENT HORIZONS:

Come see us at Emerald City Comic Con! Miles is delightful in person; and Jay, um, exists corporeally.
Jay wrote an X-Men comic! It’s about Cyclops, and it will be out in April. Please tell your local comics shop to order a lot of copies so that they will let him write more.
Also, Thor: Metal Gods continues on over at Serial Box!
We covered the first 3/4 of Legion Quest in Episode 285 – Immediately If Not Sooner…
…and interviewed Fabian Nicieza about X-Force and a bunch of other stuff in Episode 250 – Minding the DNA!
New Intersections: Queer Futurism and the Krakoan Body Politic is a really fascinating article.

286 – Family Before Continuity

February 23, 2020 Jay 16 comments

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In which Sunspot is a bad enough dude to save the president; Black Air is nowhere near as fun as WHO; we reach the end of Fabian Nicieza’s X-Force run; Rictor and Shatterstar talk about feelings; Gambit does not go gently into that good night; Scott and Jean choose family over continuity; Legion Quest comes to a close, along with Earth-616; the heart of Dawn of X is its margins; you should come see us at ECCC; and we announce a new schedule.

X-PLAINED:

The Maker (Reed Richards of Earth-1610)
Jay & Miles at ECCC and FlameCon 2020
Stuff Jay writes
Excalibur #86
X-Force #43
Cable #20
Black Air
Pete Wisdom
What’s been up in Genosha
The Midnight Runner
Navigating Kitty Pryde’s age in Excalibur
A very abrupt ending
The ongoing evolution of X-Force
Locus’s new look
Clubbing with Rictor and Shatterstar
Legion Quest so far
Complicated feelings at the end of the world
A reunion
Where it all started
Vague power sets
Complicated feelings about Dawn of X
The new podcast schedule

NEXT EPISODE: The Age of Apocalypse

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!

Come see us at ECCC, March 12-15!

As Mentioned in Episode 285 – Immediately if Not Sooner

February 16, 2020 Jay Leave a comment

Listen to the podcast here.

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

Wait, what if Bobby just misuses slang all the time to mess with Bishop? (Uncanny X-Men #320)

What the hell, Legion? (Uncanny X-Men #320)

So, that happened. (Uncanny X-Men #320)

Have fairly normal toes ever seemed as creepy as they do on this cover? I would argue that they have not. (X-Men #40)

If this were fanfic they would immediately have to fake being married to, I dunno, something. (X-Men #40)

Seriously, did ANY readers who didn’t already know recognize this dude as Legion? (X-Men #40)

That shadow! THAT ANGST! (X-Men #40)

“I had always hoped I might find others like us, but I never imagined the continuity would be this impenetrable!” (X-Men #40)

Meanwhile in a sitcom… (X-Men #40)

Tower of Telepaths never really caught on as a board game. (Uncanny X-Men #321)

Just kiss already. (Uncanny X-Men #321)

Greatest caption, or GREATEST CAPTION? (Uncanny X-Men #321)

Wait, has Bishop DISGUISED HIMSELF AS A PIRATE? If the answer is no, I don’t want to know; let me keep this dream. (Uncanny X-Men #321)

JUST KISS ALREADY (Uncanny X-Men #321)

Oh, no. (Uncanny X-Men #321)

Legion, NO. (Uncanny X-Men #321)

You’ve made it to Bishop’s ill-fitting trousers, Cable: just where you needed to be. (Uncanny X-Men #321)

“I knew that someday our future son would travel back in time to kill my best friend.” (X-Men #41)

AND THAT’S WHY YOU ALWAYS LEAVE A NOTE (X-Men #41)

Ouch. (X-Men #41)

Jubilee gives good advice. (X-Men #41)

The best kiss in X-Men. (X-Men #41)

Okay, but, that first panel. (X-Men #41)

NEXT EPISODE: The end of the world, more, again.

LINKS & FURTHER READING:

Here’s where you can find more on some of the key figures in Legion Quest:
- Legion / David Haller
  - Episode 44 – Assembling Legion, with Si Spurrier
  - Episodes 172–173 – The Muir Island Saga
  - Episode 283 – Legion Quest Quest
- The M’Kraan Crystal and Jahf
  - Episode 9 – Leprechaun Surprise Party
The Apocalypse Triptych is a very cool series of anthologies set before, during, and after various ends of the world.
- (Jay reviewed the first volume when it came out.)

285 – Immediately if Not Sooner

February 16, 2020 Jay 10 comments

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In which Goldballs is still a better name than Egg; we continue our progress towards Earth-295; Legion pulls a Stryfe; we’re still pretty shaky on how to pronounce “M’Kraan”; Xavier and Magneto were absolutely and unquestionably doing sex in the 1970s; it’s time time; the Watcher is watching you masturbate; and what happens immediately before the end of the world is often as important as what happens immediately after.

X-PLAINED:

Balls
Legion (more) (again)
Uncanny X-Men 320-321
X-Men #40
Establishing stakes
Slang of the mid-1990s
Time travel as a dick move
Issues vs. episodes
The M’Kraan Crystal (more) (again)
Hebrew vowels
Latent time travel abilities
Charles Xavier’s “first” bar fight
An exceptional caption
A very bad narrative choice
The death of Charles Francis Xavier
A load-bearing moment in time
Jahf the Guardian
Waiting for the end of the world
The best-drawn kiss in X-Men, ever
The many Krakoas
Integrating Legion into Dawn of X

NEXT EPISODE: More Legion Quest!

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!

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As Mentioned in Episode 283 – Legion Quest Quest

February 2, 2020 Jay 9 comments

Listen to the episode here.

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

So, that’s happening.

This cover has me thinking again about where she gets the skulls for her belt. (X-Factor #108)

No man has ever looked more like an action figure than Nick Fury does in this panel. (X-Factor #108)

The best Looney Toons reference in a superhero comic remains Animal Man #5, but this’ll do for now. (X-Factor #108)

Val X-Plains Legion. (X-Factor #108)

Hey, Forge? Fuck you. (X-Factor #108)

I mean, kinda. (X-Factor #109)

And yet, somehow, I’m not reassured. (X-Factor #109)

Dang, this would be a useful skill. (X-Factor #109)

And now for something completely different! (X-Factor #110)

IS it a mustache? Or does his nose just end in some kind of fibrous feelers or baleen? (X-Factor #110)

LILA 4-EVER (X-Factor #110)

I love that she just has a massive freaking treasure vault full of loose doubloons. WHO DOES THAT? (X-Factor #110)

They’re jerks, but they’re well-dressed jerks. (X-Factor #111)

Live your dreams, happy sloth man from space. (X-Factor #111)

He’ll be fine! (X-Factor #111)

…wait, no, belay that. (X-Factor #111)

But it’s okay, because the universe is ending! (X-Factor #111)

NEXT EPISODE: Chip Zdarsky!

LINKS & FURTHER SPIN-OFFS

WHOA DANG JAY IS WRITING A CYCLOPS ONE-SHOT! It is called X-Men Marvels Snapshot #1, or possibly Marvel Snapshots: X-Men #1; but either way, you can read more about it here and find preorder information here.
Speaking of things Jay writes, if you didn’t get enough Lila Cheney in this week’s episode, she’s stealing hearts and valuables all over Episode 8 of Thor: Metal Gods!
We talked a lot about Legion and the ways his powers intersect with mental illness in Episode 44 – Assembling Legion, feat. Si Spurrier.
Here is some context for Jay’s joke about Autism Speaks. (If you’re looking for an organization to support that actually helps and amplifies the voices of Autistic folks, we like the Autistic Self Advocacy Network.)

283 – Legion Quest Quest

February 2, 2020 Jay 10 comments

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In which Jay is writing a Cyclops one-shot; It is honestly truly almost Legion Quest; Mystique plays the long game; sometimes filler is a good thing; Havok is a geophysicist, not a geographer; Lila definitely stole it; and more stories should be set in space junkyards.

X-PLAINED:

How Betsy Braddock got her original body back
Marvel Snapshots: X-Men
The lead-up to Legion Quest
X-Factor #108-111
Mystique’s skill set
Legion (David Haller) (more) (again)
Freedom Force
The most powerful of devices
A dream about a dream
An intersection of unreliable narrators
The narrative justification for Legion Quest
A rock monster
Jornick
Lila Cheney (more) (again)
A Kurt Vonnegut reference
The K’Lanti
A space junkyard
The end of X-Factor’s second iconic era
Our favorite male/female X-friendships
Pros and cons of line cohesiveness

NEXT EPISODE: Chip Zdarsky!

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 282 – The Tide Takes the Castle

January 26, 2020 Jay One comment

Listen to the podcast here.

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

Hank McCoy is his own worst enemy–and best audience! (X-Men #38)

Bobby Drake somehow experienced the ’90s harder than most of his peers. (X-Men #38)

She’s not wrong. (X-Men #38)

“I, um, think I might have left something in Alaska. Bye.” (X-Men #38)

Every day, Bishop gets a little less enchanted with his heroes. (X-Men #38)

Aw, these two and their friendship. (X-Men #38)

[SOBS IN CALLBACK] (Iceman #3)

Has anyone ever stopped to notice the fact that Bobby Drake is a fucking spectacular sculptor? Seriously, he should be doing THAT professionally. (Uncanny X-Men #219)

William Drake: a jerk then, a jerk now. (Uncanny X-Men #219)

There is no rage like the rage of a man quietly spooning mashed potatoes onto plates. (Uncanny X-Men #219)

HE’S SO AWFUL. (Uncanny X-Men #219)

Aw, these kids. (Uncanny X-Men #219)

Meanwhile, in Hawk Talk! (Uncanny X-Men #219)

Planes are a Summers family tradition; as, apparently, is crashing them. (X-Men #39)

He’s a good kid. (X-Men #39)

A good kid with a good cap. (X-Men #39)

Weirdly, the heart just sort of hovers around outside the boathouse, and nobody can figure out how to make it go away. (X-Men #39)

See what we mean about the difference the right artist makes to Adam X (X-Men #39)

Man, I just want Philip and Deborah to adopt him and basically be the Kents. (X-Men #39)

Y’know what? Sure. Why not? (X-Men #39)

He came back! (X-Men #39)

HE’S SUCH A GOOD KID. (X-Men #39)

NEXT EPISODE: Still not technically Legion Quest!

LINKS & FURTHER DELIGHTS:

When not making our endless nonsense sound good, producer Matt Hunter makes really excellent music, and you should go listen to some!
Jay does not actually write things on hackertyper.com, but he wishes he could.
We covered Rogue’s solo series in Episode 245 – Natural Causes.
This is the plane Philip flew in WWII, if that’s your kind of thing.

282 – The Tide Takes the Castle

January 26, 2020 Jay 7 comments

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In which the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning should really be the setting of a stoner comedy; Garrabed Bashur’s brain is probably 90% porn by now; the tide always takes the castle; William Drake remains terrible; Adam X the X-Treme deserved better; Jay pitches a series; disability is not a boolean and exclusively medically-defined state; and we are all about some weird X-Men tie-in products.

X-PLAINED:

Mariko Yoshida in the afterlife
Moon Talk
Some upcoming X-books
X-Men #38-39
Uncanny X-Men #319
Many unhealthy coping mechanisms
Sinister foreshadowing
Fancy hair
Commcast (Garabed Bashur)
Hawk sex
An exceptionally resonant callback
Intersectional bigotry
The domestic dynamics of the Drake household
The remarkably poignant return of Adam X the X-Treme
The opposite of a Jack London story
An unlikely intergenerational frienship
A novel use of a novel superpower
Mutation as and intersecting with disability
X-Men tie-in products we’d like to see

NEXT EPISODE: X-Factor fills in!

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!