Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men

Tag: Cameron Hodge

As Mentioned in Episode 148 – That’s So Ravens

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Bernard the Poet, you’ve changed! And we’re terrified! (X-Factor #54)
“Warren, be a good boy and you’ll get a prize after the appointment!” (X-Factor #54)
This image really shouldn’t work as well as it does. (X-Factor #54)
It’s a vampire dress! You know, for vampires! (X-Factor #54)
X-Factor in a single panel. (X-Factor #54)
Jeez, devouring people’s souls isn’t enough – you have to be all mean-girls about it too? (X-Factor #56)
The phrase ‘costume drama’ has never been quite so literal. (X-Factor #56)
Miles has never been hospitalized and is pretty sure this right here is just sort of how it goes. (X-Factor #56)
This is basically what that Azrael guy from 90s Batman was hoping to be, right? (X-Factor #56)
“We just got back from our aerobics class and didn’t have time to change. So, what’s up?” (X-Factor #56)
Suddenly, green guys! Nice work, Andy Kubert. (X-Factor #57)
I wish Crimson wore this costume more in this arc. (X-Factor #57)
Accidental bank robbery: one of Jay’s favorite tropes. Also, the whole mirror thing is drawn really nicely. (X-Factor #57)
WELL THAT’S LEGITIMATELY TERRIFYING (X-Factor #57)
“Illusion, Michael.” (X-Factor #57)
“Vampire dress, dilapidated theater, occult trappings – check. Let’s get this LARP night started!” (X-Factor #58)
Surprise, kid! Your mom’s a liar and also kidnapped! (X-Factor #58)
Man, nobody ever invites us to these parties. (X-Factor #58)
So much is happening in this panel! (X-Factor #58)
Charlotte Jones is the hero we need. (X-Factor #58)
Jeez, guys! Knock first! (X-Factor #59)
Charlotte’s mother-in-law is basically the greatest. (X-Factor #59)
“This… this is how parenting works, right?” (X-Factor #59)
God, that last panel. Perfect. (X-Factor #59)
WOOOOO SPRING BREAK (X-Factor #59)
Next time: Old Man Logan.

148 – That’s So Ravens

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

In which Archangel falls in with the LARP crowd; all yuppies are (probably) vampires; Beast is kind of a jerk; there are a lot of reasons to be mad at Forge; and you should totally come hang out with us at ECCC!

X-PLAINED:

  • A peculiar scheme
  • X-Factor #54, 56-59
  • Crimson
  • The Ravens
  • A gallery opening
  • Several varyingly tortured souls
  • Charlotte Jones (more)
  • Archangel vs. Archangel’s wings
  • Ethical reporting
  • An accidental bank robbery
  • The return of a long-lost villain
  • Timmy Jones

NEXT EPISODE: Old Man Logan!

Special thanks to Lillian Cohen-Moore!

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!

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As Mentioned in Episode 102 – Baby Race 2000

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Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available at the shop, or contact David to purchase the original.
Okay, then. (X-Factor #32)
I wanna hang out there. (X-Factor #32)
Please note that Boom Boom pauses to put on sunglasses before doing cool cool stuff. Boom Boom knows what’s up. (X-Factor #32)
MVP. (X-Factor #32)
Well, that’s certainly one way to do that. (X-Factor #33)
In Boom Boom’s defense, shopping is terrible. (X-Factor #33)
Go set something on fire for justice, kiddo! (X-Factor #33)
BEAST! We missed you! (X-Factor #33)
Y’know, most people would just send a C&D. (X-Factor #33)
Kinda answered your own question, there, buddy. (X-Factor #34)
Nanny and the Orphan-Maker walk the line between sad and terrifying SO beautifully. (X-Factor #34)
N’astirh got no time for your rationalizations, Hodge. (X-Factor #34)
Later, he’s going to go home and listen to Stabbing Westward in the dark. (X-Factor #34)
Aw. (X-Factor #34)
It’s okay. He’ll be back. (X-Factor #34)
Yes, Warren, we get it. (X-Factor #34)
Welcome to the State Home for Gaslighting. Hope you survive the… (X-Factor #35)
Worst. Orphanage. Ever. (X-Factor #35)
GAH. There is literally nothing in this issue that is not wildly unsettling. (X-Factor #35)
The orphanage is a metaphor that is also a real fictional orphanage. (X-Factor #35)
‘Kay. (X-Factor #35)
Sometimes you gotta prioritize. (X-Factor #35)
NEXT WEEK: Excalibur goes ongoing!

102 – Baby Race 2000

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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 Beast’s DNA is basically held together with spit and baling wire; Boom Boom wins MVP; Angel goes full goth; Cameron Hodge loses his head; Cyclops is basically a Silent Hill protagonist; and the Nebraska Department of Social Services is probably not adequately equipped to deal with Mister Sinister.

X-PLAINED:

  • The Horsemen of Death
  • X-Factor #32-35
  • Xartans
  • Superheroic triage
  • A vague prophecy
  • Fake Avengers
  • Fake-band disambiguation
  • KiLLeR DWaRfS
  • Crippled Puppies
  • Audiophile Apocalypse
  • Shopping
  • Dubiously zealous trademark protection
  • Acronym disambiguation
  • The death of Candy Southern
  • The not-exactly death of Cameron Hodge
  • Nanny
  • Orphan-Maker
  • Baby Race 2000
  • An orphanage that is also a metaphor
  • Unreliable narration
  • The dubious partnership of Mister Sinister and Apocalypse
  • Best iterations of Boom Boom

NEXT EPISODE: Excalibur goes ongoing!

InfernoWatch

  • Malicious inanimate objects
  • Early signs of Marvel Girl’s returning telepathy
  • First clues of Cyclops’s connection to Sinister
  • First mention of Goblin Queen by name

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

Find us on iTunes or Stitcher!

Hang out with us on Imzy!

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 87 – It’s Always Darkest…

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Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available at the shop, or contact David to purchase the original.
Don’t get too attached to these guys. (New Mutants #59)
Roll for initiative! (New Mutants #59)
Lookit this E.C. lookin’ jerk! (New Mutants #59)
Truth. (New Mutants #59)
Seriously, the Ani-mator is so creepy. (New Mutants #60)
Or you could just–you know what? Never mind. Forget it. Freakin’ teenagers. (New Mutants #60)
And that’s why you always leave a note. (New Mutants #60)
Oh, THAT guy. (New Mutants #60)
How many times has he done this so far? Two? Three? (New Mutants #60)
Well, fuck. (New Mutants #60)
Well, fuck. (New Mutants #60)
Later, she justifies this by saying that it’s what Doug would have wanted, which seems questionable. (New Mutants #60)
Meanwhile, in the other 2/3 of the event… (New Mutants #61)
Even horses, Warlock. (New Mutants #61)
Aw, man. These kids. (New Mutants #61)
Aw, man. These kids. (New Mutants #61)
It really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really sucks to be New Mutants-era Magneto. (New Mutants #61)
And to add insult to injury, somehow the graduation costumes got even worse. (New Mutants #61)
NEXT WEEK: The Fall of the Mutants concludes with X-Factor!

87 – It’s Always Darkest… (Fall of the Mutants, Part 2 of 3)

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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 the New Mutants learn that they are not, in fact, immortal; Louise Simonson finds her stride; the Ani-Mator makes Cameron Hodge look downright reasonable; hating humans is Magneto’s security blanket; Doug Ramsey dies; and we continue our coverage of the Fall of the Mutants.

X-PLAINED:

  • Sugar Man
  • New Mutants #59-61
  • Bird Brain
  • The Ani-Mator
  • The Ani-Mates
  • Stylistic whiplash
  • Why you always leave a note
  • The death of Doug Ramsey
  • Black Condor’s amazing origin story
  • Interpersonal dynamics in New Mutants
  • Parsing ongoing series
  • Why Doug died
  • 616 characters we’d trade for their Battleworld counterparts
  • Storytelling trends and the decline of though balloons

NEXT WEEK: …Just Before Dawn

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

Find us on iTunes or Stitcher!

Rachel 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 84 – The Fourth Horseman

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Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available until 11/29/2015 at the shop, or contact David to purchase the original.
I try, but I just cannot get past those faces. (X-Factor Annual #2)
Acerbic done-with-this-shit Cyclops is the best Cyclops. (X-Factor Annual #2)
QWOPsilver. (X-Factor Annual #2)
Contexts in which Medusa’s superpower is not ridiculous: Yeah, we couldn’t think of any, either. (X-Factor Annual #2)
WHOOPS. (X-Factor Annual #2)
Take away the window dressing, and Maximus’s evil plan is basically weaponized empathy. (X-Factor Annual #2)
‘Kay, then. (X-Factor Annual #2)
“And stop by HR on your way out so we can get your feedback!” (X-Factor #21)
Creepiest powersuits? Creepiest powersuits. (X-Factor #21)
You tried, buddy. (X-Factor #22)
YA THINK, SCOTT? (X-Factor #22)
Reluctant hero Boom Boom is so great. (X-Factor #22)
Look, she’s seen Die Hard, okay? (X-Factor #22)
Even though we know who this dude is gonna turn out to be, the escalation is legitimately pretty creepy. (X-Factor #22)
No, really? (X-Factor #22)
The official debut of Archangel! (X-Factor #23)
“I made it myself, out of RUBY QUARTZ JELLO!” (X-Factor #23)
You can almost hear the portentous minor chord at the end. (X-Factor #23)
NEXT WEEK: The final episode of Secret Convergence on Infinite Podcasts!

84 – The Fourth Horseman

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Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available until 11/29/2015 at the shop, or contact David to purchase the original.
Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available until 11/29/2015 at the shop, or contact David to purchase the original.

 

In which Franklin Richards is the center of a disproportionate number of X-Men specials; Quicksilver without powers is comedy gold; Luna is the best little girl on the moon (but it’s kind of a low bar); Jay accidentally cares about the Inhumans; Jean Grey may or may not be the Wesley Willis of X-Factor; Cameron Hodge’s exit interview is weirdly professional; Boom Boom is the best reluctant hero; and Archangel makes his debut.

X-PLAINED:

  • Quicksilver’s team associations
  • Knights of Wundagore
  • Chthon
  • X-Factor Annual #2
  • X-Factor #21-23
  • The Inhumans
  • Black Bolt
  • Medusa
  • Crystal
  • Lockjaw
  • QWOP Quicksilver
  • Leech’s wildly inconsistent powers
  • Gorgon
  • Luna
  • Headbutting ghosts, or, why sentence structure matters
  • Maximus
  • Several methods of mind control
  • A really terrible place for a date
  • Cameron Hodge: Bureaucrat Supervillain
  • The last will & testament of Warren Worthington III
  • Another superpower pet peeve
  • A theoretical team-up we would love to see
  • The Arlington Interactive Museum of (evil) Science
  • Some really dumb armor
  • Archangel
  • Our preferred third Summers brothers

NEXT WEEK: Secret Convergence on Infinite Podcasts!

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

Find us on iTunes or Stitcher!

Rachel 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 75 – By Their Deeds You Shall Know Them

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Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available until 9/20/2015 at the shop, or contact David to purchase the original.
It’s hard to be a mutant teenager. (X-Factor #16)
We kind of skirted this part of the storyline, because it makes us both super uncomfortable and we weren’t really sure what angle to approach it from. You do you. (X-Factor #16)
Boom Boom fits right in at X-Factor! (X-Factor #16)
“Triumphant strangulation” is not a phrase you get to use under very many circumstances. (X-Factor #16)
Well, no, but it’s a nice sentiment. (X-Factor #16)
WHOOPS. (X-Factor #17)
The kids are the only ones who are not treating this as business as usual. (X-Factor #17)
X-Factor is THE WORST at interventions. (X-Factor #17)
Bobby, now is probably not the best time to joke about flight safety. Also, I’m kind of genuinely horrified that they APPARENTLY KEEP SPARE UNIFORMS WHERE THE LIFE VESTS GO. This is like how in the LEGO Blackbird there’s a chair blocking the door of the cabinet with the fire extinguisher and… okay, look, I realize no one else cares about this. BUT IT BUGS ME. (X-Factor #17)
“Not that I don’t appreciate the rescue, but don’t you people ever use doors?” (X-Factor #17)
“NOPE!” (X-Factor #17)
Cameron Hodge is so good at villain speeches. (X-Factor #17)
FANCY THAT, SKIDS. (X-Factor #18)
“I mean, we’re gonna get brainwashed by Scott and Jean’s clone’s kid’s clone, and then join a cult; and I’ll get killed in space by Holocaust; but the Phoenix Force is definitely not involved in most of that.” (X-Factor #18)
Scott’s life is basically an ongoing game of Hallucination or Hologram right now. (X-Factor #18)
“Skids, sometimes when two grown-ups love each other very much, and one of them was briefly replaced by a cosmic force, and the other married her clone, and–look, just give us a minute, please.” (X-Factor #18)
Ouch. (X-Factor #18)
DUH. (X-Factor #18)
Oh, hi, Angel. (X-Factor #18)
“Nineteen issues in, and we STILL haven’t figured doors out.” (X-Factor #19)
Cyclops X-Plains superhero comics in a nutshell. (X-Factor #19)
THOSE ARE NOT HORSES. Awesome, but not horses. (X-Factor #19)
Have I mentioned that X-Factor is the worst at interventions? Because X-Factor is definitely the worst at interventions. (X-Factor #19)
Well, then. (X-Factor #19)
The kids X-Factor rescued remain by far and away the most functional aspect of the whole operation. (X-Factor #20)
NEXT WEEK: Rachel & Miles Live at Rose City Comic Con, with Ann Nocenti, Jeff Parker, and Christopher Yost!

75 – By Their Deeds You Shall Know Them

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Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available until 9/20/2015 at the shop, or contact David to purchase the original.
Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available until 9/20/2015 at the shop, or contact David to purchase the original.

 

In which Masque is the worst Morlock; makeouts are a good reason to learn to control your powers; Cyclops and Marvel Girl are terrible role models; Iceman is the heart of X-Factor; Cameron Hodge finally shows his hand; the kids are all right (and probably the only ones who are); and we’ve basically given up on X-Factor ever learning to use doors.

X-PLAINED:

  • The Right
  • The Ani-Mator
  • X-Factor #16-20
  • Training with X-Factor
  • Skids’ backstory
  • Motivational makeouts
  • Miles’s Thor-ner
  • Thor #377-378
  • Why you don’t make deals with frost giants
  • The mystical realm of Pittsburgh
  • Redundant funeral graffiti
  • A totally rad villain speech
  • The evolution of Iceman
  • Dubious flight safety precautions
  • Rictor (Julio Esteban Richter)
  • Some really epic gaslighting
  • A probably-inevitable confrontation
  • Supervillain team-building exercises
  • Park maintenance

NEXT WEEK: Rachel & Miles Live at Rose City Comic Con; with Ann Nocenti, Jeff Parker, and Christopher Yost!

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

Find us on iTunes or Stitcher!

Rachel 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!