excalibur – Page 9 – Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men

136 – Fill-In Frenzy

November 28, 2016 Jay 25 comments

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | RSS

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

In which we find the idea of Jack Kirby as G-d deeply comforting; “Jercules” is our new favorite insult; the difference between camp and divinity is good backlighting; Zeus does not have the moral high ground; Ron Lim’s Captain Britain is the definitive cad; the Demon Druid is the saddest supervillain; Archangel broods like it’s his day job; and Jay gets to do all the fun voices for once.

X-PLAINED:

The Upstarts
An inflatable Batman
New Mutants #81
Excalibur #20
X-Factor #47
Our favorite Magma story
The best insult
Pugilistic impunity
A context-inappropriate oath
The worst film festival
Fighting fire with Magma
The Demon Druid
A Satanic pirate tavern
Reactorhenge
The depths of fuchsia
Archangel’s deeply weird comfort mechanisms
Some dude named Greg
Publishing delays

NEXT WEEK: Lady Mandarin, feat. Sarah Kuhn

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.)

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

As Mentioned in Episode 135 – Kurt Wagner, Warlord of Mars

November 21, 2016 Jay 5 comments

Listen to the episode here.

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

Best cover, or best cover? (Nah, the best cover is Excalibur #4, but this one is pretty darn good, too.) (Excalibur #16)

Whoops. (Excalibur #16)

I’m throwing in some episode-irrelevant bonus swashbuckling this week, because that’s how much I love you. (Excalibur #16)

SO THERE. (Excalibur #16)

See?! Rachel’s barbarian-warrior costume is TOTALLY P.E.N.I.S.-five! (Excalibur #16)

See also: that one scene from Ghostbusters. (Excalibur #16)

Those are some very well-drawn tentacles. (Excalibur #16)

Remember that one time Kitty Pryde straight-up stabbed someone in the back? BECAUSE THAT HAPPENED. (Excalibur #16)

This is the last Alan Davis cover we’ll see for a while. Please join me in a moment of silent mourning. (Excalibur #17)

Much disguise very mystery. (Excalibur #17)

There is… a lot going on in these two panels. (Excalibur #17)

Except, wait, if this is just a super distant planet, then this ISN’T alt-Jean, except it still sort of is, and there’s also the Lockheed and OH GOD WHAT’S EVEN HAPPENING (Excalibur #17)

FUCK. YEAH. RACHEL. (Excalibur #17)

Nigel Frobisher: a jerk in any universe. (Excalibur #17)

You tried. (Excalibur #17)

‘Kay. (Excalibur #17)

AND THAT’S WHY YOU ALWAYS LEAVE A NOTE (Excalibur #17)

It’s like Freaky Friday, but only halfway. Vaguely Abnormal Friday. (Excalibur #18)

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: I would like to lodge my official complaint regarding this shameless waste of Speed Racer homage. Yrs., Jay Edidin (Excalibur #18)

‘Kay. (Excalibur #18)

NOTHING WILL EVER BE OKAY AGAIN. (Excalibur #18)

Jamie is a creep, but his powers are super cool. (Excalibur #18)

I got nothing. (Excalibur #18)

False-flag X-Men covers are kind of a running joke in this series. (Excalibur #19)

NOPE. (Excalibur #19)

Oh, Emma. (Excalibur #19)

Well, that’s unsettling on a lot of levels. (Excalibur #19)

“And then I’m going to feed you ice chips while you’re asleep!” (Excalibur #19)

NEXT EPISODE: Fill-In Frenzy!

LINKS & FURTHER READING

If you haven’t already read “Kitty Queer,” by Sigrid Ellis, you should go do that right now, because it’s excellent.

135 – Kurt Wagner, Warlord of Mars (Cross-Time Caper, Part 2)

November 21, 2016 Jay 19 comments

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | RSS

In which the Cross-Time Caper continues; alliteration is awesome; someone else’s geopolitical conflict is not an appropriate place to play out your pirate fantasies; we are definitely not actually going to eat Alan Davis’s brains; Jamie Braddock is Evil Rex Racer; Widget eats a car; Rick Leonardi is the definitive fill-in artist; the problem is patriarchy; and everything’s sticky in Madripoor.

X-PLAINED:

X-Manga
Excalibur #16-19
Crosstime
A John Carter riff
A mysterious and dubiously reliable narrator
A terrible pick-up line
Kymri
Anjulie
Gender-neutral fantasy armor
Implicit fellatio in several media
Space Fred Savage
An alternate Jean Grey (and her untimely demise)
Tullamore Voge
A grand tourney
A deeply disappointing pastiche
ORZ-1
Dirty Pair (and a sustained riff thereon)
What makes a train sexy
Wolverine’s table manners
Jim Jaspers vs. Jamie Braddock vs. Jamie Jeffers

NEXT EPISODE: Fill-In Frenzy!

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 129 – They Don’t Allow Dragons in Here

October 10, 2016 Jay 5 comments

Listen to the podcast here.

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

Lockheed, I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore. (Excalibur #12)

Spoiler: this ends exactly the way you’d expect it to. (Excalibur #12)

This guy. (Excalibur #12)

IT’S SUCH A GOOD SIGHT GAG! (Excalibur #12)

Fisticuffs! (Excalibur #12)

This series has the best covers, man. (Excalibur #13)

Swell new threads, Cap! (Excalibur #13)

Princess Kitty, now 100% more bland. (Excalibur #13)

‘Kay. (Excalibur #13)

THIS IS NOT A GOOD FOUNDATION FOR A RELATIONSHIP. Also, I’m pretty sure they’re both, like, fourteen. (Excalibur #13)

Another classic. (Excalibur #14)

I’m not saying he’s not, but… (Excalibur #14)

Whoa, dang. (Excalibur #14)

Oh. THAT guy. (Excalibur #14)

The more you know! (Excalibur #14)

Swell new threads, Meggan! (Excalibur #14)

I always remember Albert being in this scene, which he’s obviously not, because he didn’t exist yet. Go figure. -J (Excalibur #14)

It’s like the dog ending of Silent Hill II, but instead of shibas, you get Chris Claremont and John Byrne. (Excalibur #14)

You tell ’em, Galactus! (Excalibur #14)

Look, we get what you were going for, but, no. (Excalibur #12)

I LOVE THEM SO MUCH. (Excalibur #13)

You can go home now. We’ve hit single greatest panel of Excalibur, ever. (Excalibur #15)

Ah, “the old-fashioned way.” (Excalibur #15)

MEANWHILE… (Excalibur #15)

AND THEN… (Excalibur #15)

Jamie Jaspers is terrifying. (Excalibur #15)

LATER… (Excalibur #15)

AND THAT’S WHY YOU ALWAYS LEAVE A NOTE. (Excalibur #15)

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

LINKS & FURTHER READING:

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

October 10, 2016 Jay 44 comments

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | RSS

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!

As Mentioned in Episode 123 – Mojo Mayhem

August 30, 2016 Jay 6 comments

Listen to the episode here.

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

Oh, my. (Marvel Comics Presents #31)

The one significant drawback to Marvel Style is that sometimes the dialogue seems to be chasing after runaway art. (Marvel Comics Presents #36)

I would read this book. I would read this book SO HARD. (Marvel Comics Presents #37)

And that’s all, folks! (Marvel Comics Presents #38)

Now, THAT’S how you do an opening splash page. (Excalibur: Mojo Mayhem)

Heh. (Excalibur: Mojo Mayhem)

Aw, man. (Excalibur: Mojo Mayhem)

Minor Domo is delightful. (Excalibur: Mojo Mayhem)

Hell, this WHOLE STORY is delightful. (Excalibur: Mojo Mayhem)

Cats Laughing! (Excalibur: Mojo Mayhem)

Welcome to your new anxiety dream. Hope you survive the experience! (Excalibur: Mojo Mayhem)

What’s really amazing is that this isn’t remotely her worst costume. (Excalibur: Mojo Mayhem)

The Agent is a pretty silly concept, but in practice, he’s a genuinely scary villain. (Excalibur: Mojo Mayhem)

That time Kitty Pryde and the X-Babies stole Chris Claremont’s car. (Excalibur: Mojo Mayhem)

I really love this bit–it’s a very clever move on Kitty’s part and sets up a wedding-crashing brawl, which is always a visual treat. (Excalibur: Mojo Mayhem)

I’m usually a stickler for “their powers don’t usually work that way” complaints; but a) Kitty’s powers have been blinky lately anyway; and b) rule of cool. (Excalibur: Mojo Mayhem)

NEXT EPISODE: Death in the Outback.

LINKS & FURTHER READING:

Come see us at Rose City Comic Con, September 10-11!
For the best use of Mojo in any medium, check out the animated series episode “Mojovision.”
Animal Man #5, “The Coyote Gospel,” will forever change your relationship to Looney Toons.

123 – Mojo Mayhem

August 29, 2016 Jay 25 comments

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | RSS

In which Jay and Miles return to Rose City Comic Con; “Having a Wild Weekend” is the mash-up t-shirt of Excalibur stories; swears are for everyone; Arcade is not a subtle villain; we love Art Adams a lot; Minor-Domo is the Harvey and/or Janet of the Mojoverse; Kitty gets another new costume; and the X-Babies carjack their creators.

X-PLAINED:

The Agent
Jay and Miles at Rose City Comic Con 2016
What Excalibur has instead of annuals
Competing theories of Eriks Larsen
“Having a Wild Weekend” (Marvel Comics Presents #31-38)
The Community reference that keeps on giving
How to fight on the Internet without being a dick
A large number of thinly veiled TV references
The X-Babies
Excalibur: Mojo Mayhem
Ricochet Rita (again)
Psychonauts
Exploding children (more) (again)
The House of Ideas
The New Universe
Major Domo
Minor Domo
Jay’s dream vacation
Cats Laughing (more) (again)
Cosplay you should totally do
Why you should always read the EULA
The classic X-Men spirit
Some of our favorite cameos
The return of Judith Rassendyll
One fairly specific way to ruin a wedding
Where to find Havok in comics
X-Men we’d like to see as wizards

NEXT EPISODE: Death in the Outback

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 120 – Observed by a Family of Lizard People

August 8, 2016 Jay 8 comments

Listen to the episode here.

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

Hi, there. (Excalibur #8)

They’re totally a girl gang, though, right? (Excalibur #8)

Ouch. (Excalibur #8)

Hi, Brian. (Excalibur #8)

Seriously, it’s never not funny. (Excalibur #8)

I want a statue of this cover SO BAD. (Excalibur #9)

Meet Lightning Force: The Nazi Excalibur you really, really don’t need in your life. (Excalibur #9)

The many faces of Meggan (and some slightly disastrous sound effects from Brian). (Excalibur #9)

Alastaire Stuart and his banana. (Excalibur #9)

Kittys Pryde. (Excalibur #9)

HI, BRIAN. (Excalibur #10)

Just gal pals, pallin’ around. (Excalibur #11)

If I had a dollar for every time this had happened… (Excalibur #11)

Well, then. (Excalibur #11)

Sure, why not? (Excalibur #11)

NEXT EPISODE: Deadpool v Gambit, with Ben Acker!

LINKS & FURTHER READING:

How the X-Men’s Blackbird Compares to the Original SR-71

120 – Observed by a Family of Lizard People

August 8, 2016 Jay 24 comments

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | RSS

In which everything is worse with Nazis; Excalibur gets its groove back; Meggan has an identity crisis; Kitty gets a crush; a dragon gets interdimensional sanctuary; and the Cross-Time Caper starts not with a bang, but a foomp.

X-PLAINED:

The death of Lilandra Neramani
Excalibur #8-11
The best name in Hollywood
Still more of Inferno’s aftermath
A basketball game
Blackbird disambiguation
Several long-delayed reunions and one subsequent resolution
Alastaire Stuart (and his banana)
Tourists who are also lizards
Lightning Force
A number of unfortunate encounters
The difference between Errol Flynn characters and Errol Flynn
The fall of Nigel Frobisher
The switch that turns the engine invisible
What may be the world’s least subtle euphemistic use of the term “roommate”
How the discourse around comics has changed since the ’80s
Jubilee vs. power creep

NEXT EPISODE: Deadpool v Gambit, with Ben Acker!

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

Find us on iTunes, Google Play, 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 111 – You’ll Have to Look Inside for That

May 30, 2016 Jay One comment

Listen to the podcast here.

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

The greatest comic-book cover of all time. (Excalibur #4)

This guy, man. (Excalibur #4)

The fashion! The feelings! DAMN, I love Excalibur. (Excalibur #4)

SPOILER: This kiss does not actually happen. (Excalibur #4)

It’s awfully nice of Arcade to put those recaps up on the monitors! (Excalibur #4)

Courtney Ross: Just. That. Good. (Excalibur #4)

Excalibur is perpetually one tastefully-framed quick-change away from being a sex farce. (Excalibur #5)

Check out the visual language on the body-swapped Excalibur and Crazy Gang. (Excalibur #5)

Arcade vs. Murderworld. (Excalibur #5)

It’s our favorite fictional-but-also-real band, Cats Laughing! (Excalibur #5)

MURDERWORLD , Y’ALL. (Excalibur #5)

Yeah, Inferno’s basically just gonna be business as usual for Excalibur. (Excalibur #5)

I accept on faith that there are people who read this and assumed that Kitty and Rachel didn’t have a romantic relationship, but it still kind of baffles me. (Excalibur #5)