In which Jay’s mom broke the Internet; correct credits are important; everyone has a Danger Room; no one needs that many teeth; there are so many reasons to laugh at Stryfe; the Watcher is probably affiliated with Pepperidge Farm; Boom Boom is the Rogue of X-Force; and Cable’s pouches are definitely full of menstrual products.
X-PLAINED:
The Franklin Richards of Earth X
The One True Cable
X-Force #5-7
Pocket-Size Juggernaut
A novel approach to trauma surgery
A moment of intersectionality
Teeth of the early ’90s
Soft pink bags of rice-paper flesh
A villain speech
X-Force’s bathtub
Several Shel Silverstein poems that may or may not be about superheroes
Cooking with Boom Boom
Why the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants keeps the “Evil” in their name
Thornn (Lucia Callasantos)
Phantazia
Writers vs. Scripters
Sex Ed at the Xavier School
The Worst Twitter Thread
NEXT EPISODE: BLOODLUST! (But not inquiry.)
Check out the visual companion to this episode on our blog!
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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Art by David Wynne. Contact David to purchase the original!
In which Franklin Richards makes everything more complicated; Reed Richards is a terrible parent; Days of Future Present is a surprisingly good ghost story; Valeria Richards is awesome (but does not appear in this crossover); everyone’s got hounds these days; Banshee is your sad cyborg dad; Phoenix has a lot of feelings; and X-Factor once again manages to up the ante for child endangerment.
X-PLAINED:
Nightcrawler’s brief clerical career
Days of Future Present
Annuals, in general
Some extraordinarily specific Namor headcanon
Fantastic Four Annual #23
New Mutants Annual #6
X-Factor Annual #5
Uncanny X-Men Annual #14
Franklin Richards
Several statuses quo
The reproductive potential of Doombots
Ms. Marvel (Sharon Ventura)
Ahab
A Code Red Time Emergency
One of Jay’s dream pitches
Your sad cyborg dad
The worst tea party
One hell of a kiss
Robocop vs. Terminator
NEXT EPISODE: Excalibur gets eclectic!
The visual companion to this episode will be up later this week.
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.)
In which Elisabeth plans for her reign as Omniversal Majestrix; Hulks and moons are two great tastes that go great together; Nightcrawler takes the lead; Alastair gets a new gadget; it’s just not a cosmic event without Alan Davis; Mastermind is still the absolute worst; Excalibur fixes problems by playing dress-up; Moira MacTaggert desperately needs to hire some staff; and Jamie Braddock is legitimately terrifying.
X-PLAINED:
M’gubgub
Nth Man
Excalibur #25-27
Nova (Frankie Raye)
The continually poor decisions of Brian Braddock
A convergence of cosmic forces
Lumberjack Death
Character growth both literal and metaphorical
A cosmic snit
Asshole Factor
A villainous ruse
Several rounds of reality warping
Definitive incarnations of characters
NEXT EPISODE: Rictor has issues!
You can find a visual companion to this episode on the blog!
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.)
Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available at the shop, or contact David to purchase the original.
In which the back-up stories of Atlantis Attacks are way better than the main event; the Serpent Society is hilarious; Longshot finds a rock; the S.U.R.F.E.R.S. are no Neutrinos; our volume of digressions is inversely proportional to our investment in this crossover; Jay overthinks sunglasses; and somehow we still aren’t entirely done with Inferno.
X-PLAINED:
Leonard McKenzie
Princess Fen
Tiger Shark
A dubious crossover event and three splendid backup stories
The best thing in Marvel Puzzle Quest
Skateman
Atlantis Attacks
Uncanny X-Men Annual #13
New Mutants Annual #5
X-Factor Annual #4
Ghaur
Llyra
Homomermanus
The Serpent Society
Boomslang
Why snakes don’t wear vests
The Maple Hill Farm books
The Horn of Doom (again)
Namorita
Impractical swimwear
Surf, or S.U.R.F.E.R.S., or whoever the hell they are
Zak and the Neutrinos
The trouble with mobile landmarks
A case of mistaken identity
The true meaning of something, probably
Ralph Macchio, but not that Ralph Macchio
Circumstances in which it is acceptable to throw a small child down an elevator shaft
The definitive Boom Boom
Eligible gentlemen of the Marvel Universe
Boom Boom Von Doom
A false dichotomy
Sally Pashkow
A really great outfit
Presidencies rated by X-Books
Best and worst moral inversions
NEXT WEEK: Mojo Mayhem!
ART CHALLENGE: Send your best Boom Boom romance stories, covers, and pin-ups to xplainthexmen(at)gmail.com by SEPTEMBER 15, with the subject line BOOM BOOM RULES.
NOTE: In this episode, Jay briefly confused two Marvel villain teams: the Serpent Society (snake-themed villains); and the Sons of the Serpent, also known as the Serpent Men (hate group). We would like to offer our apologies to the Serpent Society, who are ridiculous but not, as far as we know, racist.
You can find a visual companion to this episode on our blog!
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!
Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available at the shop, or contact David to purchase the original.
“So, y’know–business as usual.” (Amazing Spider-Man #313)
The Ghostbusters references just keep coming! (Amazing Spider-Man #313)
HE’S NOT WRONG. (Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man #146)
This is in fact literally what it is like to work in publishing, all the time. (Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man #147)
CAN WE TALK ABOUT HOW JARVIS’S MOM IS A HUGE WRESTLING AFICIONADO? (Avengers #298)
Well, then. (Avengers #298)
He does this every time he fights a possessed machine. (Avengers #298)
No, seriously. Every time. (Avengers #299)
Stories involving Nanny and the Orphanmaker are never not super sad and messed up. (Avengers #299)
That one time the Avengers got back together in a tie-in to someone else’s crossover event. (Avengers #300)
Never leave your house. Seriously. (Power Pack #42)
Actually, no. Your house isn’t safe, either. (Power Pack #42)
And then a group of young children looked back nostalgically at the time they fought Sabretooth in a sewer. (Power Pack #44)
Aw. (Power Pack #44)
LIES. (The Mutant Misadventures of Cloak and Dagger #4)
For full effect, you have to imagine the narration being read by David Attenborough. (Daredevil #262)
And that was how Daredevil beat up a vacuum cleaner. (Daredevil #262)
It’s actually pretty surprising that no one else thought to do anything with possessed hospital equipment, because that is TERRIFYING. (Daredevil #263)
Officer Drillbit, in all his glory. (Daredevil #265)
For 1989 Daredevil, this ending is positively chipper. (Daredevil #265)
Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available at the shop, or contact David to purchase the original.
In which we cover (almost) all of the Inferno tie-ins with the help of writer Sam Humphries; the Marvel Universe used to be really X-Centric; Jarvis is unstoppable; Daredevil fights a vacuum cleaner; it’s probably best not to ask about the whole Celestial Madonna thing; Power Pack gets incredibly upsetting; working in comics makes you appreciate crossovers on a whole new level; and we’d all really have liked to have seen Guy Davis’s Inferno.
X-PLAINED:
Peter Quill’s brief music career
Widget
The Amazing Spider-Man #311-313
Spectacular Spider-Man #146-148
Web of Spider-Man #47-48
Avengers #298-300
Power Pack #42-44
Daredevil #262, 263, 265
Cloak and Dagger (vol. 3) #4
Fantastic Four #322-324
Inferno, as a whole
The fate of Madelyne Pryor
Jay’s Madelyne Pryor song
How working in comics taught us to appreciate crossovers
Our ideal Inferno artists
NEXT EPISODE: So. Much. Wolverine.
You can find a visual companion to this episode on our blog!
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!
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.
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!
