iceman – Page 17 – Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men

As Mentioned in Episode 16 – The Official Unofficial Not-at-SDCC (Rachel and Miles X-Plain the) X-Men Panel

July 28, 2014 Jay 25 comments

Listen to the episode here!

When we say that Quentin Quire has the same fashion sense as Rachel, this is not what we’re talking about. (Wolverine and the X-Men #3)

Seriously. She’s never going to take it off again.

YAYBO! Thanks to your support, we’ve unlocked a bunch of very cool milestone goals on Patreon, from weekly video reviews of current X-books, to original illustrations, written posts, giant-size semiannuals, and more!

Why we can’t have nice things. (House of M #7)

As promised, from Uncanny X-Men #497.

Cyclops seems to like the premise of Schism about as much as we do.

We were going to photoshop word balloons in so Cap was yelling “What are we fighting about, again?” and Cyclops was yelling, “I have no idea!” but we ran out of time, so I guess just take that as read.

Yeah, that’ll end well, Iron Man. (Avengers vs. X-Men #5)

AND THAT’S WHY YOU ALWAYS LEAVE A NOTE! (Avengers vs. X-Men #11)

This moment has shown up in flashbacks in something like four books so far this month, so it’s probably gonna be PRETTY RELEVANT in the near future. (Avengers vs. X-Men #11)

Pretty much everything you need to know about Battle of the Atom. (Wolverine and the X-Men #37)

This was the only yearbook photo we could find with both of us in it. TRIVIA: Can you spot the other current comics-industry pro in this photo?

Aw, bros. (Wolverine and the X-Men #40)

Oh, that’ll be awkward. (Uncanny X-Men #23)

There are… kind of a lot of X-Men books currently coming out.

A reasonably comprehensive list of current X-titles.

We are 100% with Cyclops on this. (Wolverine and the X-Men #40)

Heh. (Schism #1)

Next week: Rogue! And space adventures! And Carol Danvers!

Also next week: Rachel and Miles X-Plain the X-Men on Comics Alliance! It’ll go up here, as well as iTunes and Stitcher, at the usual time, but you’ll also be able to catch new episodes every Thursday at ComicsAlliance.com!

Bonus not-at-SDCC cosplay pics: Miles as Starman…

…and Rachel as space-pirate-in-a-polo-shirt teenage Cyclops.

Links:

MOMBcast #248
Benja Barker/Alter Egos Society
The Gaming Intelligence Agency
Newsarama Liveblog of the official Marvel SDCC panel (happened after we recorded this, so please forgive any minor discrepancies.)

16 – The Official Unofficial Not-at-SDCC (Rachel and Miles X-Plain the) X-Men Panel

July 28, 2014 Jay 12 comments

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In which we correct a startling omission, explore the current state of the X-Universe, and speculate wildly; Quentin Quire has excellent fashion sense; Rachel gets a new accessory; Miles goes off-brand; the X-Men are somewhat complicated; Iron Man has poor decision-making skills; Charles Xavier dies for real; Beast might be a supervillain; we briefly forget Marc Guggenheim’s first name; and the future remains a relative mystery.

For purposes of continuity, it’s probably worth noting that this episode was recorded before the SDCC Marvel panel.

X-Plained:

Quentin Quire
Patreon
A startling omission from the official SDCC lineup
The current state of the X-Men
Decimation
Dark Reign
Utopia
Schism
Avengers vs. X-Men
Mutant politics
Hope Summers
The Phoenix/P.E.N.I.S. five (again)
The (real) (this time) (we think) death of Charles Xavier
Teenager hijinks
Crossover events
Battle of the Atom
Semantics of supervillainy
How Wolverine is 100% definitely going to die
Jumping-on points
Current X-books
Jubilee

You can find a visual companion to the episode – and links to recommended reading – on our blog.

Find us on iTunes or Stitcher!

Support us on Patreon!

YAYBO! NEW STUFF!

July 4, 2014 Jay Leave a comment

Because you ~~demanded it~~ asked very nicely, we have some super cool new swag in the shop!

Way back in our first episode, we discovered the word YAYBO!, the hands-down best exclamation of the Silver Age of X-Men. Ever since, you’ve been asking us to put it on a t-shirt, but we dragged our heels: after all, what design could do justice to the sheer, unbridled enthusiasm of a cry of YAYBO!?

Finally, we enlisted the help of the most enthusiastic dude we know: the Enthusiast himself, Chris Haley of Let’s Be Friends Again, who created this unbelievably kickass graphic, featuring Iceman and two very excited X-Perts:

Chris’s design is also available in super souped-up print-and-card form!

We think Silver-Age Iceman would be proud.

BUT WAIT! THERE’S MORE!

If you’ve been waiting patiently for a version of Dylan Todd’s sweet Magneto Made Some Valid Points design that would show up on dark t-shirts, YOUR MOMENT HAS COME:

BUT WAIT! THERE’S EVEN MORE!

These, as well as the black-ink Magneto, and the sweet Ming Doyle pin-up–are now variously available not only as shirts and stickers, but also as tote bags, prints, posters, greeting cards, and even throw pillows. Want to send your grandmother a “Magneto Made Some Valid Points” birthday card? THAT IS NOW A THING YOU CAN DO. Please tell her “Yaybo!” for us.

As Mentioned in Episode 11 – Who Would Win in a Fight

June 22, 2014 Jay One comment

Listen to the podcast here!

Rachel and Miles of 2003, testing out early “Who Would Win in a Fight” hypotheses. Rachel hasn’t had long hair in years, but she still fights dirty.

Cycloptometry, from X-Factor #39.

Some of our favorite X-spinoffs.

That’s Rachel Summers, sending Kitty Pryde’s consciousness back in time in the original “Days of Future Past” comic. (X-Men #141)

Fun fact: the title of this podcast is roughly 90% Michael C. Maronna’s fault. (Photo courtesy of Will McRobb.)

Mystique and Destiny: CANONICAL AS FUCK. (Astonishing X-Men #51)

The Siege Perilous will body-swap you with a Japanese assassin, or send you to Australia, or whatever. Unless you’re Quentin Quire, anyway. (Uncanny X-Men #229)

Lee Forrester takes shit from nobody. (X-Men #143)

You can, in fact, judge this book by its cover. (Nightcrawler #1)

Would you buy logical causality from this man? YES. Yes, you would.

From That One Time Rachel Discovered Blingee and Spent Two Days Doing Nothing but Animating Starbursts on Longshot and Dazzler Covers.

Miles’s favorite superhero.

Just in case you were wondering what it looked like.

Paracyclophus, by Legitimus Maximus.

Janet K. Lee is the inventor of the Metawolverine, the most powerful creature in Canada.

Next week: The Dark Phoenix Saga!

Links and Further Reading: UncannyXMen.net

11 – Who Would Win in a Fight

June 22, 2014 Jay 12 comments

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In which we answer 45 straight minutes of your questions and alienate everyone with our answer to Jean vs. Emma, Miles is probably too nice to win in a fight, we are really into The Adventures of Pete & Pete, Rachel is the Vega to Miles’s Shepard, Excalibur is awesome, you should stop punching the DNA, Wolverine is Rogue, Longshot is the prettiest man, and Professor X is a pufferfish.

X-Plained:

Who would win in a fight
The Rachel & Miles Fastball Special
Cycloptometry
Backissues, collections, and where to find them
Podcaster ‘shipping
Spinoffs
Rachel Summers (more) (again)
Five tattoos
Non-X stuff we’re into
X-Force versus the Comics Code Authority
Ultimate X-Men
How to keep track of crossovers
Textual queerness
The Siege Perilous
Jean vs. Emma
Some good Nightcrawler and Iceman stories
Dream teams
The Glammest Timeline
Best and worst code names
Bendis’s X-books
X-animals

You can find a visual companion to the episode – and links to recommended reading – on our blog.

Find us on iTunes or Stitcher!

Next week: The Dark Phoenix Saga

As Mentioned on Episode 5 – The Retcon That Walks Like a Man

May 11, 2014 Jay 12 comments

Listen to the podcast here!

Giant-Size X-Men #1. Prepare for forty years of riffs on this cover.

The best-dressed mob in Germany.

And THAT’S how you punch a tractor.

“Oh, y’know. Fight crime, see the world, get your memory rewritten every few weeks, maybe go on a really fucked up date with Dracula…”

When Xavier finds him, Thunderbird is literally wrestling a buffalo to death.

Sunfire’s first appearance, in X-Men #64.

Most of the New & Different X-Men get a full page or two to join the team. Banshee? Two panels. He’s just that chill.

“Think you can just walk away, Wolverine? We’ll come after you with our deadliest weapon yet: Alpha Flight crossovers!”

Wow. You… certainly made some choices there, Professor.

Sunfire is absolutely delightful.

At this point, I’m pretty sure he’s just messing with them for fun.

This is the second of three times Sunfire calls Nightcrawler “Misfit” on one page–which is actually a pretty welcome break from the X-Men referring to each other exclusively by ethnic epithets. Len Wein, DON’T DO THAT.

This jerk.

This is pretty much the platonic ideal of an X-Men fight scene: teamwork, cool powers, and narration busting Kool-Aid-Man-style through the fourth wall.

Fun fact: Polaris will later go on to get an advanced degree in geophysics.

“You know… stuff?”

We see what you did, there.

Moira MacTaggert has opinions about retcons.

Introducing: The Worst Summers Brother

“Hey, kids, want to be superheroes?”

It’s worth noting that Moira’s team’s emergency psychic training regimen includes a Hostess Fruit Pie ad callback.

They are so doomed.

It’s almost like you live with a telepath who messes with people’s memories all the time.

Wait, what? But that’s not how it…

…oh. That explains some things.

Damn, X. That’s cold.

Professor X: Master of the retcon, worst surrogate parent ever.

Sorry ’bout that, guys.

Then Gabriel goes and punches an empire to death.

5 – The Retcon That Walks Like a Man

May 11, 2014 Jay 23 comments

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In which the Bronze Age begins; Dave Cockrum is your god now; the band gets together; Sunfire joins the team; cultural sensitivity is not Marvel’s strong suit; Sunfire quits the team; it sucks to be Cyclops; Professor X crosses a moral event horizon; Sunfire joins the team; Ed Brubaker channels Thomas Hardy; you are probably a Summers brother; and Sunfire quits the team.

X-Plained:

Bamf-Voltron Nightcrawler
Giant-Size X-Men #1
The worst hat of the Marvel Universe
The Mostly-New, Mostly-Different X-Men
A business-casual angry mob
The limits of creative good intentions
Tractor punching on the Ust-Ordynski Collective
The correct spelling of “fine”
Canada
Sunfire’s utter disdain for everything, including you
Krakoa: The Island That Walks Like a Man!
Characteristics of good X-fights
Yet another miracle of magnetism
X-Men: Deadly Genesis
Summers Family Continuity (Introductory)
More hats
The Muir-MacTaggert Research Facility
Summers Family Continuity (Intermediate)
The Charles Xavier Scale of Supervillainy
Relative immunity
Wolverine’s ubiquity

AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION:

What would you do with thirteen X-Men?
Help us find all-ages-friendly Marvel Girl stories!

You can find a visual companion to the episode – and links to recommended reading – on our blog.

Find us on iTunes or Stitcher!

As Mentioned on Episode 4 – American History X-Men

May 4, 2014 Jay 4 comments

Listen to the podcast here!

The Steve Rude covers are the hands-down best part of X-Men: Children of the Atom.

Seriously. This is off the rails. Steve Rude, man.

X-Men: Children of the Atom really, really, really wants to be the Dark Knight Returns of X-Men. It’s not.

X-Men: Children of the Atom tries so hard to make Fred Duncan a noir protagonist. (Hint: nope.)

Bear in mind that Children of the Atom came out in 1999, and is nominally set in the same year.

Oh, hi, guys. (Children of the Atom)

Charles Xavier: the worst ever, forever. (Children of the Atom)

I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU HIRED HITLER! (Children of the Atom)

After the Rave-Up, they’re going to go do some crimes, like go get sushi and not pay. (Children of the Atom)

Deep stealth Hank McCoy. (Children of the Atom)

Hank dabbles briefly in victim blaming. (Children of the Atom)

Jack “Tricky Dick” Winters. (Children of the Atom)

Well, yes–that’s sort of the problem. (Children of the Atom)

Magneto chews the scenery and regurgitates it into your brain like you are a baby bird of villainy and he is your mother and I think this metaphor kind of got away from me. (Children of the Atom)

Okay, that’s pretty cool: the opening narration of X-Men #1 closes Children of the Atom.

X-Men: First Class, but not THAT X-Men First Class.

Take THAT, Silver-Age gender politics! (X-Men: First Class)

Even the least creepy version of Professor X is still pretty creepy. (X-Men: First Class)

Aw, these dudes. (X-Men: First Class)

Cyclops #1–a one-shot that’s part of the First Class continuity, in which Cyclops actually has a good day.

For more fun, low-angst X-Men in the spirit of First Class, we recommend the hell out of this X-Men / Power Pack miniseries.

How much do we love X-Men: Season One? SO MUCH.

Jean Grey: Now available with a point of view and distinct personality! (X-Men: Season One)

We also appreciate that X-Men: Season One understands the importance of X-Plaining the X-Men.

This comic book, y’all. (X-Men: Season One)

Iceman: chronically under-appreciated, chronically awesome. X-Men: Season One

Most of all, X-Men: Season One is about a bunch of screwed up teenagers figuring out how to be a team. It’s a really neat book.

No one draws shifty faces like Jamie McKelvie. (X-Men: Season One)

Bobby invents Dance Pants in 2019. Don’t tell him. He needs to stumble on it himself.

Rachel and Miles X-Plain the X-Men t-shirts: Now available! (Stickers, too.)

We Are Comics is a campaign to show—and celebrate—the faces of our community, our industry, and our culture; to promote the visibility of marginalized members of our population; and to stand in solidarity against harassment and abuse. See our full post here.

Next week on Rachel and Miles X-Plain the X-Men!

Links and further reading:

The X-Axis Silver Age X-Men Index (archived)

Marvels

X-Men: Children of the Atom

4 – American History X-Men

May 4, 2014 Jay 8 comments

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In which Rachel finally gets to say “WHAT?!,” we examine three variations on the Silver Age, Twin Peaks is reality TV, we can’t believe you hired Hitler, Angel is not Batman, even the most sympathetic Xavier is still pretty creepy, Cyclops has a good day, Marvel Girl is not going to throw a dinosaur for you, Iceman is the Troy Barnes of the X-Men, and we say a fond farewell to the Silver Age.

X-Plained: