Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men

As Mentioned in Episode 450 – Live at the Clinton Street Theater

Listen to the episode here.



LINKS & FURTHER NONSENSE

450 – Live at the Clinton Street Theater

In which we celebrate our tenth anniversary by X-Plaining what may be the most reviled X-arc; you should not try this at home; Mystique is so much better than this story; Azazel is a really boring devil; Nightcrawler should probably be missing a hand; the Xavier School definitely does not have an HR department; and we would prefer that you not pee on Iceman.

X-PLAINED:

  • Nightcrawler’s (most recent) parentage
  • Uncanny X-Men #428-434
  • X-Men Blue: Origins #1
  • The X-Men, like, in general
  • Nightcrawler (Kurt Wagner)
  • Some narrative choices
  • Mystique
  • Baron Christian Wagner
  • Marvel Europe
  • Azazel
  • Church sex
  • Nightstreaker
  • Isla des Demonas
  • Foibles of Warren Kenneth Worthington III
  • Annie and Carter Ghazikhanian
  • Abyss
  • Kiwi Black
  • The Cheyarafim and Neyaphem
  • Bad times with psychic therapy
  • Post-traumatic supervillainy
  • Uncool Hell
  • A miracle of magnetism
  • The only cool thing in Uncool Hell
  • A very elegant retcon
  • X-Muppets
  • Characters who deserve more page space
  • Miles’s favorite X-Person
  • What the Worthington Corporation does
  • A character who could reasonably be Azazel’s kid

NEXT EPISODE: Back to X-business as usual!


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

Find us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify!

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!

YOU’RE INVITED!

HOT DAMN, Y’ALL. Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men is turning ten entire years old on Saturday, April 13, and you’re all invited to our birthday party–and our first live show since pre-pandemic days! We’ll be starting the day with a live show–X-Plaining a story we once swore never to cover–at Portland’s historic Clinton Street Theater. Then we’ll break for lunch and reconvene that afternoon at comic-shop extraordinaire Books With Pictures for a 10th birthday blowout, complete with cake, party favors, and some really, really cool X-clusive merch (including the 10th anniversary print by Colleen Coover that you can see a sliver of above (and which you’ve seen in its entirety if you’re a patron–remember, keep it secret, keep it safe!))!

HERE ARE THE DETAILS:

THE SHOW:

  • WHAT: Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men LIVE
  • WHEN: Saturday, April 13, 10:00-11:45 AM
  • WHERE: Clinton Street Theater, 2522 SE Clinton St., Portland, OR
  • NOTE: MASKS WILL BE MANDATORY AT THE LIVE SHOW. We’ll have ’em at the door for anyone who doesn’t bring their own.
  • ADDITIONAL DETAILS: All-ages if you don’t mind your kids learning swears.

THE PARTY:

  • WHAT: Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men’s 10th Birthday Party
  • WHEN: Saturday, April 13, 2:00-5:00 PM
  • WHERE: Books With Pictures, 1401 Division St., Portland, OR
  • NOTE: This will be an outdoor event. Plan accordingly!
  • ADDITIONAL DETAILS: All-ages, costumes encouraged, birthday cake, birthday pie, party favors, X-clusive merch

RSVP FOR ONE OR BOTH EVENTS HERE! While you’ll probably still get in if you just show up, we’d really appreciate it if you’d RSVP–it helps us plan for the events and, in case of overflow, will make it more likely that you’ll get in.

AND HERE ARE THE ANSWERS TO SOME QUESTIONS THAT WE ANTICIPATE OR HAVE ALREADY FIELDED AT LEAST ONCE:

How much are tickets?

Free.

Wait, the party and the show are both free?

Yeah.

Can I still go if I don’t RSVP?

If there’s room, sure. But we need to figure out things like how many party favors to make and how many pies to bring, so we would really appreciate it if you RSVP.

Wait, there are party favors?

Oh, yes.

Like what?

It’s a surprise. (Unless you’re a patron, in which case you’ve already gotten a sneak peek at one of ’em.)

Will you have merch for sale?

At the party, yeah: We’ll have a handful of in-person-x-clusive merch, including Colleen Coover’s completely rad 10th Anniversary print!

I will not be there, but I want a print or other swag. How can I get it?

Connect with someone who’s going and arrange for them to pick it up and send it to you. We recommend using the Discord, but you can also @ us on Bluesky and we’ll boost your signal!

Do I have to wear a mask?

To the show, yes. To the party, no.

How come?

Because accessibility.

I don’t want to.

Suck it up, buttercup.

Can I bring my kids?

If you’re okay with the possibility that they’ll hear some swears, sure!

Can I bring my horse?

We would strongly prefer that you not.

Can I wear a costume?

We encourage you to do so.

What if it’s not an X-Men costume?

You do you, buddy.

Are the X-Men really confusing enough to merit a full decade of X-planatory podcasts?

Apparently.

188 – Live from ECCC, feat. Bret Blevins, Rachelle Rosenberg, and Ramon Villalobos

In which Jay makes a sartorial switch; Hope Summers is less confusing than you might expect; we are very happy to present our first all-artist convention special; Ramon kills his idols; Rachelle deciphers the past; Bret (re)defines New Mutants; a long-time mystery is resolved; colorists deserve more respect; the Xavier School probably has an actual curriculum; and a lot of X-Men have really cool hair.

X-PLAINED:

  • The adventures of Hope Summers
  • Several Phoenix hosts
  • The time Quentin Quire became a Shi’ar god
  • Jay’s mom
  • Our panelists’ definitive X-Men
  • E for Extinction
  • Killing your idols
  • Coloring as archaeology
  • Visually defining the X-Men
  • New Mutants that might have been
  • Favorite costumes
  • The actual color of Storm’s ’90s costume
  • Editorial direction vs. editorial mandate
  • Practical considerations in costume design
  • Actual education at the Xavier School
  • Wolverine’s assorted children
  • The best hair in the X-Men

NEXT EPISODE: Cannonball dies (briefly)!


No visual companion to this one, but check out the first part of our ECCC gallery over 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.)

150 – Live at ECCC, feat. Dennis Hopeless and Charles Soule

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

In which writers Dennis Hopeless and Charles Soule join us for a live episode at Emerald City Comic Con, Age of X is the world’s worst morale boost; Charles and Dennis X-Plain the Marvel Universe; we still can’t get Hieronymus Bosch’s X-Men out of our heads; and apparently somehow we’ve recorded and posted 150 of these things.

X-PLAINED:

  • Age of X
  • Evil Moira MacTaggert Disambiguation
  • The post-Secret Wars Marvel Universe
  • Major X-Men turning points
  • ResurrXion
  • Planning events
  • A profoundly unexpected crossover
  • Namor’s definitive qualities
  • Our dream X-creators
  • Where to find Havok in current comics
  • Earned deaths
  • The pronunciations of several words
  • Teams we’d like to see revived or revisited

NEXT EPISODE: The road to X-Tinction Agenda continues!


No visual companion this week, but wait ’til you see our ECCC photos!

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.)

126 – Live at Rose City Comic Con, with Greg Pak

Art by David Wynne. No prints this week, but you can contact David to purchase the original!
Art by David Wynne. No prints this week, but you can contact David to purchase the original!

In which we return to Rose City Comic Con and somehow manage to one-up last year’s Stryfe cold open; Greg Pak has secretly written all of the X-books; Cullen Bunn may or may not be watching you RIGHT NOW; the X-Men distill down to murder and kissing; Toshiro Mifune should be everybody; Miles swears first (for once); and we can’t wait to see all of your X-Men roller derby names!

X-PLAINED:

  • Cold open escalation
  • Onslaught
  • Greg Pak
  • Continuity exegesis
  • Marrying history and narrative
  • Murder and kissing
  • X-Treme X-Men vol. 2
  • Reimagining characters across the multiverse
  • Governor-General James Howlett
  • Magneto: Testament
  • Where superheroes should and shouldn’t intersect with geopolitical events
  • Our X-Men buddy-cop duos of choice
  • X-Commencement speakers
  • X-Men roller derby names
  • Contemporary vs. retrospective representations of current events

NEXT WEEK: The New Mutants go to Asgard!


There’s not exactly a visual companion to this episode, but you can find a Rose City Comic Con gallery 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!

No prints for sale this time, but you can still contact David Wynne for the original of this week’s illustration!

As Mentioned in Episode 83 – Live at Vegas Valley Comic Book Festival

Listen to the episode here.



LINKS & FURTHER READING:

83 – Live at Vegas Valley Comic Book Festival

1_Arkon
Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available until 11/22/2015 at the shop, or contact David to purchase the original.

 

In which we travel back in time to 1979 for our second live convention special; X-Men Annual #3 desperately needs a Queen soundtrack; George Perez draws great Banshee; Polemachus is kind of a bullshit planet; we dream of a world without Funky Winkerbean; Cyclops’s costume does not mix and match well; if you can be someone else, you should probably be Brian Blessed; Colossus gets a dragon; and Vegas Valley Comic Book Festival is awesome.

X-PLAINED:

  • X-misadventures in Las Vegas
  • X-Men Annual #3
  • Arkon the Magnificent
  • Isadore and Irmagarde Uhman
  • The Comical Books
  • Polemachus the planet vs. Polemachus the person
  • Funky Winkerbean
  • Several logistical problems with the Danger Room
  • MVP Cyclops
  • Some very good visual counterpoint to dialogue
  • Paperboard lightning bolt disambiguation
  • Jay’s favorite Starman story
  • X-title and music pairings
  • Imperions
  • Visual perspective in grand melees
  • How to order a meal on Polemachus
  • One specific variation on Cyclops’s powers
  • The X-Men as Spinal Tap
  • Space-barbarian eyewear
  • The annual cabinet
  • The most appropriate X-team placement for Funky Winkerbean
  • Best worst characters
  • Our favorite X-Force teams
  • Secret Convergence on Infinite Podcasts

NEXT WEEK: Somehow, Cameron Hodge manages to get even worse.


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!