Neena Thurman – Page 2 – Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men

427 – Standard Deviation

October 15, 2023 Jay 2 comments

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In which we have grown to love Adam Pollina; the Vanisher is delightfully awful; Ekaterina Gryaznova gets a new look; Domino rejoins X-Force; superheroes actually have a conversation instead of fighting; Cannonball rejoins X-Force; we don’t even remember recording this one; and something cool is coming (stay tuned).

X-PLAINED:

Arcadia DeVille
The Deviants
X-Force #81-84
What’s been up with X-Force
The goddess Pele and the heart thereof
Beachwear
An episode of The Brady Bunch
Krotok the Lava Man
Lava Men, in general
Gortokians
Jinku the Lava Man
A diabolical plan
Jesse Aaronson (Bedlam) (but not that one)
Terry and/or Christopher Aaronson
The Aguilar Institute
The Griffin (Ekaterina Gryaznova, again)
Infinite Guthries
Ulysses Dragonblood
Odysseus Indigo
Lucas Wyndham
M.U.S.E. (Mutant Underground Support Engine)
A very Summers situation
Foreshadowing
Whether Shard can (and should) be resurrected by the Five
Accidental foreshadowing

NEXT EPISODE: The end of Excalibur!

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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 413 – Convergence

June 4, 2023 Jay One comment

Listen to the episode here.

We’re still not sure about the word for a gatefold-and-a-half, but here’s a good one. (X-Force #75)

Welcome to Exploding Colossal Man! (X-Force #75)

Karma and her girlfriends. (X-Force #75)

I’d like to think she spends her time being an asshole at New Age bookstores, too. (X-Force #75)

Wandering down memory lane with Mirage and Warpath. (X-Force #75)

OOOOOOOOOhhhhhhhh (X-Force #75)

This is really about as far as that ever gets X-Plained. (X-Force #75)

I really dig the weirdness of the art of the Colossal Man. (X-Force #75)

If you know, you know. (New Mutants vol. 4 #30)

This gimmick has been used a lot over the years… (X-Force #76)

…but it plays nicely here. (X-Force #76)

Noooooooooooooo! (X-Force #76)

A very fun fight (at least for the reader). (X-Force #76)

Two great tastes that go great together! (X-Force #76)

NEXT EPISODE: X-Factor spirals towards its inexorable lack of conclusion.

413 – Convergence (feat. Douglas Wolk)

June 4, 2023 Jay 12 comments

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In which X-Force goes to Burning Man Exploding Colossal Man; Douglas Wolk may or may not have superpowers; Karma gets girlfriends; we are already tired of Reignfire; Meltdown and Sunspot initiate a love triangle; and Jay is writing some more X-Men.

X-PLAINED:

Road trips
X-Force #75-76
New Mutants vol. 4 #30
A gatefold and a half
Burning Man
Exploding Colossal Man
Karma’s name
Echidna Faire
Text
Selene (more) (again)
Crowd scenes
Various character relationships
Callbacks
Mud
A magic box and a fancy stick
Eitri the Dwarf
A grand conjunction
A big, silly fight
Peak late ‘90s queer culture
Echidna Faire
Bowling
Etienne Rousseau
Updating Bastion’s facial hair
Wolverine’s mentees

NEXT EPISODE: The beginning of the end of X-Factor

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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 399 – The Cybertronic Spree

January 29, 2023 Miles One comment

Listen to the episode here.

Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line!

Not a cape or pouch in sight. (X-Force #71)

BLOOMF (X-Force #71)

Is the internet going to get mad about this one too? (X-Force #71)

grumble 5G grumble Bill Gates grumble (X-Force #71)

You can tell Sunspot descends from Hellfire Club royalty because he’s a DRAMA QUEEN (X-Force #71)

Sleepover! (X-Force #71)

Ah, this must be a sort of symbolic cover that represents the themes but not details of… (X-Force #72)

…nope, that’s basically what they’re wearing in the actual story. (X-Force #72)

Ever see The Triplets of Belleville? (X-Force #72)

How to make a simple conversation visually riveting, by Adam Pollina. (X-Force #72)

WHY WOULD YOU NAME YOUR GANG THAT (X-Force #72)

In which Siryn literally drags Michael Whitecloud back into the comic. (X-Force #72)

This guy smokes two packs of exposition a day. (X-Force #72)

“No, sir, The Matrix won’t be out for well over a year. Must just be Domino.” (X-Force #73)

Shoulda been a platypus. (X-Force #73)

Aww, Tabitha. (X-Force #73)

YOU HAD ONE JOB, METAL GAG THING (X-Force #73)

It sure is. (X-Force #74)

So good. (X-Force #74)

“It’s flattering you think I’m a local, but I just moved here last year! No, really!” (X-Force #74)

Fridays are Casual Days in Valhalla. (X-Force #74)

Hey, it’s Hazard! Just kidding. Only Al remembers Hazard. (X-Force #74)

A man of wealth and taste. (X-Force #74)

Humans, amirite? (X-Force #74)

It’s been a while since we’ve gotten a Pollina mandala! (X-Force #74)

Gambit goes on trial – in our FOUR HUNDREDTH episode!

399 – The Cybertronic Spree

January 29, 2023 Miles 8 comments

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In which the X-Force road trip era begins; Team X takes on a new dimension; Dani Moonstar gets her subtext back; pointing out a stereotype doesn’t excuse using it; Tabitha Smith generally deserves better; platypuses are underrepresented in the superhero genre; Hell becomes Stryfe; and Domino gets back in the game.

X-PLAINED

A dastardly plot
X-Men 2099
Road trips
X-Force #71-74
Team X
A Love & Rockets reference
Stan and Ollie
The Triplets of Belleville
How not to fund your film
Michael Whitecloud
Project Stepladder
Colossal Man
Several references to X-Force -1
Platypuses
Edwin Martynec
Weaponized humming
The death of Warpath
Hell
Blackheart
Friendship
A mysterious villain

NOTE: Whoa, The Cybertronic Spree is actually a real band!

NEXT WEEK: The return of Erik the Red!

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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 390 – Corners and Conspiracies

November 6, 2022 Jay One comment

Listen to the episode here.

Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line!

X-Force X-Plains Dani Moonstar. (X-Force #67)

Cable is probably the nice kind of babysitter who lets you stay up past your bedtime and watch scary movies. (X-Force #67)

Well, shit. (X-Force #67)

Fashion for the cutting-edge interdimensional explorer. (X-Force #68)

Domino over the years, maybe. (X-Force #68)

To our absolute shock, he survives. (X-Force #69)

Domino, transformed. See what we mean about the body language? (X-Force #69)

Please enjoy G.W. Bridge’s heart pajamas. (X-Force #69)

The lava lamp dimension. (X-Force #69)

Oh. THAT guy. (X-Force #69)

A familiar cover. (X-Force #70)

Man, fuck you, Ozymandias. (X-Force #70)

NEXT EPISODE: Nathans all over the place!

And here are some of the ridiculous creatures Jay met at the Sheep and Wool Festival:

390 – Corners and Conspiracies

October 30, 2022 Jay 16 comments

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In which Danielle Moonstar quiet quits; a bunch of people regular quit; we are pleasantly surprised by the survival of a minor character; tough guys wear hearts; and X-Force once again takes its place as the best comic of the line.

X-PLAINED:

Vanisher’s brain tumor, again
X-Force #67-70
The Wakeman Oncological Research Center
Commander Ekaterina Gryaznova
The Mutant Liberation Front
Wildside
Dragoness
Forearm
Tempo
Locus
Moonstar (Mirage) (Danielle Moonstar)
Quiet quitting (and why it’s a bullshit concept)
Locus’s skin
Prime Sentinels
Ozymandias (again)
Llamas
A journey to another dimension
Spencer Beaumont
G. W. Bridge’s pajamas
In-between dimensions
Yet another homage to Uncanny X-Men #138
Cerebra
Earth-2099 vs. Earth-928
Our favorite non-canon ships

NEXT EPISODE: Cable, home alone

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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 377 – Sam Hill

July 10, 2022 Miles Leave a comment

Listen to the episode here.

Milo is better at dominoes than Miles. (Domino #1)

Oh ay oh ay indeed! (Domino #1)

“Miss you? Dude, I barely remember who you are!” (Domino #1)

“And my boots are still full of ninja stars!” (Domino #1)

Is that… a Nike beret? Puck makes it work, though. (Domino #1)

Solid Snake she ain’t. (Domino #1)

Ah, the classic narrative conflict of (wo)man versus man(droid). (Domino #1)

Not exactly the red carpet Domino was hoping for. (Domino #1)

Domino gets strangled, part one. (Domino #2)

…did that explosion just say “Kablooey”? (Domino #2)

Man, that flashback must have been a long time ago. Look how much more hair she has! (Domino #2)

Between this place and the Witness’s cell in Bishop’s future… Are prisons just extra sexy in the Marvel Universe? (Domino #2)

“Ah, we do have fun.” (Domino #2)

Jay disapproves of robot tits. (Domino #2)

Domino gets strangled, part two. (Domino #2)

Domino gets strangled, part three. (Domino #3)

Pay no attention to the mysterious silhouette behind the curtain. (Domino #3)

Somehow, Milo Thurman’s studies of history never included learning just how very common faking one’s own death tends to be in X-books. (Domino #3)

I feel like Domino’s powers have a sense of humor. (Domino #3)

Domino may be an member of X-Force, but she learned how to enter rooms from X-Factor. (Domino #3)

I… but… what? (Domino #3)

Oof. (Domino #3)

PUCK WHY WOULD YOU DRESS LIKE THAT (Domino #3)

NEXT TIME: D’Spayre.

377 – Sam Hill

July 3, 2022 Jay 12 comments

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In which Domino’s miniseries earns a grade of “present”; Miles gets to know Sam Hill; Domino trades pouches for boots; and we would prefer that you not sexualize Lady Deathstrike.

X-PLAINED:

Halloween Jack
Domino (Neena Thurman)
Domino #1-3
Milo Thurman
The idiomatic Sam Hill
Lady Deathstrike (again)
The Reavers (again)
Pico
Boot pouches
Puck (Eugene Judd)
Dante’s Beatrice
Several Skullbusters
Robot tits
The E.T. Atari game
One way to get out of saying “I love you”
Our unpopular favorites

NEXT EPISODE: Giving in to D’Spayre!

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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!