Tag: ororo munroe
260 – Professor Power’s Prodigal Podcast
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In which we explore the aftermath of Multiple Man’s death; X-Factor has a lot of feelings; it probably sucks to grieve with Charles Xavier; neither power nor responsibility is particularly fun; we finally find out who was trying to kill Polaris; Professor Power makes it to the big leagues; and the ‘90s were one long leg day.
X-PLAINED:
- Vectors of Malice transmission
- X-Factor #101-102
- X-Factor Annual #9
- The aftermath of Jamie Madrox’s death
- Several ways to grieve
- Captain Capitalism and Plucky the Girl Wonder
- A foiled robbery
- Several guest stars
- Multiple Man’s Muir Island years
- Several assassination attempts
- Some shady government shenanigans
- Beatrice Conners (sort of)
- A surprisingly muscular astral projection
- Haven’s deeply dubious origin story
- Professor Power
- A surprisingly muscular android
- One way to clean a room
- Creative uses of mutant powers
- Top-ten lists
NEXT EPISODE: Live at FlameCon with Vita Ayala!
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As Mentioned in Episode 251 – Triple Word Score
Listen to the podcast here.
Here’s Ben Martin on the Legacy Virus as an AIDS allegory:
I wanted to get a deeper take on the Legacy Virus as an analogy for AIDS. As you’ve mentioned more than once on the pod, it’s clear that’s what the writers had in mind, but I feel it misses the mark in a couple of important ways over the life of the story element.
My first issue with the analogy is that the big stigma about AIDS in the early days was that it only affected gay men, when in fact that was not the case. I was born with a genetic blood disorder called hemophilia, and many of the kids and staff from the hemophilia summer camp I attended as a teenager in the 1990s contracted HIV from contaminated blood products used for treatment. While I was fortunate to avoid the contaminated products, many I grew up with did not, as half of all people with hemophilia in the U.S., including 90% of those with severe hemophilia, contracted HIV. You may remember Ryan White, who did a lot of public outreach about HIV and AIDS after contracting it through treatment for his hemophilia. With the exception of Moira MacTaggart, the Legacy Virus only targeted mutants, meaning it missed the mark on the way AIDS was incorrectly and maliciously used as a propaganda weapon against homosexuals, when in fact it was something that could affect anyone who contracted it. Leaving out that aspect is a disservice to the wide range of people affected by HIV and AIDS in my view. I would have loved to see a human villain use the Legacy Virus to stir up hatred, only to find out they contracted it themselves. Maybe that’s what they tried to do with Moira, but I recall either Beast or Xavier saying it’s likely she only contracted it through prolonged exposure to it while studying it.
My second issue is that, through the magic of comic book science, the Legacy Virus was altogether wiped out (with the exception of a few samples in test tubes that popped up in an X-Force run as far as I know). My friends who are still living with HIV and AIDS today do so with a decreased quality of life and tons of medication. They are, fortunately, alive, but their lives are not what they were before. That’s a smaller nitpick, but I personally think it would have been really interesting to see characters contract the virus, receive the cure, but still be living with some consequences of the disease in some way, whether it be a change to their mutant powers or just poor health in general or something like that.
On a side note, if you can find it, there’s a fantastic 2010 documentary called “Bad Blood: A Cautionary Tale” currently available on Amazon Prime that explores the impact of HIV on the hemophilia community. It’s very powerful and is an important story.
LINKS & FURTHER THEORIES
- You can hear about Infectia in happier times on Episode 92 – Living in Ship.
- Jay recently discussed the backup story from Classic X-Men #43 (along with some other Phoenix-related comics) on fellow X-cast Battle of the Atom!
251 – Triple Word Score
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In which Jay proposes a new way of comparing superheroes; Beast faces an ethical dilemma; Mister Sinister has an Xavier moment; Sabretooth is a terrible houseguest; Cyclops totally gets what you see in Wolverine; Psylocke would absolutely be into hunting humans for sport; Sage probably vapes; rich people are definitely not like us; Shinobi Shaw is his own best friend; and Classic X-Men backup stories are canonical as hell.
X-PLAINED:
- Blue Team vs. Gold Team
- X-Men #27-29
- Threnody
- The fate of Infectia
- One of Mister Sinister’s favorite aliases
- Dr. Gordon Lefferts
- Several complicated choices
- A very frustrating cover
- A secret meeting
- The dubious evolution of Charles Xavier
- Communication
- An invitation
- A sick burn
- Rich people
- The key to happiness
- The theoretical adventures of Honey Badger and Princess Powerful
NEXT EPISODE: Val Cooper joins a cult!
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As Mentioned in Episode 235 – Fatal Extractions
235 – Fatal Extractions (Fatal Attractions, Part 2)
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In which Magneto may or may not own a Namor body pillow; Cyclops probably doesn’t color-code his files; Colossus is Not Okay; bats are nature’s flashers; there are a lot of reasons to be mad at Fatal Attractions; Charles Xavier is surprisingly durable; the X-Men know their Aeschylus; Jean Grey goes in through the face; and bringing Wolverine to fight the guy who controls metal was probably not a great idea.
X-PLAINED:
- Mutant Alpha
- Uncanny X-Men #304
- X-Men #25
- False foreshadowing
- Costume storage and display
- Relative moral event horizons
- The character dehabilitation of Magneto
- The Magneto Protocols
- How Cyclops organizes his files
- An excellent eulogy
- The complicated legacy of Illyana Rasputin
- Several noteworthy absences
- A memorable funeral
- The ‘behold’ thing
- A protective mesh of electromagnetic fire
- A well-played callback
- A strategically dubious plan
- Several Prometheus Bound quotations
- An uncharitable assumption
- The blood-brain barrier
- A severe costume injury
- The definitive scene of Fatal Attractions
- The root of Onslaught
- Which X-Men would podcast
- Our preferred comics formats
NEXT EPISODE: Colossus still can’t catch a break
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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 233 – Electromagnetism Unlimited
233 – Electromagnetism Unlimited
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In which X-Men Unlimited begins; Cyclops’s powers remain wildly inconsistent; electromagnetic fields are the gamma rays of the early ‘90s; Siena Blaze should probably take some science courses; Magneto is a complex dude; and the Marvel Universe could really use adequate mental healthcare.
X-PLAINED:
- Tradeoffs
- X-Men Unlimited
- Several other Unlimited series
- The Gregorian calendar
- Chris Bachalo
- Storm’s-eye view
- Electromagnetic fields
- Diverse approaches to problem-solving
- One of Cyclops’s many issues
- An unfortunate encounter with Magneto
- A memorial
- Magneto, his origins, and his many pseudonyms
- The Victor Von Doom paradox
- A terrible plan
- Physical mannerisms in comics
- An unfortunate encounter with Magneto, revisited
- Mental healthcare in the Marvel Universe
- What happened to the Soul Sword
NEXT EPISODE: FATAL ATTRACTIONS
Special thanks to consulting X-Pert @beccastareyes!
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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!
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.)
As Mentioned in Episode 231 – Life Bites
Listen to the episode here.
LINKS & OTHER AMENITIES:
You can make your own Sienna Blaze lipstick!
While it’s setting, why not read more about the 1993 Marvel annuals and Evan Skolnick’s D&D campaign!
Or you could watch The Gamers and develop a deeper understanding of Jay’s joke about Captain Britain at the gaming table.
And there’s always Episode 21 – Kurt Busiek at the Coffee-a-Go-Go, where we delve deep into the wonders of Metoxo the Lava Man!
231 – Life Bites
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In which DC is out of our bailiwick; Random gets around; someone finally makes an explicit reference to disability politics; death has not improved the Chalkers; Strong Guy can’t catch a break; we’re all whole other people; Sienna Blaze has a crayon name; we totally want to play D&D with Evan Skolnick; a trading card does not a memorable character make; and we are 100% here for the mutant episode of Sesame Street.
- X-PLAINED:
- What happened to Fred Duncan
- Beastwriting
- Marvel’s 1993 Annuals
- The speculator boom
- X-Factor Annual #8
- Uncanny X-Men Annual #17
- Excalibur Annual #1
- Charlie Ronalds (Charon) and his issues
- A protracted Batman reference
- How to string pearls
- A dubious twist on the danger room
- The pure joy of a child, but twisted and distorted like a shredded butterfly
- Cloot (Satannish)
- Howling Mad, by Peter David
- The greatest enemies of X-Factor (but not really)
- Cruel and arbitrary moralizing
- The other X-Cutioner (Carl Denti)
- A protracted illusion
- The Amazing Icemaster
- Metacommentary
- An accidental trap
- The death of Jason Wyngarde (Mastermind)
- Resolution versus forgiveness
- The other first appearance of Sienna Blaze
- More wizard stuff
- Khaos
- Khaos & Gritty 4 Lyfe
- Ghath
- Irth
- Mutants on Sesame Street
- Cycling in and out of comics
NEXT EPISODE: Excalibur goes to space!
CORRECTION: Chris Claremont did not in fact write Dragonlance comics.
Check out 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.)