Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men

Tag: X-Men

3 – Cartoons, Lies, and Video Tape

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Featuring Emergency Backup Co-Host Chris Sims!

In which Rachel and Chris X-plain three cartoons and track a disagreement to its source; Gambit is definitely the worst person you know; Broadcasting Standards and Practices is tired of your death ceremonies; Storm doesn’t have an inside voice; and we finally get around to mentioning that one dude with the claws.

X-Plained:

  • Weaponized creepiness
  • The evolution (and Evolution) of X-Toons
  • Why you hate Cyclops (and Rachel doesn’t)
  • Adaptation overload
  • Broadcast standards, practices, and laser rifles
  • How to order pizza like a weather goddess
  • A paramilitary after-school club
  • G-Rated Wolverine
  • Comics based on cartoons based on comics
  • Morph
  • The Batman Standard
  • The Wolverine and the X-Men trifecta of perfection
  • Why the Mojoverse works better on TV
  • Dazzler’s secret second job
  • Basic jacketry

CORRECTION: In this episode, Rachel mentions that Morph’s first comics appearance is in Exiles. It’s not: he’s in Age of Apocalypse. Mea culpa.

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

Find us on iTunes or Stitcher!

Magneto’s Miraculous Mustache

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Friend of the X-Plainers and All-Around Excellent Fellow Tyler Crook has developed what is clearly the ideal solution to the Mystery of Magneto’s Missing Mustache:

MAGNETOstache

 

The whole thing is pretty splendid, but I think my favorite touch has to be the wee Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch in the corner. Marvel/Disney/Fox/whoever owns the relevant toy licensing rights, you need to make this wonder a reality.

 

2 – Sentinels in the Mist

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In which we introduce the villains of the Silver Age: Magneto makes some valid points, Mastermind is a Nice Guy of OkCupid, the Scarlet Witch predicts Cat Breading, the Trasks should really have known better, and the Comics Code Authority is down with pterosaurs.

X-Plained:

  • Common characteristics of enduring X-villains
  • Mutant identity politics and moral relativism
  • Context-agnostic Juggernaut flashbacks
  • An unorthodox approach to anthropology
  • Cyclops’s greatest diplomatic achievement
  • Silver-Age haberdashery
  • An innovative modification to vampire mythology
  • Cultural assimilation
  • The propaganda-and-sweater-vest machine
  • Hex bolts
  • Supplemental reading

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 In Episode 1 – The Strangest Podcast of Them All

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Listen to the podcast here!

Magneto, in X-Men #1, also speaks for our feelings about this podcast.
Professor X X-Plains the X-Men in X-Men #1
Every problem with Jean Grey’s characterization, summed up in one panel from X-Men #1
See this? This is why Cyclops is eventually gonna get the girl. (X-Men #1)
Play along at home: How many lies is Professor Xavier telling in these panels from X-Men #1?
One of the many miracles of magnetism portrayed in X-Men #1 is Magneto’s Incredible Mutating Hat.
Everything Magneto knows about supervillainy, he learned from the Wicked Witch of the West. (X-Men #1)
YAYBO! (X-Men #1)
Professor X knows how to decorate in X-Men #2.
Snow grenades, from X-Men #1.
At some point, we’re going to have a long conversation about the X-Men and the concept of the model minority. (X-Men #2)
Natural consequences, as explored in X-Men #2.
This actually happens in X-Men #3, because the Silver Age.
Two for the price of one: Cyclops angstily humblebragging, and the Ubiquitous Plaid Suit! (X-Men #3)

Recommended for new readers:

1 – The Strangest Podcast of Them All

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | RSS

In which we begin at the beginning: everything clicks with #3, Professor Xavier is a jerk, Magneto is a fearless fashionista, Cyclops gets a name, Jean Grey has a chronic case of the Silver Age, and allegorical diversity is not enough.

X-Plained:

  • Mutant genetics and taxonomy
  • Practical semantics of “X-Men”
  • Charles Xavier’s equally dubious ethics and decorating choices
  • Superhero couture of the Atomic Age
  • Why Cyclops can’t control his powers
  • The miracle of comic-book magnetism
  • A problematic analogy
  • X-books for beginners
  • Snow grenades
  • The word “yaybo”
  • The mystery of the ubiquitous plaid suit

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

Find us on iTunes or Stitcher!

Ming & Rachel Explain The ‘Rachel & Miles X-Plain the X-Men’ Pinup at Robot 6!

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howdoyouart

Over at CBR’s Robot 6 blog, Rachel and artist Ming Doyle talked to Tim O’Shea about the secret origins of our hella sexy promo pinup. We’ve summarized the process above, but you should click through for a more, including some very cool process pics from Ming (and a moment of serious Mushy Stuff from Rachel).

The first episode of Rachel and Miles X-Plain the X-Men, ”The Strangest Podcast of Them All,” debuts this weekend. We hope you’ll join us!