…is gonna be a bit late because of a file issue. We had hoped to have it up by late Sunday night, but at this point it’s looking like it’ll be Monday late morning or early afternoon.
Sorry for the delay, and thanks for your patience!
-Jay
Category: news
Minicomic Madness at RCCC
WHOA DANG ROSE CITY COMIC CON WAS SO GOOD! We met a zillion of you, and you were universally delightful! We did a ton of panels and threw a ridiculous party! And we shared a booth with the splendid Al Ewing, and he and Jay took advantage of the weird plethora of index cards we always bring to shows and spent their spare moments making minicomics, which we’ve collected here for your edutainment!
Click through for road safety, karaoke, vacuum friendship, and more!
Choose Our Adventure – Evolution Edition!
On September 4, we’ll be sitting down to record our 2016 Giant-Size Summer Special and second-ever tabletop episode.
In 2015, game writer and designer and friend of the podcast Logan Bonner has modified the amazing old Marvel Super Hero Adventures game to be played as it was never intended: in the spirit of the 90s animated series! This year, he’s joining us again–this time with an adventure set in the world of X-Men: Evolution!
In addition to Logan, we’ll be joined at the gaming table by two guests: returning X-Pert Max Carleton of Waiting for the Trade and I Love Television; and writer, developer, and all-around badass Crystal Frasier!
But first, we’ve got a job for you…
Welcome, Earbud.FM Friends!
(There’s a “hope you survive the experience” joke in here somewhere…)
Whoadang! We’re currently the featured podcast over at NPR’s earbud.fm!
If you’re new to Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men: It’s exactly what it says on the tin. We are Jay and Miles. (For folks coming in from the start: Rachel goes by Jay these days. Same person.) We explain the X-Men, in very roughly chronological order, sometimes with the help of folks responsible for them.
For a good general introduction to who we are and what we do, we’d recommend listening to the episode Giant-Size Special #1, which covers a stand-alone story (the graphic novel God Loves, Man Kills), along with a lot of bonus material (and significantly more navelgazing than usual).
We also do weekly video reviews of current X-books, which you can find here.
Jay and Miles X-Plain the X-Men is 100% listener supported and ad-free. If you want to join the ranks of the rad people who make it possible for us to keep making stuff, you can do that over at Patreon!
Other varyingly relevant links:
Welcome to Imzy, J&MXtX-M! Hope You Survive the… You Know.
Jay here, with a brief break from our regularly-scheduled programming! Along with a handful of other podcasts and communities, we’re part of a very small closed beta for a new community-oriented social platform, Imzy; and we’re very pleased to finally be able to invite you to join us!
If you’ve been around long, you may have noticed that we keep a pretty tight lock on the social media we use. We don’t have a Facebook page. We use Tumblr very casually, and largely to boost and crosspost material from our website. Our YouTube comments are permanently disabled; and we do everything we can to direct discussion to the comments here.
There’s a reason for that: it’s incredibly important to us to have our community spaces be fun, civil, and safe; and for those qualities to be supported at an infrastructural level. The community that has come together–largely independently–around this podcast is freaking amazing. You are some of the most engaged, enthusiastic, and all-around nice people we’ve ever met, on or off the Internet. And we want to keep it that way.
Which is part of why we’re excited about Imzy. It’s explicitly oriented around communities–think the rough structure reddit with actual oversight, infrastructure, and active anti-harassment tools. If it works the way we’re hoping it will, it’ll mean a community that you can post directly to–not just comment on our stuff–and a lot of new ways to engage.
Not only is this so far shaping up to be a pretty cool platform, but you also get a totally sweet bribe for joining us there, because Imzy commissioned an X-clusive giveaway t-shirt from the always-amazing Dylan Todd:
Here’s how it works: Click over here, and enter your info; and we’ll get back to you with an official beta invite ASAP! We’ll also have physical cards with invite codes with us at ECCC.
As I wrote above, we’re pretty excited about this community, but mostly? We’re really looking forward to seeing you there. <3
Counting to 100
Dear Everybody,
On April 13, 2014, we posted the first episode of this ridiculous little podcast: two nerds, at a table, explaining the convoluted continuity of one of our favorite comics.
Almost two years later, it’s like looking back from a different universe. Our weird hobby has become a part-time job. We’ve interviewed some of our favorite creators; traveled across the country; thrown parties and panels; shown up in an actual X-Men comic; been part of an enormous crossover; and explained a quarter of a century of comics continuity. We’ve gone from an audience of friends and family to around 15,000 regular listeners–who, together, have become one of the coolest and tightest-knit communities we’ve had the privilege to be part of.
And you’ve been with us through a lot. In addition to all the stuff above, you turned out for two (soon to be three!) live episodes. You’ve been there through our tenth wedding anniversary; a gender transition and name change; and–as of this week–100 episodes of Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men.
Thanks are in order:
To you, listeners, for sticking with us through 100 episodes of time travel, crossovers, and clones.
To our Patreon subscribers, who let us keep doing what we do ad-free and answerable only to our listeners.
To Kyle Yount, our current producer, who makes us sound way better on the air than we do in the studio.
To Bobby Roberts, our first producer and podcasting mentor, who set one hell of a high bar, and without whom it’s fair to say that none of this would exist in the first place.
To our illustrator and friend David Wynne, who’s bridged what we do back from the audio to the visual.
To AdminstratriX Tina, mistress of the spreadsheets and question files.
To the creators, guest X-Perts, and co-hosts who’ve brought their voices and ideas to our show: Elisabeth Allie, Kris Anka, Marguerite Bennett, Chad Bowers, Elle Collins, Russell Dauterman, Kieron Gillen, Dennis Hopeless, Graeme McMillan, Peter V. Nguyen, Annie Nocenti, Paul O’Brien, Jeff Parker, Greg Rucka, Kieran Shiach, Chris Sims, Si Spurrier, G. Willow Wilson–and last, but far from least, today’s guest: Chris Claremont.
To our off-air partners in crime, Katie Moody and Anna Sheffey, who are just the absolute damn best.
And to the many, many other friends and collaborators who’ve helped make Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men what it is.
Here’s to the next 100.
Love,
Jay Rachel Edidin & Miles Stokes
IT LIVES!
We woke up this morning to this amazingness in our Twitter stream:
This is not a photo of us. This is a photo of listeners @StudentofWhim and @Biscainer, who decided to celebrate the new title and URL by cosplaying as the versions of us from our cover art, which is unquestionably the most awesomely Borgesian thing that has ever happened to us in nearly two years of X-Plaining the X-Men.
Speaking of the new stuff, if you’re reading this, it means that we are now at our fancy new URL, xplainthexmen.com! (We almost went with JayandMiles.com, but someone pointed out that we’d have to change it again in a dozen or so years when the Littlest X-Perts come of age and take over, so that just redirects here.) In theory, all of the old links will keep working, but here’s a quick-reference list of where to find what:
- MAIN WEBSITE & BLOG: xplainthexmen.com
- TWITTER: twitter.com/xplainthexmen
- TUMBLR: xplainthexmen.tumblr.com
- E-MAIL: xplainthexmen (at) gmail.com
- P.O. BOX, CONTACT FORM, &C: xplainthexmen.com/contact/
iTunes should be showing the correct title now or within the next few days; and your feeds should update automatically.
We’re still working on getting Patreon and Redbubble updated; we’ll let you know as soon as those are moved over (for now, they’re right where they’ve always been).
Obviously, this is a big shift, and it’s involved a lot of coordination, so please pardon any hiccoughs in the days ahead; and let us know if anything’s running wrong, or if you notice the wrong name anywhere!
The Lila Cheney music video will steal your heart
Dazzler’s great and all, but if you know us, you know our hearts belong to a different X-Universe rock star: Joan Jett lookalike and intergalactic super-thief Lila Cheney. So, when director Arvin Bautista–part of the team behind that amazing Dazzler video that dropped last year–dropped a line to let us know that their next project was going to feature Lila, we were pretty excited.
The video–“I Will Steal Your Heart,” embedded above, finally dropped today. And y’all.
Y’all.
I know you have jobs, and classes. I know you have responsibilities, and commutes. But please, whatever you’re doing, put it aside. Close your office door. Get a hall pass. Pull over. (Seriously, though, why are you reading blogs while driving? Don’t do that.) And then watch this video, because it is amazing.
There are New Mutants! Stevie freakin’ Hunter! Intergalactic heists! In-over-his-head Cannonball! Really, really catchy music! (Also some possibly recognizable t-shirts, and maybe some of your faces, if you were among the folks who responded to the casting call back in November!) And we’d be remiss not to mention Sage Montclair’s absolutely splendid performance as a super kickass Lila Cheney.
You can find more on both the Lila and Dazzler videos, as well as info about the folks behind ’em, production stills, &c. over at http://www.superheropop.com/
Get Ready for the Final Episode of the Secret Convergence on Infinite Podcasts!
Jay here! I can’t believe we’re going to be wrapping up the Secret Convergence on Infinite Podcasts this coming weekend! The crossover has been such a constant for the last many months, and seeing it take life over the course of November has been amazing.
Our episode will be up on Sunday, November 29. Meanwhile, we’ve put together a field guide to the Convergence so far–and what to listen to if you fall in love with any of the podcasts involved!
EPISODE ONE: Who Would Win in a Fight
- Podcast: FanBros
- In This Episode: DJ BenHaMeen, Chico Leo, Jay Rachel Edidin, Graeme McMillan, Chris Sims
- Want to Hear More FanBros? Start Here: The Axel Alonso (Marvel Comics Editor In Chief) Episode
EPISODE TWO: Comic-Book Movies
- Podcast: Into It with Elle Collins
- In This Episode: Elle Collins, Jay Rachel Edidin, Matt D. Wilson, Kieran Shiach
- Want to Hear More Into It? Start Here: Into It 19: Jack Kirby with Graeme McMillan
EPISODE THREE: Are Things Better or Worse?
- Podcast: SILENCE!
- In This Episode: Gary Lactus, Kieran Shiach, Chico Leo, Al Kennedy
- Want to Hear More SILENCE? Start Here: SILENCE! 122
EPISODE FOUR: Comics We Share
- Podcast: Less Than Live with Kate or Die
- In This Episode: Kate Leth, Elle Collins, Al Kennedy, Graeme McMillan
- Want to Hear More Less Than Live? Start Here: LESS THAN LIVE with KATE OR DIE 014 – Brimping Together
EPISODE FIVE: D-List Good Eggs & Bad Eggs
- Podcast: Journey Into Misery
- In This Episode: Kieran Shiach, The Beast Must Die, Jay Rachel Edidin, Graeme McMillan
- Want to Hear More Journey Into Misery? Start Here: EPISODE 29: BLUE BEETLE & BOOSTER GOLD
EPISODE SIX: The Worm Turns: Characters, Creators and Books that We Used to Hate but Now Love (or Vice-Versa)
- Podcast: Wait, What?
- In This Episode: Jeff Lester, Gary Lactus, Chico Leo, Paul O’Brien
- Want to Hear More Wait, What? Start Here: Baxter Building Ep. 1: “What In Blazes Does It Mean?”
EPISODE SEVEN: Guilty Pleasures
- Podcast: House to Astonish
- In This Episode: Al Kennedy, Elle Collins, Helena Hart, Jeff Lester
- Want to Hear More House to Astonish? Start Here: House To Astonish Episode 138 – Captain Tarzan
EPISODE EIGHT: Characters With Whom We Identify
- Podcast: War Rocket Ajax
- In This Episode: Matt D. Wilson, Chris Sims, DJ BenHaMeen, Elle Collins
- Want to Hear More War Rocket Ajax? Start Here: EPISODE 187 – THE 2013 YULETIDE SOLSTICE PODMASS PODCAST PODBASH BLAST BASH CAST JAX F/MATT FRACTION AND MAGGIE SEROTA
EPISODE NINE: Coming soon on Rachel & Miles X-Plain the X-Men!
SECRET CONVERGENCE ON INFINITE PODCASTS – Part 1 – Who Would Win in a Fight?
IT LIVES! Head over to FanBrosShow to listen to Part 1 of the Secret Convergence on Infinite Podcasts, where the Beyonder makes his podcast debut; and DJ BenHaMeen, Chico Leo, J. Rachel Edidin, Graeme McMillan, and Chris Sims discuss THE fundamental question of fandom: WHO WOULD WIN IN A FIGHT?
(Unfamiliar with the Secret Convergence on Infinite Podcasts? Get the full scoop over here!)
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