Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men

Tag: Warpath

As Mentioned in Episode 444 – Damnit, Magnus

Leave a comment

Listen to the episode here.

Domino: wine mom, but also good mom. (X-Force #86)
WRONG FREEZER WRONG FREEZER (X-Force #86)
Theresa Rourke Cassidy, mistress of disguise. (X-Force #86)
Remember how Moonstar’s weird new powers are always accompanied by a cosmic blue glow? This issue doesn’t, and is thus… confusing. (X-Force #86)
Odysseus Indigo, the most dapper of antagonists. (X-Force #86)
Some exceptionally efficient visual storytelling by Jim Cheung. (X-Force #86)
Christmas in March! Well, March for us. December for Colossus. (Uncanny X-Men #365)
Hey, it’s that thing Miles used to draw in middle school! How’d that get there?! (Uncanny X-Men #365)
In which Colossus interrupts a very manly threesome. (Uncanny X-Men #365)
The X-Men X-Plain X-Mas. (Uncanny X-Men #365)
I mean, that’s Rusty Collins, right? (Uncanny X-Men #365)
“My favorite X-Men character? You probably haven’t heard of him.” (Uncanny X-Men #365)
Oof, my emotions… (Uncanny X-Men #365)
Aww. (Uncanny X-Men #365)
Now that is a cover. (X-Men #85)
In which the first page establishes that this story will be a Big Deal. (X-Men #85)
Sorry, Bill… today’s gonna be a rough one. (X-Men #85)
We missed Alan Davis. (X-Men #85)
Uh oh. (X-Men #85)
Heroes. (X-Men #85)
This issue uses juxtaposition perfectly. (X-Men #85)
Magneto gets the answer he wants… and then the answer he doesn’t. (X-Men #85)
NEXT TIME: The Magneto War begins.

LINKS & FURTHER FESTIVITIES

444 – Damnit, Magnus

5 comments

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | Email | RSS

In which it’s difficult to flee with soup; Miles may or may not be haunting the X-Men; Colossus collaborates involuntarily; Marrow is full of surprises; Magneto is a dick; Jay continues to carry a torch for Secret Wars: Siege; and you should totally come to our birthday party.

X-PLAINED:

  • Several rather pointed allusions
  • X-Force #86
  • Uncanny X-Men #365
  • X-Men #85
  • Almost Reno, NM
  • Where mutants come from
  • The Aguilar Institute (more) (again)
  • Abandoned towns
  • Mary the telepathic moppet (more) (again)
  • Odysseus Indigo
  • The Damocles Foundation
  • Sibling names
  • The Fundamental Attribution Error
  • A haunting
  • Christmas beer
  • Christmas ghost exquisite corpse
  • Bill Jones
  • A rescue mission
  • Essential stories of the ‘90s
  • Our weird favorites
  • Siege
  • Our upcoming 10th birthday party (more) (again)

NEXT EPISODE: Magneto War begins!

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

RSVP to our birthday shenanigans!

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!

As Mentioned in Episode 427 – Standard Deviation

Leave a comment

Listen to the episode here.

Why doesn’t Adam Pollina draw all the mythology? (X-Force #81)
Just another day for X-Force. (X-Force #81)
You could take away the word balloons and we’d still know so much about these characters just from their outfits and body language! (X-Force #81)
This panel doesn’t have much to do with continuity, but it sure is pretty. (X-Force #81)
Again: JUST ANOTHER DAY FOR X-FORCE (X-Force #81)
Siryn flirts. (X-Force #81)
“Your first clue should have been the rad halo-thing Adam Pollina drew behind me.” (X-Force #81)
We’ll miss you, Adam Pollina. Thanks for the memories. (X-Force #81)
Hi, Jesse Aaronson AKA Bedlam! Hi, Cait Sith! (X-Force #82)
I enjoy how “rebuilt from the brink of death” also translates to “wearing a super-cool set of insectoid armor.” (X-Force #82)
Pollina may be gone, but the action scenes are still pretty awesome. (X-Force #82)
Jesse, that is not how you give a massage. (X-Force #82)
“Sorry we’re late, it took us a while to adequately rip up our clothes.” (X-Force #82)
Yeah, okay – we love this guy. (X-Force #82)
Sam Guthrie X-Plains (his time on) the X-Men. (X-Force #83)
I think your guts may actually be tied up in abs, Sam. (X-Force #83)
Just enough of that yellow and purple left to still make them look like a team – and just enough folks without that uniform to make it clear how long it’s been since those days. (X-Force #83)
You may have thought we were being euphemistic when we said Jesse was sent off to live on a farm – but nope, actual farm. (X-Force #83)
Pig-riding blonde Lara Croft thinks these gentlemen make some excellent points. (X-Force #83)
This sentai team looks mean. (X-Force #84)
Loyalty, punching, and heroism. That’s our Sam. (X-Force #84)
It’s cool, Guthrie – not everyone can be photogenic. (X-Force #84)
Nobody ever gets to finish a conversation in the Marvel Universe. (X-Force #84)
Arcadia has the power to make people look really cool. (X-Force #84)
Jim Cheung does Jack Kirby. (X-Force #84)
NEXT EPISODE: The end of Excalibur!

427 – Standard Deviation

2 comments

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | Email | RSS

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!

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!

Buy rad swag at our TeePublic shop!

As Mentioned in Episode 418 – Reignfirefighters

Leave a comment

Listen to the podcast here.

Those youth and their hijinks! (X-Force #77)
This is the branch of S.H.I.E.L.D. that shows up to assure you that all you saw was a weather balloon. (X-Force #77)
I’m never gonna be able to see a superhero conversation on a swingset without thinking of the Justice League Unlimited episode “Epilogue.” (X-Force #77)
The return of the bunny slippers! (X-Force #78)
Aw, Skids. (X-Force #78)
Some very good pacing. (X-Force #78)
Reignfire X-Plains Reignfire, somewhat. (X-Force #79)
Well, shit. (X-Force #79)
Fun Fact: Psychic powers work better when they look cooler. (X-Force #80)
Oh, dear me. (X-Force #80)
Dr. Joshua X-Plains Reignfire. (X-Force #80)
The Elvis windows really make this scene. (X-Force #80)
One more Elvis, for good measure. (X-Force #80)
NEXT EPISODE: Generation X and the Seven Dwarves!

418 – Reignfirefighters

9 comments

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | Email | RSS

In which S.H.I.E.L.D. agents are scarier in suits; Reignfire is the new Erik the Red; “background assets” would be a very funny euphemism; it’s always either time travel or clones; and you should probably not get a corporate logo tattooed on the side of your head.

X-PLAINED:

  • Crimes of Dark Beast
  • X-Force #77-80
  • The Mutant Liberation Front
  • Reignfire (repeatedly)
  • Video Renaissance
  • Almost Reno, NM
  • The inversion of several common tropes
  • Small towns
  • Different kinds of mutants
  • X-Force Fun Facts
  • Skids (Sally Blevins)
  • Several continuity errors
  • Some kidnappings
  • Sexiness without prurience
  • Background assets
  • Dr. Joshua (again)
  • (Henry Wallinger)
  • Psychic shenanigans
  • Las Vegas
  • Word-balloon disambiguation
  • X-Force’s new HQ
  • Historical X-Men we’d like to see

NEXT EPISODE: Generation X and the Seven Dwarves

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!

Buy rad swag at our TeePublic shop!

 

As Mentioned in Episode 413 – Convergence

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)

12 comments

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | Email | RSS

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

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!

Buy rad swag at our TeePublic shop!

As Mentioned in Episode 406 – The Most Dangerous Mini-Game

Leave a comment

Listen to the episode here.

So, that’s where he got it! (Wolverine #-1)
I love this design for Sabretooth. (Wolverine #-1)
And also his car. (Wolverine #-1)
Literally nothing is okay at the Blanding/Masters house. (X-Factor #-1)
Mister Sinister lurks in the bushes. (X-Factor #-1)
They’re AT LEAST in their early 20s. (X-Factor #-1)
DAMN, Haley! (X-Factor #-1)
The most dangerous mini-game. (X-Factor #-1)
Alex Summers in a nutshell. (X-Factor #-1)
Wellp, you did that. (X-Force #-1)
I swear I thought this thing was gonna be a red herring. (X-Force #-1)
Everything cute about this issue is also really sad. (X-Force #-1)
How Thunderbird got his code name. (X-Force #-1)
Don’t worry, Tabby; soon you’ll be stealing with the best of ’em! (X-Force #-1)
The Circus of Cameos. (X-Force #-1)
In which John Produstar straight-up wrassles a tiger. (X-Force #-1)
“We also do a lot of crimes, but they’re pretty low-key as comic-book circus crimes go.” (X-Force #-1)
Ugh, this guy. (X-Force #-1)
Naked in Space: The Charles Francis Xavier Story. (X-Men #-1)
Magneto, a sensible fellow, wears clothes in the vacuum of space. (X-Men #-1)
IT NEVER STOPS BEING FUNNY (X-Men #-1)
DRAMATIC! JUXTAPOSITION! (X-Men #-1)
NEXT EPISODE: X-Factor hits rock-bottom, again.

LINKS & FURTHER READING

406 – The Most Dangerous Mini-Game

6 comments

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | Email | RSS

In which we disagree about the value of Stan Lee intros; everybody wants Wolverine; Mister Sinister lurks; Haley Blanding deserves better; Thunderbird fights a tiger; and Xavier and Magneto do their usual thing.

X-PLAINED:

  • The Circus of Crime
  • Stan Lee intros
  • Wolverine #-1
  • X-Factor #-1
  • X-Force #-1
  • X-Men #-1
  • Proust vs. Sartre
  • How Logan joined Alpha Flight
  • The secret origin of the word “canucklehead.”
  • USDA, Annex B
  • Myron MacLain
  • Logan’s cigars
  • Yet more continuity errors
  • Sabretooth’s ridiculous car
  • The balance of scary and silly
  • Wolverine’s cowboy hat
  • Summers family bullshit
  • The Blandings and/or Masterses
  • Vince
  • The Proudstar family
  • One or more cats named Coyote
  • The origin of Thunderbird’s totem
  • Edwin Martynec (again)
  • Chondu the Magician
  • Ringmaster
  • Yet more Xavier and Magneto flashback drama
  • The bottom of the resurrection queue
  • Good car-trip episodes

NEXT EPISODE: X-Factor continues to make poor decisions

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!

Buy rad swag at our TeePublic shop!