Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men

YOU’RE INVITED!

HOT DAMN, Y’ALL. Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men is turning ten entire years old on Saturday, April 13, and you’re all invited to our birthday party–and our first live show since pre-pandemic days! We’ll be starting the day with a live show–X-Plaining a story we once swore never to cover–at Portland’s historic Clinton Street Theater. Then we’ll break for lunch and reconvene that afternoon at comic-shop extraordinaire Books With Pictures for a 10th birthday blowout, complete with cake, party favors, and some really, really cool X-clusive merch (including the 10th anniversary print by Colleen Coover that you can see a sliver of above (and which you’ve seen in its entirety if you’re a patron–remember, keep it secret, keep it safe!))!

HERE ARE THE DETAILS:

THE SHOW:

  • WHAT: Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men LIVE
  • WHEN: Saturday, April 13, 10:00-11:45 AM
  • WHERE: Clinton Street Theater, 2522 SE Clinton St., Portland, OR
  • NOTE: MASKS WILL BE MANDATORY AT THE LIVE SHOW. We’ll have ’em at the door for anyone who doesn’t bring their own.
  • ADDITIONAL DETAILS: All-ages if you don’t mind your kids learning swears.

THE PARTY:

  • WHAT: Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men’s 10th Birthday Party
  • WHEN: Saturday, April 13, 2:00-5:00 PM
  • WHERE: Books With Pictures, 1401 Division St., Portland, OR
  • NOTE: This will be an outdoor event. Plan accordingly!
  • ADDITIONAL DETAILS: All-ages, costumes encouraged, birthday cake, birthday pie, party favors, X-clusive merch

RSVP FOR ONE OR BOTH EVENTS HERE! While you’ll probably still get in if you just show up, we’d really appreciate it if you’d RSVP–it helps us plan for the events and, in case of overflow, will make it more likely that you’ll get in.

AND HERE ARE THE ANSWERS TO SOME QUESTIONS THAT WE ANTICIPATE OR HAVE ALREADY FIELDED AT LEAST ONCE:

How much are tickets?

Free.

Wait, the party and the show are both free?

Yeah.

Can I still go if I don’t RSVP?

If there’s room, sure. But we need to figure out things like how many party favors to make and how many pies to bring, so we would really appreciate it if you RSVP.

Wait, there are party favors?

Oh, yes.

Like what?

It’s a surprise. (Unless you’re a patron, in which case you’ve already gotten a sneak peek at one of ’em.)

Will you have merch for sale?

At the party, yeah: We’ll have a handful of in-person-x-clusive merch, including Colleen Coover’s completely rad 10th Anniversary print!

I will not be there, but I want a print or other swag. How can I get it?

Connect with someone who’s going and arrange for them to pick it up and send it to you. We recommend using the Discord, but you can also @ us on Bluesky and we’ll boost your signal!

Do I have to wear a mask?

To the show, yes. To the party, no.

How come?

Because accessibility.

I don’t want to.

Suck it up, buttercup.

Can I bring my kids?

If you’re okay with the possibility that they’ll hear some swears, sure!

Can I bring my horse?

We would strongly prefer that you not.

Can I wear a costume?

We encourage you to do so.

What if it’s not an X-Men costume?

You do you, buddy.

Are the X-Men really confusing enough to merit a full decade of X-planatory podcasts?

Apparently.

443 – X-Retail (feat. Katie Pryde of Books With Pictures)

In which we walk down X-Plain Memory Lane; everyone needs Bitch Planet; HoX/PoX wouldn’t stay on shelves; we learn how to make sure a comic doesn’t get canceled; Marvel should have kept publishing those Krakoa-era anthology TPBs; X-Men is indeed a soap opera; and you can jump in here ’cause we’re all confused.

X-PLAINED:

  • The most crowded X-year
  • Books With Pictures, official best comics shop in the world
  • Our upcoming 10th birthday party
  • Katie Pryde’s X-history
  • Prioritizing marginalized nerd identities
  • Lapsed X-readers
  • X-sprawl
  • The Dawn of X books that worked (and the one that didn’t)
  • The frustration of discontinued collection formats
  • The perfect number of X-books (again)
  • Drama and kissing
  • What we want after Fall of X
  • Readers’ single issue vs collection preferences
  • The power of the preorder
  • Katie’s (naming) origin story
  • Readers versus speculators
  • How to organize a comic book store
  • Non-X recommendations for X-fans
  • The glory of Judge Dredd
  • X-Men who can be trusted to watch a comic book store

NEXT EPISODE: Deviants, Christmas ghosts, and Magneto!


LINKS AND FURTHER READING:


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 442 – MimeQuest 64

Listen to the episode here.



LINKS AND FURTHER READING:

442 – MimeQuest 64

In which Marrow remains a connoisseur of dead rats; Jay has opinions about the NYC Subway system; U.L.T.I.M.A.T.U.M. are snazzy dressers; Doctor Doom gets excited about Onslaught; Magneto can have a rocket pack if he wants; villainous game recognizes villainous game; weird retcons are the best retcons; and you should totally come to our birthday party.

X-PLAINED:

  • A peculiar side effect of Wolverine’s healing factor
  • Jay & Miles on Bluesky (and other social media)
  • Our upcoming 10th birthday party and live show (and related announcements)
  • X-Men Unlimited #22
  • X-Men/Doctor Doom Annual 1998
  • An unpleasant way to wake up
  • That’s so Kraven
  • Avengers and transit cops
  • U.L.T.I.M.A.T.U.M.
  • Flag Smasher
  • Some miscellaneous New York Subway trivia
  • Audience stand-ins (and how the reading experience changes when the audience stand-in isn’t human-passing)
  • Additional New York Subway trivia
  • Premonitions of Onslaught
  • An X-Men highlight reel
  • A delightful little retcon
  • One way to ruin X-Men #137
  • Healing factor preferences

NEXT EPISODE: Miles and Katie Pryde X-Plain Comics Retail!


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 441 – Dracu-tastic

Listen to the episode here.



LINKS AND FURTHER READING

  • We talked about Dracula here and here!
  • Wet Leg probably met Dracula too.

441 – Dracu-tastic

In which Banshee should eat the rich; the real Monet is way more of a jerk than the fake one; the Marvel Universe is the world inside your brain-case; Maggott joins and quits Generation X at almost the speed of Sunfire; Dracula gives Chamber the D; and if Jay and Miles die in this episode, they die in real life.

X-PLAINED:

  • Dracula as a universal standard
  • Earth-441
  • Generation X #48-49
  • The missed potential of 13,000-year-old teenager Gaia
  • The Jay Faerber run of Generation X
  • Emma and Banshee’s forgotten X-friendship
  • That time that Moira ripped off Banshee’s skin and wore it like a Halloween costume (again)
  • Cordelia Frost, Emma’s younger sister
  • Adrienne Frost, Emma’s older sister
  • Interpersonal arguments by way of Asgardian combat scenarios
  • Jubilee, fox; versus M, scorpion
  • Alaska, moping capital of the Marvel Universe
  • Clever scene transitions
  • Constantine Francis Slaughter IV and his mustache
  • Puberty as body horror
  • Husk’s breakup haircut
  • Slug emulation
  • Generation X / Dracula Annual 1998
  • The Council of Cross-Time Draculas
  • Chamber’s goofy face
  • Vampire fonts
  • Jubilee’s bunny slippers
  • Charlie Brown in Snow Valley
  • Count von Count (again)
  • Monsters as class metaphor
  • What would happen if Synch synced with Legion
  • Who would pronounce Cable like Britta Perry pronounces bagel

NEXT EPISODE: Victor Von Doom X-Plains the X-Men.


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

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 440 – Fightin’ and Ballin’

Listen to the episode here.



Links and further reading:

440 – Fightin’ and Ballin’

From organic steel to organic… whatever that is. (X-Men #83)

In which the Hunt for Xavier remains vaguely disappointing; Gambit is good with kids; nanomachines are the new unstable molecules; Marrow is a walking armory; and we recommend comics for babies.

X-PLAINED:

  • The Hunt for Xavier, Part 2
  • Babies and/or ghosts
  • Chekhov’s repowering
  • X-Men #83-84
  • Uncanny X-Men #364
  • Cerebro / Cerebro Prime
  • Cerebrite Alpha
  • Cerebrite Beta
  • X-Men serial numbers
  • What Gambit’s friends call him
  • How Miles stopped worrying and learned to love Gambit
  • Evil robot sperm
  • Mary Purcell
  • Multiple-monitor displays
  • A computer with a computer
  • AI
  • The Florida facility
  • Post
  • Pile-Driver X
  • A glimpse into the butt of all humanity
  • Comics for babies
  • Name-based powers

NEXT EPISODE: Generation X has Dracula problems!


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

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 439 – Fishfic

Listen to the episode here.



439 – Fishfic

In which we reach the beginning of an end; Jay totally forgot Gambit was there; we’re all living in the Mary Purcelliverse; the X-Men split the party; and we explore The Bay Area’s Bohemian Hotbed of Student Anarchy.

X-PLAINED:

  • Mary Purcell (sort of)
  • The re-defaulting of the X-Men
  • Uncanny X-Men #362-323
  • X-Men #82
  • Nebraska
  • Pyro (Saint John Allerdyce) and his endless illness
  • Legacy Virus variations
  • Going home again
  • Running back and forth in quarries
  • Marrow, who’s come a long way
  • The two forms of fire: skeleton monsters and sexy ladies
  • Cerebro (the evil one)
  • San Francisco and Tajikinistan
  • Asphalt ball pits
  • A topsy-turvy nonsensical impossible hell
  • Nina the Mannite
  • Desire, love, loss, and fear
  • Skulls and spines
  • The New (New) Brotherhood of Mutants
  • Cerebrites Alpha and Beta
  • A lost, smelly fish
  • Ambiguous art
  • Blood, sweat, and fears
  • Which mutants would cause the most chaos at holiday gatherings
  • Hopes for post-Fall society

NEXT EPISODE: 2 Hunt 2 Xavier


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

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!