Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men

Rachel and Miles Review the X-Men – Episode 4

Week of 8/27/2014

In which we engage in reckless substitution, and apparently the blinds make more difference to the lighting than we expected.

Reviewed:

  • All-New X-Men #31
  • Uncanny Avengers #23
  • Cyclops #4
  • Wolverine and the X-Men #8*
  • Wolverine #12 Ms. Marvel #7

*Pick of the week

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16 comments

  1. Uncanny Avengers is one of a very few books I’m pulling. It’s the only “dark and gritty” type book I’m reading. It’s pretty fun, and the art is WONDERFUL for a book of that type. Rachel, you mentioned in an earlier podcast that you dropped it when Red Skull was the villain… which was the first arc. Between then and now, there were some pretty enjoyable things that happened. Then again, though, Havok and Sunfire are both top-5 X-characters for me, so I’m a bit of a sucker for it. I don’t LOVE it, but I like it a lot. If you like Remender, I can’t see how you wouldn’t like the whole thing if you can just get past that initial 4-issue story. It’s “event-level” stakes without actually being an event.

    Also, thanks to you guys, I decided to go pick up some cheap ($0.50 a piece), back-issue, covers missing Claremont stuff this week. A bunch of stuff from the 180s through 209 – roughly every other issue. I’m going to read along when you get to the issues I bought. In my little bundle was also the “original” ending to the Dark Phoenix Saga. The story in 137 is DEFINITELY better. But the interview in the back with John Byrne, Chris Claremont, Louise Simonson, Jim Shooter, and Tom Palmer (colorist) is FASCINATING. They’re outright hostile to one another at a couple of points, and it’s amazing. I can’t even remotely imagine Marvel publishing an unedited interview like that right in one of their books. It’s good times.

    Additionally, Comixology had the entire Morrison X-Run on sale for $0.99 a piece. I read it. Can’t wait to (someday, like 10 years from now probably) get to your review of it. I know Rachel has… feelings… about the Morrison run.

    Finally, I’m disappointed in the sunglasses… but only because I’m dying for a review in which you bust out the Cyclops visor! The still photo was not enough! I NEED MORE CYCLOPS VISOR IN MY LIFE!!!

    1. Also, this is relatively unrelated, but reading a teensy bit of the Paul Smith era, I noticed that Kitty looks noticeably older. I recall reading a theory way-back-when that said that, in the early ’80s, Claremont was experimenting with “linear” time in comic book storytelling – that is to say, when a year goes by in real time, it does in comics time, as well. Obviously this wouldn’t have been true line-wide, but it COULD explain why a)Claremont would come to rotate the cast so much and b)why the characters are allowed so much growth. It also might explain the Kitty/Peter thing being MILDLY less creepy.

      As evidence, I point to a panel in (I think it was 179), where Kitty’s supposed to marry Caliban. Her “dead” body is found in the morgue, and Storm describes her as “not yet fifteen.” That makes her at least a year older than she was at her debut, I suppose it’d been about 3 years since he debut, but she WAS aging somewhat. Just thought I’d throw that out there.

      1. Kitty’s age went up and down for YEARS. Claremont definitely intended to age her at more than one point. Really, until 1967, Marvel was moving in real time: Spidey and the Human Torch graduated high school and went to college, Reed and Sue married and had a baby and so on. Then time slowed down and then became totally rubber.

        Fun Fact: Reed Richards, Ben Grimm and Nick Fury: WWII vets. Professor X & the Juggernaut, Korean War vets. Punisher and Iron Man; involved in Vietnam.

  2. Wow, Wolverine and the X-men was your favorite over Cyclops #4? Guess I better run out and pick that up, then.

    Right now I’m considering picking up some of the All New X-men trades. It strikes me as the fun kind of Bendis stuff more in the vein of his Ultimate Spiderman stuff. Also, it crosses over with Guardians of the Galaxy, which is a plus to me.

    1. I very much enjoy All-New X-Men. The only downside to picking up the whole series in trades would be that it also crosses over with Uncanny a lot. Although Uncanny is totally worth reading as well.

  3. I’ve been shipping Storm/Wolverine since X-Men the Animated Series! I guess I can catch up with that series later and jump now….
    (Love Rachel’s style btw)

    1. Storm/Wolvie all the way. They seem so much closer to equals than anyone else Wolvie gets paired with. She’s a mature adult without daddy issues. He can be buddies with her and not put her on a pedestal. Its great.

  4. Great reviews guys thanks for mentioning ms. marvel. I work at a comic shop and im always mentioning that book to my customers. And Rachel I love your sunglasses

  5. Thanks as always for the reviews. I loved the X-Men swag in this episode – the Cyclops sunglasses (how do you get an image in the lenses like that?), the Cyclops in the visor, and the Magneto shirt. I had to Google that one – I played the old X-Men game a lot, and couldn’t remember the Welcome to Die! phrase. This led to a rabbit hole of youtube clips including watching a complete playthrough on one life by a guy playing as Colossus. And the rabbit hole led to this magnificent Magneto clip from the Fantastic Four animated series from 1978. Words cannot do it justice, so here’s the link:

    http://youtu.be/x5-JVvCrGC8

      1. The color palate combined with the way he meekly accepts Reed Richards tricking him (as opposed to, say, throwing a police cruiser at him) suggests to me that this is an off-Broadway version of Magneto.

    1. They came like that. They no longer seem to be available from either the place where I got them or the manufacturer–sorry!

      1. Nothing to apologize for! Unless they’re no longer available because you ordered every last pair. 😉

  6. I was a bit underwhelmed by Wolverine and the X-Men #8. It’s a very cool concept, and I’m on board for Logoro, but something about Latour’s narration just rubs me the wrong way. I’m probably still mourning Jason Aaron.

    On the other hand, Cyclops and Ms. Marvel are both so, so great. It was a good week for confused teenagers looking up to anti-hero mentors.

    Somehow, this line of thought brought me to shipping Kamala and teen Iceman. They’d be great together, and they’d also make a really solid set of backup characters for Spider-Gwen and Her Amazing Friends…

  7. Thank you both for all your hard work and dedication to both the podcast (I binged listened to all of them, and am now relistening to) and the video reviews which I just discovered. I have become an obsessive fan of Xmen and comics in general due to your shows.

    So now for the real reason I’m writing this comment:
    I love that you both are who you are, own it, and give absolutely no F@&Ks about what other people think. Rachel, you rock those shades girlfriend.

    Love you guys!

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