Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men

The Mutation of a Logo

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One last special feature before our final episode!

Friend of the podcast and friend of us Katie Moody made our logo twice over the years, based on the iconic comics logo, and we thought you might be interested to learn how.

Click the Continue Reading link, and we’ll turn it over to Katie for a deep dive into design!

In early June 2014, Jay mentioned to me that he and Miles wanted to commission someone to make a polished send-up of their podcast name, à la Ming Doyle’s pin-up. (See the very first X-Plain blog post, from April 9th, 2014!)
It turns out I couldn’t resist mucking with the classic X-logo I’d loved since childhood, so I printed out the cover to X-Men #137 and started mapping perspective lines. I soon learned the logo’s perspective was… deeply wonky. (Which is part of what made it iconic, in my opinion. More on this later.) So following the lines to stay true to the original was easier said than done.
I sent this unannounced sketch either the same day as my conversation with Jay or the next day. It’s rougher than I’d send to anyone unfamiliar with my finished work. About a week later, the gig was mine.
Second sketch. From the original logo’s four letters, I used a block similar to a basic sign painter’s alphabet. Compared to the first pass, the C and MILES are wider, the ampersand and S cleaner, the P rounder, and the middle N wider. The subtitle moved from the foreground plane to the background.
Tidied up and ready for ink. The C is taller, and the ampersand and S continued to give me grief.
Inked!
Scanned and cleaned… done! On June 20th, 2014, I sent various versions and file formats to Jay and Miles. I don’t think this grayscale version has been seen anywhere before, so… behold.
A halftone, for retro flair and for printed swag that needed pure black & white.
Not quite two years later: new name, new logo. With three fewer letters up top, I enlarged “& MILES” and printed it out.
Initial “JAY” sketch to figure out placement.
In Photoshop, I copied existing letters (“CAH”) to rough out the new width. Printed it out, then sketched on tracing paper.
Second pencil draft, fixing the spacing between the A, Y, and &.
Early inking pass. The S didn’t quite work.
Cleaner inks and another ill-fated S.
Final, before shading. Finished February 20th, 2016.
Halftone!

On iconic wonkiness:

I’ve since learned that the logo used on X-Men #137, which this podcast’s logo was based on, was a 1969 riff on Jim Steranko’s original. Steranko’s 1968 version was even more wonky, as he made it quickly. For an excellent deconstruction, see Kate Willaert’s post “How the X-Men Logo Got Fixed.” (She also links to legendary letterer Todd Klein’s series on the X-logos, which includes his 1994 version.)

I can’t entirely agree with the “got fixed” framing, though. Objectively, sure… but for such bold letters to be slightly off somehow, you can’t help but stare at them more. Your brain tries to puzzle it out, and the flaws are what make it transfixing.

Ages ago I read something by Gail Simone on storytelling and mixing bitterness into sweetness. If memory serves—I can’t find the piece today—she explained that cheap perfumes are cloying because they’re all sweetness. The more expensive scents include a tiny hint of something nasty, and that is what commands your nose to pay attention. The most interesting stories aren’t all sweetness and light, and by extension, sometimes the best logos aren’t, strictly speaking, perfect.

(Also, with the advent of AI, evidence that something was crafted by actual human hands becomes more compelling by the day.)

To sum up:

This logo might be the most recognizable thing I’ve worked on outside of editing comics at Dark Horse (2003-2010). It’s been very cool to see versions of it appear on stickers, shirts, totes, and “cover art” illustrations over the past twelve years. (I particularly like the neon yellow version.) It’s gratifying to think it’s helped Jay and Miles reach more listeners and build an X-traordinary community.

2 comments

  1. This was AMAZING! I’m going to miss this show SO MUCH… and pats like this are a huge part of the reason why. Aesthetics, pedantry, wonkiness… all through the lens of the X-Men. Thanks for everything, Jay&Miles… and Katie!

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