No Story Is the Whole Story

Archive for Jay

308 – No Story Is the Whole Story

September 20, 2020 podcasts 26 comments

Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line!

In which writing X-books requires a somewhat different approach to continuity than writing about them; time is weird; Jay overthinks fictional publications; Scott Summers is (at least sometimes) Autistic; Sinister is not subtle; and no story is the whole story.

X-PLAINED:

Marvels
Marvels Snapshots
X-Men: Marvels Snapshots #1
Why Cyclops is worth caring about
Collaboration
Fictional publications
Intent vs. ownership of characters
Research
The difference between writing X-books and writing about X-books
The irreconcilable continuity tangle of Scott Summers’s childhood
Limitations of plaid pants
What ended up on the cutting room floor
Parallels
Other pitches
Cyclops’s best outfit

NEXT EPISODE: Dream Nails

You can get X-Men: Marvels Snapshots #1 from your local comics shop–or online over here.
And listen to Thor: Metal Gods over at Serial Box!

No visual companion this week; see above for links!

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!

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As Mentioned in Episode 307 – Ugly Mootants Only

September 13, 2020 As Mentioned, As Mentioned 6 comments

Listen to the podcast here!

Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line!

It’s okay. They’re just gonna end up in another dimension. Kind of. I guess. (Cable #15)

If Thornn had managed to catch her, would she have joined up with Artie and Leech to become an unstoppable triumvirate of moppets? The world may never know. (Cable #15)

NOW KISS (Cable #15)

The Ceremony of Light. (Cable #15)

In six years, Paige is definitely going to be the drunk girl standing outside the women’s bathroom and very sincerely telling everyone who goes in or comes out how beautiful they are. (Generation X #5)

Just don’t try any allogrooming and you’ll be okay. (Generation X #5)

I LOVE THIS TURTLE. (Generation X #5)

Not Davis, and that’s okay. (Generation X #5)

There is… a lot going on here. (Generation X #6)

You may have a lot of monitors, Dark Beast, but you’ll never top Cameron Hodge as Quintessential Villain with a Roomful of Monitors. (Generation X #6)

Bachalo draws such good Wolverine! (Generation X #6)

Next Episode: holy shit jay wrote an x-men comic

LINKS & FURTHER SHAMELESS PROMOTION:

You can find relevant info about X-Men: Marvels Snapshots #1 over here…
…and find a comics shop from which to purchase it here…
…or just go straight to our favorite, Books With Pictures!

307 – Ugly Mootants Only

September 13, 2020 podcasts 20 comments

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Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line!

In which Cable has clearly inherited his father’s inability to go on a date that doesn’t end disastrously; Husk is a lightweight; we are very taken with a turtle; you really don’t want to run into the other Hemingway in an elevator, either; Jubilee can speak in logos; and Wolverine gives some fatherly advice.

X-PLAINED:

One way to get your powers back
Cable #15
Generation X #5-6
X-Men: Marvels Snapshots #1 (Coming September 16)
Cable, in general
A date
“Sheer” fabrics
What we’d bring to desert islands
Sarah (Marrow)
The Ceremony of Light
Several generations of mutant teenagers
Generation X and its members (more) (again)
Chamber’s socks
Gateway’s taste in television
Husk’s extremely low alcohol tolerance
Some cool lettering
Banshee is to Chris Bachalo as Nightcrawler is to Alan Davis
Fridge wolves
NYC celebrity encounters
The ongoing legacy of X-kids with gross powers
Teenagers
Hemingway, but not that Hemingway
The return of Artie and Leech
Bones
How we would incorporate the X-Men into the MCU

NEXT EPISODE: Snapshots!

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!

306 – Between Here and There

August 30, 2020 podcasts 9 comments

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Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line!

In which we continue our ongoing tour of the post-Age of Apocalypse X-Universe; Onslaught gets a name; nobody’s sure what Noah Dubois is doing there; Iceman gets to be the practical one, for once; T&A should not generally appear on the same visual plane; someone needs to talk to Cannonball about kink safety; and Emma Frost lets a call go to voicemail.

X-PLAINED:

Tarzan fandom
X-Man, summarized
Uncanny X-Men #322-324
Color as a narrative tool
The evolution of Storm’s shower etiquette
How not to relax with Lucas Bishop
Seat-of-the-pants plotting
Parenting
Noah Dubois, sort of
A road trip
Sexiness vs. sexualization
Emma Frost as Caprica Six
How not to walk a supervillain
Cannonball’s uniform
Sack
Vessel
Greycrow (more) (again)
The worst morgue and/or disco ever
Edna and Norton McCoy
Times Rogue has absorbed Colossus’s powers
X-Men: Marvels Snapshot

NEXT EPISODE: Generation X

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!

305 – The Sleep of the Wicked

August 23, 2020 podcasts 17 comments

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Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line!

In which X-Factor gets its own roster shakeup; most bartenders will look at you funny if you order a flight of superheroes; Kaboom is a great name for a nightclub; we lack significant feelings about the clone saga; Yukio probably sends love to everyone’s girlfriends; Forge has terrible coping mechanisms; and Jay’s current life is not conducive to consistent acoustics (sorry!).

X-PLAINED:

Mystique’s powers
X-Factor’s new roster
X-Factor #112-114
The word “wreak”
The issue that made Miles stop reading X-Men
Wild Child (Kyle Gibney)
Wolverine as a role
Cyburai (more) (again)
Unethical management practices
One way to be drunk on power(s)
Scarlett McKenzie (again)
Club Kaboom
Yukio (again)
Fatale
Summers Problems(TM)
Marvel’s 1996 reader survey
A bondage harness that may or may not be made out of dryer tubing
Alex Summers vs. his own powers
Sugar Man in the 616
Several potential but unexplored story hooks for Scarlett
An implausible implant
Mystique’s new costume
A deeply dysfunctional but narratively plausible ship
A Random tangent
RPF on Earth-616
Forge vs. Tony Stark

NEXT EPISODE: Things get Uncanny!

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!

304 – Explosive Ops

August 17, 2020 podcasts 29 comments

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Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line!

In which Jay discovers a continuity loop; phonetic spelling reaches a new level of implausibility; it’s always already Onslaught; X-Force’s roster gets shaken up; Siryn goes undercover; and the Upstarts remain vaguely plot-relevant despite our fervent wishes.

X-PLAINED:

Mimic (Calvin Rankin)
Wing problems
X-Force #45-47
One of Adam Pollina’s more remarkable non-Marvel art credits
One of many homages to the cover of X-Men #138
X-Force, its members, and its recent history
Phonetic spelling
Warpath’s hair
Baffling managerial decisions
Whether Reed Richards is machine washable
Many pouches
An unlikely friendship
Sabretooth’s state of mind
Rutland, VT
The Weisman Institute for the Criminally Insane
Dr. Rachel Weisman
Jeremy Stevens
Part of why we like following X-books over time
Character redesigns

CORRECTION: In addition to being the setting of a number of 1970s Marvel and DC stories, Rutland, VT is actually a real place with a famous annual (and largely superhero-themed) Halloween parade!

NEXT EPISODE: What X-Factor’s been up to

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!

303 – No Simple Answers, feat. Laura Hudson

August 2, 2020 podcasts 12 comments

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In which writer and editor Laura Hudson joins us as we take a break from X-Men comics to discuss the complicated ethics of consuming and covering comics by creators we’re not comfortable promoting.

LINKS:

Read more of Laura’s work!
We were going to discuss this very germane Orwell essay but ran out of time.
CW: Description and discussion of abuse and harassment:
- So Many of Us
- An overview of some of the Lobdell allegations and Jay’s response to 2013 discussion of same.

No visual companion to this one, for obvious reasons; see the links listed above.

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 302 – Space Junk

August 2, 2020 As Mentioned, As Mentioned One comment

Listen to the episode here.

Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line!

Seriously, Exodus, listen to your acolytes. (X-Men #42)

Okay, but you’re also in space, which is pretty rad. (X-Men #42)

Whom could it possibly be? (X-Men #42)

Hi, Rogue. (X-Men #42)

This cult sucks. (X-Men #42)

Aw, Rusty, no. (X-Men #42)

What is this, a honeymoon? (X-Men #42)

Apparently so. (X-Men #43)

The Uncanny X-Men #100 references are flying fast and furious. (X-Men #43)

Aw, kid. (X-Men #43)

See above re: references. (X-Men #43)

This is the most dressed Cyclops will be in this issue. (X-Men #44)

Damnit, Nate. (X-Men #44)

“Seriously, maybe let’s listen to the only person who’s not still wearing heavy armor in a desert.” (X-Men #44)

This isn’t Octopusheim, Scott. (X-Men #44)

“In fact, let’s just drop that entire plot thread.” (X-Men #44)

HI, CALLISTO! (X-Men #44)

NEXT EPISODE: The ethical tangle of creators, creations, consumers, and critics, with guest Laura Hudson!

LINKS & FURTHER NONSENSE:

We discussed Onslaught in the cold open to Episode 126 – Live at Rose City Comic Con, with Greg Pak!

302 – Space Junk

July 26, 2020 podcasts 19 comments

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line!

In which you should probably not mess with space junk; Exodus is terrible at many things; Rusty Collins deserved better; X-Men #100 references are dirty (but effective) pool; Magneto goes through a lot of orbital bases; Nate Grey makes things worse; Frenzy is generally the most competent member of any team she’s on; and we sincerely regret not making more Satellite of Love jokes about Avalon.

X-PLAINED:

Consequences
The foundations of Onslaught
X-Men #42-44
The Acolytes (more) (again) and several members thereof
How not to toast
Milan
A teleportation incident
Juggernaut problems
A break-in
Several things not to do in space
Prioritizing problems
A very dramatic confrontation
X-Men #100 references
An extremely counterintuitive use of Amelia Voght’s powers
The return of Cyclops’s castaway uniform
A reluctant team-up
Cyclops as catalyst vs. focus
An unexpected reunion
Marrow
Determining characters’ ages
Dazzler’s powers

NEXT EPISODE: The ethical tangle of creators, creations, consumers, and critics, with guest Laura Hudson

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 301 – Can’t Beat the Real Thing

July 19, 2020 As Mentioned, As Mentioned One comment

Listen to the episode here.

Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line!

This is in fact an ENTIRELY REASONABLE position under the circumstances. (X-Men Prime #1)

Dennis is his own disparaging narrator. (X-Men Prime #1)

I don’t know why John Constantine is here to question Trish Tilby’s ethics, but SOMEONE needs to. (X-Men Prime #1)

Why is Val here? WHO KNOWS? (X-Men Prime #1)

Pretty sure this is supposed to be Onslaught, but it’s not going to be confirmed, so… (X-Men Prime #1)

“I repurposed all the brain parts that would normally go to fashion sense. On one hand, I can keep track of every team in play. On the other hand, this is how I dress myself.” (X-Men Prime #1)