Jay – Page 2 – Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men

501 – A Bag of Cloacae (Maximum Security, Part 1 of 2)

October 5, 2025 Jay 7 comments

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In which an event begins; Earth is problematic; the Phoenix Force is an unreliable narrator; Max Power just wants to make safer party drugs; and we miss Opal Tanaka.

X-PLAINED:

The fate of the D’Bari
Maximum Security: Dangerous Planet
Maximum Security #1
Uncanny X-Men #387
Iron Man #35
Bishop the Last X-Man #15
Voting in space
A bad plan
U.S. Agent (John Walker)
A peculiar marketplace
A dangerous hat
Starhammer
Space romance problems
Breaking into Earth
Max Power
Magic dirt
Littletown, Nebraska
An extremely upsetting baby
A very impressive crash landing
What Bishop’s been up to
Human X-characters we’d like to see more of
Some kid named Michael
Trading cards we’d like

NEXT EPISODE: Maximum Security concludes!

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500 – People Who Stick Together

September 21, 2025 Jay 16 comments

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In which we sure did that.

X-PLAINED:

Miracles of magnetism
Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men

NEXT EPISODE: Maximum Security!

Special thanks to:

Producer, fellow musketeer, and all-around mensch Matt Hunter
Episode 500 guests David Maybury and Josephine Riesman
- David’s blog and upcoming Vegas trivia tournament
- Josie’s website and Morrison run-focused podcast
Illustrator David Wynne
Producers Emeritus Bobby Roberts, Kyle Yount, and Kurt Lloyd
Parental-leave pinch hitters Al Kennedy and Dylan Higgins
Everyone who’s made the X-comics what they are
Our families, friends, and enablers
Our kickass patrons, who make this podcast possible
All of our listeners, who make this podcast worthwhile

Please consider this to be the visual companion to episode 500.

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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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499 – Light Me, Boy!

September 14, 2025 Jay 7 comments

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In which we meet some delightful monsters; Cannonball is a man who knows how to wear overalls; Domino is the Leslie Knope of X-Force; red liquid babies deserve love, too; and not all British authors know each other.

X-PLAINED:

A murder
X-Force #110-113
Peak butts
Domestic bliss
Misplaced guilt
Several monsters
Comics Codium
Warborgs and/or Rawborgs
Poison problems
Additional monsters
SHIELD business
Large guns
Still more monsters
How monsters interact with the Bechdel Test
Cuckoo
Prescribed narcotics
Life Model Decoys (more) (again)
X-major arcana

NEXT EPISODE: Apparently we’ve made 500 of these?

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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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498 – Home Depot Ossuary

September 7, 2025 Jay 3 comments

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In which the Twisted Sisters are vanquished by water; there is no way to make Stryfe cool; and the X-Men fight a hurricane.

X-PLAINED:

Ego the Living Planet and his dysfunctional family
X-Men #105-106
Uncanny X-Men #386
The Neo (more) (again)
The state of Psylocke and Archangel’s relationship
The Twisted Sisters
- Helix
- Coil
- Gyre
- Ringlet
- Torque
Pelicans
Bad decisions of past Jay and Miles
A mysterious stranger
Unrealized plans
Mystique and Wolverine’s forgotten friendship
Neo infrastructure
Big Casino’s name
An unlikely hybrid
A surprisingly large femur
The new Brotherhood
Lee Forrester (again)
Weather
Fan history

NEXT EPISODE: X-Force vs. Warborgs

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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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497 – Stranger Things

August 24, 2025 Jay 6 comments

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In which Prosh’s plans sort of come to fruition; we do not know very much about movies; Iceman dies (but is fine); The Stranger gets around; and Toad learns nothing.

X-PLAINED:

The Stranger
X-Men Forever #4-6
Prosh (more) (again)
The story so far
Astra (again)
The Black Womb Project
Toad’s secret origins, possibly
Fashion
Hazard
Amanda Mueller (a bit)
Anguirus
The end of human civilization
Foreshadowing
A dramatic reveal
Several makeovers
Darth Toad
Fighting arenas / community theaters

NEXT EPISODE: Mystique reassembles the Brotherhood!

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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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496 – Time After Time

August 17, 2025 Jay 8 comments

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In which Prosh assembles a peculiar team; the cosmic forces are somewhat paranoid; Mystique gets shit done; and we are very into the concept of Toadland.

X-PLAINED:

The Black Womb Project
X-Men Forever #1-3
Prosh
Several custom-grown people
A motley crew of mutants (and one human)
Cataclysm keys
The assassination of Graydon Creed
Several poignant reunions
The cosmic construction worker (Death)
Why the Phoenix Force chose Jean Grey
How much continuity is too much continuity
Pyro’s romance novels

NEXT EPISODE: The rest of the series!

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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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495 – The Goth

August 3, 2025 Jay 9 comments

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In which Rogue is beset with leadership; Psylocke’s telekinetic sword is narratively inconsistent; the Crimson Pirates are bad at their job; and you should not look to Frank Punisher as a role model.

X-PLAINED:

Whether Dani Moonstar is still a Valkyrie
X-Men #103-104
Uncanny X-Men #384-385
A crossover
Tessa (somewhat)
A test
The Goth (group)
Skulls
The Crimson Pirates
The mind of Tullamore Voge
Something “rough trade” does not mean
Visual representation of telepathy
Kymri (again)
The Goth (individual)
Skycycles
A ruse
How to get the X-Perts at a convention near you
What happened to the Massachusetts Academy

NEXT EPISODE: X-Men Forever

The visual companion to this episode will be up in the near future!

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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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494 – You’ve Got Evil Mail

July 20, 2025 Jay 9 comments

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In which the X-Men zealously protect their trademarks; Cable can have as many moms as he wants to; not everyone should have to be a superhero; Lady Deathstrike knows how to handle unauthorized emails; and somehow there are still more gun arms.

X-PLAINED:

Lady Deathstrike
X-Men Unlimited #27-28
X-Men Annual 2000
One reason to recycle code names
Thunderbird III (Neal Shaara)
Sanjit Shaara and his electronic diary
Karima Shapandar
Bastion and the Prime Sentinels (again) (briefly)
Omega Prime Sentinels
Rebirth Island and what lurks there
Darkstar (Laynia Petrovna)
Unusual disturbances
Whether Gambit sleeps
The Black Death
Internet security training with Bastion
The genealogy of Nora Ephron romantic comedy You’ve Got Mail
Fashion
Stryfe (again) (briefly)
Psylocke’s telekinetic katana
Interactions between Madelyne Pryor and her large adult son
Spiral’s Body Shop

NEXT EPISODE: The Brotherhood targets Senator Kelly… again.

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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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493 – Now a Major Motion Picture

July 13, 2025 Jay 16 comments

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In which the first X-Men film turns 25 (and holds up remarkably well).

X-PLAINED:

A startling absence
The X-Men’s big-screen debut
An X-film that might have been
X-Men (2000), in general; and related publications
Some very casting
What makes a good adaptation
Wolverine’s hair
Those costumes
The cinematic X-Men
The cinematic Brotherhood
Sabretooth’s eyebrows
Condensed backstories
The movie magic of magnetism
The worst toy of all time
Going to school with superheroes
Things we’d like to have seen in the movie

NEXT EPISODE: The origin of Thunderbird! (Not that one.) (Or that one.)

The visual companion to this episode is the film X-Men (2000).

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 Dashery shop!