Blog Posts – Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men

As Mentioned in Episode 524 – House in a House

May 10, 2026 Jay Leave a comment

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Xorn is a junk food guy. (New X-Men #127)

I… I don’t think Snuffy really cares anymore, dude. (New X-Men #127)

The idea of Magneto making all of this up fascinates me. (New X-Men #127)

Aw, Sonny. (New X-Men #127)

This poor kid. (New X-Men #127)

“And life goes on.” (New X-Men #127)

The appropriately ridiculous first appearance of Fantomex. (New X-Men #128)

Fire, life, and silverware incarnate. (New X-Men #128)

SO THAT’S A PROBLEM. (New X-Men #128)

In which Emma sits like a dyed-in-the-wool bisexual. (New X-Men #128)

This silly, silly man. (New X-Men #129)

Corporal Animal. (New X-Men #129)

E.V.A. is so pretty. (New X-Men #129)

We have fun. (New X-Men #129)

Weapon XII. (New X-Men #130)

Absolutely, unquestionably the line of the story. (New X-Men #130)

NEXT EPISODE: A memorial of magnetism.

As Mentioned in Episode 523 – This World of Liars

May 3, 2026 Jay Leave a comment

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Weirdly, Xorn and junk food will actually become a cover motif. (New X-Men #124)

G-Type, the LEGO guardian. (New X-Men #124)

In case you, too, were wondering what Neosaurus’s artificial brain looked like. (New X-Men #124)

Damn skippy. (New X-Men #125)

Still, it’s gotta be creepy when your inner monologue takes the form of your nude father figure in a cloud of ectoplasm. (New X-Men #125)

The best meet-cute. (New X-Men #125)

Damnit, Hank. (New X-Men #125)

Not only does he run around in those suspenders, but apparently he wore them for THE OFFICIAL SCHOOL PHOTO (New X-Men #126)

A better close-up of Mummudrai Charles. (New X-Men #126)

Never piss off a passel of teenagers. They will destroy you. (New X-Men #126)

We see what you did, there. (New X-Men #126)

So, that’s creepy. (New X-Men #126)

More ectoplasmic fun! (New X-Men #126)

Once you know about the electoral map, it’s really hard not to go straight there. (New X-Men #126)

Charles Xavier triumphant, nude. (New X-Men #126)

NEXT EPISODE: This ridiculous man.

Visuals for Audio

April 30, 2026 Miles One comment

If you follow us on a feed, you may have noticed a change in the icon that appears beside the podcast. We’ve got brand new cover art for the Morrison run, by artist and friend of the show Ramon Villalobos!

We also thought this might be a good time to take a peek back through twelve years of X-Plain art, starting with its comic-book antecedent. Click through to watch us evolve! (By completely coincidence, we’ve changed the cover art every six years. Go figure.)

The iconic cover to X-Men #137!

Our original cover art, by Ming Doyle.

In 2020, we updated for the Age of Apocalypse with art by Peter Nguyen.

Six years later, Ramon Villalobos ushers us into the age of New X-Men!

As Mentioned in Episode 522 – Fetus Fight

April 26, 2026 Jay One comment

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‘Nuff said, as they say. (New X-Men #121)

And in they go! (New X-Men #121)

The Cassandra Nova doors also shoot psychic energy and spit green goo. They’re great. (New X-Men #121)

I love this sequence. (New X-Men #121)

Hi, Charles. (New X-Men #121)

Not as weird as it could have been! (New X-Men #121)

FETUS FIGHT! FETUS FIGHT! (New X-Men #121)

Charles should’ve kept this look when he got his body back. (New X-Men #122)

Fuck, yeah, Emma. (New X-Men #122)

So it goes. (New X-Men #122)

HOW DO NONE OF THE X-MEN HAVE MEDIA TRAINING?! (New X-Men #123)

How to win over Emma Frost. (New X-Men #123)

That they regularly have meetings here is yet another piece of evidence that the Xavier School has no HR. (New X-Men #123)

I’ve had more relationships end this way… (New X-Men #123)

NEXT EPISODE: Your new OTP.

As Mentioned in Episode 521 – Snowflakes

April 21, 2026 Miles Leave a comment

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Illustration by David Wynne

Did those eyeballs come from a different jock or did he steal them between panels from this one? (New X-Men #118)

Telepaths must see a lot of weird fetishes. (New X-Men #118)

Onward, faculty! (New X-Men #118)

DAMMIT EMMA (New X-Men #118)

Mean or literal? You be the judge! (New X-Men #118)

Angel Salvadore is so gross and awesome! (New X-Men #118)

John Sublime remains the absolute worst. Also, hi Martha! (New X-Men #118)

I was always a little sad that Angel never got to wear the bumblebee helmet in the comics themselves. (New X-Men #119)

Sublime is awful, but that’s a great panel layout. (New X-Men #119)

Logan needs to work on his bedside manner. (New X-Men #119)

Explanations are not excuses. (New X-Men #119)

Kitty Pryde she isn’t… (New X-Men #119)

The tiniest morgue drawers! (New X-Men #119)

Just a kick-ass cover. (New X-Men #120)

Again: Kitty Pryde she isn’t! (New X-Men #120)

Aww shit. (New X-Men #120)

The Stepford Cuckoos. (New X-Men #120)

Effortless. (New X-Men #120)

This is fine. (New X-Men #120)

Martha’s revenge. (New X-Men #120)

Michael Jackson? (New X-Men #120)

NEXT TIME: Shh.

As Mentioned in Episode 520 – Head Like a (Black) Hole

April 10, 2026 Miles 2 comments

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Illustration by David Wynne

To unlock Xorn, you’ll need the Lapis Eye key, the Purple Bull key, a code from carbon paper, and a number written in blood in a padded cell. (New X-Men Annual 2001)

X-Corporation Hong Kong has a pretty big headquarters for a staff of two… Well, now just one. (New X-Men Annual 2001)

Introducing John Sublime, tech-bro douchebag (and ancient/sentient bacteria). (New X-Men Annual 2001)

Grant Morrison: “I need you to draw a containment suit!” Leinil Francis Yu: *cracks knuckles* Every future artist: “DAMMIT LEINIL” (New X-Men Annual 2001)

Ninja business. (New X-Men Annual 2001)

Ao Jun’s flesh golems! Just… wow. (New X-Men Annual 2001)

Logan would be great at charcuterie. (New X-Men Annual 2001)

I’m still not over this kid dying. (New X-Men Annual 2001)

Just a hell of an action shot. (New X-Men Annual 2001)

Is Emma telling the truth about her powers or bullshitting us? Discuss! (New X-Men Annual 2001)

The New X-Men Story. (New X-Men Annual 2001)

Think about that third panel in the context of the eventual Xorn reveal… (New X-Men Annual 2001)

Hey, it’s Beak! Hi Beak! (New X-Men #17)

And then the Xavier Institute changed forever. (New X-Men #17)

DAMMIT TRISH YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO MAKE BEAST THAT SAD (New X-Men #17)

Seriously. (New X-Men #17)

…with letters by Richard Starkings and Comicraft’s Saida Temofonte. (New X-Men #17)

No no no no (New X-Men #17)

Poor… everybody. (New X-Men #17)

And the Academy Award for Best Secretly Body-Swapped Lead Actress goes to… (New X-Men #17)

What trim level is that? (New X-Men #17)

NEXT TIME: X-Men vs. U-Men

As Mentioned in Episode 519 – Beautiful People With Incredible Powers

March 29, 2026 Jay 4 comments

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Illustration by David Wynne

And so it begins. (New X-Men #114)

That is a damn stylish credits page. (New X-Men #114)

Cerebra. (New X-Men #114)

Well, fuck. (New X-Men #114)

Charles Xavier vs. Cassandra Nova, round 2 (although you won’t officially find that out ’til later). (New X-Men #114)

These covers! (New X-Men #115)

I really like the way Morrison writes these two. (New X-Men #115)

Alas, Ugly John, we hardly knew ye. (New X-Men #115)

She’s so evil, but also so fucking weird. (New X-Men #115)

The original Negasonic Teenage Warhead. (New X-Men #115)

So, that happened. (New X-Men #115)

It may be improbable, but I legitimately like the negative-space X as a statement. (New X-Men #116)

The return of Emma Frost. (New X-Men #116)

One of the most lingering images of the run. (New X-Men #116)

Oh. That’s bad. (New X-Men #116)

That’s not Charles Xavier. (New X-Men #116)

NEXT EPISODE: Beast has a bad day.

As Mentioned in Episode 517 – Sliding Scale Ransom

March 8, 2026 Jay One comment

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What If vol. 2 #9

Behold: a moppet! (What If vol. 2 #9)

Can you imagine how creepy he looks in the mask, just going about his business? (What If vol. 2 #9)

It also activates whenever there’s a really good sale at Safeway. (What If vol. 2 #9)

Namorita is a delight. (What If vol. 2 #9)

The All-Newer, All-Differenter X-Men! (What If vol. 2 #9)

What If vol. 2 #24

The giant werewolf body with Wolverine’s li’l head really never stops being funny. (What If vol. 2 #24)

Sure, why not? (What If vol. 2 #24)

Considering what you already pay for regular weapons, I don’t think silver bullets are actually gonna be that much of a change. (What If vol. 2 #24)