Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men

Category: news

All Good Things

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Something we’ve talked about a lot on the show is how much we like stories and series with deliberate endings. Endings are important: They provide closure and meaning. They give narratives shape. And it’s with that in mind that we want to let you know that Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men will be ending later this year.

We never meant for this to be a forever podcast. That it has lasted for going on twelve years is amazing–a gift we never could have imagined when we started out–and it’s important to us to finish it right, to go out deliberately instead of fading off or hitting an abrupt wall.

Don’t worry–we’re not going away next week, or even next month. We’re going to hit a few bucket-list episodes, and then go into one last series: Grant Morrison’s seminal run on New X-Men.

There are a few reasons we’ve decided to wrap with the Morrison run. It’s an incredible high note, one of the most groundbreaking single runs in the history of the franchise. Moreover, it’s a beginning. Morrison’s run on New X-Men signals a sea change in the X-books and their readers’ relationships to them, and feels like the right time to pass the torch to our listeners.

We hope that over the last nearly-twelve years–more than twelve by the time we end–we’ve not only taught you about X-Men continuity and the perils of time travel, but helped you build the tools that’ll let you engage critically with the stories you love and find joy even in the ones you don’t.

You’ve got this.

We believe in you.

(We’ll also be around for the next five-or-so months, so, there’s that.)

Love,
Jay & Miles

YOU’RE INVITED!

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HOT DAMN, Y’ALL. Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men is turning ten entire years old on Saturday, April 13, and you’re all invited to our birthday party–and our first live show since pre-pandemic days! We’ll be starting the day with a live show–X-Plaining a story we once swore never to cover–at Portland’s historic Clinton Street Theater. Then we’ll break for lunch and reconvene that afternoon at comic-shop extraordinaire Books With Pictures for a 10th birthday blowout, complete with cake, party favors, and some really, really cool X-clusive merch (including the 10th anniversary print by Colleen Coover that you can see a sliver of above (and which you’ve seen in its entirety if you’re a patron–remember, keep it secret, keep it safe!))!

HERE ARE THE DETAILS:

THE SHOW:

  • WHAT: Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men LIVE
  • WHEN: Saturday, April 13, 10:00-11:45 AM
  • WHERE: Clinton Street Theater, 2522 SE Clinton St., Portland, OR
  • NOTE: MASKS WILL BE MANDATORY AT THE LIVE SHOW. We’ll have ’em at the door for anyone who doesn’t bring their own.
  • ADDITIONAL DETAILS: All-ages if you don’t mind your kids learning swears.

THE PARTY:

  • WHAT: Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men’s 10th Birthday Party
  • WHEN: Saturday, April 13, 2:00-5:00 PM
  • WHERE: Books With Pictures, 1401 Division St., Portland, OR
  • NOTE: This will be an outdoor event. Plan accordingly!
  • ADDITIONAL DETAILS: All-ages, costumes encouraged, birthday cake, birthday pie, party favors, X-clusive merch

RSVP FOR ONE OR BOTH EVENTS HERE! While you’ll probably still get in if you just show up, we’d really appreciate it if you’d RSVP–it helps us plan for the events and, in case of overflow, will make it more likely that you’ll get in.

AND HERE ARE THE ANSWERS TO SOME QUESTIONS THAT WE ANTICIPATE OR HAVE ALREADY FIELDED AT LEAST ONCE:

How much are tickets?

Free.

Wait, the party and the show are both free?

Yeah.

Can I still go if I don’t RSVP?

If there’s room, sure. But we need to figure out things like how many party favors to make and how many pies to bring, so we would really appreciate it if you RSVP.

Wait, there are party favors?

Oh, yes.

Like what?

It’s a surprise. (Unless you’re a patron, in which case you’ve already gotten a sneak peek at one of ’em.)

Will you have merch for sale?

At the party, yeah: We’ll have a handful of in-person-x-clusive merch, including Colleen Coover’s completely rad 10th Anniversary print!

I will not be there, but I want a print or other swag. How can I get it?

Connect with someone who’s going and arrange for them to pick it up and send it to you. We recommend using the Discord, but you can also @ us on Bluesky and we’ll boost your signal!

Do I have to wear a mask?

To the show, yes. To the party, no.

How come?

Because accessibility.

I don’t want to.

Suck it up, buttercup.

Can I bring my kids?

If you’re okay with the possibility that they’ll hear some swears, sure!

Can I bring my horse?

We would strongly prefer that you not.

Can I wear a costume?

We encourage you to do so.

What if it’s not an X-Men costume?

You do you, buddy.

Are the X-Men really confusing enough to merit a full decade of X-planatory podcasts?

Apparently.

Help Us Support Queer and Trans Youth!

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Actual map of Florida.

On Monday, March 28, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed HB1557–the notorious “don’t say gay” bill–into law. This bill is part of an unprecedented wave of legislation targeting queer and trans youth, with potentially deadly consequences.

Florida may be America’s favorite trash fire, but we’re not willing to give up on our home state; and we’re DEFINITELY not willing to give up on the queer and trans kids who live there.

So we’re fighting back.

All April, we’ll be raising money for Equality Florida. Between our own contributions and the generous support of anonymous donors, we’re in a position to match up to $6000 of your contributions AND offer some very cool prizes.

HERE’S WHAT WE NEED YOU TO DO:

AND HERE’S WHAT YOU’LL GET:

  • IF YOU DONATE UNDER $25 – You’ll have our eternal love and gratitude, as well as the warm, fuzzy feeling of making a difference.
  • IF YOU DONATE $25 OR MORE – We’ll thank you on the podcast. (Note: these’ll be straightforward thanks, not the silly kind we do for patrons.)
  • IF YOU DONATE $50 OR MORE – Miles, who is adamantly Not an Artist, will draw you an earnest and possibly terrible social media X-avatar.
  • IF YOU DONATE $100 OR MORE – We’ll record a custom voicemail greeting for you.
  • IF YOU DONATE $200 OR MORE – Jay will knit you a hat.
  • IF YOU DONATE $500 OR MORE – We’ll record a Hawk Talk on a subject of your choice.

Thank you, so much, for fighting with us. <3

-J&M

Web site remodeling

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You may have noticed changes to our website’s design yesterday and today – especially since you’re probably on the site while reading this!

We’ve been having stability issues with our site for a few months now, and our image gallery slideshows inexplicably broke a few weeks ago. We’re troubleshooting with DreamHost and hope to have things working much better soon.

We’ll also find a permanent theme (or improve this one) at that point, but alas, our previous theme is down for the count. It was discontinued many years ago and has never worked right on mobile, so we want to find something a bit more modern that still has the features everyone is used to. Please bear with us for a bit longer!

Regarding ECCC 2020

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After a lot of thought, we’ve made the difficult decision to pull out of Emerald City Comic Con 2020. As other creators have written, this isn’t a choice we’ve made lightly–we don’t do a lot of conventions, and ECCC is in many ways our home show, with a lot of love and traditions attached; as well as significant investments of time, money, and planning.

It’s worth pointing out that we’re very lucky: for us, those losses, while difficult, won’t be devastating. We’re also really, really angry, as we watch friends forced to choose between public health and their own livelihoods because the institutions responsible have so completely dropped that ball.

To the friends and fans who were planning to attend the show specifically to see us: we are so sorry to be missing you, and we’ll try to come up with something special over that weekend. To our listeners in the Pacific Northwest, we’re already well into planning an event in Portland at the end of April; while it’s obviously a far cry from ECCC, hopefully we’ll be able to see many of you in person there.

All our love,
Jay & Miles

We Should Probably Have Announced This Earlier in the Month

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Happy Pride! We’re donating all of June’s proceeds from our TeePublic shop –featuring all the designs above, and many more — to Trans Lifeline. (You can also donate to Trans Lifeline directly, in which case 100% of the money will go to them; but if you want to get cool J&M swag and support them at the same time, you can now do so.)

Mutant, Trans, and Proud

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We sold out of the pins at ECCC, but this seemed like the right month to put this design on t-shirts (and notebooks, and phone cases, and a bunch of other stuff):

That said, we feel pretty strongly that this is a design that should be in everybody’s hands. You’re of course welcome to buy our merch above; but if you want to DIY your own, you can download a high-resolution stencil below. This stencil is free for use for any non-commercial projects.

It is ALSO free for use on specific commercial projects, with one major caveat (on the honor system):

If your business is not trans-owned, any proceeds from merchandise you sell with this design should go to Trans Lifeline or another trans advocacy organization.

(Also, we’d love to see anything folks make with this, private or commercial!)

Thanks to Dylan Meconis for design and file-formatting assistance!

The Mutant Fifth Column: Seanan McGuire on Her X-Men: Gold Annual

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Jay here!

One of my very favorite humans and authors–as well as a long-time friend of the show–Seanan McGuire was just announced as the writer of the upcoming X-Men: Gold Annual #2 (cover above). I caught up with Seanan on Discord for an x-clusive chat about her history with the X-Men and what it’s like to write your childhood favorites.

Keep going for the full interview, as well as the cover to X-Men: Gold Annual #2 (WITH BUNNIES)!

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Jay & Miles Review the X-Men, Episode 119

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Week of 4/12/2017

Week of 4/12/2017:

In which Jay and Miles talk about the future, Old Man Logan may or may not be beginning its climax, X-Men: Blue is pretty great, and Weapon X works better than it should.

REVIEWED:

  • Old Man Logan #21 (2:40)
  • * X-Men: Blue #1 (5:29)
  • Weapon X #1 (14:44)

*Pick of the Week

Filmed at Books With Pictures in Portland, OR.

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