Blog Posts – Page 42 – Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men

Jay Reviews the X-Men, Episode 85

May 19, 2016 Jay 2 comments

Week of May 18, 2016:

In which Miles takes a day off; All-New Wolverine continues to be an awful lot of fun; and Old Man Logan is bleak and brilliant.

REVIEWED:

All-New Wolverine #8 (00:34)
*Old Man Logan #6 (02:37)

*Pick of the Week (04:12)

Filmed at Books With Pictures in Portland, OR.

Jay and Miles X-Plain the X-Men is 100% ad-free and listener supported. These video reviews–and everything else here–are made possible by the support of our Patreon subscribers. If you want to help support the podcast–and unlock more cool stuff–you can do that right here!

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Someone Re-shot the X-Men: Apocalypse Trailer with LEGOs

May 17, 2016 Jay 2 comments

HOT. DAMN.

As Mentioned in Episode 109 – The Passion of Madelyne Pryor

May 15, 2016 Jay 9 comments

Listen to the episode here.

Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available at the shop, or contact David to purchase the original.

It’s the whole gang! Kind of! And some of them are evil! BUT STILL! (Uncanny X-Men #242)

No, it’s not. (Uncanny X-Men #242)

SEE? (Uncanny X-Men #242)

Only one of many reasons that enthusiastic consent is important. (Uncanny X-Men #242)

Iceman is so underrated. Dude’s the heart and conscience of the original five. (Uncanny X-Men #242)

WELL, THEN. (Uncanny X-Men #242)

N’astirh may be evil, but he has impeccable taste in infernal vehicles. (Uncanny X-Men #242)

That’s the cold wind of metaphor, Alex. (Uncanny X-Men #242)

Madelyne Pryor knows from genre conventions. (Uncanny X-Men #242)

Aw, man. These two. (Uncanny X-Men #242)

Inferno’s a pretty dark crossover, but it has some really damn delightful moments. (Uncanny X-Men #242)

Love N’astirh’s face in that first panel. (Uncanny X-Men #242)

No one draws a possessed skyline like Silvestri. (Uncanny X-Men #242)

SUCKERS. You’ve still got three issues left! (Uncanny X-Men #242)

I’m genuinely curious as to whether this splash page started out as a cover design. (Uncanny X-Men #242)

“We’ll laugh about this later.” (X-Factor #38)

THAT SOUND EFFECT! (X-Factor #38)

Madelyne Pryor is the best at villain speeches. (X-Factor #38)

This panel is awesome, which is probably why there are going to be a lot of callbacks to it. (X-Factor #38)

This sequence is kind of a great encapsulation of a lot of Scott and Alex’s relationship. (X-Factor #38)

Jean’s rocky and reluctant alliance with the Phoenix force makes each of them a good deal more interesting. (X-Factor #38)

The most important relationship–and scenes–in Inferno are between Jean and Madelyne. I really wish we’d gotten more of the two of them together. (X-Factor #38)

“We’ll need to harness the power of all of our best sound effects!” (X-Factor #38)

Perfect panel is perfect. (X-Factor #38)

On one hand: this is all kind of Scott’s fault. On the other hand: it’s hard not to feel bad for him. (X-Factor #38)

Inferno: In which everyone is wrong and everyone is sympathetic. (X-Factor #38)

OH, YEAH! (Uncanny X-Men #243)

X-Factor will continue to play with this idea to some extent, but it’ll fade away pretty fast, and that’s a damn shame. (Uncanny X-Men #242)

Ditto, this. (Uncanny X-Men #242)

Jean, Madelyne, or Phoenix; her story at its best will always be about self-determination. (Uncanny X-Men #242)

Valid. (Uncanny X-Men #242)

Pawing through the X-Men’s stuff is one of the less invasive things Sinister has done in this arc, but there’s something extra creepy about it. (Uncanny X-Men #242)

Walter Simonson’s ability to make Longshot’s hair look good is the eight wonder of the world. (X-Factor #39)

Scott Summers’ Life Is An Actual Anxiety Dream, chapter infinity. (X-Factor #39)

Oh, hey, it’s the rest of Cyclops’s backstory! (X-Factor #39)

Does Nebraska even have a Department of Social Services? (X-Factor #39)

I just really love this page. (X-Factor #39)

This panel might have the highest appearance-to-reality-of-finality ratio in comics. (X-Factor #39)

And they all lived happily ever after. (X-Factor #39)

NEXT WEEK: Apocalypse for Beginners!

LINKS & FURTHER LISTENING

For our Inferno coverage, we’re working (somewhat loosely) from the reading order mapped out at UncannyXMen.net.
We’ll be bringing you up to speed on both the cinematic X-Men and Apocalypse’s comics background in episode 110, but if you want to brush up this week, you can do that here:

Jay & Miles Review the X-Men, Episode 84

May 12, 2016 Jay 4 comments

Week of May 11, 2016:

In which it is really hard to be the teenage clone of a supervillain; and Jay & Miles go to the movies.

REVIEWED:

*All-New X-Men #9 (00:29)
X-Men: Apocalypse (06:32)

*Pick of the Week (09:37)

Jay’s review of X-Men: Apocalypse

Filmed at Books With Pictures in Portland, OR.

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The Heartily Enjoyable Train Wreck of X-Men: Apocalypse

May 10, 2016 Jay 46 comments

Jay here!

Reviewing media here always feels like straddling a fence. On one hand, I’m a professional critic, and that’s a lens that never really goes away. On the other hand, when I’m writing or talking at xplainthexmen.com, I’m largely speaking as a fan, to other fans; and my considerations change accordingly. Sometimes, if I’m lucky, those perspectives line up, and everything is smooth sailing.

Other times, it’s X-Men: Apocalypse.

As Mentioned in Episode 108 – What Price Glory

May 8, 2016 Jay 15 comments

Listen to the episode here.

Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available at the shop, or contact David to purchase the original.

Perfect cover is perfect. (Uncanny X-Men #239)

Hey, kids! Can you count the OSHA violations on this page? (Uncanny X-Men #239)

Does it get more Mr. Sinister than sitting on a giant crystal throne playing with X-Men action figures and expositing dramatically to himself? No. No, it does not. (Uncanny X-Men #239)

This moment is so good, and so chilling. (Uncanny X-Men #239)

Sometimes you eat the bar, and sometimes the bar eats you. (Uncanny X-Men #239)

ABORT ABORT BAD IDEA ABORT (Uncanny X-Men #239)

“Also, apparently they were really into Pinterest.” (Uncanny X-Men #239)

I am pretty sure I have seen this exact image on the front cover of at least one VHS tape. (Uncanny X-Men #239)

Here’s every panel of Madelyne’s black dress, in order. (Uncanny X-Men #240)

Hi, M-Squad. Bye, M-Squad. (Uncanny X-Men #240)

This whole scene is so exquisitely unsettling. (Uncanny X-Men #240)

Rogue, that is… quite an outfit. (Uncanny X-Men #240)

Meanwhile, in a completely different comic book. (Uncanny X-Men #240)

“Mr. Weatherbee didn’t really go into the details of this exchange program.” (Uncanny X-Men #240)

I don’t know why I find Scrambler so endlessly hilarious, but, GOD, I do. (Uncanny X-Men #240)

Silvestri doesn’t get to do nearly as much as Blevins or Simonson with possessed objects; but he’ll make up for it with the amazing demonic cityscapes in #242. (Uncanny X-Men #241)

Close Encounters with the Fourth Wall, Colossus Edition. (Nah, they’re clones. BUT STILL.) (Uncanny X-Men #241)

I swear this police-car demon is a reference to SOMETHING, but I can’t for the life of me remember what. (Uncanny X-Men #241)

“Fuck this. I’m gonna go hang out in New Mutants.” (Uncanny X-Men #241)

This cannot POSSIBLY end well. (Uncanny X-Men #241)

“Also, I liked that scene way more when Paul Smith drew it.” (Uncanny X-Men #240)

The Greys really never catch a break. (Uncanny X-Men #240)

Nebraska: Definitely the worst state. (Uncanny X-Men #240)

And you thought your family holidays were awkward. (Uncanny X-Men #241)

Oh, damn. (Uncanny X-Men #241)

There’s at least one alternate universe in which Mister Sinister founded the X-men; but the only detail I remember is that their costumes are WAY fancier. (Uncanny X-Men #241)

This detail makes Madelyne’s story infinitely sadder. (Uncanny X-Men #241)

In which Mister Sinister effectively seals the fate of the world. (Uncanny X-Men #241)

That’s. My. Girl. (Uncanny X-Men #241)

Oh, snap. (Uncanny X-Men #241)

And then a hot dog stand ate Calvin and Hobbes. (X-Factor #36)

Awwww. (X-Factor #36)

Cool scene; dumb hats. (X-Factor #36)

In a just world, every time you looked at this panel, heroic music would start playing. (X-Factor #36)

Let’s all just take a moment to admire the composition of this splash page. (X-Factor #37)

These panels were fine in context of the page, but then I cropped them, and now all I can think of is that one really unsettling video of a sloth petting a cat. (X-Factor #37)

“Okay, but that’s gonna be really awkward at the bank.” (X-Factor #37)

Wait, what? (X-Factor #37)

“Also, you literally just teleported.” (X-Factor #37)

NEXT WEEK: The Passion of Madelyne Pryor

LINKS & FURTHER READING:

For our Inferno coverage, we’re working (somewhat loosely) from the reading order mapped out at UncannyXMen.net.
Jay is the worst at Valentine’s Day.
The amazing BelleChere cosplays a phenomenal page-accurate Goblin Queen, sometimes alongside either Rule-63 or original-flavor Sinister! (Madelyne is only one of a ton of really terrific X-Men cosplay BelleChere has done over the years; we highly recommend clicking through her galleries to see the rest!)
Amanda Lafrenais draws awesome comics and has rats named after soup! (Link may not be work-safe–contains some cartoon nudity.)

Jay & Miles Review the X-Men, Episode 83; feat. Katie Proctor

May 5, 2016 Jay 6 comments

Week of May 4, 2016:

In which we change locations; Uncanny X-Men is intriguing but uneven; X-Men ’92 is chock full o’ Draculas; and Books With Pictures is your future favorite comics shop!

REVIEWED:

Uncanny X-Men #7 (01:48)
*X-Men ’92 #3 (06:52)

*Pick of the Week (10:27)

Come to Books With Pictures this Saturday for Free Comic Book Day! https://bookswithpictures.com/

Come join us on Imzy!

As Mentioned in Episode 107 – Fairy Tale Ending

May 1, 2016 Jay 4 comments

Listen to the episode here.

Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available at the shop, or contact David to purchase the original.

He’s not wrong; he’s just an asshole. (New Mutants #71)

Aw, kiddo. (New Mutants #71)

There’s a lot of more overtly awful stuff S’ym has done, but very little of it gets under my skin as badly as this scene. (New Mutants #71)

Brett Blevins’ Inferno might be the best Inferno. (New Mutants #71)

WELL, THAT ESCALATED QUICKLY. (New Mutants #71)

N’astirh Guy(TM) (New Mutants #71)

Nothing that begins with this line ever ends well. (New Mutants #71)

Okay. This looks bad. (New Mutants #71)

On its own, this is a perfectly serviceable cover; but it’s also a subtle and pretty brutal nod to the last issue of the Magik miniseries. (New Mutants #72)

Possibly the most metal title page to ever appear in an X-book. (New Mutants #72)

Calling it: Blevins’s is my hands-down favorite take on Inferno-infested New York. (New Mutants #72)

GAH. (New Mutants #72)

And now, a brief and delightful respite from the tragedy playing out in the A plot. (New Mutants #72)

Savor this moment: it’s not often you get to see New Mutants making a responsible choice! (New Mutants #72)

WELL, THEN. (New Mutants #72)

N’astirh levels up… (New Mutants #72)

…But so does Illyana. (New Mutants #72)

Death of Supergirl homage cover. Take a drink. (New Mutants #73)

T-O S’ym is so creepy, y’all. (New Mutants #73)

THERE ARE NOT ADEQUATE WORDS FOR HOW MUCH I LOVE THIS PAGE. (New Mutants #73)

That Colossus makes room in his rather minimal uniform for a photo wallet is kind of adorable an very much in character. (New Mutants #73)

“And that’s what you get for teaching new math!” (New Mutants #73)

We didn’t think of this until after the episode was recorded, but Illyana’s final armored form bears a lot of resemblance to her brother’s. (New Mutants #73)

This dude is pretty great. (New Mutants #73)

The Darkchilde in her final form. (New Mutants #73)

And so it ends… (New Mutants #73)

…or does it? (New Mutants #73)

“Or stick around in the background and then die of the Legacy Virus and come back like 20 years later without a soul. The point is, you’ve got options.” (New Mutants #73)

NEXT WEEK: The rise of the Goblin Queen.

LINKS AND FURTHER LISTENING:

We discussed the Magik miniseries in Episode 19 – Acorns and Swords.

Late-Night Q&A with Jay and Chris

April 29, 2016 Jay 10 comments

Jay here! X-Men ’92 co-writer and all-around rad dude Chris Sims was in town last week, and after a few days of weird theme parks, pizza, Powell’s, and blowing a LOT of quarters on the X-Men arcade game, we decided to sit down for a spur-of-the-moment late-night Q&A session, featuring fancy tea, a whooooooole lot of sunglasses, and PROBABLY not Chad Bowers hiding in nearby foliage: