Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men

523 – This World of Liars

Illustration by David Wynne

In which Wolverine learns to fly; pants are a basic human right; we decide to cherry-pick our Xorn retcons; Xavier’s eyebrows follow his mind; and the first year of New X-Men ends with a bang.

X-PLAINED:

  • The origin of the Shi’ar Imperial Guard
  • New X-Men #124-126
  • The current state of Charles Xavier’s body
  • G-Type
  • Neosaurus
  • Plutonia
  • Schism
  • Oracle
  • Stuf
  • Gladiator (more) (again)
  • Angel disambiguation
  • Several plans
  • Mutant justice
  • Several miracles of magnetism
  • Mummudrai
  • Horror movie shit
  • Subtle visual foreshadowing
  • A ruse
  • Education
  • Long-lost family members
  • What may or may not come after this

NEXT EPISODE: Fantomex!


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522 – Fetus Fight

Illustration by David Wynne

In which Marvel goes wordless; Cassandra Nova breaks space; none of the X-Men have media training; and Gus was the best dog ever.

X-PLAINED:

  • Erik the Red (more) (again)
  • Kin Crimson
  • A big messy bag of mutant glory
  • New X-Men #121-123
  • ‘Nuff Said
  • A journey into Charles Xavier’s mind
  • What Emma is drinking
  • A fetus fight
  • The criminal culpability of a fetus
  • Space problems
  • A cosplay challenge
  • Space
  • Charles Xavier’s weird last wish
  • A press conference
  • Teen romance
  • The Stepford Cuckoos
  • Gus
  • Charles Xavier’s age
  • Nanosentinels
  • Stuf
  • Pre-ride safety announcements from the X-Men
  • Whether Cassandra Nova should’ve been a component of Onslaught

NEXT EPISODE: Cassandra Nova vs. the X-Men (Round 2)!


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521 – Snowflakes

Illustration by David Wynne

In which John Sublime sucks; Angel Salvatore rules; trauma does not justify evil; and you should never, ever, ever mess with Jean Grey.

X-PLAINED:

  • A horrifying revelation
  • The universe where Jay and Miles work for Cassandra Nova
  • New X-Men #118-120
  • John Sublime (more) (again)
  • The U-Men
  • Psychic energy, gender-reveal party-style
  • The Stepford Cuckoos
  • One way to disperse a mob
  • An uncivil conversation
  • The death and/or discomfort of many U-Men
  • An awakening of sorts
  • Squaring the phoenix
  • Hank McCoy’s “coming out”

NEXT EPISODE: The Shi’ar invade!


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520 – Head Like a (Black) Hole

Illustration by David Wynne

In which several individuals are not what they seem; John Sublime sucks; Cyclops talks Xorn down from a cosmic ledge; we meet the inimitable Beak; and Cassandra Nova makes herself (limitedly) known.

X-PLAINED:

  • John Sublime
  • Marvelscope™
  • New X-Men 2001 Annual
  • New X-Men #117
  • Xorn
  • X-Corporation
  • The U-Men
  • Ao Jun (and his super gross mutant power)
  • Synchronized heists
  • Psychometry vs. telepathy
  • A big eventual twist
  • Beak (Barnell Bohusk)
  • A kiss
  • Some really fucked up use of telepathy
  • Some Moira MacTaggert continuity nonsense

NEXT EPISODE: U-Men vs. X-Men


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519 – Beautiful People With Incredible Powers

Illustration by David Wynne

In which we start the Morrison Run; Professor X gets his hands on Chekhov’s gun; Cassandra Nova raises X-villains to a new level of weird; and humanity is running on borrowed time.

X-PLAINED:

  • No-Girl
  • New X-Men #114-116
  • Grant Morrison and their approach to the X-Men
  • Superhero fashion
  • Cerebra
  • Beast’s new look
  • Ugly John
  • Interpersonal dynamics
  • Cassandra Nova (somewhat)
  • Donald Trask
  • Master Molds
  • Wild Sentinels
  • Emma Frost (more) (again)
  • Negasonic Teenage Warhead (the original)
  • The fall of Genosha
  • Secondary mutations
  • The most strapless bra of all time
  • The Black Bug Room
  • Summers problems
  • Official X-Men and the designation thereof
  • Wonder Man and mutants

NEXT EPISODE: Beast has a bad day


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518 – Mapping the X-Gene

In which Dr. Jey McCreight joins us to discuss all things X-Genetics!

X-PLAINED:

  • The genetics and taxonomy of Marvel’s merry mutants

NEXT EPISODE: The Morrison run begins!


Follow Dr. Jey on Bluesky, and check out Beyond X and Y!


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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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517 – Sliding Scale Ransom

In which we totally forgot to record a cold open (sorry); a lot of characters die (but not in Earth-616); Vampires may already be in command of America’s atomic arsenal; and we revisit a favorite.

X-PLAINED:

  • What If vol. 2 #9
  • What If vol. 2 #24
  • What If: Magik #1
  • Rahne Sinclair (moppet stage)
  • The deaths of the Silver Age and All-New-All-Different X-Men
  • Fancy television
  • Sliding-scale ransom
  • Then Ani-Men, somewhat
  • The Living LASER, somewhat
  • An orgy of satiation
  • Wolverine, Lord of the Vampires
  • Several highlights of Tarot: Witch of the Black Rose
  • Vampire nonsense
  • The Darkhold
  • The Montessi Formula
  • Some alligators
  • August 5
  • Frank Punisher, Vampire Hunter
  • What If vol. 2 #37 (briefly)
  • A kinder alternate history
  • A singularly beautiful montage
  • The Soul Staff
  • Summers family connections
  • How Wolverine climbs

NEXT EPISODE: Unspooling the X-Gene, with Dr. Jey McCreight!


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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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516 – The Evolution of Magneto (feat. Asher Elbein)

In which Asher Elbein joins us to discuss the complicated intersections between Magneto, big feelings, and international politics.

X-PLAINED:

  • Some complicated intersections between Magneto, big feelings, and international politics.

Check out links to some of what we discuss in this episode on our blog.

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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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515 – Origins

In which we do a thing and are not even sorry.

X-PLAINED:

  • X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Next Episode: Magneto, with Asher Elbein!


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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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514 – Plan 9 From Westchester

In which we provide some inroads to resisting fascism in your community; pacifism has amazing abs; Cyclops and Wolverine play revolutionary chicken; Amelia Voght fails to live up to her narrative potential; Jean Grey continues to make spectacularly bad choices; Polaris deserves better; and Wolverine finally gets to stab Magneto.

X-PLAINED:

  • Community action and aid
  • X-Men #112-113
  • Uncanny X-Men #393
  • Genosha (more) (again)
  • Northstar (more) (again)
  • Dazzler (more) (again)
  • Sunpyre (more) (again)
  • Hector Rendoza (more) (again)
  • Paulie Provenzano (more) (again)
  • Frenzy (more) (again)
  • Amelia Voght (more) (again)
  • St. Sebastian thirst traps
  • Sewer adventures
  • Post-Apocalypse Cyclops (more) (again)
  • Awkward conversations about feelings
  • Implausible knitting
  • The Age of Apocalypse X-Babies
  • A protracted confrontation
  • Bad strategy
  • A confusing ruse
  • Some stabbing
  • What happens to the unlikeliest X-Men
  • Jean Grey as Charles Xavier’s heir
  • Best potential uses of Hector Rendoza

NEXT EPISODE: The secret (retconned) origin of Wolverine!


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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!

Buy rad swag at our Dashery shop!