Archive for Uncategorized

As Mentioned in Episode 195 – Johnny Got His Robot Arm

April 29, 2018 Uncategorized No comments

Listen to the podcast here!

Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line!
LOOK AT ALL THOSE POUCHES. (X-Force #8)
And now for something completely different. (X-Force #8)
Fun fact: You can drop this dialogue into almost any panel involving Cable and at least one other character, and it’ll still work. (X-Force #8)
On one hand: Mignola is great. On the other hand: I have some questions about the decision to just straight-up draw Garrison Kane as Marlon Brando. (X-Force #8)
Aw, A.I.M., you wacky kids. (X-Force #8)
Cable’s sense of drama is ON POINT. (X-Force #8)
Domino is pretty genre-aware. (X-Force #9)
Not gonna lie: I dig Liefeld’s take on Blob. (X-Force #9)
If you weren’t imagining Feral’s line in the voice of a 10-year-old Danny Tamberelli, congratulations: you are now. (X-Force #9)
‘Kay. (X-Force #9)
And that, kids, is why balloon placements matter. (I mean, there are a lot of other reasons, too. But this is one of them.) (X-Force #9)
Stryfe’s armor doesn’t just have nipples. Stryfe’s armor has FOUR nipples. (X-Force #10)
Nothing is okay about this picture. (X-Force #10)
Speaking of likenesses, remember the time Cannonball was David Bowie? (X-Force #10)
NEXT EPISODE: Excalibur vs. the Anti-Phoenix!

LINKS & FURTHER READING

As Mentioned in Episode 189 – How Do You Solve a Problem Like Nate Summers?

March 21, 2018 Uncategorized 2 comments

Listen to the podcast here!

A day in the life of a never-nude pterosaur. (X-Force #5)
That’s a lot of teeth, Toad. (X-Force #5)
Somewhere, Bruce Banner has just felt a great disturbance in the force. (X-Force #5)
I keep changing my mind about my favorite part of this page. Right now, it’s Zero mugging facelessly at the reader. (X-Force #6)
Seriously, why does the Brotherhood have so many teeth? Are they EVIL TEETH? (X-Force #6)
Genuinely unsure whether Toad is supposed to have two or three rows of teeth in this one. (X-Force #6)
That’s a lot of bathtub. (X-Force #6)
My bad–on second look, they are not actually making PB&Js. (X-Force #6)
If I have to keep seeing these teeth, so do you. (X-Force #7)
t e e e e e e e e e e e e t h (X-Force #7)
Feral vs. Thornn. (X-Force #7)
It’s okay. He’ll be back. And possibly immortal? It’s complicated. (X-Force #7)
NEXT EPISODE: BLOODLUST!

LINKS & FURTHER READING:

Miles was on Panel on Panels!

February 28, 2017 Uncategorized 3 comments

This past weekend, Miles was on a live episode of the Panel on Panels podcast at Things From Another World‘s X-Men Day event.

Check it out, if you’re so inclined!

Site maintenance!

November 29, 2016 Uncategorized One comment

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Hello, all!

We’ll be switching to a new hosting provider tomorrow (11/30/16) evening to help our site and podcast feed better survive the onslaught of new-episode downloads each week.

The upside: new episodes will download more quickly and reliably!

The downside: because DNS changes can take some time to go through, our site and feed will be down for a while. Hopefully it’ll just be a few hours, but it could theoretically be up to two days.

So: if you plan on listening to episodes between Wednesday and Friday nights, now’s the time to download them!

-Miles

As Mentioned in Episode 122 – Boom Boom von Doom and the Ontology of Monsters

August 25, 2016 Uncategorized 3 comments

Listen to the episode here.

Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available at the shop, or contact David to purchase the original.
“Hey, let’s play Final Fantasy! You bring the drama and I’ll bring the fetch quest!” (Uncanny X-Men Annual #13)
Imagine a world where Boomslang showed up in Giant-Size X-Men #1 instead of Wolverine. IMAGINE IT. (Uncanny X-Men Annual #13)
“Brightly-colored pureed veggies – my only weakness!” (Uncanny X-Men Annual #13)
This is the happiest Longshot will ever be. (Uncanny X-Men Annual #13)
Namorita’s pretty awesome, but… why would you wear that underwater? (New Mutants Annual #5)
Please note Undertow’s tastefully covered nipples. He’s a gentleman. (New Mutants Annual #5)
I believe the sound effect you’re looking for is TOOT, Ghaur. Are you even trying? (New Mutants Annual #5)
I’ll give you this, Rob: you draw a pretty awesome weird-Fizzgig-monster-thing. (New Mutants Annual #5)
In which John Byrne’s writing and art are two great tastes that taste great together. (X-Factor Annual #4)
Come on, Attuma – didn’t you read Avengers #263 and Fantastic Four #286? (X-Factor Annual #4)
“No time to process your deep-seated trauma at watching half your friends die – time to punch my dad!” (X-Factor Annual #4)
FUCK YEAH JEAN GREY (X-Factor Annual #4)
I mean, there’s really no subtlety here. It’s just straight-up the Blues Brothers. (X-Factor Annual #4)
Hey, it’s that guy! (X-Factor Annual #4)
I mean, this panel is fine, but it mainly makes me miss Marc Silvestri. (X-Factor Annual #4)
Watch out for Magneto’s brain-hat! (X-Factor Annual #4)
And also watch out for Doom’s brain-face! (X-Factor Annual #4)
Magneto’s backstory: more tragedy than any three Lifetime movies. (Seriously, though – poor guy.) (X-Factor Annual #4)
Everything about Boom Boom and Rictor’s body language is perfect. Jon Bogdanove, please draw both of them forever. (New Mutants Annual #5)
Tabitha Smith, living cartoon. (New Mutants Annual #5)
No caption can add to the perfection that is this sequence. (New Mutants Annual #5)
Do you know how many coats it takes to get adamantium to hold color? (New Mutants Annual #5)
This narration? Yeah, the entire story’s like this. And it is PERFECT. (Uncanny X-Men Annual #13)
Amid all the motormouth bluster, Jubilee basically just wants friends. Aww, kid. (Uncanny X-Men Annual #13)
The origin of both the best costume parts Jubilee didn’t keep and the best part she did. (Uncanny X-Men Annual #13)
Next time: the X-Babies! (Excalibur: Mojo Mayhem)

As Mentioned in Episode 119 – Red Night of the Soul (Feat. Elisabeth Allie)

August 1, 2016 Uncategorized One comment

Listen to the episode here!

Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available at the shop, or contact David to purchase the original.
“So you’re saying she’s definitely not my actual, literal grandmother, right? Cool; glad we made that absolutely, incontrovertibly clear.” (New Mutants #53)
Previously, on New Mutants… (New Mutants Forever #1)
“I mean, I know things are urgent what with the gunfight we’re trying to stop, but those old outfits were so 1987.” (New Mutants Forever #1)
Hela’s presence makes any scene in which she appears at least 20% more epic than it would otherwise have been. I mean, damn – that hat, right? (New Mutants Forever #1)
Remember when Magneto and the New Mutants were actually capable of completing a conversation without Sunspot throwing something? (New Mutants Forever #1)
Absorbing that wretch’s life-force also gave her a gift certificate to Frederick’s of Hollywood. (New Mutants Forever #1)
I personally think Warlock is hotter as a Sienkiewicz-style asymmetrical scribble-monster, but tastes vary. (New Mutants Forever #2)
Roberto’s pretty perfect, but what’s up with Warlock’s generic robot form? You’re better than this, Warlock. (New Mutants Forever #2)
Nice visual continuity work, Al Rio. Seriously. (New Mutants Forever #2)
Okay, that’s legitimately horrifying. It’s a good thing nothing bad ever happened to Doug Ramsey in mainstream continuity. (New Mutants Forever #2)
“Selene… What the hell are they wearing?” “I… I have no idea, kids.” (New Mutants Forever #3)
This would be disturbing regardless, but Rio’s rendition of Warlock as more purely mechanical makes his injuries that much more viscerally cringe-inducing. (New Mutants Forever #3)
The art / dialogue disconnect here makes me giggle every time. (New Mutants Forever #3)
Limbo as we’ve never seen it. (New Mutants Forever #3)
Red Skull, you are officially a terrible person. Ew. (New Mutants Forever #4)
Okay, that’s actually pretty awesome. A little silly, sure, but still pretty awesome. (New Mutants Forever #4)
I AM SO UNCOMFORTABLE RIGHT NOW (New Mutants Forever #4)
Cool, Warlock got Muscular Augments and Grooved Spines! (New Mutants Forever #4)
Pathos, thy name is skullified-Doug-in-tighty-whities. (New Mutants Forever #4)
Hey, Amara’s not wearing her weird Nazi fetish outfit anymore! …Oh, she’s still mind-controlled. Damn. (New Mutants Forever #4)
This battle sequence is rad, but I wish we could swap out a couple of those Nova Romans for Dani and Rahne. (New Mutants Forever #5)
Eh, it’s only a bullet to the head. She’ll be fine by the next page. (New Mutants Forever #5)
“I’ll beat you with my fists and my knowledge of first century Roman political history!” (New Mutants Forever #5)
Weirdly, the most perfectly on-model characters in New Mutants Forever aren’t actually the New Mutants. (New Mutants Forever #5)
This was a really weird episode of House, MD. (New Mutants Forever #5)
Next time: even more Nazis. (Excalibur #9)

LINKS:

  • Check out guest host Elisabeth Allie’s blog!
  • And: check out the band she represents, the Doubleclicks: a nationally touring, Billboard charting pop band with a cello, a meowing cat keyboard, and songs about Dungeons and Dragons!

Double Gatefold Foil Die-Cut Skip Week: Collector’s Edition

July 6, 2016 Uncategorized 21 comments

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Miles here!

So: we were planning to record episode 117 this past Saturday (giving us our usual eight days of time for editing, post-production, proofing, and patching) – things were going to be a little tighter than usual for our producer Kyle since he was traveling during the second part of the week, but he volunteered to kick extra ass around his day job to get the episode done around his trip.

Aaaaand then Jay very suddenly got very sick, and between our schedule and Kyle’s, by the time it became clear that they weren’t going to be able to record, it was too late to find an emergency back-up co-host, do the prep we’d need for a guest, and record and produce an episode.

All of that to say: we’ll be recording episode 117 a week later than we planned, which means it’s going up a week later. Jay’s going to be fine and we’re going to do what we can to make sure this doesn’t happen again, but we won’t have a new episode this coming Sunday.

Apologies to all of you – and thanks for your understanding. In the meantime, we’ll have video reviews up at the usual times this and next week, and episode 117 will be up on July 17th.

ECCC Show Diary: Day 3

April 10, 2016 Uncategorized 5 comments

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Jay here. It’s a little after 1 AM, and I have to be back on the con floor in about eight hours, so this is gonna be short.

Today started with the always-fantastic “Taking Fandom Seriously” panel. This is the second year Andréa has put this panel together, and it’s incredibly fun: a group of hardcore fans who also work in comics–in creative or publishing capacities, or as a field of academic study–talking about bridging and occupying those worlds simultaneously. The take-away both years has basically been “there are so many cool ways to engage with things you love.” <3

The bookend on the other end was our meetup / second birthday party at Phoenix Comics. You turned out like whoa, we reprised the Hamilton cold open from the live panel yesterday, and I GOT A COMICS SHOP FULL OF PEOPLE TO SING THE X-MEN ’92 THEME SONG TOGETHER, which was something I did not even realize had been a life goal until it had happened. And then there was SO MUCH CAKE. (For the folks who asked: the cake came from Little Rae’s Bakery, and they were awesome to work with.)

If there’s anything the party drove home, it’s how awesome our people are: the listeners who turned out, our stupendously wonderful hosts, all the friends and fans and pros and–look, I’m tired and slightly tipsy, but I’m getting kinda teary just writing this. You are amazing, and seeing y’all concentrated in one place, celebrating and being splendid, was a pretty damn special way to close out the night.

(Actually, we closed out the night by migrating to a nearby bar and getting fancy Scotch and absolutely brilliant breaded-tofu sandwiches. I realize that doesn’t sound very appetizing, but trust me: they were stupendous.)

PHOTOS AHOY:

I got the Monster Scouts "Wicked Specs" merit badge. (And then I colored 'em in with a red sharpie. Is anyone surprised? Yeah, I didn't think so.)

On my way back from the panel, I picked up a Monster Scouts “Wicked Specs” merit badge. (And then I colored ’em in with a red sharpie. Is anyone surprised? Yeah, I didn’t think so.)

The sharpie kinda bled, but I've decided I can No-Prize that away as energy spillover.

The sharpie kinda bled, but I’ve decided I can No-Prize that away as energy spillover.

Speaking of sharpies, I'm really happy with the L in this knuckle tat, for my friend Ryan. (It's a reference to his game Katanas and Trenchcoats.)

Speaking of sharpies, I’m really happy with the L in this knuckle tat, for my friend Ryan. (It’s a reference to his game Katanas and Trenchcoats.)

People kept telling me about the X-Men dogs, but I only saw them in passing until today. In addition to being ridiculously adorable, they are also super chill and friendly.

People kept telling me about the X-Men dogs, but I only saw them in passing until today. In addition to being ridiculously adorable, they are also super chill and friendly.

We did a BUNCH of bad X-Men sketches, but this matched set, in someone's zine, are my favorites of the day: My Kitty...

We did a BUNCH of bad X-Men sketches, but this matched set, in someone’s zine, are my favorites of the day: My Shadowcat…

...and Miles's Magik.

…and Miles’s Magik.

Alison, as our Sunglasses fairy, at the party!

Allison, as our Sunglasses fairy, at the party!

CAKE!

CAKE!

With Nick and Simon, our awesome hosts at Phoenix Comics!

With Nick and Simon, our awesome hosts at Phoenix Comics!

Lush stuff I tried today: The Hand of Friendship soap smells a LOT like cherry Starbursts; and the Cynthia Sylvia Stout shampoo + Veganese conditioner combo left my hair ludicrously soft and smelled pretty great.

Lush stuff I tried today: The Hand of Friendship soap smells a LOT like cherry Starbursts; and the Cynthia Sylvia Stout shampoo + Veganese conditioner combo left my hair ludicrously soft and smelled pretty great.

As Mentioned in Episode 93 – The Discreet Charm of the Brood

January 24, 2016 Uncategorized 5 comments

Listen to the episode here.

Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available at the shop, or contact David to purchase the original.
JEEZ, MOM.
Just… don’t get on planes if you’re a mutant. It’s not worth it.
Nature is terrible.
Ever kiss somebody so hard that you set the world on fire? Well, probably not, unless you’re Magma.
Okay, that’s just adorable.
It’s not that knives aren’t intimidating…
Did we mention that this issue was awesome? This issue is awesome.
There’s so much going on here.
“And after this, I’m going to go record an album with Epica.”
Poor Kitty. Poor Illyana. Poor everybody.
Damn, Blevins. Not bad.
This is… This is going to be fine.
THIS IS GOING TO BE FINE.
“Did I say Epica? I meant Iced Earth.”
Okay, that’s just badass.
Maybe Forge is channeling ancient Cheyenne magic… or maybe he just wanted translucent furry pants.
SYMBOLISM.
Stryfe: *slow clap*
And then the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come showed up.
NEXT WEEK: Pryde of the X-Men with Elisabeth Allie!

Rachel and Miles Review the X-Men, Episode 32

April 10, 2015 reviews, Uncategorized, video 13 comments

Week of April 8, 2015 (and one from last week)

In which we are weirdly on-theme fashion-wise; Cyclops ends on a high note; we are pretty done with the Black Vortex; and you probably shouldn’t invoke Generation Hope without at least a footnote.

NOTE: Cyclops and Captain Marvel reviews contain spoilers.

REVIEWED:

  • *Cyclops #12 (0:41)
  • Captain Marvel #14 (5:30)
  • Storm #10 (9:07)

*Pick of the week (12:29)

Rachel 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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