Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men

As Mentioned in Episode 120 – Observed by a Family of Lizard People

August 8, 2016 Jay 8 comments

Listen to the episode here.

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

Hi, there. (Excalibur #8)

They’re totally a girl gang, though, right? (Excalibur #8)

Ouch. (Excalibur #8)

Hi, Brian. (Excalibur #8)

Seriously, it’s never not funny. (Excalibur #8)

I want a statue of this cover SO BAD. (Excalibur #9)

Meet Lightning Force: The Nazi Excalibur you really, really don’t need in your life. (Excalibur #9)

The many faces of Meggan (and some slightly disastrous sound effects from Brian). (Excalibur #9)

Alastaire Stuart and his banana. (Excalibur #9)

Kittys Pryde. (Excalibur #9)

HI, BRIAN. (Excalibur #10)

Just gal pals, pallin’ around. (Excalibur #11)

If I had a dollar for every time this had happened… (Excalibur #11)

Well, then. (Excalibur #11)

Sure, why not? (Excalibur #11)

NEXT EPISODE: Deadpool v Gambit, with Ben Acker!

LINKS & FURTHER READING:

How the X-Men’s Blackbird Compares to the Original SR-71

120 – Observed by a Family of Lizard People

August 8, 2016 Jay 24 comments

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In which everything is worse with Nazis; Excalibur gets its groove back; Meggan has an identity crisis; Kitty gets a crush; a dragon gets interdimensional sanctuary; and the Cross-Time Caper starts not with a bang, but a foomp.

X-PLAINED:

The death of Lilandra Neramani
Excalibur #8-11
The best name in Hollywood
Still more of Inferno’s aftermath
A basketball game
Blackbird disambiguation
Several long-delayed reunions and one subsequent resolution
Alastaire Stuart (and his banana)
Tourists who are also lizards
Lightning Force
A number of unfortunate encounters
The difference between Errol Flynn characters and Errol Flynn
The fall of Nigel Frobisher
The switch that turns the engine invisible
What may be the world’s least subtle euphemistic use of the term “roommate”
How the discourse around comics has changed since the ’80s
Jubilee vs. power creep

NEXT EPISODE: Deadpool v Gambit, with Ben Acker!

You can find a visual companion to this episode on our blog!

Find us on iTunes, Google Play, or Stitcher!

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 prints of this week’s illustration at our shop, or contact David Wynne for the original!

Jay & Miles Review the X-Men, Episode 95

August 4, 2016 Jay 4 comments

Week of August 3, 2016

In which Uncanny X-Men is somewhat underserved by its art; Deadpool V Gambit remains a delightful confection; and Jay participates via captions.

REVIEWED:

Uncanny X-Men #11 (00:44)
*Deadpool V Gambit #3 (05:36)

*Pick of the Week (08:57)

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

August 1, 2016 Miles 2 comments

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!

119 – Red Night of the Soul (feat. Elisabeth Allie)

August 1, 2016 Jay 22 comments

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In which Elisabeth hacks the Matrix; Magneto is the worst at small talk; Hela overreaches; parents just don’t understand human speech; everything is better with super-rings; Selene has a Xena moment; almost anything can be solved with a kiss; and even if you transform Doug Ramsey into a giant red murder monster, he’ll still be a huge nerd.

X-PLAINED:

The S-Men
New Mutants Forever #1-5
Magma’s revised family tree
Updating the New Mutants
The delicate balance of the Forever line
The web
Idiom confusion
A flawed cultural analogy
Tiberius the Generic
Several profoundly dubious costumes
Family resemblance
Skull v. Skull
The dearth of canonically asexual X-characters

NEXT EPISODE: Different Nazis

Miles here – in one of the questions for this episode, I conflated asexuality and aromanticness. Those are totally two different things. Apologies – I’m still learning!

You can find a visual companion to this episode on our blog!

Find us on iTunes, Google Play, or Stitcher!

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 prints of this week’s illustration at our shop, or contact David Wynne for the original!

Jay & Miles Review the X-Men, Episode 94

July 28, 2016 Jay 12 comments

Week of 7/27/2016:

In which another chapter of Apocalypse Wars wraps up; X-Men ’92 takes on time travel; Old Man Logan has lady problems; and we have a lot of feelings about Ghostbusters.

REVIEWED:

Extraordinary X-Men #12 (01:10)
*X-Men ’92 #5 (07:41)
Old Man Logan #9 (12:06)

*Pick of the Week (19:48)

Filmed at Books With Pictures in Portland, OR.

Come join us on Imzy!

Buy stuff at the shop!

As Mentioned in Episode 118 – Extrude the Grappling Arms!

July 24, 2016 Jay 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.

Elaine Grey as drawn by Rob Liefeld. (X-Factor #40)

Perspective? What perspective? (X-Factor #40)

Remember, this is supposed to be taking place inside the cockpit of a fairly small airplane. (X-Factor #40)

Nanny, X-Plained. (X-Factor #40)

Trolls, trollin.’ (X-Factor #41)

“Just, um, don’t call Magneto. He’s a supervillain. Anything he says about us is probably a lie.” (X-Factor #41)

Well, that escalated quickly. (X-Factor #41)

Sure, why not? (X-Factor #41)

The future mutant messiah. (X-Factor #42)

Meanwhile in Excalibur, other stuff. (X-Factor #42)

This is also a problem in Portland. (X-Factor #42)

I like this kid. He makes good choices. (X-Factor #42)

NEXT EPISODE: Miles and Elisabeth X-Plain New Mutants Forever!

LINKS:

Go follow the Ravenmaster on Twitter. He is absolutely delightful.
We talked about The Dark Is Rising with Kurt Busiek in Episode 21 – Kurt Busiek at the Coffee-a-Go-Go.

118 – Extrude the Grappling Arms!

July 24, 2016 Jay 41 comments

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | RSS

In which you really can’t compete with Cable; the X-Men may or may not ditch a funeral; Nanny extrudes the grappling arms; Boom Boom is more responsible than she looks; Jean Grey is the cool stepmom; we posit an alternate explanation for Brexit; and ravens are the best dinosaurs.

X-PLAINED:

What happened to the Inferno babies
X-Factor #40-42
Madelyne Pryor’s funeral
Post-Inferno X-Factor
Archangel’s inconsistent appearance
Secret origins of Nanny and the Orphanmaker
Teenagers (more) (again)
Tom Jones (Alchemy)
Conversations we probably shouldn’t have with Neal Conan
Trolls of London
Dubious super-parenting
Phy
Phay
Phee
Phough
Phumm
Troll economics
A grocery list
The Ravenmaster
Miles’s mom

NEXT EPISODE: Miles and Elisabeth X-Plain New Mutants Forever!

You can find a visual companion to this episode on our blog!

Find us on iTunes, Google Play, or Stitcher!

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 prints of this week’s illustration at our shop, or contact David Wynne for the original!

Jay & Tea Review the X-Men, Episode 93

July 21, 2016 Jay 9 comments

Week of July 20, 2016:

In which we take the show on the road; Uncanny X-Men wraps up Apocalypse Wars; All-New Wolverine is a four-generation masterpiece; and Jay and Tea totally made Summers Bears.