Bishop – Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men

As Mentioned in Episode 512 – You Can Get Anything You Want at Stryfe’s Restaurant

January 18, 2026 Jay 4 comments

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Collector’s got nothin’ on the Witness. (Gambit & Bishop: Sons of the Atom #3)

Honestly, I would read seven issues of just these weirdos hanging out in a diner. (Gambit & Bishop: Sons of the Atom #3)

Thank you for that helpful visual, Bishop. (Gambit & Bishop: Sons of the Atom #4)

Of course. (Gambit & Bishop: Sons of the Atom #4)

IT JUST DOESN’T STOP BEING FUNNY. (Gambit & Bishop: Sons of the Atom #4)

And that’s why you always leave a note. (Gambit & Bishop: Sons of the Atom #4)

Cable’s costume at least implicitly places this series before The Search for Cyclops. (Gambit & Bishop: Sons of the Atom #5)

Stryfe X-Plains Le Bête Noir. (Gambit & Bishop: Sons of the Atom #5)

*not a euphemism (Gambit & Bishop: Sons of the Atom #6)

Next time we see Stryfe, he’ll be back at his old-school villainous ways. (Gambit & Bishop: Sons of the Atom #6)

NEXT EPISODE: Summers family bullshit.

512 – You Can Get Anything You Want at Stryfe’s Restaurant

January 18, 2026 Jay 11 comments

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In which it’s rude to eat in a helmet; Cable does his best villain bit; Bishop is clearly unfamiliar with early X-Force; we’re pretty sure clones still count as people; and Stryfe is the surprise MVP of Gambit & Bishop: Sons of the Atom.

X-PLAINED:

Another time Stryfe and Bishop teamed up
Gambit & Bishop: Sons of the Atom #3-6
Some of the Witness’s fancy swag
An extremely awkward meal
Stryfe in four pages
Unsubtle foreshadowing
The relative ethics of killing Stryfe
A visual representation of time
Somewhat logical consequences
Bad clone ethics
Future uncertainty
Le Bête Noir
Hell-lord / anti-Phoenix disambiguation
A fancy t-shirt
The appropriate amount of mean to be to Stryfe
When Gambit and Bishop: Sons of the Atom takes place relative to The Search for Cyclops (more) (again) (inconclusive)
Reasons not to live under a crypt in New Orleans
Betty Noir’s
Relative (fictional) body counts
Business-casual Stryfe
Lucas Bishop, kitten guy
Relitigating the X-traitor

NEXT EPISODE: Eve of Destruction (and some bonus Summers family bullshit)

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As Mentioned in Episode 511 – Night Science

January 11, 2026 Jay Leave a comment

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I feel like this is a motif that’s shown up on more than one cover, but I can’t remember the others off the top of my head. (Gambit and Bishop: Sons of the Atom Alpha)

That’s rough, buddy; but also the top panel has significant clues to both the series’ place in continuity AND what’s up with Bishop! (Gambit and Bishop: Sons of the Atom Alpha)

Ah, yes, the famous tiger-print symbiotes. (Gambit and Bishop: Sons of the Atom Alpha)

Daaaamn, Jeanty. (Gambit and Bishop: Sons of the Atom #1)

Well, that certainly is a device. (Gambit and Bishop: Sons of the Atom #1)

A somewhat less silly view of Bishop’s symbiote. (Gambit and Bishop: Sons of the Atom #1)

Because who doesn’t need a picture of Charles Xavier getting kicked in the head every now and then? (Gambit and Bishop: Sons of the Atom #1)

Cute, but would’ve been better with little birdies. (Gambit and Bishop: Sons of the Atom #1)

NOW KISS (Gambit and Bishop: Sons of the Atom #1)

I love his entirely pointless voluminous curtains. (Gambit and Bishop: Sons of the Atom #2)

Right hand of doom! (Gambit and Bishop: Sons of the Atom #2)

NEXT EPISODE: Stryfe in a diner!

LINKS & FURTHER HORRORS

511 – Night Science

January 11, 2026 Jay 4 comments

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In which we unapologetically ship Gambit and Bishop; pelicans are deeply alarming birds; Charles Xavier watches your sex dreams; the Witness is a Whole Continuity Thing; and the T’ieves Guild is really just here to steal your stuff.

X-PLAINED:

Destiny’s frequently retconned diaries
Midi series
Gambit (more) (again)
Bishop (more) (again)
Gambit and Bishop: Sons of the Atom Alpha
Gambit and Bishop: Sons of the Atom #1-2
When Gambit and Bishop: Sons of the Atom takes place relative to The Search for Cyclops
Some things pelicans get up to
An upsetting dream
Ethics of telepathy (more) (again)
Night science
Some of what Stryfe has been up to
French nouns
A theoretical Orphan Black video game
The Witness (LeBeau) (more) (again)
The Witness Cave
How to make Bishop a more central X-character
The relative importance of T’ieves Guild continuity

NEXT EPISODE: Stryfe in a diner!

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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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As Mentioned in Episode 508 – Destiny’s Doodles

December 7, 2025 Jay 2 comments

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A quick workout with Charles Xavier. (Uncanny X-Men #389)

At my funeral, I want a kazoo band. (Uncanny X-Men #389)

Joe Mactaggert is a jerk. (Uncanny X-Men #389)

Rachel’s actually okay, but Kitty doesn’t know that yet. (Uncanny X-Men #389)

DAMNIT. (Uncanny X-Men #389)

I wonder how weird and specific Destiny’s diaries get. (Uncanny X-Men #389)

Bad times. (Uncanny X-Men #389)

Is this a bit? (X-Men #109)

They’re gonna hook up, and then everyone’s going to forget that Thunderthird ever existed. Poor guy. (X-Men #109)

Ye Olde Hot Chocolate Hall. (X-Men #109)

Seriously, though, what the hell? (X-Men #109)

Oh, my. (X-Men #109)

I love that instead of making the holy family generally mutant-looking, they straight-up used X-Men statues. (X-Men #109)

Coming soon: X-Treme X-Men! (X-Men #109)

Based on size, maybe it’s a box of tissues? (X-Men #109)

Wellp. (X-Men #109)

BEHOLD YOUR LEGACY (X-Men #109)

NEXT EPISODE: Colossus dies!

508 – Destiny’s Doodles

December 7, 2025 Jay 9 comments

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In which Professor Xavier is a jock; all of Shadowcat’s friends are dead; Storm recruits a team; Bishop makes new pals; and everyone gets festive.

X-PLAINED:

Some of Mystique’s secret kids
Uncanny X-Men #389
X-Men #109
Charles Xavier’s workout routine
Two funerals
Rave (the drug)
The wrong necklace
Destiny’s doodles
A large knife
Charles Xavier/Moira MacTaggert backstory
A snowball fight
A very sketchy circus
A break-up
“Christmas cheer”
A mysterious package
An X-Men nativity
Sage (Tessa)
Origins of X-Treme X-Men
Several gifts, some more mysterious than others
Charles Xavier’s legacy
Warwolves (more) (again)
Archangel’s color vision

NEXT EPISODE: Colossus dies!

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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!

As Mentioned in Episode 503 – Dream’s Anticlimax

October 19, 2025 Jay 3 comments

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No, seriously. (Uncanny X-Men #388)

Ouch. (Uncanny X-Men #388)

A nonspecific explosion. (Uncanny X-Men #388)

So large. (Cable #87)

no but seriously how (Cable #87)

Bye, Post. (Cable #87)

One of his teammates has to draw the tattoo on every morning with a sharpie. (Bishop: The Last X-Man #16)

Every time they watch a movie, Wolverine carefully explains to his teammates that it’s not real. (Bishop: The Last X-Man #16)

Mother of the year. (Bishop: The Last X-Man #16)

Now kiss! (X-Men #108)

This is not subtext, although it may be an anagram of subtext. (X-Men #108)

NEXT EPISODE: SKA!

503 – Dream’s Anticlimax

October 19, 2025 Jay 5 comments

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In which history repeats itself; Senator Kelly prevaricates (and then dies); Magneto keeps the cape on; Mystique does evil science; Post remains irrelevant (and then dies); Pyro saves the day (and then dies); Cable is a large man; Moira MacTaggert does the astral nasty (and then dies); and we really, really, really want to go to Froggy World.

X-PLAINED:

Moira MacTaggert’s mutation
A dubious plan
Evidence that we are in the wrong universe
Other crossovers named “Dream’s End”
A significant disclaimer
Uncanny X-Men #388
Cable #87
Bishop: The Last X-Men #16
X-Men #108
A surprise presidential platform
Sir Gordon Phillips and his guests
The new Brotherhood of Mutants
Cable’s hair
A lot of movie allusions
An ambiguous explosion
A deeply pointless retcon
An illusion
Cable’s psimitar
Pyro’s last stand
Dickalogue
Astral sex
The (apparent) death of Moira MacTaggert
A weird bonding moment in a cemetery
How to identify a time traveler
The (actual) death of Senator Robert Kelly
Mutant-free parts of the Marvel Universe
Froggy World

NEXT EPISODE: Generation X!

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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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502 – Milkshakes of Despair (Maximum Security, Part 2 of 2)

October 12, 2025 Jay 2 comments

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In which t’ieves and assassins dress to impress; Bishop returns; Rogue and Carol Danvers have a moment; and the revolution will be stored on compact disc.

X-PLAINED:

The New Son
The First Half of Maximum Security
Gambit #23
X-Men #107
X-Men Unlimited #29
Maximum Security #3 (briefly)
Several of Gambit’s buddies
How to dress for… stealth? I guess?
Heth’sa of the planet Culth
Where Carl the X-Cutioner got his silly outfit
A heist
How to restore your lost honor without messing up the timeline
12-18 milkshakes
What Colossus is into these days
Vampire clowns (maybe)
Z’Cann
The Blood Brothers
Vibes memories
A big fight
A touching moment of touching
Mechamage, briefly
Quasar, superficially
Cadre K
The Skrull cows
Writing for the trade vs. podcast pacing
Limits of power-cancelling accessories

NEXT EPISODE: Dream’s Rather Anticlimactic End!

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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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As Mentioned in Episode 501 – A Bag of Cloacae (Maximum Security, Part 1 of 2)

October 12, 2025 Miles Leave a comment

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Now that we look at them again, the D’Bari were really more Asparagus People than Broccoli People. (Uncanny X-Men #387)

What’s wrong with this picture? (Uncanny X-Men #387)

…I mean, Corsair does make some good points. (Uncanny X-Men #387)

In honor of Cerise: lip massage time! (Uncanny X-Men #387)

“C’mon, mess with us – make our day!!” (Uncanny X-Men #387)

Hey, it’s a Darkmantle! And also yet another instance of a character getting swallowed and slimed! (Uncanny X-Men #387)

That panel reference, though. (Uncanny X-Men #387)

In which Max Power discovers raves. (Iron Man #35)

In which Max Power improves raves. (Iron Man #35)

It’s magic dirt. (Iron Man #35)

What I love is that this scene implies that the spore of Ego the Living Planet has a detailed understanding of retro-idyllic middle America. (Iron Man #35)