Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men

Tag: Blackbird

As Mentioned in Episode 514 – Plan 9 From Westchester

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Fun in the sewers! (X-Men #112)
Amelia Voght, fancy version. (X-Men #112)
Saint Sebastian got nothin’ on Charles Xavier. (X-Men #112)
Those rare moments when masks make sense! (X-Men #112)
Heh. (X-Men #112)
He gets things done. (X-Men #112)
Northstar X-Plains Eve of Destruction. (X-Men #112)
Poor Frenzy. (Uncanny X-Men #393)
This panel was a mistake. (Uncanny X-Men #393)
The Age of Apocalypse X-Babies. (Uncanny X-Men #393)
DAMNIT, WOLVERINE. (Uncanny X-Men #393)
Whoops. (Uncanny X-Men #393)
When in doubt, yeet your problems into space. (X-Men #113)
Wolverine has been trying for this moment for how long now? (X-Men #113)
Me, too, thanks. (X-Men #113)
NEXT EPISODE: Wolverine’s secret and oft-retconned origins!

LINKS & FURTHER READING:

If you’re interested in getting involved in community activism, here are some good places to start:

514 – Plan 9 From Westchester

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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!

Check out the visual companion to this episode on our blog.

Find us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify!

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

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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:

120 – Observed by a Family of Lizard People

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

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!

As Mentioned in Episode 44 – Assembling Legion, with Si Spurrier

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Art by David Wynne. Prints, cards, and travel mugs available until 2/22/2015 in the shop, or contact David for the original.
Ruth and Luca Aldine. (X-Men: Legacy vol. 2 #5)
Our introduction to Legion. (New Mutants #25)
Legion has consistently inspired some of the best covers in Marvel’s lineup. (New Mutants #26)
DON’T WEAR FRINGED BOOTS TO THE GYM, TOM CORSI. DON’T DO THAT. (New Mutants #26)
That creepy laughter is so awesome. (New Mutants #26)
VVTOOOOM! (New Mutants #26)
Warlock is the best ever, forever. (New Mutants #26)
WARLOCK IS THE BEST EVER, FOREVER. (New Mutants #26)
Not gonna lie: watching the White Queen take Empath to task was pretty satisfying. (New Mutants #26)
Warlock is not super good at being human, and it is charming as hell. (New Mutants #26)
In which Charles Xavier owns some fairly heinous shit. (New Mutants #26)
No, seriously: Legion covers are pretty much always top notch. (New Mutants #27)
Next time you watch Pink Floyd’s The Wall, pretend it’s about Legion and Professor X. It works surprisingly well. (New Mutants #27)
Jack, Jemail, Cyndi–and David. (New Mutants #27)
Legion’s mindscape. It’s not a Demon Bear, but it’ll do. (New Mutants #27)
Does Jack Wayne scare you? He should. (New Mutants #27)
Cyndi: your angry teenager’s inner angry teenager. (New Mutants #27)
Who needs nuance when you can straight-up stab a dude instead? (New Mutants #27)
Love, love, love this title page. (New Mutants #28)
Lee Forrester contemplates consent, power dynamics, and maybe also Lovecraftian horrors. (New Mutants #28)
The last panel is, of course, a lie. (New Mutants #28)
The first time Legion broke the Marvel Universe. (X-Men vol. 2 #41)
The second time Legion broke the Marvel Universe. (X-Men: Legacy vol. 1 #248)
Legion’s mental prison, at the beginning of X-Men: Legacy vol. 2 #1…
…and after the jailbreak in X-Men: Legacy vol. 2 #2.
The Origamist. (X-Men: Legacy vol. 2 #4)
It is entirely fair to judge X-Men: Legacy vol. 2 by Mike Del Mundo’s gorgeous, brilliant covers.
Seriously, look at this. They are all this good. (X-Men: Legacy vol. 2 #6)
Professor Y. (X-Men: Legacy vol. 2 #6)
Next Week: We were going to cover a whole bunch of X-Men, but we ended up spending the whole time talking about Storm and Lifedeath II. WE REGRET NOTHING.

LINKS AND FURTHER READING:

 

 

 

44 – Assembling Legion, with Si Spurrier

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Art by David Wynne. Prints, cards, and travel mugs available until 2/22/2015 in the shop, or contact David for the original.
Art by David Wynne. Prints, cards, and travel mugs available until 2/22/2015 in the shop, or contact David for the original.

In which Legion grows from setting to protagonist; Rachel is a master of narrative rationalization; “Claremont” is a verb; Warlock befriends an airplane; Xavier owns a significant mistake; New Mutants does a deep dive into power dynamics; you should go read X-Men: Legacy already; and Si reveals the true secret nature of reality.

X-PLAINED:

  • Blindfold (Ruth Aldine)
  • Luca Aldine
  • Legion (David Haller)
  • Mental illness in fiction
  • New Mutants #26-28
  • Socialized medicine
  • Appropriate gym apparel
  • Rachel’s favorite scene from any X-book, ever
  • Claremonting
  • Jack Wayne
  • Cyndi
  • Jemail Karami
  • Roughly 20 years of condensed continuity
  • The Age of Apocalypse
  • Age of X
  • X-Men: Legacy vol. 2
  • Father issues
  • David Haller’s accent
  • The Origamist
  • Santi Sardina
  • A visual metaphor
  • The true secret nature of reality
  • Professor Y
  • The Franklin Richards Universe Hypothesis

NEXT WEEK: Spotlight on Storm

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Find us on iTunes or Stitcher!

Support us on Patreon!

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

Rachel and Miles Review the X-Men, Episode 12

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Week of November 5, 2014

In which the stealth cosplay continues, and we are sidetracked by LEGOs.

Reviewed:

  • Axis #4 (2:26)
  • X-Men #21 (4:00)
  • X-Factor #16 (5:36)
  • Life After Logan #1 (7:58)
  • Death of Wolverine: Weapon X Program #1 (12:01)

Pick of the week:

  • LEGO Blackbird Playset (13:27)

Video reviews 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!

For more on the Stealth / Plainclothes Cosplay Contest (deadline TODAY – Friday, November 7), go here!