excalibur – Page 4 – Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men

286 – Family Before Continuity

February 23, 2020 Jay 16 comments

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Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line!

In which Sunspot is a bad enough dude to save the president; Black Air is nowhere near as fun as WHO; we reach the end of Fabian Nicieza’s X-Force run; Rictor and Shatterstar talk about feelings; Gambit does not go gently into that good night; Scott and Jean choose family over continuity; Legion Quest comes to a close, along with Earth-616; the heart of Dawn of X is its margins; you should come see us at ECCC; and we announce a new schedule.

X-PLAINED:

The Maker (Reed Richards of Earth-1610)
Jay & Miles at ECCC and FlameCon 2020
Stuff Jay writes
Excalibur #86
X-Force #43
Cable #20
Black Air
Pete Wisdom
What’s been up in Genosha
The Midnight Runner
Navigating Kitty Pryde’s age in Excalibur
A very abrupt ending
The ongoing evolution of X-Force
Locus’s new look
Clubbing with Rictor and Shatterstar
Legion Quest so far
Complicated feelings at the end of the world
A reunion
Where it all started
Vague power sets
Complicated feelings about Dawn of X
The new podcast schedule

NEXT EPISODE: The Age of Apocalypse

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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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Come see us at ECCC, March 12-15!

As Mentioned in Episode 276 – Wizard Problems

December 8, 2019 Jay Leave a comment

Listen to the podcast here.

Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line!

I’m still kind of angry that this isn’t the interior art style. (Excalibur #83)

But are there roller skates? (Excalibur #83)

Still creepy; still cool. (Excalibur #83)

‘Kay. (Excalibur #83)

There’s something very Philip Bond about this pair of panels; and I, for one, am here for it. (Excalibur #83)

Ew. (Excalibur #83)

Evil Kitty’s hair is SO GREAT. (Excalibur #84)

Seriously. So. Excellent. (Excalibur #84)

Is it, though? (Excalibur #84)

Purple on purple. (Excalibur #84)

“Magic, subtext, whatever.” (Excalibur #84)

Choices, choices. (Excalibur #84)

It’s like when a character has been written out of a show but the actor’s contract isn’t up so they have to keep doing flashbacks. (Excalibur #85)

Starring Eliot Spencer as Wolverine. (Excalibur #85)

That’s just… not true. Like, at all. (Excalibur #85)

AND THAT’S WHY YOU ALWAYS LEAVE A NOTE (Excalibur #85)

Next Episode: Jorts Unlimited!

LINKS & FURTHER DIVERSIONS:

You can hear all about the time Margali made Kurt his own personal hell in Episode 134 – Live at Vegas Valley Comic Book Festival.
The Raven probably isn’t a good film; but it is a delightful one.
Here’s Max’s significantly funnier take on Tarot’s potential.
Jay co-wrote a Thor novel! You can pre-order it here, if you are so inclined.

276 – Wizard Problems

December 8, 2019 Jay 11 comments

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In which Excalibur gets a regular writer again; we judge a book against against its covers; nothing good ever comes from being sexy on Muir Isle; and the soul sword’s real power is cutting through continuity.

X-PLAINED:

Stegron
Dinosaur powers
Excalibur #83-85 (The Soul Sword Trilogy)
Warren Ellis on Excalibur
Excalibur (more) (again)
Bends Sinister and Bend Sinister
Outsider days
Mail
Boundaries
Darkoth
Gravemoss
The Winding Way
Shrill
A problematic prosthesis
Roger Corman’s The Raven
A large number of continuity errors
Gratuitous dickery
An untold tale
The semantics of skin removal
Possession vs. retrograde amnesia
The circle of nostalgia

NEXT EPISODE: Jorts Unlimited!

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

Find us on iTunes 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!

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As Mentioned in Episode 272 – Children of the Phalanx

November 17, 2019 Jay Leave a comment

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Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line!

(X-Factor #106)

Damn skippy. (X-Factor #106)

Ew. (X-Factor #106)

Okay, the Phalanx is legitimately both cool and scary here. (X-Factor #106)

The looks on their respective faces really make this panel. (X-Factor #106)

R.I.P. (X-Factor #106)

Oh, THESE jerks. Again. (X-Factor #106)

Forge-o-Vision involves a lot of lucite rods, apparently. (X-Factor #106)

Douglock X-Plains the Phalanx. (X-Factor #106)

Spoiler: It’s all Phalanx. (X-Force #38)

My kingdom for this panel as drawn by Barry Windsor-Smith. (X-Force #38)

HE LOOKS LIKE A DINOSAUR OKAY (X-Force #38)

The Babel Spire has some serious Inferno vibes. (Excalibur #82)

Oh, yeah, this DEFINITELY ends well. (Excalibur #82)

Presenting: The stealth team. (Excalibur #82)

NEXT EPISODE: The Summers family goes rock climbing.

272 – Children of the Phalanx (the Phalanx Covenant, Part 2 of 3)

November 10, 2019 Jay 19 comments

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In which Ship was inside Cable all along; Life Signs is the Two Towers of the Phalanx Covenant (but only in the bad ways), it’s lucky that the Phalanx doesn’t have WiFi; Nightcrawler embraces chaos; and we promise the crossover gets better next chapter.

X-PLAINED:

How Cable got his Ship back
Miles’s official stance on candy corn
The Two Towers of the Phalanx Covenant
X-Factor #106
X-Force #38
Excalibur #82
A monastery party
Douglock (more) (again)
Forge-O-Vision
How Steven Lang got mixed up with the Phalanx
Stages of Phalanx development
Babel
Giuseppe Russo, shepherd
The Phalanx, but dogs
Shinar
What you get when you meet a stranger in the Alps
Whom we’d like to see draw the Phalanx
Mindwifery
Adulthood
“Stealth”
Where baby Phalanxes come from
Teamwork
Good stories about Hope Summers
What happened to Paul Bailey

NEXT EPISODE: Rock climbing with the Summers Family

Check out the visual companion to 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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As Mentioned in Episode 268 – Disquettes

October 13, 2019 Miles Leave a comment

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Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line!

Back to the Future made time travel seem like so much more fun. (Excalibur #81)

I love Christmas traditions! Red and green outfits, walks on the beach, having the lighthouse that was destroyed in a climactic multiversal event suddenly exist again for no good reason… (Excalibur #81)

I kind of love these weirdos. (Excalibur #81)

It’s cool, Douglock, Jay doesn’t recognize them either. (Excalibur #81)

Comedy gold. (Their choice of seating helps too.) (Excalibur #81)

Charles and Moira: best exes. (Excalibur #81)

Seriously, best exes. (Excalibur #81)

“For me, it’s always like this.” (Excalibur Annual #2)

“-and he looks faaaaabulous!” (Excalibur Annual #2)

Jamie Braddock: terrible from the start. (Excalibur Annual #2)

There! Fixed! Take that, psychology! (Excalibur Annual #2)

“Sorry, Amanda – spooling looked so cool we had to do it again, and we drew your name from the hat.” (Excalibur Annual #2)

Cons: spooling nightmares and crashing planes. Pro: that plane is so spacious! (Excalibur Annual #2)

“Until next time, boils and ghouls – pleasant screams!” (Excalibur Annual #2)

Either that picture is only symbolically there, or Kitty’s computer has real bad taste in image choice. (Excalibur Annual #2)

Kurt Wagner: best bro. (Excalibur Annual #2)

We didn’t talk about this in the episode, but the nerd in me really appreciates that this issue took two full pages to show us exactly how Proteus’s jail cell works. (Excalibur Annual #2)

NEXT TIME: Jay and Seanan McGuire talk villains!

268 – Disquettes

October 13, 2019 Miles 15 comments

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In which Excalibur addresses a number of dangling plot threads, Britanic finally gets (somewhat) interesting, Kitty really wants Douglock to be Doug, Professor Xavier and Moira MacTaggert are the best exes, and the future has peculiar priorities.

X-PLAINED:

The life and death of Jamie Braddock
Excalibur #81
Douglock (more) (again)
Inker ambiguity
Britanic and Meggan’s Christmas costumes
The Excalibur Lighthouse’s sudden and inexplicable resurrection
Mo’ time travel, mo’ problems
20,097 rocks on a shoreline
Douglock: overly literal, dryly funny, or just plain thirsty?
The Emotional Beat of Damocles
The problems with crunch time
Princess Diana: Excalibur vs. X-Statix
Language and time
Excalibur Annual #2
Appropriately bombastic narration
Fashions of the future
Psychic psychotherapy
Sibling rivalry
Mr. Poo
Braddock moppets
Oversimplification vs. ambiguity
Spooling chambers (more)
Excalibur as an X-leftovers book
Air travel: leg-room vs. sorcerous doom
Hannibal King: vampire detective and/or penciler
Shadowcat and the pain of hope
A Doug’s-eye view of New Mutants
Emma Frost and aging
Dazzler and roller derby

NEXT EPISODE: Jay and Seanan McGuire talk villains!

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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 TeePublic shop!

As Mentioned in Episode 256 – Mullets of Time and Space

July 14, 2019 Jay 3 comments

Listen to the podcast here!

Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line!

Always aspire to a higher level of time paradox! (Excalibur #75)

How much extra creepiness does this already creepy scene get from the bolding of “his”? (Excalibur #75)

It’s his girlfriend. He called and asked her to come over. There is literally no reason that this should be so mysterious and pseudo-suspenseful. (Excalibur #75)

You do you, Amanda. (Excalibur #75)

PITCH: “What if only Captain Britain’s arms had returned from the timestream?” (Excalibur #75)

If you need me, I will be over here having FEELINGS about the lack of official acknowledgement of this relationship. (Excalibur #75)

“I was going to have some really dubious facial hair.” (Excalibur #75)

This better be worth it. (Excalibur #75)

[Ron Howard narrator voice] It was not worth it. (Excalibur #75)

GET IT? GET IT? GET IT? (Excalibur #75)

I hope you’re happy in the life you’ve chosen for yourself. (Excalibur #76)

“I mean, for some value of the term.” (Excalibur #76)

Well, that’s portentous. (Excalibur #76)

This is UNQUESTIONABLY the face of a man who has attempted to eat a toaster, a tube of lipstick, and several telephones. (Excalibur #76)

Nightcrawler, in his moppet days. (Excalibur #76)

I don’t understand D’Spayre’s torso muscles; and, frankly, I don’t care to. (Excalibur #76)

SEE WHAT I MEAN?! (Excalibur #77)

D’Spayre’s only weaknesses are joy and, by remarkable coincidence, children named Amil. (Excalibur #77)

WHAT?! (Excalibur #77)

The cutest pin-up. (Excalibur #77)

NEXT EPISODE: The adventures of Rachel Summers in the 37th Century!

LINKS & FURTHER LISTENING:

You can hear all about D’Spayre’s first clash with the X-Men (or at least one of them) in Episode 14 – Look Upon My Man-Thing and D’Spayre!
We talked about the time Margali Szardos build Nightcrawler his own private hell in Episode 134 – Live at Vegas Valley Comic Book Festival.

256 – Mullets of Time and Space

July 14, 2019 Jay 16 comments

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In which you raised a lot of money for Trans Lifeline; we continue to miss Alan Davis; Rory Campbell should not be narrating a climactic event; Daytripper needs to dial up her eldritch patter; the universe is dubiously self-correcting; Britannic is not nearly weird enough; and we have ongoing concerns about the anatomy of incarnate concepts.

X-PLAINED:

The X-Men of Earth-77995
Excalibur #75-77
Daytripper
A somewhat pointless sacrifice
Rough times in the timestream
Britannic
X-theology
D’Spayre’s butt
The rest of D’Spayre
Margali Szardos
The blood-brain barrier
Acrobatic flirtation
The Winding Way
Stark emptiness
A shocking possible resurrection
Major X
Essential characters

NEXT EPISODE: The Adventures of Rachel Summers in the 37th Century!

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

Find us on iTunes 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 rad swag at our TeePublic shop!