As Mentioned in Episode 480 – Cross-Time Tattoo Parlor

March 16, 2025 Jay One comment

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A non-dildo future. (X-Man #67)

That doesn’t seem healthy. (X-Man #67)

That really doesn’t seem healthy. (X-Man #67)

Wait, what? (X-Man #67)

It’s surprisingly hard to find a good panel of Nate’s full outfit. (X-Man #68)

Speaking of outfits, Queen Maddie knows how to dress for maximum drama! (X-Man #68)

Well, that can’t be good. (X-Man #68)

Oh, shit. (X-Man #68)

WHAT?! (X-Man #68)

This page is so cool. (X-Man #69)

Conversations with the dead. (X-Man #69)

Bad guys get the coolest cars. (X-Man #70)

Disaster averted. (X-Man #70)

Nate’s new look. (X-Man #70)

Probably for the best, really. (X-Man #70)

NEXT EPISODE: Shockwave comes to Generation X!

LINKS & FURTHER COMPLICATIONS

For more discussion of the ethics of consuming comics by creators you don’t want to support in general, and Warren Ellis in particular, listen to Episode 303 – No Simple Answers, feat. Laura Hudson.

480 – Cross-Time Tattoo Parlor

March 16, 2025 Jay 4 comments

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In which we check in on Nate Grey; yet another Madelyne Pryor is not what she seems; dead men tell tales; there are a lot of Canadians out there; and Nate gets a makeover.

X-PLAINED:

What happened to Nate Grey (short-term)
Counter X
Shockwave
Nate Grey (more) (again)
X-Man #67-70
Non-dildo futures
Madelyne Pryor (kind of)
A dubiously ethical relationship
The destruction of Quito, Ecuador
Earth-998
Mr. Scratch
Her Majesty Madelyne I, Resurrected Queen of Briton, High Protector of the Unified Commonwealths, Sacred Mistress of the Order of the Black Knights, and Absolute Empress of the North and the Breachlands (Jean Grey of Earth-9575)
Several other Nates Grey (particularly the Nate Grey of Earth-2098)
A distinctive tattoo
Inverted X-Men logos
Shamanism, kind of
A very nice dress
The Spiral / The Tree of Worlds
Forge of Earth-998
The Interscope
The Engine of the Gods
A plot twist that might have been
Magical brain damage
Dangerous Canadians
A complex ruse
A makeover
How best to support the comics you love
Some very X-Man-specific information

NEXT EPISODE: Shockwave comes to Generation X!

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

Find us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify!

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 472 – Leave Room for Magneto (The Twelve, Part Two)

December 22, 2024 Miles Leave a comment

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Intense emotion, fiddly gadgets, and dramatic narration. What more do you need? (Wolverine #146)

Gravity be damned, Nightcrawler’s going to punch some bricks and stomp some turtles. (Wolverine #146)

Generation Blue, Generation Red. (Wolverine #146)

Referencing Uncanny X-Men #211. (Wolverine #146)

Warren Kenneth Worthington III, you give that tiny caveman back his club! (Wolverine #146)

Referencing Uncanny X-Men #170. (Wolverine #146)

Referencing Uncanny X-Men #179. (Wolverine #146)

Now that is a fight scene. (Wolverine #146)

Referencing Uncanny X-Men #153. (Wolverine #146)

Referencing Uncanny X-Men #169. (Wolverine #146)

Referencing Uncanny X-Men #148. (Wolverine #146)

Referencing Uncanny X-Men #242. (Wolverine #146)

Referencing Wolverine #74. (Wolverine #146)

Neat, they’re (psychically) wearing their outfits from that time they were partners in Madripoor! (Wolverine #146)

Angel’s darkness looks like light? You know, that actually makes a lot of sense. (Wolverine #147)

Flechettes! (Wolverine #147)

Referencing… oh, wait, this one actually has a caption. (Wolverine #147)

Poor kid… (Wolverine #147)

United by trauma. (Wolverine #147)

Everyone is just so sharp on this page… (Wolverine #147)

Silhouettes: climax! (Wolverine #147)

Silhouettes: denouement! (Wolverine #147)

“Do I have to call your parents, children?” (Uncanny X-Men Annual 1999)

Heh. (Uncanny X-Men Annual 1999)

I wish we saw more of these two together. (Uncanny X-Men Annual 1999)

Damaging currency is a federal crime, Wolverine! (Uncanny X-Men Annual 1999)

This page has earned its Kirby Krackle. (Uncanny X-Men Annual 1999)

“You see, I have to be extra spooky to even out everyone else’s happiness. (Uncanny X-Men Annual 1999)

Like a hairy little astromech droid at a scomp port. (Uncanny X-Men Annual 1999)

Science! (Uncanny X-Men Annual 1999)

And they died miserably ever after. (Uncanny X-Men Annual 1999)

NEXT TIME: The Twelve concludes!

LINKS & FURTHER FELINES:

A metaphor that is also a very real space cat
Jay is delighted to have been wrong! The Philharmonic Gets Dressed is totally still in print!
Dave has been one of Jay’s comfort movies for longer than he entirely cares to admit.

472 – Leave Room for Magneto (The Twelve, Part Two)

December 22, 2024 Jay One comment

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In which the Twelve should really be twelve chapters long; Archangel has issues; we continue to bemoan the absence of captions; the X-Men ditch their crossover event for a side quest; Magneto is Genosha’s official chaperone; and we would absolutely elect Emma Frost to a school board.

X-PLAINED:

What Cable does next
The event so far
Wolverine #146-147
Uncanny X-Men Annual 1999
Whether the Shadow King is moist
Why tiny cavemen can’t have nice things
Numerous flashbacks and allusions
Archangel’s third-stage evolution
The Philharmonic Gets Dressed
Abraham Kieros (again)
Apocalypse as a self-help guru
Fully nude Wolverine
X-51 #8 (briefly)
Fabian Cortez (more) (again)
A miracle of magnetism
Scomp linking
A big fancy machine
Exodus (more) (again)
Mutants we’d like to see in public office
The (theoretical) Essex administration

NEXT EPISODE: The Twelve concludes!

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

Find us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify!

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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454 – X-Men ’97, Part 2

June 30, 2024 Miles 13 comments

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SPOILER WARNING: ALL OF THEM, NONSTOP

In which Barry Windsor-Smith is too sexy for television; we know what happens when unstable molecules get struck by lightning; X-Men gets political and does it spectacularly; this Captain America would not sew the cape; Magneto continues to throw things into space; and they kissed and we missed it.

X-PLAINED:

Fabian Cortez’s name
X-Men ’97 episodes 6-10
Lifedeath I & II: a surprising adaptation
Varying levels of going in blind
A somewhat different and possibly better Forge
The Adversary vs. the Owl Queen
Stormiest and least-Stormy costumes
Professor Charles Xavier, Official Space Boyfriend
Colonialism vs. Identity
Delayed catharsis
The narrative power of altered opening credits
What makes allyship effective (and not)
Justified mutant anger
The worst version of Nina DaCosta
What makes Prime Sentinels scary
Summers family feels
The best damned fight scenes out there
Bastion, robo-avatar of conservative white patriarchy
Simultaneous crossovers
A psychic gay bar
A last boss arena
Acolyte equivalencies
Phoenix Ex Machina
Crying
Whether Magneto was right
Apoca-futures and Apoca-pasts
A bulletin board and our hopes for its contents
Soft Serve
Kitty Pryde’s coffee shop AU
X-Men ’97 as the perfect gateway

NEXT EPISODE: Skrulls!

LINKS AND FURTHER READING:

The Judgment of Magneto by Asher Elbein

No visual companion this week!

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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 432 – Weird Little Adventures

December 10, 2023 Jay Leave a comment

Listen to the episode here.

This makes it look like one of them is about to die. (Generation X #44)

The weirdest thing about Polaroids was that they could all talk. (Generation X #44)

Aw. (Generation X #44)

Siryn knows how to dress! (Generation X #44)

A plot thread that dangles to this day. (Generation X #44)

I really enjoy this credits page. (Generation X #45)

I enjoy when Monet is mischievous. (Generation X #45)

What the HELL, Sean? (Generation X #46)

Of course, it would have EMTs, but, whatever. (Generation X #46)

One way to deal with traffic. (Generation X #46)

How fast is she running?! (Generation X #46)

“I mean, they’ll have a rough time at college, but whatever.” (Generation X #46)

Forge, no. (Generation X #47)

Did… did they HAVE to live in the treehouse before?! (Generation X #47)

Later he’s going to lecture on not pissing off your girlfriend. (Generation X #47)

YOU TELL ‘IM, PARADOX! (Generation X #47)

NEXT EPISODE: X-Factor and Excalibur post mortem!

432 – Weird Little Adventures

December 3, 2023 Jay 4 comments

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In which we reach the end of Larry Hama’s run on Generation X; Gaia remains remarkably normal for someone who has spent millennia chained up alone in a citadel; Synch practices radical forgiveness; we ponder the nature of Emma Frost and Sean Cassidy’s relationship; and Forge is extra unqualified to lecture on ethics.

X-PLAINED:

How Jubilee stopped being a vampire
The Draco, kinda
Generation X #44-47
Bianca LaNeige (again)
Polaroid cameras
Gaia (more) (again)
Reality warping
Woody and Arlo Guthrie
Iceland
Several continuity errors
Psi War fallout
Paul Weller
New school uniforms
Accreditation
Miss Pickwick
Penance’s nationality
Guthrie manifestation
Teamwork
Forge’s decision-making skills
Paradox
Indoor/outdoor moppets
Four theoretical horsemen of Apocalypse
Awkward family holidays

NEXT EPISODE: Jay & Miles autopsy X-Factor and Excalibur!

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 424 – Times Change

September 17, 2023 Jay One comment

Listen to the podcast here.

Looking for a stand-alone file of the muppet opening? Here you go:

Fixx just wants to be friends. (X-Factor #146)

Seriously, what the hell is going on with that facial hair? (X-Factor #146)

Havok’s powers look so good in this whole arc. (X-Factor #146)

Aw, Shard. (X-Factor #147)

I really enjoy this scene. (X-Factor #148)

Again: Havok’s powers, looking cool. (X-Factor #148)

It really is a terrible sweater. I should probably knit it someday. (X-Factor #149)

“Have fun in Alaska!” (X-Factor #149)

Madrox doesn’t betray anyone in that future, at least. (X-Factor #149)

And that’s that. (X-Factor #149)

Narrator voice: It was, in fact, the end. (X-Factor #149)

NEXT EPISODE: Psi-War!

424 – Times Change

September 17, 2023 Jay 6 comments

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In which everything is Havok’s fault; Jay is a bad influence; Polaris makes some valid points; Jamie Madrox is the Bobby Drake of X-Factor; and X-Factor vol. 1 ends with a bang.

X-PLAINED:

Muppet rules
X-Factor, vol. 1, in general
X-Factor #146-149
Sense of place
Jude Black and his inexplicable facial hair
Boundaries
Edible Arrangements
A different kind of sports bar
Kevin
Nostalgia, I guess?
Several confrontations
Temporal insanity
A very specialized course
What happens next
The universe where Dazzler replaced Jean Grey in the original X-Factor
Characters we would like to have seen more of

NEXT EPISODE: Psi-War!

Special thanks to muppets Michal Richardson, Bilal Dardai, and Matt Hunter!

(You can find an mp3 of just the muppet opening in the visual companion.)

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!