Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men

As Mentioned in Episode 231 – Life Bites

Listen to the episode here.



LINKS & OTHER AMENITIES:

You can make your own Sienna Blaze lipstick!

While it’s setting, why not read more about the 1993 Marvel annuals and Evan Skolnick’s D&D campaign!

Or you could watch The Gamers and develop a deeper understanding of Jay’s joke about Captain Britain at the gaming table.

And there’s always Episode 21 – Kurt Busiek at the Coffee-a-Go-Go, where we delve deep into the wonders of Metoxo the Lava Man!

231 – Life Bites

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

In which DC is out of our bailiwick; Random gets around; someone finally makes an explicit reference to disability politics; death has not improved the Chalkers; Strong Guy can’t catch a break; we’re all whole other people; Sienna Blaze has a crayon name; we totally want to play D&D with Evan Skolnick; a trading card does not a memorable character make; and we are 100% here for the mutant episode of Sesame Street.

  • X-PLAINED:
  • What happened to Fred Duncan
  • Beastwriting
  • Marvel’s 1993 Annuals
  • The speculator boom
  • X-Factor Annual #8
  • Uncanny X-Men Annual #17
  • Excalibur Annual #1
  • Charlie Ronalds (Charon) and his issues
  • A protracted Batman reference
  • How to string pearls
  • A dubious twist on the danger room
  • The pure joy of a child, but twisted and distorted like a shredded butterfly
  • Cloot (Satannish)
  • Howling Mad, by Peter David
  • The greatest enemies of X-Factor (but not really)
  • Cruel and arbitrary moralizing
  • The other X-Cutioner (Carl Denti)
  • A protracted illusion
  • The Amazing Icemaster
  • Metacommentary
  • An accidental trap
  • The death of Jason Wyngarde (Mastermind)
  • Resolution versus forgiveness
  • The other first appearance of Sienna Blaze
  • More wizard stuff
  • Khaos
  • Khaos & Gritty 4 Lyfe
  • Ghath
  • Irth
  • Mutants on Sesame Street
  • Cycling in and out of comics

NEXT EPISODE: Excalibur goes to space!


CORRECTION: Chris Claremont did not in fact write Dragonlance comics.


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!

We’re in the process of migrating our official shop to TeePublic! Click over to check it out! (You can still find the designs we haven’t moved yet at Redbubble.)

As Mentioned in Episode 125 – Giant-Size Special #4

Listen to the podcast here.



LINKS:

125 – Giant-Size Special #4

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 Logan Bonner, Max Carleton, and Crystal Frasier hike up their boxers and join us at the gaming table for an X-Men: Evolution tabletop adventure; what happens in virtual reality stays in virtual reality; Shadowcat is great at boats; Jubilee and Boom Boom blow up everything; Havok tries; and Team Reckless Endangerment wins the day!

FEATURING:

  • Logan Bonner as Writer and Gamemaster / Erik the Rad
  • Max Carleton as the Shadowcat / Pirate Kitty
  • Crystal Frasier as Jubilee / the Genie
  • Jay Edidin as Havok / the Corsair
  • Miles Stokes as Boom Boom / Boomavara

NEXT EPISODE: Live from RCCC, with Greg Pak!


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

Choose Our Adventure – Evolution Edition!

Screen Shot 2015-01-21 at 2.40.03 PM

On September 4, we’ll be sitting down to record our 2016 Giant-Size Summer Special and second-ever tabletop episode.

In 2015, game writer and designer and friend of the podcast Logan Bonner has modified the amazing old Marvel Super Hero Adventures game to be played as it was never intended: in the spirit of the 90s animated series! This year, he’s joining us again–this time with an adventure set in the world of X-Men: Evolution!

In addition to Logan, we’ll be joined at the gaming table by two guests: returning X-Pert Max Carleton of Waiting for the Trade and I Love Television; and writer, developer, and all-around badass Crystal Frasier!

But first, we’ve got a job for you…

Continue reading

As Mentioned in Episode 72 – Thrown Under the Plot Bus

Listen to the episode here!



FURTHER LISTENING:

  • Special thanks to the wonderful Adam Warrock for letting us sample his song “Teamwork” in this episode! You can listen to the full track here, and find more of Adam’s work at adamwarrock.com!

72 – Thrown Under the Plot Bus

Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available until 9/6/2015 at the shop, or contact David to purchase the original.
Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available until 9/6/2015 at the shop, or contact David to purchase the original.

 

In which Dazzler is not a team player; Longshot is the Zonker Harris of the X-Men; Juggernaut is That Guy; Rachel and Miles channel Statler and Waldorf; and Alex Summers is seriously never, ever going to finish grad school.

X-PLAINED:

  • Mutant X
  • The only well-adjusted Scott Summers in the Multiverse
  • The Goblin Entity
  • Uncanny X-Men #217-219
  • The evolution of the X-Men’s lineup
  • Standards for a good twist
  • Doonesbury
  • Several Dungeons & Dragons analogies
  • A dubious literary allusion
  • Flying jeeps
  • CrimeBros
  • The fundamental tragedy of Longshot
  • Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart and several homages thereto
  • Geordie and Rupert
  • Havok (more) (again)
  • Car-wreck sex
  • An unfortunate end to a camping trip
  • The Plot Bus
  • Several ways to stat Rogue up as a D&D character
  • Narrative-friendly power sets

Special thanks to:

  • The wonderful Adam Warrock, for letting us sample his song “Teamwork” in this episode! You can listen to the full track here, and find more of Adam’s work at adamwarrock.com.
  • Harrison Barber for his X-Pert D&D advice (not to mention nearly fifteen years of tolerating our nonsense at the gaming table)!

NEXT WEEK: X-Men: Evolution with Robert N. Skir!


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

Find us on iTunes or Stitcher!

Rachel 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!

August 2015 Shirt of the Month: X-Gamers

shirt

Who needs a Danger Room when you can hone your battlefield skills AND rack up EXP against a Beholder? The X-Men gather ‘round the gaming table for some all-new, all-different training in August’s shirt of the month, featuring art by David Wynne!

the game transparency

 

In addition to covering your torso and impressing your friends and neighbors, the August, 2015 shirt of the months grants +1 on continuity-related checks.* It’s available on a wide variety of wearables, including kids’ clothes; as well as tote bags, travel mugs, and stickers!

NOTE: This is a limited-run shirt! It will DISAPPEAR FOREVER from the shop on September 1, 2015; get ’em while they last!

*Results not guaranteed in actual gameplay. Always run house rules by your GM. Not recommended for use against gazebos.

Now You Can Punch Kangaroos, Too!

waffles

If you want to try your hand at the adventure we played through in Episode 62, Logan’s given us a PDF of the whole shebang, along with a full complement of character sheets!

It’s worth noting that Logan originally designed this a) as a two-part story, and b) for a slightly different party than we ended up playing; so what you see in the written version won’t match up exactly with what you heard on the podcast. This module was written for the 1998 Marvel Superheroes Adventure Game, and to play it properly, you’ll need a set of the cards from that game, as well as either a working understanding of the rules or a core sourcebook.

Click through below to download the adventure!

X-Men: The Animated Saga 6-1 & 6-2: “Down Under”

 

Contest: Roll to See if I’m Getting Drunk!

Rachel here!

Have you seen David Wynne’s awesome X-Men vs. D&D illustration from the Summer Special? We are pretty darn in love with it. And as it happens, David also sent us a blank-background version, which I’ve been having wayyyy too much fun crudely modifying:

 

gazebo

 

game_elfstar

waffles

THIS IS WHERE YOU COME IN: Add your own caption or dialogue to the image below, and send it to XplaintheXMen(at)gmail(dot)com by MONDAY, JUNE 29 with the subject NATURAL20. We’ll post your edits to the blog–and send a whole mess of fancy dice and other goodies to our favorite!

game_noballoons