Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men

Tag: James Proudstar

As Mentioned in Episode 427 – Standard Deviation

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Why doesn’t Adam Pollina draw all the mythology? (X-Force #81)
Just another day for X-Force. (X-Force #81)
You could take away the word balloons and we’d still know so much about these characters just from their outfits and body language! (X-Force #81)
This panel doesn’t have much to do with continuity, but it sure is pretty. (X-Force #81)
Again: JUST ANOTHER DAY FOR X-FORCE (X-Force #81)
Siryn flirts. (X-Force #81)
“Your first clue should have been the rad halo-thing Adam Pollina drew behind me.” (X-Force #81)
We’ll miss you, Adam Pollina. Thanks for the memories. (X-Force #81)
Hi, Jesse Aaronson AKA Bedlam! Hi, Cait Sith! (X-Force #82)
I enjoy how “rebuilt from the brink of death” also translates to “wearing a super-cool set of insectoid armor.” (X-Force #82)
Pollina may be gone, but the action scenes are still pretty awesome. (X-Force #82)
Jesse, that is not how you give a massage. (X-Force #82)
“Sorry we’re late, it took us a while to adequately rip up our clothes.” (X-Force #82)
Yeah, okay – we love this guy. (X-Force #82)
Sam Guthrie X-Plains (his time on) the X-Men. (X-Force #83)
I think your guts may actually be tied up in abs, Sam. (X-Force #83)
Just enough of that yellow and purple left to still make them look like a team – and just enough folks without that uniform to make it clear how long it’s been since those days. (X-Force #83)
You may have thought we were being euphemistic when we said Jesse was sent off to live on a farm – but nope, actual farm. (X-Force #83)
Pig-riding blonde Lara Croft thinks these gentlemen make some excellent points. (X-Force #83)
This sentai team looks mean. (X-Force #84)
Loyalty, punching, and heroism. That’s our Sam. (X-Force #84)
It’s cool, Guthrie – not everyone can be photogenic. (X-Force #84)
Nobody ever gets to finish a conversation in the Marvel Universe. (X-Force #84)
Arcadia has the power to make people look really cool. (X-Force #84)
Jim Cheung does Jack Kirby. (X-Force #84)
NEXT EPISODE: The end of Excalibur!

427 – Standard Deviation

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In which we have grown to love Adam Pollina; the Vanisher is delightfully awful; Ekaterina Gryaznova gets a new look; Domino rejoins X-Force; superheroes actually have a conversation instead of fighting; Cannonball rejoins X-Force; we don’t even remember recording this one; and something cool is coming (stay tuned).

X-PLAINED:

  • Arcadia DeVille
  • The Deviants
  • X-Force #81-84
  • What’s been up with X-Force
  • The goddess Pele and the heart thereof
  • Beachwear
  • An episode of The Brady Bunch
  • Krotok the Lava Man
  • Lava Men, in general
  • Gortokians
  • Jinku the Lava Man
  • A diabolical plan
  • Jesse Aaronson (Bedlam) (but not that one)
  • Terry and/or Christopher Aaronson
  • The Aguilar Institute
  • The Griffin (Ekaterina Gryaznova, again)
  • Infinite Guthries
  • Ulysses Dragonblood
  • Odysseus Indigo
  • Lucas Wyndham
  • M.U.S.E. (Mutant Underground Support Engine)
  • A very Summers situation
  • Foreshadowing
  • Whether Shard can (and should) be resurrected by the Five
  • Accidental foreshadowing

NEXT EPISODE: The end of 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 418 – Reignfirefighters

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Those youth and their hijinks! (X-Force #77)
This is the branch of S.H.I.E.L.D. that shows up to assure you that all you saw was a weather balloon. (X-Force #77)
I’m never gonna be able to see a superhero conversation on a swingset without thinking of the Justice League Unlimited episode “Epilogue.” (X-Force #77)
The return of the bunny slippers! (X-Force #78)
Aw, Skids. (X-Force #78)
Some very good pacing. (X-Force #78)
Reignfire X-Plains Reignfire, somewhat. (X-Force #79)
Well, shit. (X-Force #79)
Fun Fact: Psychic powers work better when they look cooler. (X-Force #80)
Oh, dear me. (X-Force #80)
Dr. Joshua X-Plains Reignfire. (X-Force #80)
The Elvis windows really make this scene. (X-Force #80)
One more Elvis, for good measure. (X-Force #80)
NEXT EPISODE: Generation X and the Seven Dwarves!

418 – Reignfirefighters

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In which S.H.I.E.L.D. agents are scarier in suits; Reignfire is the new Erik the Red; “background assets” would be a very funny euphemism; it’s always either time travel or clones; and you should probably not get a corporate logo tattooed on the side of your head.

X-PLAINED:

  • Crimes of Dark Beast
  • X-Force #77-80
  • The Mutant Liberation Front
  • Reignfire (repeatedly)
  • Video Renaissance
  • Almost Reno, NM
  • The inversion of several common tropes
  • Small towns
  • Different kinds of mutants
  • X-Force Fun Facts
  • Skids (Sally Blevins)
  • Several continuity errors
  • Some kidnappings
  • Sexiness without prurience
  • Background assets
  • Dr. Joshua (again)
  • (Henry Wallinger)
  • Psychic shenanigans
  • Las Vegas
  • Word-balloon disambiguation
  • X-Force’s new HQ
  • Historical X-Men we’d like to see

NEXT EPISODE: Generation X and the Seven Dwarves

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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 413 – Convergence

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We’re still not sure about the word for a gatefold-and-a-half, but here’s a good one. (X-Force #75)
Welcome to Exploding Colossal Man! (X-Force #75)
Karma and her girlfriends. (X-Force #75)
I’d like to think she spends her time being an asshole at New Age bookstores, too. (X-Force #75)
Wandering down memory lane with Mirage and Warpath. (X-Force #75)
OOOOOOOOOhhhhhhhh (X-Force #75)
This is really about as far as that ever gets X-Plained. (X-Force #75)
I really dig the weirdness of the art of the Colossal Man. (X-Force #75)
If you know, you know. (New Mutants vol. 4 #30)
This gimmick has been used a lot over the years… (X-Force #76)
…but it plays nicely here. (X-Force #76)
Noooooooooooooo! (X-Force #76)
A very fun fight (at least for the reader). (X-Force #76)
Two great tastes that go great together! (X-Force #76)
NEXT EPISODE: X-Factor spirals towards its inexorable lack of conclusion.

413 – Convergence (feat. Douglas Wolk)

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In which X-Force goes to Burning Man Exploding Colossal Man; Douglas Wolk may or may not have superpowers; Karma gets girlfriends; we are already tired of Reignfire; Meltdown and Sunspot initiate a love triangle; and Jay is writing some more X-Men.

X-PLAINED:

  • Road trips
  • X-Force #75-76
  • New Mutants vol. 4 #30
  • A gatefold and a half
  • Burning Man
  • Exploding Colossal Man
  • Karma’s name
  • Echidna Faire
  • Text
  • Selene (more) (again)
  • Crowd scenes
  • Various character relationships
  • Callbacks
  • Mud
  • A magic box and a fancy stick
  • Eitri the Dwarf
  • A grand conjunction
  • A big, silly fight
  • Peak late ‘90s queer culture
  • Echidna Faire
  • Bowling
  • Etienne Rousseau
  • Updating Bastion’s facial hair
  • Wolverine’s mentees

NEXT EPISODE: The beginning of the end of X-Factor

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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 406 – The Most Dangerous Mini-Game

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So, that’s where he got it! (Wolverine #-1)
I love this design for Sabretooth. (Wolverine #-1)
And also his car. (Wolverine #-1)
Literally nothing is okay at the Blanding/Masters house. (X-Factor #-1)
Mister Sinister lurks in the bushes. (X-Factor #-1)
They’re AT LEAST in their early 20s. (X-Factor #-1)
DAMN, Haley! (X-Factor #-1)
The most dangerous mini-game. (X-Factor #-1)
Alex Summers in a nutshell. (X-Factor #-1)
Wellp, you did that. (X-Force #-1)
I swear I thought this thing was gonna be a red herring. (X-Force #-1)
Everything cute about this issue is also really sad. (X-Force #-1)
How Thunderbird got his code name. (X-Force #-1)
Don’t worry, Tabby; soon you’ll be stealing with the best of ’em! (X-Force #-1)
The Circus of Cameos. (X-Force #-1)
In which John Produstar straight-up wrassles a tiger. (X-Force #-1)
“We also do a lot of crimes, but they’re pretty low-key as comic-book circus crimes go.” (X-Force #-1)
Ugh, this guy. (X-Force #-1)
Naked in Space: The Charles Francis Xavier Story. (X-Men #-1)
Magneto, a sensible fellow, wears clothes in the vacuum of space. (X-Men #-1)
IT NEVER STOPS BEING FUNNY (X-Men #-1)
DRAMATIC! JUXTAPOSITION! (X-Men #-1)
NEXT EPISODE: X-Factor hits rock-bottom, again.

LINKS & FURTHER READING

406 – The Most Dangerous Mini-Game

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In which we disagree about the value of Stan Lee intros; everybody wants Wolverine; Mister Sinister lurks; Haley Blanding deserves better; Thunderbird fights a tiger; and Xavier and Magneto do their usual thing.

X-PLAINED:

  • The Circus of Crime
  • Stan Lee intros
  • Wolverine #-1
  • X-Factor #-1
  • X-Force #-1
  • X-Men #-1
  • Proust vs. Sartre
  • How Logan joined Alpha Flight
  • The secret origin of the word “canucklehead.”
  • USDA, Annex B
  • Myron MacLain
  • Logan’s cigars
  • Yet more continuity errors
  • Sabretooth’s ridiculous car
  • The balance of scary and silly
  • Wolverine’s cowboy hat
  • Summers family bullshit
  • The Blandings and/or Masterses
  • Vince
  • The Proudstar family
  • One or more cats named Coyote
  • The origin of Thunderbird’s totem
  • Edwin Martynec (again)
  • Chondu the Magician
  • Ringmaster
  • Yet more Xavier and Magneto flashback drama
  • The bottom of the resurrection queue
  • Good car-trip episodes

NEXT EPISODE: X-Factor continues to make poor decisions

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 399 – The Cybertronic Spree

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Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line!
Not a cape or pouch in sight. (X-Force #71)
BLOOMF (X-Force #71)
Is the internet going to get mad about this one too? (X-Force #71)
grumble 5G grumble Bill Gates grumble (X-Force #71)
You can tell Sunspot descends from Hellfire Club royalty because he’s a DRAMA QUEEN (X-Force #71)
Sleepover! (X-Force #71)
Ah, this must be a sort of symbolic cover that represents the themes but not details of… (X-Force #72)
…nope, that’s basically what they’re wearing in the actual story. (X-Force #72)
Ever see The Triplets of Belleville? (X-Force #72)
How to make a simple conversation visually riveting, by Adam Pollina. (X-Force #72)
WHY WOULD YOU NAME YOUR GANG THAT (X-Force #72)
In which Siryn literally drags Michael Whitecloud back into the comic. (X-Force #72)
This guy smokes two packs of exposition a day. (X-Force #72)
“No, sir, The Matrix won’t be out for well over a year. Must just be Domino.” (X-Force #73)
Shoulda been a platypus. (X-Force #73)
Aww, Tabitha. (X-Force #73)
YOU HAD ONE JOB, METAL GAG THING (X-Force #73)
It sure is. (X-Force #74)
So good. (X-Force #74)
“It’s flattering you think I’m a local, but I just moved here last year! No, really!” (X-Force #74)
Fridays are Casual Days in Valhalla. (X-Force #74)
Hey, it’s Hazard! Just kidding. Only Al remembers Hazard. (X-Force #74)
A man of wealth and taste. (X-Force #74)
Humans, amirite? (X-Force #74)
It’s been a while since we’ve gotten a Pollina mandala! (X-Force #74)
Gambit goes on trial – in our FOUR HUNDREDTH episode!

399 – The Cybertronic Spree

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

In which the X-Force road trip era begins; Team X takes on a new dimension; Dani Moonstar gets her subtext back; pointing out a stereotype doesn’t excuse using it; Tabitha Smith generally deserves better; platypuses are underrepresented in the superhero genre; Hell becomes Stryfe; and Domino gets back in the game.

X-PLAINED

  • A dastardly plot
  • X-Men 2099
  • Road trips
  • X-Force #71-74
  • Team X
  • A Love & Rockets reference
  • Stan and Ollie
  • The Triplets of Belleville
  • How not to fund your film
  • Michael Whitecloud
  • Project Stepladder
  • Colossal Man
  • Several references to X-Force -1
  • Platypuses
  • Edwin Martynec
  • Weaponized humming
  • The death of Warpath
  • Hell
  • Blackheart
  • Friendship
  • A mysterious villain

NOTE: Whoa, The Cybertronic Spree is actually a real band!

NEXT WEEK: The return of Erik the Red!

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!