Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men

Tag: Jonothon Starsmore

362 – Lazy Summer Day

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

In which Chris Bachalo draws excellent critters; Bastion is a terrible boss; everyone fucks in the Danger Room; Jubilee fails a midterm; and humans were the real monsters all along.

X-PLAINED:

  • The worst mutant power
  • Generation X #20-21
  • X-Factor #127
  • Bachalo critters
  • Bastion (more) (again)
  • Daria (but not the one you’re thinking of)
  • Chevy the janitor (again)
  • Mean Cuisine
  • Harker the cat
  • A threatening salad
  • Yet another time-traveling Nate
  • Flirting
  • A movie reference
  • U.S.1 and Baron von Blimp
  • Several ways to fail a midterm
  • “Autism”
  • Miguela Torres
  • Trevor Chase
  • A series of interviews
  • Richard Starkings and Comicraft
  • Destiny’s absence from film

NEXT EPISODE: Baseball!

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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 354 – The Touch of Magneto

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Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line!
Elektra is… complicated. (Wolverine #104)
Where babies come from. (Wolverine #104)
This is actually how most Wolverine stories start. (Wolverine #105)
AWWWWWW. (Wolverine #105)
Ewwwwww. (Wolverine #105)
Stick in a nutshell. (Wolverine #105)
Chris Bachalo, man. Chris Bachalo. (Generation X #19)
They’re not Artie and Leech; but they’re kinda Artie and Leech. (Generation X #19)
SURE WHY NOT (Generation X #19)
Oh, buddy. You tried. (Generation X #19)
You also tried. (Generation X #19)
NEXT WEEK: HAWK TALK!
NEXT EPISODE: Tie-ins!

354 – The Touch of Magneto

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

In which Onslaught is a party that goes on way too long; we are grateful that the Hand is mostly someone else’s problem; there’s always time to get hosed down by firemen; and Emma Frost should never, under any circumstances, cook.

X-PLAINED:

  • The Golden Archer
  • Wolverine #104-105
  • Generation X #18-19
  • Portions of Elektra’s deal
  • Stick
  • Wolverine’s nose
  • Gateway and Onslaught
  • Several flashbacks
  • The Onslaught goblin
  • Retcons and character accountability
  • A wet open
  • A somewhat atypical plane flight
  • Toad by way of Chris Bachalo
  • The mysterious DL
  • Emma’s Montreal mansion and its staff
  • Cooking with Emma Frost
  • Quasi-benevolent mind control
  • Surgeon
  • A bonus Shadowcat power
  • Digital invisibility

NEXT WEEK: Hawk Talk

NEXT EPISODE: Onslaught tie-ins!

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 341 – Rainbow Connection

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Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line!
Low-key obsessed with what the hell sound this baby is supposed to be making. (Generation X #15)
When your kid goes away to school and comes back… different. (Generation X #15)
These fucking guys. (Generation X #15)
I am happy and surprised to announce that Giovanni survives the story pretty much unscathed! (Generation X #15)
I DON’T UNDERSTAND WHY HER BONES ARE VISIBLE THOUGH (Generation X #16)
Hi, Stan. (Generation X #17)
Oh, THAT guy. (Generation X #17)
Nobody draws rubble like Bachalo. (Generation X #17)
The genre-requisite hall of mirrors. (Generation X #17)
He somehow makes the X-Cutioner look… cool? (Generation X #17)
NEXT EPISODE: Rich-people problems.

341 – Rainbow Connection

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

In which Chris Bachalo returns to Generation X; we briefly forget that Mondo exists; Synch is an extraordinarily good kid; not everybody gets a jetpack; Jubilee takes a turn as team strategist; Chamber has Onslaught problems; the X-Cutioner has no discernible dignity; the M does not stand for “metaphorical.”

X-PLAINED:

  • Jubilee’s aunt Hope
  • Generation X #15-17
  • Generation X (more) (again)
  • Emplates (more) (again)
  • An instance of possession
  • The Thomas family
  • Intersectional bias
  • Passing privilege
  • Narratively-determined technology
  • Giovanni the janitor
  • Synch vs. Mimic
  • An exceptionally slow-burn reveal
  • Possession as a vehicle for character development
  • The X-Cutioner (Carl Denti) (more) (again)
  • Metaphorical DNA
  • Fun times at the fair
  • Ruby quartz adaptive technology
  • Mutant names

NEXT EPISODE: Fun with flechettes!

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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 318 – Leprechaun Hill

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Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line!
We’re grateful for the covers, Chris Bachalo, but they mostly just make us even sadder that you don’t pencil these issues. (Generation X #7)
Sean’s impressively long ponytail, meet Emma’s impressively tiny undergarments. (Generation X #7)
Husk is mainly made at Jubilee for forgetting it was Giant Shirt Day. (Generation X #7)
To be fair, those moppets would make freakin’ Ultron’s heart grow three sizes. (Generation X #7)
We forgot, but Banshee does sometimes where tiny shorts – including in this very issue! Probably for the best he ditched the ponytail; no one would have been able to tell him and Forge apart. (Generation X #7)
From the finest casual fashion of the 90s… (Generation X #8)
To the finest casual fashion of the indeterminate Middle Ages! (Generation X #8)
“Don’t worry, elves and/or leprechauns! We’ll protect you! With murder!” (Generation X #8)
“You’re looking good, Eamon! But didn’t you used to be like four feet taller?” (Generation X #8)
Grand Dame (a pixie rather than an elf despite her identical skin tone) and the Glamour Machine. (Generation X #8)
Wait, the caption at the bottom references leprechauns… SO WHERE ARE THE LEPRECHAUNS?! (Generation X #8)
Tom Grummett draws a pretty great Skin. (Generation X #9)
“Acch, humans! I used to be one of you until Scott Lobdell got confused! Or maybe I didn’t! It’s ambiguous!” (Generation X #9)
“Greetings – we’re Clan O’Donnel, and we’re not entirely sure what type of fantasy creature we or our newly-retconned relative are supposed to be!” (Generation X #9)
This way, the elves and/or leprechauns can get back to hanging out in Cassidy Keep in the real world and telling readers the secret real names of various superheroes. (Generation X #9)
If Penance could speak, she’d be saying “Tee hee!” (Generation X #9)
NEXT WEEK: Hawk Talk! NEXT EPISODE: Our Seventh Annual Giant-Size Winter Special!

LINKS & FURTHER READING:

318 – Leprechaun Hill

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

In which we are broken by leprechauns.

X-PLAINED:

  • A very necessary title change
  • The leprechauns of Cassidy Keep
  • Generation X #7-9
  • How to kiss Chamber
  • Banshee’s epic past ponytail
  • Thoughts
  • Amiable grumbling
  • The evolution of Emma Frost’s ethics
  • Giant shirts of the 1990s
  • An unlikely disappearance
  • Rapid power creep
  • Another dimension
  • Whether or not Eamon O’Donnell is a leprechaun
  • Existential leprechaun uncertainty
  • Grande Dame
  • How glamour works, sort of
  • A dragon
  • Uncanny X-Men: First Class #8
  • Uncle Havok
  • Whether Kid Apocalypse is an External

NEXT WEEK: Hawk Talk.

NEXT EPISODE: GIANT-SIZE WINTER SPECIAL!

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 293 – The Monster Under the World

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Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line!
Almost as cool as the way the backgrounds of the Marvel Universe Series 3 trading cards can be laid out as two giant space-pictures.
Husk, you’ve changed! And Chamber, you… have a face! (Generation Next #1)
Red and yellow outfit, banded metal skin, muscles on muscles, utterly broken by the world… I guess Earth-295 isn’t that different. (Generation Next #1)
We’ve seen Kitty bully younger mutants before… just usually not with as much stabbing. (Generation Next #1)
“I mean, we don’t want them to be inexperienced at dying, do we?” (Generation Next #1)
Know-It-All is pretty sure the depiction of technology in Hackers is way too bland and boring. (Generation Next #1)
Drums. Drums in the deep. (Generation Next #2)
Do minibuses look like that? No. But should they? (Generation Next #2)
This was one of the weirder anti-smoking PSAs of the 90s. (Generation Next #2)
Quietus is troubling. (Generation Next #2)
Paige has a zero-tolerance policy for Monty Python references. (Generation Next #2)
Only Chris Bachalo could make relatively normal people and monsters like that look at home in the same panel. (Generation Next #3)
“Like, the spiritual concept, not like Xi’an from New Muta… You know what, never mind.” (Generation Next #3)
Weirdly, I’ve had this exact same dream. (Generation Next #3)
Meanwhile, everything is terrible. (Generation Next #3)
YIP! (Generation Next #3)
Enclosed V Exposed: Dawn of Panel Layouts (Generation Next #4)
And then Sugar Man ate through his own mangled corpse and burrowed into the next scene. As one does. (Generation Next #4)
noooooo (Generation Next #4)
NOOOOOOOO (Generation Next #4)
Not to downplay the effectiveness of SPLOT SPLANG BONK THOPP, but it’s those irregular, sharp panel borders that really sell the impact. (Generation Next #4)
It all happens so quickly. (Generation Next #4)
And I’ll remember those panels for the rest of my life. (Generation Next #4)
Ever. (Generation Next #4)
NEXT EPISODE: Happy Mother’s Day!

293 – The Monster Under the World

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

In which not all Mondos are created equal; the kids are only rarely all right; the Age of Apocalypse is not Magneto’s fault; Sugar Man is the stuff of universal nightmares; “cartoonish” is not necessarily a plus; and the Age of Apocalypse is not particularly sustainable.

X-PLAINED:

  • Generation Next #1-4
  • The tradition of YA horror in X-books
  • Bachalo unchained
  • Whose fault the Age of Apocalypse is
  • Adaptive technology vs. Apocalypse
  • Chamber of Earth-295
  • Husk of Earth-295
  • Skin of Earth-295
  • Mondo of Earth-295
  • Vincente Cimetta
  • Know-It-All (Claudia)
  • An abysmal training exercise
  • Colossus of Earth-295
  • Shadowcat of Earth-295
  • Gardner Monroe (Flashback)
  • Quietus
  • Sugar Man
  • The Portland and/or Seattle Core
  • Illyana Rasputin
  • Ace
  • Human collaborators
  • A gratuitous Monty Python reference
  • The difference between mass and volume
  • Number Six
  • The fall of Generation Next
  • Growing up in the Age of Apocalypse
  • Illyana 2.0
  • Subtext vs. queerbaiting

NEXT EPISODE: X-Calibre!

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!

As Mentioned in Episode 279 – Giant-Size Special #8

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Listen to the episode here!

Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line!
IT BEGINS! (Generation X #1)
Seriously, though, that is really gross. (Generation X #1)
I want to read a miniseries about this kid. (Generation X #1)
They are so very, very parents. (Generation X #1)
Sean Cassidy, OF ALL PEOPLE, should know EXACTLY how dangerous trees can be. (Generation X #1)
An old friend–of ours, and apparently of Monet’s. (Generation X #1)
Emplate is so cool and creepy! (Generation X #1)
Also cool and creepy: Chamber. (Generation X #1)
The covers of this series are so inviting. (Generation X #2)
For the record, HICK is worth 13 points to LOSER’s 5. (Generation X #2)
Penance is nothing if not efficient.
Ooh, Monet is GREAT. (Generation X #2)
That horror-movie framing! (Generation X #2)
DAMN, Paige! (Generation X #3)
Chamber is a neat dude. (Generation X #3)
Nanny X-plains puberty. (Generation X #3)
Mondo and Cordelia are… complicated. (Generation X #3)
If it weren’t for the two troubles in a row, this cover would be pretty darn near perfect, gradient and all. (Generation X #4)
Bachalo’s marginalia is WONDERFUL. (Generation X #4)
Seriously, so good. (Generation X #4)
Hi, Eliot. (Generation X #4)
Not all the images are gonna be of these guys, but it was tempting. (Generation X #4)
Fortunately, sometimes they intersect with plot. (Generation X #4)
And sometimes not. (Generation X #4)
I… I just love them so much. (Generation X #4)
Orphanmaker grew up! (Generation X #4)
Meanwhile, everything is terrible. (Generation X #4)
Well, maybe not everything. (Generation X #4)
This is one of my favorite scenes in any comic, ever. (Generation X #4)
And then, Legion Quest ended. (Generation X #4)
So, yeah, this is a thing, and you can watch it here should you find yourself so inclined.
NEXT WEEK: Jay & Miles on vacation!
NEXT EPISODE: Bishop goes solo!

LINKS & FURTHER FESTIVITY:


The full list of winners of the 2019 Super Doctor Astronaut Peter Corbeau Awards for Excellence at X-Cellence will be posted separately on 12/30.