In which we record live from the Library of Congress; time travel complicates everything; X-Men is a fundamentally queer narrative; we attempt to summarize a lot of history very fast; and when identities are politicized, claiming them becomes a political act.
X-PLAINED:
LC-GLOBE
The first openly queer X-Man
Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men
Why we do what we do
Why the X-Men are worth studying
Returning nuance to critical discussion of media
A brief(ish) history of X-Men and queerness in X-Men
Iceman Watch
Retroactive foreshadowing
The mutant metaphor
Found family
Subtext
Text
Facets of mutant activism
Coming-out stories
Various vectors of diversity
Some comics Jay wrote
Comics in libraries
Where to start with Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men
X-Men for horror fans
Our favorite X-Men lineups
Identity politics
The T-O virus vs. the Legacy Virus
NEXT EPISODE: Brain Sharks!
This episode doesn’t exactly have a traditional visual companion, but you can click through the entire slide deck from the live show–and find links to the essays we mentioned–on our blog.
Jay has some additional thoughts on identity politics, which you can read here.
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!
And then Cyclops left for Alaska again. (X-Men #71)
Dark Phoenix athleisure! (X-Men #71)
As Piglet and Tigger slowly back away… (X-Men #71)
The past didn’t go anywhere. (X-Men #71)
Between Kelly and Pacheco, that is a hell of a compelling conversation. (X-Men #71)
So, how was the trip to Counter-Earth? What was your favorite part? Didja bring us anything? (X-Men #71)
Battle of the gross bone-spikes (X-Men #72)
Marrow’s online handle is xXBloodReaper69Xx (X-Men #72)
Not a good look, Ororo. (X-Men #72)
Fun fact: every case study in Miles’s college neuropsychology text book was about a brain injury from a motorcycle accident! (Uncanny X-Men #351)
“It’s a hypnotic pterodactyl wearing jorts in a metal box, obviously!!! (Uncanny X-Men #351)
To be fair, they don’t look very nice. (Uncanny X-Men #351)
And yet, Pyro’s insurance company still would have encouraged him to go to Urgent Care instead. (Uncanny X-Men #351)
Where’s Waldo? (Uncanny X-Men #351)
Cecilia has no time for Daredevil’s bullshit… and Daredevil has a lot of bullshit. (Uncanny X-Men #351)
Jay and Miles after recording an episode. (Uncanny X-Men #351)
Oh no (Uncanny X-Men #352)
“Honey, I think the new neighbors may be… weird.” (Uncanny X-Men #352)
“…ya dick.” (Uncanny X-Men #352)
ZIELL ZIELL (Uncanny X-Men #352)
Does “evil custodians” belong in r/rareinsults or r/brandnewsentence? (Uncanny X-Men #352)
Then panel below this shows Miles’s face melting into that time he accidentally deleted his Final Fantasy VI save right after unlocking the Paladin Shield. (Uncanny X-Men #352)
See you in the desert, Sam! (Uncanny X-Men #352)
Jean Grey, action hero! (Uncanny X-Men #352)
It… it’ll be fine. Yeah, fine. Probably. (Uncanny X-Men #352)
In which Kelly and Seagle’s X-runs begin with immense promise; dark psychic residue gets just everywhere; Storm’s past is literally buried; Wolverine is just saying is all; Cecilia Reyes’s job doesn’t deserve her, and Cyclops and Phoenix are the worst at being normal.
X-PLAINED:
The Grey family reunion
X-Men #71-72
What counts as an Uncanny X-Men #138 cover reference
Baggage and also suitcases
Steve Seagle’s (scuttled) Phoenix plans
Bone whiskers
Telemarketer power moves
Cecilia Reyes
Marrow (Sarah)
Sam Guthrie’s tiny ponytail
The ol’ wall-of-televisions trope
The cost of one banana
Sebastian Shaw vs the IRS (maybe)
A mostly empty attic
Wolverine’s etiquette lessons
The dessert claw vs the salad claw
The physicality of Carlos Pacheco’s art
Cannonball, the grown-up in the room
Magneto’s increasingly complicated past
Magnus, Erik, and Max (again)
Uncanny X-Men #351-352
Cecilia Reyes’s return-to-office
Intersectionality
Pyro, forever dying of the Legacy Virus
Daredevil vs Cecilia Reyes’s bedside manner
Kevin, Lord of the Jungle
Ending conversations by turning into a bird
A.I.M.* (*Advanced Idea Mechanics)
Crows of Ill Portent
A Box of Entity
Condors and Cockatoos
Logan’s denim proclivities
Arcade vs. Mojo
Special thanks to Dylan Higgins for edits and production assistance!
NEXT EPISODE: X-Force goes to Burning Man!
Check out the visual companion to this episode on our blog!
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!
Captain Mustache, Part the Second. (Excalibur #115)
In which Marvel UK was a wild ride; everyone has a definitive Kitty Pryde; Sari St. Hubbins studies her X-Men; Moira MacTaggert discovers contagion theory; ideas do not stories make; Meggan is the heart of the team; and Excalibur inches towards its finale.
X-PLAINED:
Marvel UK
Digitek
Excalibur #114-117
What Excalibur’s been up to
Tunnels vs. sewers
An unexpected callback
Slang
The mutability of Kitty Pryde
Friendship
Sari St. Hubbins
Fashion
One way to get around a power inhibitor
A frosted tips outline
Viruses
Phalanx love
Greebling
A substantial retcon
Excalibur vs. the Sidri
Marvel characters’ musical associations
Whether there have been more X-Men or Avengers
NEXT EPISODE: Kitty Pryde goes to work for The Man
Check out the visual companion to this episode on our blog!
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!
In which we spend too long trying to place a time-travel miniseries in continuity, Al Kennedy does us a solid, Bernard Chang draws some excellent New Mutants young and old, Al Ewing x-plains X-Men: Red, Forearm and Random play Nintendo, and we reveal the winners of The Ninth Annual Super Doctor Astronaut Peter Corbeau Awards for Excellence at X-Cellence!
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!
In which there’s a lot of good television out there; Shang-Chi says the title of the story at every possible opportunity; Wolverine is probably not a Deadhead; Sebastian Shaw thinks he’s a bigger deal than he is; and Operation Zero Tolerance officially begins.
X-PLAINED:
Storm’s ruby
X-Men #62-65
The Story So Far
Space LEGOs
Shang-Chi
Shang-Chi’s dad
An excellent fight scene
Word balloon placements
Agent Reston
Elixir Vitae
Several varyingly unexpected resurrections
Cyber Ninjas
Product placement for your own product
Bludgeon, Katana, Fist, and some other guy
Fujikawa Enterprises
Richard Fisk
Rambo heresay
Prime Sentinels
Children of Apocalypse
Carol Danvers substitutions
NEXT WEEK: Hawk talk
NEXT EPISODE: Generation X floats on
The visual companion to this episode will be up later this week.
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!