logan – Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men

As Mentioned in Episode 430 – The Bad Feelings Box

November 19, 2023 Jay Leave a comment

Listen to the episode here.

It’s always awkward when you run into someone you know out of context. (Uncanny X-Men #359)

I don’t know why Rogue palming Mystique’s face like a basketball is so funny, but it really is. (Uncanny X-Men #359)

Aw, these two. (Uncanny X-Men #359)

Spoiler: They do not actually fight each other. (Uncanny X-Men / Fantastic Four Annual 1998)

Every supervillain, ever. (Uncanny X-Men / Fantastic Four Annual 1998)

It’s Bring-a-Twink night at the poker game! (Uncanny X-Men / Fantastic Four Annual 1998)

Psycho Man may have his issues, but you’ve gotta hand it to his UI design. (Uncanny X-Men / Fantastic Four Annual 1998)

I love that Kirby armor. (Uncanny X-Men / Fantastic Four Annual 1998)

INVISIBLE BEAR TRAP (Uncanny X-Men / Fantastic Four Annual 1998)

By this point, half the superheroes in the Marvel Universe are anxiously awaiting their turn to toss Wolverine. (Uncanny X-Men / Fantastic Four Annual 1998)

OH NO (Uncanny X-Men / Fantastic Four Annual 1998)

Callisto looks so cool in this issue. (X-Men #79)

She knows how to flirt like a pro. (X-Men #79)

They’re spooning. (X-Men #79)

NEXT EPISODE: Miles and Al Kennedy X-Plain the Generation X Underground Special!

430 – The Bad Feelings Box

November 12, 2023 Jay 8 comments

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

In which birds have no business in sex dreams; feelings are complicated and allegories are imperfect; Mystique made some valid points; Psycho-Man is good at UI; Callisto was right; and the label “Omega-level mutant” actually kind of makes sense.

X-PLAINED:

Psycho-Man
Malice (but not that one)
Hate Monger (but not that one)
Finding good comics from the ‘90s
Uncanny X-Men #359
X-Men / Fantastic Four Annual 1998
X-Men #79
The dead man’s hand
Dr. Aubrey Agee
Psi-War fallout
Dr. Bradley Beynon
Hadley the robot
Poker twinks
La Bludgeon
Psycho-Man’s Bad Feelings Box
An invisible bear trap
Marvel’s floating poker game
Officers Aguinal and Cleveland
Antagonists vs. villains
Omega-level mutants

NEXT EPISODE: The Generation X Underground Special, feat. Al Kennedy!

Check out 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 422 – Cairn Touch This

September 10, 2023 Jay Leave a comment

Listen to the episode here.

If your sick room isn’t a fire hazard, you’re doing it wrong. (X-Men #74)

Well, that’s not good. (X-Men #74)

He’s got a million of ’em. (X-Men #74)

Seriously, Hank, what the hell? (X-Men #75)

I LOVE THESE GUYS THEY ARE SO WEIRD (X-Men #75)

Wolverine has been up to some… stuff. (X-Men #75)

We’re not in Westchester anymore. (X-Men #75)

Hi, Pilgrimm! (X-Men #75)

Hi, Magneto! (X-Men #76)

Hi, Eany and Meany! (X-Men #76)

It is rough to be Maggott. (X-Men #76)

NEXT EPISODE: Excalibur isn’t over (quite) yet!

422 – Cairn Touch This

August 27, 2023 Jay 3 comments

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

In which the X-Men’s membership is a complicated subject; not all angels know each other; we need to talk about Beast’s Wasp costume; Cecilia Reyes speaks for all reasonable folk; Storm gets a mysterious package; and reading comics day-and-date may not be for everyone.

X-PLAINED:

The variable loyalties of the N’garai
X-Men #74-76
A somewhat atypical team lineup
A whole lotta backstory
How to join the X-Men
Warren Kenneth Worthington III as a religious figure
Flechette clean-up
Teenage drama
Detective Jim Logan
A lot of murder
The N’garai
Beast’s Wasp costume
Explanatory captions for real life
The Ru’tai
Pilgrimm
Mai’Keth the Undying One
The Eye of Kierokk
Maggott’s secret origins
X-Men cartoons for a 7-year-old
Reckoning with loss in comics

NEXT EPISODE: Excalibur rushes toward its conclusion

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!

420 – The Legendary House of Wolverine, feat. Christopher Michael Roman

August 13, 2023 Jay 4 comments

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

In which Jay sits down with scholar Christopher Michael Roman to discuss his recent book, Queering Wolverine in Comics and Fanfiction: A Fastball Special; alongside queer theory, porous bodies, and nontraditional mentorship.

CONTENT NOTE: This episode includes graphic discussions of physical trauma as well as consensual if weird fictional sex.

NEXT EPISODE: Colossus and Meggan finally go to Dudleyworld, sort of!

No visual companion this week, but if you want to pick up Chris’s book, you can do that here!

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 417 – Pterodactyl with a Gun

July 23, 2023 Jay Leave a comment

Listen to the podcast here.

Rogue anxiety dreams like nobody’s business. (Uncanny X-Men #353)

We call this move the “Lois Lane.” (Uncanny X-Men #353)

I love it when people remember that the Xavier School is–at least ostensibly–a real school. (Uncanny X-Men #353)

WOLVERINE, WHAT THE HELL?!? (Uncanny X-Men #353)

Not the best place to hide incredibly sensitive mechanical equipment, y’all. (Uncanny X-Men #353)

This is supposed to be a clever bait-and-switch, but that hand is fairly obviously not Rogue’s. (Uncanny X-Men #353)

He sure is. (Uncanny X-Men #353)

Valid question, buddy. (Uncanny X-Men #354)

Sauron’s current whereabouts, X-Plained. (Uncanny X-Men #354)

Continued from previous. (Uncanny X-Men #354)

Fuckin’ Marvel Canadians. (Uncanny X-Men #355)

Remember answering machines? (Uncanny X-Men #355)

Yes, excellent. (Uncanny X-Men #355)

Hi, brainwashed Alpha Flight! (Uncanny X-Men #355)

This sequence is objectively perfect. (Uncanny X-Men #355)

Jean, you REALLY don’t spring that costume on someone. (Uncanny X-Men #354)

…Fair, though. (Uncanny X-Men #355)

NEXT EPISODE: this whole mess

417 – Pterodactyl with a Gun

July 16, 2023 Jay 9 comments

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

In which you, too, can use Cerebro; Jubilee is here, for some reason; the Xavier School should absolutely not be accredited; Hulk Hands would solve many of Rogue’s problems; Sauron gets a gun; Psylocke pulls a Lois Lane maneuver; you really shouldn’t spring a Phoenix costume on anybody; Joseph has (another) identity crisis; and Canada has problems.

X-PLAINED:

Miles at SDCC
Uncanny X-Men #353-355
X-Men #73
A running motif
Wolverine’s sons
Margaret Stone
“fun”
The location of the original X-jet
A red herring
Sauron (more) (again)
Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy… in space!
How to ship a pterodactyl
Mighty appendages
The Agee Institute
Boundaries
Wallpaper
Joseph (more) (again)
New Year’s Resolutions
Sebastian Shaw and his wraith buddy (again)
The X-Men’s answering machine
What Wolverine does
Alpha Flight
Canada problems
A crossover
Phoenix problems
Jean Grey’s ‘90s costume
Found families
What makes the Dark Phoenix Saga an X-Men story

NEXT EPISODE: Reignfire, resolved!

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 413 – Convergence

June 4, 2023 Jay One comment

Listen to the episode here.

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)

June 4, 2023 Jay 12 comments

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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

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!