Madripoor – Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men

As Mentioned in Episode 460 – Setting Sons

September 1, 2024 Jay Leave a comment

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I really enjoy cover copy like this. (Generation X #52)

Synch is better at your powers than you are. (Generation X #52)

Oh, snap! (Generation X #52)

Wait, if it’s just her skin, shouldn’t we be seeing muscles and stuff under it? (Generation X #52)

What happens when you give image inducers to moppets. (Generation X #52)

TFW you just rescued a mercenary in the woods outside your boarding school, and he’s kinda hot. (Generation X #53)

The Rising Sons. (Generation X #53)

This is one of very few panels in which you can see Paladin’s whole costume. (Generation X #54)

Damn, Adrienne. (Generation X #54)

NEXT EPISODE: The return of Rictor and Shatterstar!

460 – Setting Sons

August 25, 2024 Jay 5 comments

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In which Synch is better with your powers than you are; Generation X gets some actual training; Artie and Leech are fully feral; everyone gets the hots for Paladin; Zeus has probably fucked a motorcycle at some point; many countries have valleys; and Adrienne Frost is terrible.

X-PLAINED:

Generation X #52-54
Tristan Brawn (more) (again)
Grant Morrison on suspension of disbelief in superhero media
Honor vs. privilege
School dance themes
Artie and Leech’s habitat
Spider-Ham
Ducktor Doom
Role models
What Gaia is probably definitely up to
Paladin
The Rising Sons
Rollerblades
Dragon problems
Power emulation vs. reproduction
Pokémans
Cosplaying Emma Frost with a beard
Diamond Patch
Muir Island vs. Muir Isle

NEXT EPISODE: X-Force goes to Genosha!

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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 346 – Romancing the Gehenna Stone

September 19, 2021 Jay Leave a comment

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

Darts with Patch. (Wolverine #11)

Burt Corrigan, at his driest. (Wolverine #11)

Now THAT’S how you arrive at court. (Wolverine #11)

I would argue that Burt is MORE competent than most of the people around him, and also more vampire-aware. (Wolverine #11)

He’s the best at what he does, and what he does makes for pretty fun splash pages. (Wolverine #12)

Dang, man. (Wolverine #12)

So, that happened. (Wolverine #13)

Good times, good times. (Wolverine #13)

THE PRECIOUS! (Wolverine #13)

AGAIN: NOBODY IN THIS COMIC CAN FLY. (Wolverine #14)

Two corner-box Wolverines are better than one! (Wolverine #15)

Aw, Burt. (Wolverine #15)

The Hand of God, everybody! (Wolverine #15)

Hell, yeah, you are. (Wolverine #15)

NEXT WEEK: Hawk Talk
NEXT EPISODE: Onslaught!

346 – Romancing the Gehenna Stone

September 12, 2021 Jay 18 comments

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In which we continue to avoid Onslaught with a jaunt over to the Wolverine solo series; Logan is terrible at both being a loner and secret identities; fake vampires are fundamentally hilarious; and Burt Corrigan is the hero we need.

X-PLAINED

Hyperstorm (kinda)
Wolverine #11-16
A very full week
What Wolverine has been up to
Madripoor
Several supporting cast members
“Patch”
Archie Corrigan
Burt Corrigan
Several things to do in San Francisco
Vampire humor
Ba’al
The Gehenna Stone
Penis bones
The Hand of God
Doomsday
Mutual fratricide
A midair brawl
Secret identity problems
Claw problems
Other metals with which one’s skeleton might be bonded
Bisecting Logan
Team-ups we’d like to see

NEXT WEEK: Hawk Talk!

NEXT EPISODE: Onslaught, honestly, we promise.

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 283 – Legion Quest Quest

February 2, 2020 Jay 9 comments

Listen to the episode here.

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

So, that’s happening.

This cover has me thinking again about where she gets the skulls for her belt. (X-Factor #108)

No man has ever looked more like an action figure than Nick Fury does in this panel. (X-Factor #108)

The best Looney Toons reference in a superhero comic remains Animal Man #5, but this’ll do for now. (X-Factor #108)

Val X-Plains Legion. (X-Factor #108)

Hey, Forge? Fuck you. (X-Factor #108)

I mean, kinda. (X-Factor #109)

And yet, somehow, I’m not reassured. (X-Factor #109)

Dang, this would be a useful skill. (X-Factor #109)

And now for something completely different! (X-Factor #110)

IS it a mustache? Or does his nose just end in some kind of fibrous feelers or baleen? (X-Factor #110)

LILA 4-EVER (X-Factor #110)

I love that she just has a massive freaking treasure vault full of loose doubloons. WHO DOES THAT? (X-Factor #110)

They’re jerks, but they’re well-dressed jerks. (X-Factor #111)

Live your dreams, happy sloth man from space. (X-Factor #111)

He’ll be fine! (X-Factor #111)

…wait, no, belay that. (X-Factor #111)

But it’s okay, because the universe is ending! (X-Factor #111)

NEXT EPISODE: Chip Zdarsky!

LINKS & FURTHER SPIN-OFFS

WHOA DANG JAY IS WRITING A CYCLOPS ONE-SHOT! It is called X-Men Marvels Snapshot #1, or possibly Marvel Snapshots: X-Men #1; but either way, you can read more about it here and find preorder information here.
Speaking of things Jay writes, if you didn’t get enough Lila Cheney in this week’s episode, she’s stealing hearts and valuables all over Episode 8 of Thor: Metal Gods!
We talked a lot about Legion and the ways his powers intersect with mental illness in Episode 44 – Assembling Legion, feat. Si Spurrier.
Here is some context for Jay’s joke about Autism Speaks. (If you’re looking for an organization to support that actually helps and amplifies the voices of Autistic folks, we like the Autistic Self Advocacy Network.)

283 – Legion Quest Quest

February 2, 2020 Jay 10 comments

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In which Jay is writing a Cyclops one-shot; It is honestly truly almost Legion Quest; Mystique plays the long game; sometimes filler is a good thing; Havok is a geophysicist, not a geographer; Lila definitely stole it; and more stories should be set in space junkyards.

X-PLAINED:

How Betsy Braddock got her original body back
Marvel Snapshots: X-Men
The lead-up to Legion Quest
X-Factor #108-111
Mystique’s skill set
Legion (David Haller) (more) (again)
Freedom Force
The most powerful of devices
A dream about a dream
An intersection of unreliable narrators
The narrative justification for Legion Quest
A rock monster
Jornick
Lila Cheney (more) (again)
A Kurt Vonnegut reference
The K’Lanti
A space junkyard
The end of X-Factor’s second iconic era
Our favorite male/female X-friendships
Pros and cons of line cohesiveness

NEXT EPISODE: Chip Zdarsky!

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!

152 – Ghosts of Future Present

March 27, 2017 Jay 58 comments

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Art by David Wynne. Contact David to purchase the original!

In which Franklin Richards makes everything more complicated; Reed Richards is a terrible parent; Days of Future Present is a surprisingly good ghost story; Valeria Richards is awesome (but does not appear in this crossover); everyone’s got hounds these days; Banshee is your sad cyborg dad; Phoenix has a lot of feelings; and X-Factor once again manages to up the ante for child endangerment.

X-PLAINED:

Nightcrawler’s brief clerical career
Days of Future Present
Annuals, in general
Some extraordinarily specific Namor headcanon
Fantastic Four Annual #23
New Mutants Annual #6
X-Factor Annual #5
Uncanny X-Men Annual #14
Franklin Richards
Several statuses quo
The reproductive potential of Doombots
Ms. Marvel (Sharon Ventura)
Ahab
A Code Red Time Emergency
One of Jay’s dream pitches
Your sad cyborg dad
The worst tea party
One hell of a kiss
Robocop vs. Terminator

NEXT EPISODE: Excalibur gets eclectic!

The visual companion to this episode will be up later this week.

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 151 – Czars of Kung Fu

March 20, 2017 Jay 9 comments

Listen to the episode here.

Art by David Wynne. Contact David to purchase the original!

WELL, THEN. (Uncanny X-Men #264)

“Also, we think they might be slightly evil.” (Uncanny X-Men #264)

Seriously, though, THEY ARE NEVER GOING TO MENTION THE TENTACLES AGAIN. (Uncanny X-Men #264)

But can it teach aerobics? I DON’T THINK SO. (Uncanny X-Men #264)

Wolverine WWII flashbacks are usually pretty fun. (Uncanny X-Men #268)

No, YOU ship it. (Uncanny X-Men #268)

Her hair is so great, though. (Uncanny X-Men #268)

How can one character be so awesome? It seems kind of unfair. (Uncanny X-Men #268)

Don’t fuck with Seraph. She’ll kick your ass and leave you with a blood debt to Viper. (Uncanny X-Men #268)

“Look, it was this or leather pants.” (Uncanny X-Men #268)

It’s fair to assume that whatever Jubilee is doing in the background is roughly a million times more entertaining than whatever’s going on in the A-plot. (Uncanny X-Men #268)

Jim Lee cocktail dresses, topped off with Jim Lee hair. (Uncanny X-Men #268)

It was REALLY HARD to not make this whole visual companion nothing but Jubilee. I hope you appreciate my restraint. (Uncanny X-Men #268)

Remember that time Cap made an awkward pass at Wolverine? (Uncanny X-Men #268)

Come for the broken spine; stay for spoiling the surprise twist! (And yet, somehow, we still love this cover.) (Uncanny X-Men #269)

If I had a dollar for every day I’ve woken up like this… (Uncanny X-Men #269)

In which Jim Lee does a pretty solid Barry Windsor Smith. (Uncanny X-Men #269)

“Now put on some damn pants and fight me!” (Uncanny X-Men #269)

“But you’re… you’re so evil! And sexy!” (Uncanny X-Men #269)

Well, that explains a thing or two. (Uncanny X-Men #269)

It’s really not the Savage Land without a sexy montage. (Uncanny X-Men #269)

Okay. This looks bad. (Uncanny X-Men #269)

It’s easy to make fun of this page, but at the same time, it’s really damn cool. (Uncanny X-Men #269)

Lila Cheney: falls into the heart of a sun, comes back more stylin’ than ever! (Uncanny X-Men #269)

NEXT EPISODE: Days of Future Present!

LINKS & FURTHER READING

151 – Czars of Kung Fu

March 20, 2017 Jay 21 comments

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In which Laura easily is worth a dozen Old Mans Logan; Charlotte Jones is the EveryCop; Genosha remains a fairly versatile allegory; Hydra are totally Nazis; Jubilee gets the best sound effects; Rogue has a bad day; and it’ll take more than a sun to stop Lila Cheney.

X-PLAINED:

Graydon Creed
Logan oversaturation (more) (again)
Uncanny X-Men #264, 268, 269
A somewhat convoluted status quo
Death by Derrida
New York’s sewers (kind of) (maybe)
The Misty Knight rule
Jackets of the ’90s
Cap’s cape
Mustache metaphysics
The Press Gang (again)
VR.5
The Doctrine of Hot Pursuit
Dazzler, in handy grenade form
A prescient scenario
Jim Lee signature cocktail dresses
A dubious approach to first aid
Wolverine’s sexy friends
Nazi ducks
Seraph
Ivan Petrovitch
Sexy subversion
Rogue vs. Carol Danvers
Mutants vs. the Terrigen Mists
TaXonomy of ambiguously X-characters

NEXT EPISODE: Days of Future Present!

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!

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.)