Nathan Christopher Summers – Page 6 – Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men

147 – The Beginning of the End of the Beginning

February 20, 2017 Jay 31 comments

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Art by David Wynne. Buy prints at Redbubble, or contact David to purchase the original!

In which the New Mutants get a new status quo (and new costumes); we have deeply mixed feelings about Rob Liefeld; Cable is the comprehensive sex-ed to Xavier’s staunch denial and Magneto’s abstinence-only; Rictor gets a new dad by right of arms; and you should totally come party with us at Emerald City Comic Con!

X-PLAINED:

Feral Wolverine
Jay & Miles at Emerald City Comic Con
New Mutants #90, 91, 93, and 94
Early Rob Liefeld
Caliban vs. Sabretooth
Vertical spreads
Stately Xavier Ruins
How to confuse Freedom Force
Imaginary fashions of the early ’90s
How Rictor’s father may or may not have died
The New Mutants’ new uniforms
A lovingly-rendered butt
Improv with Apocalypse
The mystery of Rictor’s shirt
Seismic weaving
The Japanese branch of the MLF (Kamikaze, Sumo, and Dragoness)
The Mutual Liberation Front
Diana, Warrior Princess (again)
Several kisses
Sleet

NEXT EPISODE: X-Factor Fights Yuppie LARPers or Something

CORRECTION: In this episode, Jay referred to Bob Harras as Editor-in-Chief of Marvel in 1990. Tom DeFalco was in fact Editor-in-Chief; Harras was the X-Men line editor.

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 142 – The Monster at the End of This Comic

January 9, 2017 Jay 7 comments

Listen to the episode here.

Art by David Wynne. Buy prints at Redbubble, or contact David to purchase the original!

Apocalypse using his powers: never not funny.(X-Factor #51)

Ship, no. (X-Factor #51)

Meet Opal Tanaka, your new favorite X-Factor supporting character! (X-Factor #51)

HE’S SO FULL OF FEELINGS, YOU GUYS (X-Factor #51)

I know it’s not supposed to be funny, but it really is. (X-Factor #52)

We’ve all basically been on this date, right? (X-Factor #52)

Terry Shoemaker’s Bobby Drake is delightful. (X-Factor #52)

Hiiiiii, The Locust. (X-Factor #52)

And again: Clearly not supposed to be comical, and yet… (X-Factor #52)

Aw, these two. (X-Factor #53)

Well, that’s awkward. (X-Factor #53)

Jean Grey: striding into the future with two middle fingers raised to fate. (X-Factor #53)

And now for something completely different! (X-Factor #55)

Perfect moment is perfect. (X-Factor #55)

Wellp. (X-Factor #55)

He’ll turn out to have been an Infectia monster and therefore doomed anyway, but that doesn’t really change the fact that Beast just kicked a dude in front of a train. (X-Factor #55)

NEXT EPISODE: Happy birthday, Kitty! HAVE SOME MORE SUBTEXT!

FURTHER LISTENING:

For more on Scott and Jean’s Central Park conversation (and an especially ironic listen this week), check out Episode 22 – Through Death and Through Life!

142 – The Monster at the End of This Comic

January 9, 2017 Jay 35 comments

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In which Jay and Miles make a personal announcement; moles (probably) don’t lay eggs; Angel is full of angst and flechettes; there’s always room for cello; and no matter how complicated our personal lives get, X-Factor’s will always be worse!

X-PLAINED:

The Tanaka family business
Jay & Miles vs. time travel
Some personal stuff that’s going on
Our definitive Iceman artist
A whole lot of child endangerment
Two reasons not to eat cereal from the 1980s
X-Factor #51-53 and 55
Cable’s first word
Slightly dubious zoning
Charlotte Jones
Opal Tanaka
Mole
Chicken Wings
Grover, but not that Grover
B-grade Sabretooth
A double date
Giant bugs
The Locust (August Hopper)
A walk in the park
A failed proposal
What we talk about when we talk about retcons

NEXT EPISODE: Happy Birthday, Shadowcat!

You can find 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!

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.)

Buy prints of this week’s illustration at our shop, or contact David Wynne for the original!

As Mentioned in Episode 141 – Reason to Go to the Devil

January 1, 2017 Jay 5 comments

Listen to the episode here.

Art by David Wynne. No print this week, but you can contact David to purchase the original!

Bella is slightly suspicious of this whole “snow” thing.

Say what you will about Liefeld, but his craggy, gnarled Vulture is pretty damn delightful. (New Mutants #86)

I was just gonna clip Nitro, but then I noticed the faces in the inset panel. (New Mutants #86)

It’s the Mutant Liberation Front! (New Mutants #87)

Tempo’s hella sweet Fleer trading card.

Cable’s official on-page debut (not counting a “next issue” blurb): (New Mutants #87)

OH, HI, STRYFE. (New Mutants #87)

“Yeah, well, so’s your mom!” (New Mutants #88)

Young lady, you put your feet back on the ground this instant! (New Mutants #88)

Fun Fact: this is in fact EXACTLY HOW HE’S GOING TO DIE. (New Mutants #88)

Cable is so… Cable. (New Mutants #89)

The combination of the visible belly button and the coloring really make it look like Sam’s wearing a pink tube top. (New Mutants #89)

Evil!Sexy!Moira! (New Mutants #89)

NEXT EPISODE: Angel broods like it’s the Silver Age!

141 – Reason to Go to the Devil

January 1, 2017 Jay 30 comments

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In which we ring in the new year with Cable’s on-page debut; it’s really the ’90s now; we enter the third major era of New Mutants; what Liefeld lacks in craft he makes up for in energy; we pitch a new “What if–” line; Rusty and Skids are terrible superheroes; X-Factor has probably given up on a lot of things; we speculate at gratuitous length on the content of Cable’s pouches; you have reason to go to the devil; and Cable makes a lot more sense when you realize he’s of, by, and for teenagers.

X-PLAINED:

How the Legacy Virus got loose
New Mutants #86-89
Cable’s on-page debut
Rob Liefeld
The third major era of New Mutants
A shift in the balance of power
A comics shop to probably avoid if you time-travel back to the mid 1990s
The stupid adventures of Rusty & Skids
Yet another Acts of Vengeance tie-in
Nitro
An accidental prison break
Cops, or maybe protestors
The Mutant Liberation Front
Feet
A goody two-shoes man-stealing redheaded werewolf
Wildside
Reaper
Strobe
Thumbelina
Tempo
Forearm
Zero
Stryfe
Stryfe’s armor
Spooning with Cable

NEXT EPISODE: X-Factor kicks it Silver Age.

You can find 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!

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.)

No prints this week. Contact David Wynne to purchase the original illustration!

As Mentioned in Episode 133 – Feisty Little Fellow from the Stars

November 8, 2016 Jay One comment

Listen to the episode here.

Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available at the shop, or contact David to purchase the original.

YAYBO! We’re launching our brand new TeePublic shop with a brand new design from artist Scott Koblish and designer Dylan Todd!

You’re hearing this in the Strangers’ voices from Dark City, too, right? (X-Factor #48)

I, however, am thoroughly impressed. Look at that snazzy Kirby-designed dude! (X-Factor #48)

Including this panel mostly for ZZ-105’s adorable flailing. (X-Factor #48)

Aw, man, Beast. Never change. I mean, I guess aside from the extended series of self-induced mutations. (X-Factor #48)

Well, that’s awkward on a lot of levels. (X-Factor #48)

Iceman’s core personality traits involve both reluctance to kill and overcompensating like whoa. (X-Factor #49)

“Tell you what–I won’t tell the others about ‘Wugga Wugga Wugga’ if you don’t mention the hat.” (X-Factor #49)

Ship is such a good bro. (X-Factor #49)

SMASH THE STATE! (X-Factor #49)

Look at that creepy little smirk! (X-Factor #50)

It wouldn’t be X-Factor without some good old-fashioned baby theft! (X-Factor #50)

NO SPACE GODS NO SPACE MASTERS (X-Factor #50)

WOW. (X-Factor #50)

“Knowledge–and twenty-seven hours of smooth jazz classics!” (X-Factor #50)

Meanwhile, this nonsense. (X-Factor #50)

NEXT EPISODE: Live from VVCBF. And yes, the guitar gets played.

133 – Feisty Little Fellow from the Stars (Judgment War, Part 2)

November 7, 2016 Jay 23 comments

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In which the plot thickens; Jay and Miles fix Avatar; Ship is a good bro; you are in space right now; the Beginagains go full This Island Earth; Cyclops weaponizes love; voting is really important; and you’re listening to ten straight hours of soft jazz and subversion on ZZ-105

X-PLAINED:

The other Dazzler (Bertram Worthington)
Our newest t-shirt
X-Factor #48-50
A metaphor within a metaphor, in space
The first half of Judgment War (briefly) (again)
A prisoner exchange
Hairstyles of the possessed and famous
Proper use of Cable
A case for retcons
Iceman vs. Archangel
A feisty little fellow from the stars
The secret origin of Ship
The Celestials
The core of Iceman’s personality
Several kisses
Beast and the Rejects
Some terrible hats
An unfair fight
A nefarious plot
Contagious heroism
Arishem
The power of love
Why we use the word “queer”
Several theoretical and unlikely crossovers

NEXT EPISODE: Live at Vegas Valley Comic Book Festival, with musical guest Scott Koblish!

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!

Buy prints of this week’s illustration at our shop, or contact David Wynne for the original!

As Mentioned in Episode 120 – Observed by a Family of Lizard People

August 8, 2016 Jay 8 comments

Listen to the episode here.

Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available at the shop, or contact David to purchase the original.

Hi, there. (Excalibur #8)

They’re totally a girl gang, though, right? (Excalibur #8)

Ouch. (Excalibur #8)

Hi, Brian. (Excalibur #8)

Seriously, it’s never not funny. (Excalibur #8)

I want a statue of this cover SO BAD. (Excalibur #9)

Meet Lightning Force: The Nazi Excalibur you really, really don’t need in your life. (Excalibur #9)

The many faces of Meggan (and some slightly disastrous sound effects from Brian). (Excalibur #9)

Alastaire Stuart and his banana. (Excalibur #9)

Kittys Pryde. (Excalibur #9)

HI, BRIAN. (Excalibur #10)

Just gal pals, pallin’ around. (Excalibur #11)

If I had a dollar for every time this had happened… (Excalibur #11)

Well, then. (Excalibur #11)

Sure, why not? (Excalibur #11)

NEXT EPISODE: Deadpool v Gambit, with Ben Acker!

LINKS & FURTHER READING:

How the X-Men’s Blackbird Compares to the Original SR-71

120 – Observed by a Family of Lizard People

August 8, 2016 Jay 24 comments

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | RSS

In which everything is worse with Nazis; Excalibur gets its groove back; Meggan has an identity crisis; Kitty gets a crush; a dragon gets interdimensional sanctuary; and the Cross-Time Caper starts not with a bang, but a foomp.

X-PLAINED:

The death of Lilandra Neramani
Excalibur #8-11
The best name in Hollywood
Still more of Inferno’s aftermath
A basketball game
Blackbird disambiguation
Several long-delayed reunions and one subsequent resolution
Alastaire Stuart (and his banana)
Tourists who are also lizards
Lightning Force
A number of unfortunate encounters
The difference between Errol Flynn characters and Errol Flynn
The fall of Nigel Frobisher
The switch that turns the engine invisible
What may be the world’s least subtle euphemistic use of the term “roommate”
How the discourse around comics has changed since the ’80s
Jubilee vs. power creep

NEXT EPISODE: Deadpool v Gambit, with Ben Acker!

You can find a visual companion to this episode on our blog!

Find us on iTunes, Google Play, 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 prints of this week’s illustration at our shop, or contact David Wynne for the original!