Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men

Tag: New Mutants

152 – Ghosts of Future Present

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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 147 – The Beginning of the End of the Beginning

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Art by David Wynne. Buy prints at Redbubble, or contact David to purchase the original!
The first of many vertical two-page spreads (that could probably have just been a normal page, but hey). (New Mutants #90)
Copying and pasting artwork from The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe – work smarter, not harder! (New Mutants #90)
Just… Just talk to her, Rictor! Talk to anyone! Even the reader!(New Mutants #90)
To be fair, that’s actually pretty in-character for Sunspot. (New Mutants #90)
Okay, that’s just awesome. (New Mutants #90)
“We’ve got to save our friend! But first – pose!” (New Mutants #90)
Behold – crotches! And also a pretty cool fight. (New Mutants #91)
“Shouldn’t our parents have signed permission slips for this field trip, teach?” (New Mutants #91)
Preeeeetty sure this is the beginning of a complicated mating dance. Or just the start of date night. (New Mutants #91)
And then Cable fought robots so well that Rictor forgave him for killing his dad. (New Mutants #91)
That pretty much says it all, huh? (New Mutants #93)
Hey, Rictor got a new costume! And a lot more hair! (New Mutants #93)
“We’re from Japan! Can you tell?” (New Mutants #93)
“My god! Not another use!” (New Mutants #93)
“Why, someone who’s too awesome for backgrounds, of course!” (New Mutants #93)
Give the laxatives some time to work, guys. It’ll be okay. (New Mutants #94)
And then the 90s 90s’d us right in the 90s. (New Mutants #94)
Please note that Cannonball is stealing a key from Dragoness’s headdress in the bottom panel. With his hair, I guess? (New Mutants #94)
Okay, that’s just adorable. (New Mutants #94)
Magneto this guy ain’t.
And that was the last we ever saw of Stryfe and the MLF! (New Mutants #94)
Almost forgot the lovingly-rendered butt!
Next time: X-Factor versus psychic vampires!

147 – The Beginning of the End of the Beginning

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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 136 – Fill-In Frenzy!

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Art by David Wynne. Prints, cards, and coffee mugs available at the shop, or contact David to purchase the original.
(We also made a coffee mug, because, I mean, LOOK AT THIS.)
This is a demigod who loves his work. (New Mutants #81)
Backlighting: the difference between camp and divinity. (New Mutants #81)
You almost gotta feel sorry for the guy. Almost (New Mutants #81)
Look at that face. He’s so happy. Like a golden retriever who loves crime. (New Mutants #81)
Encasing people in molten rock kind of seems like the opposite of a rescue, but, sure, go for it. (New Mutants #81)
Aw. (New Mutants #81)
Don’t worry. They die on the next page. (Excalibur #20)
…’Kay. (Excalibur #20)
Not cool, Megan. (Excalibur #20)
Ron Lim’s CB isn’t just a cad, he’s a super-cad! (Excalibur #20)
THIS BAR THO (Excalibur #20)
There’s… there’s a lot going on here. (Excalibur #20)
This damn issue. (Excalibur #20)
She looks so happy about her not-a-pep-talk! (Excalibur #20)
That about covers it, yes. (X-Factor #47)
AUGH (X-Factor #47)
Arch-Bat-Angel-Man. (X-Factor #47)
In his parents’ defense, he did reanimate their dead dog. (X-Factor #47)
This guy. (X-Factor #47)
After looking like evil Zonker Harris, Greg’s secondary superpower is irony. (X-Factor #47)
We may have hit peak Warren Worthington III. (X-Factor #47)
Sensible kids! (X-Factor #47)

LINKS & FURTHER READING

136 – Fill-In Frenzy

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

In which we find the idea of Jack Kirby as G-d deeply comforting; “Jercules” is our new favorite insult; the difference between camp and divinity is good backlighting; Zeus does not have the moral high ground; Ron Lim’s Captain Britain is the definitive cad; the Demon Druid is the saddest supervillain; Archangel broods like it’s his day job; and Jay gets to do all the fun voices for once.

X-PLAINED:

  • The Upstarts
  • An inflatable Batman
  • New Mutants #81
  • Excalibur #20
  • X-Factor #47
  • Our favorite Magma story
  • The best insult
  • Pugilistic impunity
  • A context-inappropriate oath
  • The worst film festival
  • Fighting fire with Magma
  • The Demon Druid
  • A Satanic pirate tavern
  • Reactorhenge
  • The depths of fuchsia
  • Archangel’s deeply weird comfort mechanisms
  • Some dude named Greg
  • Publishing delays

NEXT WEEK: Lady Mandarin, feat. Sarah Kuhn

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 (or mugs) of this week’s illustration at our shop, or contact David Wynne for the original!

X-TRA – Sofa Special (feat. Al Ewing)

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cathands

We’re celebrating International Podcast Day with a bonus mid-week episode!

In which Jay and Al settle down in the living room to talk about cats, conventions, X-karaoke, Summers Brothers road trips, and what Al has planned for those New Mutants he’s been collecting in New Avengers!

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This episode comes courtesy of our rad Patreon subscribers. If you want to join their ranks and help keep us on the air and ad-free–and unlock more cool stuff–you can do that right here!

As Mentioned in Episode 127 – Disaster City

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Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available at the shop, or contact David to purchase the original.
Tabitha, no. (New Mutants #77)
Well, that can’t be good. (New Mutants #77)
Aw, man, Hela is such a fun villain. (New Mutants #78)
WHOOPS! (New Mutants #78)
Remember when we didn’t like Brett Blevins? MEA CULPA. (New Mutants #79)
TABITHA, NO. (New Mutants #79)
Blevins’s Hela is DELIGHTFUL. (New Mutants #79)
This gag doesn’t really stop being funny. (New Mutants #80)
Aw, Boom Boom. We knew you’d come through! (New Mutants #80)
Hela gets equal billing with her expansive gestures and sweet headgear. (New Mutants #80)
NEXT WEEK: Judgment War!

LINKS & FURTHER READING:

127 – Disaster City

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

In which we get back on the continuity train; everything is the aftermath of Inferno forever; you should never fight a tractor or a horse without first putting on some damn pants; Vincent Price would’ve made a terrific Doctor Strange; Rusty Collins never really gets a fair break; Boom Boom is in over her head; and Brett Blevins takes his place as the definitive New Mutants artist.

X-PLAINED:

  • Mirage’s on-again-off-again Valkyrie career
  • Asgardia
  • The New Mutants’ previous Asgard adventures
  • The best single issue of all time
  • The Naglfar
  • A proposal for a new calendar
  • New Mutants #77-80
  • The Ust-Ordynski Collective (again) (more)
  • There’s Stuff Going On: The Doctor Strange Story
  • A very bad decision
  • Why unicorns are the worst
  • Doctor Stephen Sanders / Doctor Strange / Doctor Dad
  • Let’s Make a Deal
  • Whether arson counts as a personality trait
  • Several nefarious plans
  • Creative growth
  • Disaster City
  • Fun with the Technarchy
  • Mindful representation
  • Miles’s dad’s comics collection

NEXT EPISODE: Judgment War!

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!

122 – Boom Boom Von Doom and the Ontology of Monsters

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

In which the back-up stories of Atlantis Attacks are way better than the main event; the Serpent Society is hilarious; Longshot finds a rock; the S.U.R.F.E.R.S. are no Neutrinos; our volume of digressions is inversely proportional to our investment in this crossover; Jay overthinks sunglasses; and somehow we still aren’t entirely done with Inferno.

X-PLAINED:

  • Leonard McKenzie
  • Princess Fen
  • Tiger Shark
  • A dubious crossover event and three splendid backup stories
  • The best thing in Marvel Puzzle Quest
  • Skateman
  • Atlantis Attacks
  • Uncanny X-Men Annual #13
  • New Mutants Annual #5
  • X-Factor Annual #4
  • Ghaur
  • Llyra
  • Homo mermanus
  • The Serpent Society
  • Boomslang
  • Why snakes don’t wear vests
  • The Maple Hill Farm books
  • The Horn of Doom (again)
  • Namorita
  • Impractical swimwear
  • Surf, or S.U.R.F.E.R.S., or whoever the hell they are
  • Zak and the Neutrinos
  • The trouble with mobile landmarks
  • A case of mistaken identity
  • The true meaning of something, probably
  • Ralph Macchio, but not that Ralph Macchio
  • Circumstances in which it is acceptable to throw a small child down an elevator shaft
  • The definitive Boom Boom
  • Eligible gentlemen of the Marvel Universe
  • Boom Boom Von Doom
  • A false dichotomy
  • Sally Pashkow
  • A really great outfit
  • Presidencies rated by X-Books
  • Best and worst moral inversions

NEXT WEEK: Mojo Mayhem!

ART CHALLENGE: Send your best Boom Boom romance stories, covers, and pin-ups to xplainthexmen(at)gmail.com by SEPTEMBER 15, with the subject line BOOM BOOM RULES.

NOTE: In this episode, Jay briefly confused two Marvel villain teams: the Serpent Society (snake-themed villains); and the Sons of the Serpent, also known as the Serpent Men (hate group). We would like to offer our apologies to the Serpent Society, who are ridiculous but not, as far as we know, racist.

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

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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: