Phoenix – Page 12 – Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men

As Mentioned in Episode 110 – Lights, Camera, Apocalypse!

May 22, 2016 Jay 7 comments

Listen to the episode here.

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

We saw X-Men in the middle of a road trip the summer after our senior year of high school. Terrible vacation; fun movie.

X2: X-Men United is a very loose adaptation of one of our favorite X-Men stories: the Marvel Graphic Novel God Loves, Man Kills.

The less said about X-Men: The Last Stand, the better.

Jay can’t look at this X-Men: First Class poster without thinking of the Buckaroo Banzai end credits. It’s a blessing and a curse.

X-Men: Days of Future Past is one of the more ambitious retcons ever to grace the big screen.

X-Men: Apocalypse opens in the U.S. on May 27; and everywhere else at some point in the surrounding weeks.

Apocalypse’s on-panel debut… (X-Factor #5)

…and the first time we saw his signature costume. (X-Factor #6)

“Let’s adopt him and, I dunno, feed him scarab blood? Look, man, I’m making this up as I go along.” (Rise of Apocalypse #1)

Apocalypse’s true, diabolical plan, as realized in “The Twelve”: To capture a bunch of mutants and I guess put them in little terrariums? Apocalypse is a complicated guy. (Uncanny X-Men #377)

Apocalypse: Somehow actually more progressive than Doctor Who. (The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix #1)

The mechanics of Apocalypse’s body–and relative immortality–vary wildly from series to series. (The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix #2)

In the Age of Apocalypse, Apocalypse takes over Earth ahead of schedule and makes everything super glam. (X-Men: Alpha)

Deadpool may not be an X-Man, but his movie did feature the best version of the X-Men costumes to show up so far on screen.

NEXT WEEK: Excalibur joins Inferno!

LINKS & FURTHER READING

ON THE PODCAST:
- Episode 6 – Days of Future Whatever was our first delve into the X-Men cinematic universe.
- You can learn more about Apocalypse in Episode 64 – Ski Lodge of Apocalypse; and Episode 88 – Just Before Dawn.
- You can hear Paul O’Brien–not Kieran Shiach, as we stated in the episode–explain Kang the Conqueror in Episode 85 – Secret Convergence on Infinite Podcasts: Complex Continuity.
AT THE MOVIES:
- Jay’s 2014 review of X-Men: Days of Future Past
- Jay’s (spoiler-free) review of X-Men: Apocalypse
- If video’s more your style, we also briefly discussed X-Men: Apocalypse (again, spoiler-free) over here.
EVERYWHERE ELSE:
- Cast Party is an ongoing series where the ever-splendid Elle Collins casts (and recasts) comic-book movies:
- You, too, can own your very own super stylin’ Elle Was Right t-shirt!

110 – Lights, Camera, Apocalypse!

May 22, 2016 Jay 41 comments

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In which the X-Men cinematic universe is a really mixed bag; Kang the Conqueror ruins everything; everyone wants a Sphinx hovercraft; Elle was right; and we bring you up to speed on all things En Sabah Nur–just in time for X-Men: Apocalypse!

X-PLAINED:

How Chamber got his torso back (and then lost it again)(twice)
Several ways to count X-Men movies
X-Men
X2: X-Men United
X-Men: The Last Stand
X-Men: First Class
X-Men: Days of Future Past
Adaptation anxiety
Distillation vs. dilution
Apocalypse (En Sabah Nur)
Rise of Apocalypse #1-4
Akkaba
Dubious survival tips
Fantastic Four #19
Doctor Strange #53
Ozymandias
Various horsemen of Apocalypse
Age of Apocalypse (Earth-295)
The Twelve
Cinematic X-costumes
Cast Party

NEXT WEEK: Excalibur joins Inferno!

CORRECTION: In this episode, Jay states that Kieran Shiach explained Kang in the Secret Convergence on Infinite Podcasts. It was, in fact, the amazing Paul O’Brien. Mea culpa.

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!

As Mentioned in Episode 109 – The Passion of Madelyne Pryor

May 15, 2016 Jay 9 comments

Listen to the episode here.

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

It’s the whole gang! Kind of! And some of them are evil! BUT STILL! (Uncanny X-Men #242)

No, it’s not. (Uncanny X-Men #242)

SEE? (Uncanny X-Men #242)

Only one of many reasons that enthusiastic consent is important. (Uncanny X-Men #242)

Iceman is so underrated. Dude’s the heart and conscience of the original five. (Uncanny X-Men #242)

WELL, THEN. (Uncanny X-Men #242)

N’astirh may be evil, but he has impeccable taste in infernal vehicles. (Uncanny X-Men #242)

That’s the cold wind of metaphor, Alex. (Uncanny X-Men #242)

Madelyne Pryor knows from genre conventions. (Uncanny X-Men #242)

Aw, man. These two. (Uncanny X-Men #242)

Inferno’s a pretty dark crossover, but it has some really damn delightful moments. (Uncanny X-Men #242)

Love N’astirh’s face in that first panel. (Uncanny X-Men #242)

No one draws a possessed skyline like Silvestri. (Uncanny X-Men #242)

SUCKERS. You’ve still got three issues left! (Uncanny X-Men #242)

I’m genuinely curious as to whether this splash page started out as a cover design. (Uncanny X-Men #242)

“We’ll laugh about this later.” (X-Factor #38)

THAT SOUND EFFECT! (X-Factor #38)

Madelyne Pryor is the best at villain speeches. (X-Factor #38)

This panel is awesome, which is probably why there are going to be a lot of callbacks to it. (X-Factor #38)

This sequence is kind of a great encapsulation of a lot of Scott and Alex’s relationship. (X-Factor #38)

Jean’s rocky and reluctant alliance with the Phoenix force makes each of them a good deal more interesting. (X-Factor #38)

The most important relationship–and scenes–in Inferno are between Jean and Madelyne. I really wish we’d gotten more of the two of them together. (X-Factor #38)

“We’ll need to harness the power of all of our best sound effects!” (X-Factor #38)

Perfect panel is perfect. (X-Factor #38)

On one hand: this is all kind of Scott’s fault. On the other hand: it’s hard not to feel bad for him. (X-Factor #38)

Inferno: In which everyone is wrong and everyone is sympathetic. (X-Factor #38)

OH, YEAH! (Uncanny X-Men #243)

X-Factor will continue to play with this idea to some extent, but it’ll fade away pretty fast, and that’s a damn shame. (Uncanny X-Men #242)

Ditto, this. (Uncanny X-Men #242)

Jean, Madelyne, or Phoenix; her story at its best will always be about self-determination. (Uncanny X-Men #242)

Valid. (Uncanny X-Men #242)

Pawing through the X-Men’s stuff is one of the less invasive things Sinister has done in this arc, but there’s something extra creepy about it. (Uncanny X-Men #242)

Walter Simonson’s ability to make Longshot’s hair look good is the eight wonder of the world. (X-Factor #39)

Scott Summers’ Life Is An Actual Anxiety Dream, chapter infinity. (X-Factor #39)

Oh, hey, it’s the rest of Cyclops’s backstory! (X-Factor #39)

Does Nebraska even have a Department of Social Services? (X-Factor #39)

I just really love this page. (X-Factor #39)

This panel might have the highest appearance-to-reality-of-finality ratio in comics. (X-Factor #39)

And they all lived happily ever after. (X-Factor #39)

NEXT WEEK: Apocalypse for Beginners!

LINKS & FURTHER LISTENING

For our Inferno coverage, we’re working (somewhat loosely) from the reading order mapped out at UncannyXMen.net.
We’ll be bringing you up to speed on both the cinematic X-Men and Apocalypse’s comics background in episode 110, but if you want to brush up this week, you can do that here:

109 – The Passion of Madelyne Pryor

May 15, 2016 Jay 22 comments

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In which you should not presume to judge Madelyne Pryor by your standards; we wrap up the core plot of Inferno (but still somehow have two episodes left to go); sympathetic is not the same thing as right; Storm and Jean use friendship and it’s super effective; Iceman is basically incorruptible; Angel gets a new codename; Cyclops gets a backstory; Sinister is aptly named; and Inferno makes retcons into retconade.

X-PLAINED:

Limbo vs. Limbo
Hel vs. Hell
Uncanny X-Men #242-243
X-Factor #38-39
A moment that does not speak eloquently for itself
Several extended misunderstandings
The difference between sympathetic and right
N’astirh’s sweet ride
A false binary
The Goblin Prince
Yet another reason Havok should have finished his dissertation
The power of friendship
The Rube Goldberg approach to combat
Superconductivity, kind of
Our least favorite retcon in Inferno
The Summers brothers summed up in a single scene
Clone ethics
Why we like it when characters screw up
Our favorite retcons
How to prep for X-Men: Apocalypse

NEXT WEEK: Apocalypse for Beginners

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!

As Mentioned in Episode 108 – What Price Glory

May 8, 2016 Jay 15 comments

Listen to the episode here.

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

Perfect cover is perfect. (Uncanny X-Men #239)

Hey, kids! Can you count the OSHA violations on this page? (Uncanny X-Men #239)

Does it get more Mr. Sinister than sitting on a giant crystal throne playing with X-Men action figures and expositing dramatically to himself? No. No, it does not. (Uncanny X-Men #239)

This moment is so good, and so chilling. (Uncanny X-Men #239)

Sometimes you eat the bar, and sometimes the bar eats you. (Uncanny X-Men #239)

ABORT ABORT BAD IDEA ABORT (Uncanny X-Men #239)

“Also, apparently they were really into Pinterest.” (Uncanny X-Men #239)

I am pretty sure I have seen this exact image on the front cover of at least one VHS tape. (Uncanny X-Men #239)

Here’s every panel of Madelyne’s black dress, in order. (Uncanny X-Men #240)

Hi, M-Squad. Bye, M-Squad. (Uncanny X-Men #240)

This whole scene is so exquisitely unsettling. (Uncanny X-Men #240)

Rogue, that is… quite an outfit. (Uncanny X-Men #240)

Meanwhile, in a completely different comic book. (Uncanny X-Men #240)

“Mr. Weatherbee didn’t really go into the details of this exchange program.” (Uncanny X-Men #240)

I don’t know why I find Scrambler so endlessly hilarious, but, GOD, I do. (Uncanny X-Men #240)

Silvestri doesn’t get to do nearly as much as Blevins or Simonson with possessed objects; but he’ll make up for it with the amazing demonic cityscapes in #242. (Uncanny X-Men #241)

Close Encounters with the Fourth Wall, Colossus Edition. (Nah, they’re clones. BUT STILL.) (Uncanny X-Men #241)

I swear this police-car demon is a reference to SOMETHING, but I can’t for the life of me remember what. (Uncanny X-Men #241)

“Fuck this. I’m gonna go hang out in New Mutants.” (Uncanny X-Men #241)

This cannot POSSIBLY end well. (Uncanny X-Men #241)

“Also, I liked that scene way more when Paul Smith drew it.” (Uncanny X-Men #240)

The Greys really never catch a break. (Uncanny X-Men #240)

Nebraska: Definitely the worst state. (Uncanny X-Men #240)

And you thought your family holidays were awkward. (Uncanny X-Men #241)

Oh, damn. (Uncanny X-Men #241)

There’s at least one alternate universe in which Mister Sinister founded the X-men; but the only detail I remember is that their costumes are WAY fancier. (Uncanny X-Men #241)

This detail makes Madelyne’s story infinitely sadder. (Uncanny X-Men #241)

In which Mister Sinister effectively seals the fate of the world. (Uncanny X-Men #241)

That’s. My. Girl. (Uncanny X-Men #241)

Oh, snap. (Uncanny X-Men #241)

And then a hot dog stand ate Calvin and Hobbes. (X-Factor #36)

Awwww. (X-Factor #36)

Cool scene; dumb hats. (X-Factor #36)

In a just world, every time you looked at this panel, heroic music would start playing. (X-Factor #36)

Let’s all just take a moment to admire the composition of this splash page. (X-Factor #37)

These panels were fine in context of the page, but then I cropped them, and now all I can think of is that one really unsettling video of a sloth petting a cat. (X-Factor #37)

“Okay, but that’s gonna be really awkward at the bank.” (X-Factor #37)

Wait, what? (X-Factor #37)

“Also, you literally just teleported.” (X-Factor #37)

NEXT WEEK: The Passion of Madelyne Pryor

LINKS & FURTHER READING:

For our Inferno coverage, we’re working (somewhat loosely) from the reading order mapped out at UncannyXMen.net.
Jay is the worst at Valentine’s Day.
The amazing BelleChere cosplays a phenomenal page-accurate Goblin Queen, sometimes alongside either Rule-63 or original-flavor Sinister! (Madelyne is only one of a ton of really terrific X-Men cosplay BelleChere has done over the years; we highly recommend clicking through her galleries to see the rest!)
Amanda Lafrenais draws awesome comics and has rats named after soup! (Link may not be work-safe–contains some cartoon nudity.)

108 – What Price Glory

May 8, 2016 Jay 40 comments

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | Email | RSS

In which we recap nearly 200 issues in under three minutes; Madelyne Pryor is the Medea of X-Men; Mister Sinister takes the stage; Dazzler is basically an ’80s movie refugee; Scrambler may or may not be an exchange student from the Riverdale Marauders; Marc Silvestri is excellent at some things and less so at others; nothing good happens in Nebraska; Trish Tilby is the April O’Neil of X-Factor; and we swear that it was a total coincidence that this episode went up on Mother’s Day.

X-PLAINED:

One solution to the existential conundrum of the Carol Danvers who is also kind of part of Rogue
Pretty much everything that’s happened since the Dark Phoenix Saga
The structure of Inferno
Uncanny X-Men #239-241
X-Factor #36-37
The rise of the Goblin Queen
Several deaths in elevators
Mister Sinister and his amazing action-figure collection
The evolution of Mark Silvestri
Madelyne and Alex
A very symbolic dress
The Rainbow Room
M-Squad
That damn costume
1989 in outfit form
Jay’s favorite Marauder
Rats-R-Us
Wolverine vs. a mail box
The X-Men, but evil
The secret origin of Madelyne Pryor
A long-anticipated reunion
Objects we’d demonically animate
Which X-Man should do your taxes

NEXT WEEK: The Passion of Madelyne Pryor

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!

As Mentioned in Episode 103 – Warwolves of London

April 4, 2016 Jay 10 comments

Listen to the episode here.

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

It’s the front-cover equivalent of the slow-motion hero walk. (Excalibur #1)

Hi, Widget! (Excalibur #1)

Kitty is ridiculous and also awesome. (Excalibur #1)

Nigel “The Worst” Frobisher. (Excalibur #1)

Aw, man. (Excalibur #1)

Welcome to the perfectly ordinary lighthouse full of perfectly ordinary rooms! Hope you survive the… (Excalibur #1)

“No one can move in Rachel’s costume except Rachel” is going to become a running joke over the course of the series. (Excalibur #1)

Somewhere there’s a universe where Meggan grew up watching Don’t Trust the B—- in Apartment 23, in which this scene went very differently. (Excalibur #1)

Vixen, never change. (Excalibur #2)

The Warwolves are awful, but also fairly delightful. (Excalibur #2)

Oh, dear me. (Excalibur #2)

HIJINKS! (Excalibur #2)

Well, that happened. (Excalibur #2)

This cannot POSSIBLY end well. (Excalibur #2)

Alan Davis covers are the best covers. (Excalibur #3)

SOMEHOW TEAM VIXEN’S OUTFITS GOT EVEN BETTER. (Excalibur #3)

And so it goes. (Excalibur #3)

Well done, Kitty. (Excalibur #3)

Well done, Kurt. (Excalibur #3)

FRIENDSHIP! (Excalibur #3)

Including this panel purely for Kurt’s dashing outfit. (Excalibur #3)

PERFECTLY NORMAL LIGHTHOUSE. NOTHING TO SEE HERE. (Excalibur #3)

LINKS & FURTHER LISTENING:

Come see us in Seattle next weekend!
We previously discussed Captain Britain in Episodes 97 and 98…
…and Excalibur in Episode 89.

103 – Warwolves of London

April 4, 2016 Jay 47 comments

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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In which Excalibur is x-tra x-ceptional; we once again gush at length about Alan Davis; Kurt Wagner is reliable with the ladies; nothing in Excalibur is ever perfectly normal; Warwolves are regular folks; Brian Braddock still doesn’t get to take a bath; Jay overthinks a question; and there’s more where that came from!

X-PLAINED:

The Unstoppable Juggernaut
Earth-10724
Jay & Miles at Emerald City Comicon
Excalibur #1-3
Fun
The Crazy Gang (again)
The somewhat ignominious death of Ray Mulholland
Warwolves
Nigel Frobisher
A somewhat dubious ploy
Bathroom etiquette
Widget
A kid named Colin
Rupert Holloway
Friendship, kind of
The Lighthouse
Courtney Ross
Excalibur vs. the Juggernaut
Kitty’s powers
An exceptionally specific theoretical crossover

NEXT WEEK: Checking in on the current state of the X-line, with guest Brett White!

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!

100 – Unexpected Wonder, with Chris Claremont

March 13, 2016 Jay 88 comments

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In which Miles follows his heart; subtext becomes text; and we celebrate a very special milestone with a very special guest.

NEXT EPISODE: Gossamyr

For a comprehensive visual companion to this episode, we recommend reading Uncanny X-Men #94-279, 381-389, and 444-473; X-Men vol. 1 #59; X-Men vol. 2 #1-3, 100-109, and 165; New Mutants #1-54, 63, and 81; Excalibur vol. 1 #1-19, 21-25, 27, and 32-34; X-Treme X-Men #1-46; X-Men Forever #1-25; and dozens of additional annuals, miniseries, ongoings, one-shots, graphic novels, and more.

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!