Rachel Summers – Page 2 – Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men

As Mentioned in Episode 236 – Baggage of Traumas Past

February 24, 2019 Jay Leave a comment

Listen to the episode here.

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

THAT’S the image I always remember from this scene. (Wolverine #75)

The inside of Wolverine’s mind is surprisingly derivative. (Wolverine #75)

Throes of the Phoenix Saga… Wolverine #75)

Scott is clearly with me on this reading. (Wolverine #75)

There are a lot of people who would have made more sense than Illyana here. (Wolverine #75)

IN THIS HOUSE WE STAN JEAN GREY. (Wolverine #75)

Aw. (Wolverine #75)

That. Sound. Effect. (Wolverine #75)

One very good day to frame a conversation. (Wolverine #75)

I hate it when I get extra body parts via retcon. (Wolverine #75)

Use as you see fit. (Wolverine #75)

And then, everything got awkward. (Excalibur #71)

How you know something big is going on and/or your sales are flagging. (Excalibur #71)

Professor Xavier is a JERK. (Excalibur #71)

Ouch. (Excalibur #71)

Meanwhile in the B-Plot… (Excalibur #71)

AW. (Excalibur #71)

Aw, man, my heart. (Excalibur #71)

WELL THAT WAS A SURPRISE. (Excalibur #71)

Aw, Piotr. I’d like to say that it gets better for him from here, but… (Excalibur #71)

Has anyone ever rocked a blue-and-gold Phoenix costume? It’s not half bad! (Excalibur #71)

NEXT EPISODE: Time to get X-TREME!

LINKS & FURTHER CLONES:

Ask Stryfe
Come see us at Emerald City Comic Con! We’ll be tabling all weekend, and on Saturday, we’ve got both a live show and a party!

236 – Baggage of Traumas Past (Fatal Attractions, Part 3)

February 24, 2019 Jay 27 comments

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In which Decimation was kind of sketchy; you should definitely come see us in Seattle; Wolverine has a rough day; Colossus has yet another rough day; Excalibur plans for the future; and Fatal Attractions comes to a close.

X-PLAINED:

How Professor X got his groove and/or powers back
Jay & Miles at Emerald City Comic Con
Wolverine #75
Excalibur #71
Psychic trauma
High-stakes references
The personal Ragnarok of a shattered soul
A really effective sound effect
The first day of the rest of Logan’s life
Butterflies of the Xavier School
Muir Island’s psychiatric ward
Medical consent
The worst bar, probably
Professorial disambiguation
What Micromax and Kyluun are probably definitely up to
Several variably awkward Grey-Summers family reunions
A betrayal
Amelia Voght
Unuscione
Katu
The future of Excalibur
Proactive superheroism
How not to make a White Russian
Shadowcat’s recovery post-Mutant Massacre
Our etymological destinies

NEXT EPISODE: It’s time to get X-TREME!

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 232 – Careful With That Axe, Cerise

January 27, 2019 Jay Leave a comment

Listen to the podcast here.

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

…Okay. then. (Excalibur #68)

“Now, do you want new handlebars, or should I just go ahead and go back to my lamp?” (Excalibur #68)

HI, STARJAMMERS! (Excalibur #68)

And that’s why you always leave a note. (Excalibur #69)

Oh, c’mon. I know you’re evil and bloodthirsty, but shooting corpses is just gratuitous. (Excalibur #69)

Sigh. (Excalibur #69)

Well, that works. (Excalibur #69)

I love this person. (Excalibur #69)

Fang! But not that Fang! A different Fang! (Excalibur #69)

Aw, these two. (Excalibur #70)

Awk-ward. (Excalibur #70)

The saddest staring contest. (Excalibur #70)

This seems legally dubious, but okay. (Excalibur #70)

Cerise X-Plains war crimes. (Excalibur #70)

NEXT EPISODE: X-Men Unlimited!

LINKS & FURTHER ANECDOTES

No, seriously, Saurians are Jewish.
That one Wolverine cover, and the story behind it.

232 – Careful With That Axe, Cerise

January 27, 2019 Jay 25 comments

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In which we’re still not over Into the Spider-Verse; Excalibur becomes an official X-book; Feron tries to help; Butts are fundamental; we care about the weird stuff; threats are unnecessary; and we were all always already Erik the Red.

X-PLAINED:

Several characters’ Earth-65 counterparts
The X-Office
Judging people for not being Alan Davis
Excalibur #68-70
A slippery story title
The unceremonious disappearance of Captain Britain
Mullets of space and time
Angst-ridden super-types, all of whom are morbidly obsessed with death
The other war criminal in Excalibur
Fashion trends of the Shi’ar Empire
Krag
Important conversations to have with your significant other
A sadness staredown
Cerise’s actual secret origins
A fairly poetic life sentence
The cleverest fights
Our 2019 Convention Schedule
How to get Jay & Miles at your local convention

NEXT EPISODE: X-Men Unlimited!

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!

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 231 – Life Bites

January 20, 2019 Jay 3 comments

Listen to the episode here.

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

I feel like this cover is generally a good metaphor for the 1993 Marvel annuals. (X-Factor Annual #8)

Just once, I want this setup to turn out to be a red herring. (X-Factor Annual #8)

Random is either time displaced or the world’s most precocious gamete. (X-Factor Annual #8)

And that’s why you always leave a note! (X-Factor Annual #8)

Remember that time Strong Guy called out casual ableism and it was AWESOME? (X-Factor Annual #8)

Well, that was an unexpected turn. (X-Factor Annual #8)

The real question is how many of them summon him in order to make fun of his name. (X-Factor Annual #8)

For some value of “deadly,” at least. (X-Factor Annual #8)

Aw, Guido. (X-Factor Annual #8)

Good dog. (X-Factor Annual #8)

Teleports more than walks, really. (Uncanny X-Men Annual #17)

“Honestly, he really has no idea what the hell he’s doing.” (Uncanny X-Men Annual #17)

They even have their own entrance music. (Uncanny X-Men Annual #17)

Okay. This looks bad. (Uncanny X-Men Annual #17)

Grey-Summers problems. (Uncanny X-Men Annual #17)

This seems pretty fundamentally unfair. (Uncanny X-Men Annual #17)

You’re not wrong. (Uncanny X-Men Annual #17)

OH, SNAP. (Uncanny X-Men Annual #17)

He’ll be okay. Kind of. Eventually. (Uncanny X-Men Annual #17)

“By the way, has anyone ever told you that you have a crayon name? Because you totally have a crayon name. (Uncanny X-Men Annual #17)

Yep. (Excalibur Annual #1)

Kitty X-Plains your dreams. (Excalibur Annual #1)

When will Excalibur learn that nothing good ever comes from hanging out with wizards. (Excalibur Annual #1)

Nothing good… except for THIS DUDE! (Excalibur Annual #1)

This is Captain Britain’s M.O. in a nutshell. (Excalibur Annual #1)

“Guys, we’re playing Spelljammer now.” (Excalibur Annual #1)

Meanwhile, with Technet. (Excalibur Annual #1)

NEXT EPISODE: Excalibur goes to space!

LINKS & OTHER AMENITIES:

You can make your own Sienna Blaze lipstick!

While it’s setting, why not read more about the 1993 Marvel annuals and Evan Skolnick’s D&D campaign!

Or you could watch The Gamers and develop a deeper understanding of Jay’s joke about Captain Britain at the gaming table.

And there’s always Episode 21 – Kurt Busiek at the Coffee-a-Go-Go, where we delve deep into the wonders of Metoxo the Lava Man!

231 – Life Bites

January 20, 2019 Jay 28 comments

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In which DC is out of our bailiwick; Random gets around; someone finally makes an explicit reference to disability politics; death has not improved the Chalkers; Strong Guy can’t catch a break; we’re all whole other people; Sienna Blaze has a crayon name; we totally want to play D&D with Evan Skolnick; a trading card does not a memorable character make; and we are 100% here for the mutant episode of Sesame Street.

X-PLAINED:
What happened to Fred Duncan
Beastwriting
Marvel’s 1993 Annuals
The speculator boom
X-Factor Annual #8
Uncanny X-Men Annual #17
Excalibur Annual #1
Charlie Ronalds (Charon) and his issues
A protracted Batman reference
How to string pearls
A dubious twist on the danger room
The pure joy of a child, but twisted and distorted like a shredded butterfly
Cloot (Satannish)
Howling Mad, by Peter David
The greatest enemies of X-Factor (but not really)
Cruel and arbitrary moralizing
The other X-Cutioner (Carl Denti)
A protracted illusion
The Amazing Icemaster
Metacommentary
An accidental trap
The death of Jason Wyngarde (Mastermind)
Resolution versus forgiveness
The other first appearance of Sienna Blaze
More wizard stuff
Khaos
Khaos & Gritty 4 Lyfe
Ghath
Irth
Mutants on Sesame Street
Cycling in and out of comics

NEXT EPISODE: Excalibur goes to space!

CORRECTION: Chris Claremont did not in fact write Dragonlance comics.

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!

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 229 – Giant-Size Special #7

December 30, 2018 Jay 2 comments

Listen to the episode here.

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

Surprisingly, not the worst trip either of them has been on. (The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix #1)

Welcome to the future. Hope you survive the… y’know. (The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix #1)

I kind of feel like most parents would be a little irritated if their kids did this. (The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix #1)

Despite the cybernetics, this is definitely the closest li’l Nathan Christopher has ever looked to an actual human baby. (The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix #1)

That is the face of a man who knows he will never, ever get to take a real vacation. (The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix #1)

We see what you did, there. (The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix #2)

Parents, amirite? (The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix #2)

It takes a certain degree of dedication to throw an orgy this boring. (The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix #2)

That’s our Stryfe! (The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix #2)

Apocalypse’s future look. (The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix #2)

Gene Ha is so good at weird cyborgs! (The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix #2)

“Also, where do babies come from?” (The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix #3)

I love the conceit that everyone in the future gives them shit for PDA. (The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix #3)

OH, HEY, IT’S THE LEGACY VIRUS. (The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix #3)

Quite literally face to face. (The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix #3)

Nobody likes Stryfe. (The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix #3)

And you thought puberty hit you hard. (The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix #4)

Aw, Rachel. (The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix #4)

“Also, I was thinking we could do brunch sometime. No? Too soon?” (The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix #4)

This dysfunctional fictional family is so damn important to me. (The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix #4)

Clone Problems(TM). (The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix #4)

I mean, the first time aside from THE ENTIRETY OF THE LAST TWELVE YEARS. (The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix #4)

I’m not crying. You’re crying. We’re both crying. Everyone is crying. (The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix #4)

This comic, man. Right in the feels. (The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix #4)

We don’t usually post pages that we also read, but we couldn’t in good conscience leave this one out. (The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix #4)

“Time to get a lot of guns and some snappy one-liners.” (The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix #4)

NEXT EPISODE: Bring kleenex.

LINKS & FURTHER FESTIVITY:

David Wynne is awesome! Here’s where you can find him on the Internet:
- Tumblr
- Twitter
- David’s Comics:
- Josh & Jamie Do Daredevil
The Apocrypals pretty much do what we do, but for the bible!
The Fantasticast pretty much does what we do, but for the Fantastic Four!

Click through for Corbeau Awards and song lyrics!

229 – Giant-Size Special #7

December 30, 2018 Jay 28 comments

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In which we are beset by festivity; Scott Summers still can’t take a vacation; the Daysprings are a really good family; “G’journey” is a really good greeting; Stryfe is his own namesake; retcons have served Cable well; illustrator David Wynne makes his X-Plain podcast debut; and you should probably go ahead and get a shelf for all these awards.

X-PLAINED:

The Hayes family
The Grey-Summers Family circa 1993
The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix #1-4
Summers/Sommers disambiguation
Gene Ha
Time travel
Earth-4935
Mother Askani
Prelate Ch’vayre
What “Askani” means
When and whether Cable sleeps
The passage of time
Slym and Redd Dayspring
A biblical allusion
A very good greeting
Prior Turrin
“Old” English
Li’l Stryfe
Some constraints of superhero comics
Parenting
Rachel Summers’s self-image
The origin of Cable’s codename
David Wynne and his art
“Strontium Dogs”
The X-Fandom starter pack
The Fifth Annual Super Doctor Astronaut Peter Corbeau Awards for Excellence at X-Cellence
D&D with the Blue Team
All-New staying power
Fictional intersectionality
Change, in general

NEXT EPISODE: Bring kleenex.

CORRECTION: In this episode, Miles states that Scott and Jean are cool. They are, in fact, categorically uncool. We regret the error.

Special thanks to carolers Tina Carleton, Matt Gardner, Peter Gresser, Erin Pence, and Steve Pence!

Check out the visual companion to this episode–along with all the song lyrics and the complete Corbeau awards–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.)

224 – Fix the Future

November 25, 2018 Jay 24 comments

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In which Alan Davis performs his pièce de résistance; the personification of Death is surprisingly supportive; Rachel Summers is the One True Phoenix; Kitty Pryde goes full ’90s; syntax saves the world; and the first Excalibur series should really have ended with #67.

X-PLAINED:

Origins of Phoenix mythology
Excalibur #61-67
The Phoenix Force (more) (again)
Rachel Summers (more) (again)
Earth-811 (more) (again)
Phoenix vs. Galactus
A pep talk from Death
The One True Phoenix
The dark, distant future of 2013
The dark, even more distant future of 2015
The extremely complicated future of Kate Pryde
Rory Campbell / Ahab
What may or may not be Ahab’s theme song
Moby Dick, kind of
That one time Widget was a car
Resistance Coordination Executive
Dark Angel
Killpower
Albion
Grace
Tangerine
Arthur
An Excalibur #54 callback
Excalibur (the gun)
Kitty’s new image
How to hack the robot apocalypse
Saved by the Bell: The College Years
Where Excalibur should have ended
Tactical use of Magneto’s hat
Anti-assimilation stories in X-Men

NEXT EPISODE: The Passion of Butter Rum (feat. Austin Gorton)

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!

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 213 – Live from FlameCon

September 9, 2018 Jay 9 comments

Listen to the episode here!

Live at FlameCon! Left to Right: Leah, Sina, Mags, Jay, Miles

Look who finally got a proper con banner!

OH MY GOSH LOOK AT ALL THESE SKETCHES! (We also forgot to photograph a ton of the ones we did, including one of Super Doctor Astronaut Peter Corbeau in a Speedo. We are very sorry.)