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

490 – Chekhov’s Angel Dust

June 15, 2025 Jay 10 comments

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In which Chris Claremont tries to make the Neo happen; Cecilia Reyes continues to have no time for this bullshit; Rogue gets some action; Shadowcat flees the comic; and Tessa returns.

X-PLAINED:

The Evolutionaries
X-Men #100-102
The current X-Men rosters
Thunderbird (Neal Shaara)
Claremont vs. continuity
Dove crimes
The Neo
- Domina
- Jaeger
- Rax
Fancy space suits
What to do with someone else’s bone claws
Some guy named Seth
The High Evolutionary’s love nest
A Phoenix-saga callback
Rave
Warren Kenneth Worthington III’s weird fantasies
Whether unstable molecules are self-cleaning
Seventeen deaths of Mister Sinister
Salvo the Living Gun
How to keep track of X-Men
Time travel problems
X-Men LEGO sets we’d like to see

NEXT EPISODE: Live from Washington, D.C.!

Check out the visual companion to this episode on our blog.

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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 487 – The Only Well-Adjusted Cyclops in the Multiverse (Mutant X May, Part 2)

May 18, 2025 Miles Leave a comment

Listen to the episode here.

…the 2025 story. (Mutant X #9)

The Morlocks! (Mutant X #9)

A damned fine Magneto indeed. (Mutant X #9)

Polaris from X-Factor meets Terra from Final Fantasy VI. (Mutant X #10)

Nightcrawler-1298 can buckle our swashes anytime. (Mutant X #10)

The rest of the X-Men! (Mutant X #10)

The weather is wild today. (Mutant X #11)

I think this might be a big deal, you guys. (Mutant X #12)

Drama! (Mutant X #12)

The Goblin Queen falls. (Mutant X #12)

The secondary theme of Mutant X is the relationship between Ororo Munroe and rodents. (Mutant X #13)

Someone missed the memo about Diaphanous Romper Fridays. (Mutant X #13)

Ninja versus vampire: a tale as old as time. (Mutant X #13)

The most well-adjusted Cyclops in the Multiverse (and friends)! (Mutant X #14)

Bros! (Mutant X #14)

Meet Katherine Pryde, Black Queen of the Hellfire Club; Sebastian Shaw in an iron lung; palette-swapped Captain America; and Sunfire! (Mutant X #15)

De T’ieves Guild. (Mutant X #16)

A thief and a t’ief. (Mutant X Annual 2000)

“Dear Diary, only you understand me.” (Mutant X Annual 2000)

The origin of Gampire/Vambit. (Mutant X Annual 2000)

That first panel is just adorable. (Mutant X Annual 2000)

What a great guy, that Cap! Hope he doesn’t blow up the moon or anything later. (Mutant X #17)

And again: bros! (Mutant X #17)

Seems fine. (Mutant X #18)

Hey, that’s our podcast’s schtick! No swiping! (Mutant X #18)

NEXT TIME: The end of Mutant X May!

487 – The Only Well-Adjusted Cyclops in the Multiverse (Mutant X May, Part 2)

May 18, 2025 Jay 3 comments

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In which Mutant X May continues; the X-Men return from space; it’s okay not to fill in every detail of a world; Havok leans into parenthood; we meet the only well-adjusted Cyclops in the multiverse; in any universe, Forge has terrible judgment; and the Six get some new members.

X-PLAINED:

Several notable upcoming events in Mutant X
What’s happened so far
Mutant X #9-18
Mutant X Annual 2000
The Morlocks of Earth-1298
The Mole Man of Earth-1298
The Yancy Street Underground
Magneto of Earth-1298
Superhero costume color theory
Polaris of Earth-1298
The X-Men of Earth-1298
- Magneto
- Polaris
- Nightcrawler
- Rogue
- Mystique
- Quicksilver
The Goblin Entity
Doctor Doom of Earth-1298
Namor of Earth-1298
The origin of Bloodstorm
Dracula’s fellas
The Starjammers of Earth-1298
- Cyclops
- Binary
- Nova
- Lockheed
- Silver Surfer
Space alien problems
A fairly literal deus ex machina
Captain America of Earth-1298
A terrible idea
The United Guild of Thieves and Assassins
Gambit of Earth-1298
Raven LeBeau
The origin of Vampire Gambit
Mister Sinister of Earth-1298
Jean Grey of Earth-1298
Where Scott Summers of Earth-1298 ranks on the Cyclops Has a Good Day scale
Where to put X-logos on a costume

NEXT EPISODE: Mutant X May concludes!

Check out the visual companion to this episode on our blog!

Find us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify!

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 Dashery shop!

As Mentioned in Episode 483 – Piotr Lovely Locks

April 13, 2025 Miles 2 comments

Listen to the episode here.

I appreciate that Shadowcat’s new costume involves her perpetually flipping the (very sharp) bird. (X-Men: Black Sun #1)

I mean, it could be worse – you could be Colossus. (X-Men: Black Sun #1)

[Epic metal begins] (X-Men: Black Sun #1)

Is Nightcrawler trying to distract from his awful new color scheme by diving at the reader crotch-first? (X-Men: Black Sun #1)

A different look than usual, but I’m not mad at it. (X-Men: Black Sun #1)

SEEMS FINE. (X-Men: Black Sun #1)

Except that one time! And kind of that other time! (X-Men: Black Sun #1)

Chekhov’s removable skeleton. (X-Men: Black Sun #2)

I mean, we’re not not going to show the shattered-moon-and-mountain-of-skulls every time it comes up. (X-Men: Black Sun #2)

Magik x-plains the miniseries. (X-Men: Black Sun #2)

After this, Warren will be required to take a Defensive Swooping class. (X-Men: Black Sun #2)

Oof – right in the outfit! (X-Men: Black Sun #2)

(bonk) (X-Men: Black Sun #2)

A warm welcome back to Polaris’s chest-skull! (X-Men: Black Sun #3)

“Listen, it’s not my fault I’ve been a terrible boyfriend to every woman I’ve dated! And it definitely doesn’t imply anything!” (X-Men: Black Sun #3)

“Hey! That’s my favorite nipple you almost cut off!” (X-Men: Black Sun #4)

Dude needs to hydrate. (X-Men: Black Sun #4)

We’d normally say not to mess with perfection, but that’s not a bad evolution of the Phoenix costume! (X-Men: Black Sun #4)

Now that’s a demon. Well, Ru’tai. (X-Men: Black Sun #4)

The origin of Magik’s bare midriff! (X-Men: Black Sun #4)

You’re missing a bloodstone and a Banshee! (X-Men: Black Sun #5)

Paging Doctor Belmont… (X-Men: Black Sun #5)

Way better than throwing a Poké Ball. (X-Men: Black Sun #5)

Hey, now there are SIX bloodstones! At least Belasco’s throne is rad. (X-Men: Black Sun #5)

From the Arcane Tome of Evil Fashion. (X-Men: Black Sun #5)

BOOM! (X-Men: Black Sun #5)

What if Magik was She-Ra? (X-Men: Black Sun #5)

NEXT TIME: Magik gets metal.

LINKS AND FURTHER READING

On Yom Kippur, you fight your own skeleton.

483 – Piotr Lovely Locks

April 13, 2025 Miles 9 comments

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In which a lot has happened in the Six Month Gap (and we even get to learn about some of it); we’d missed Claremontian narration; Miles has questions about Colossus’s ponytail; the Soulsword is basically a Poké Ball; the Shadow Pope is cooler than the regular Pope; and Magik has a secret.

X-PLAINED:

Some big news
X-Men: Black Sun #1-5
Phoenix and Psylocke’s sorta-power-swap
Implied continuity
The N’Garai
Belasco
Limbo
Magik (Illyana Rasputin)
New costumes
Priests vs blood magic
An impressively overcomplicated evil plot
Chekhov’s skeleton
Body swaps and/or possession
Thunderbird (Neal Sharra)
Pilgrimm and the Ru’tai (again, surprisingly)
Astral meetups
Confusing bloodstone math
A Triple-Tech
Magik (Amanda Sefton)
Counting X-generations
Our favorite X-decades

NEXT EPISODE: More Magik!

Check out the visual companion to this episode on our blog.

Find us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify!

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 Dashery shop!

As Mentioned in Episode 478 – The Monologue Tube

February 23, 2025 Miles 3 comments

Listen to the episode here.

Alan Davis protests the death of Cyclops. (From this link)

X-teams, past to present. (At least the ones who still had comics in 2000.) (Uncanny X-Men #379)

Well, at least this time he’s leaving with someone other than those five motorcycle guys who could turn into a sixth motorcycle guy. (Uncanny X-Men #379)

It really, really isn’t. (Uncanny X-Men #379)

“…why do you call yourself X-Man, anyway?” (Uncanny X-Men #379)

Suddenly, the plot! (Uncanny X-Men #379)

“Sacre blue, non! Our elf ears!” (Uncanny X-Men #379)

“you guys i am so mad right now you have no idea” (Uncanny X-Men #379)

Toad, did you just… have that mirror with you? (Uncanny X-Men #379)

Just a really good cover. (X-Force #101)

That pacing, though. (X-Force #101)

Aww man. (X-Force #101)

We’ve all been there, kid. Well, maybe not exactly there, but like… metaphorically. (X-Force #101)

Meltdown counsels a sad child in a comic by Joseph Harris, part 2. (X-Force #101)

Doctor Wily, is that you? (X-Men #99)

“You wanna play paintball with us?” (X-Men #99)

How does a costume that looks so good when you’re blue look so silly when you’re not? (X-Men #99)

I’m not so sure about this Storm-and-Marrow-as-camp-counselors subplot, but I do love me some soap opera. (X-Men #99)

Businesspeople and bikers: the two genders. (X-Men #99)

Tentacle-guys, demons, and hulks: the three genders. (X-Men #99)

Mystique really misses that lamp. (Uncanny X-Men #380)

Logan may be dying, but his eyebrows are very impressive right now. (Uncanny X-Men #380)

“Plus, they charged us like thirty bucks just to bring a carry-on!” (Uncanny X-Men #380)

The S stands for Sexy. (Uncanny X-Men #380)

We’ve all had that dream, Blob. (Uncanny X-Men #380)

Bye, Alan Davis! It’s been weird but pretty fun! (Uncanny X-Men #380)

NEXT TIME: Magneto versus everybody.

478 – The Monologue Tube

February 23, 2025 Miles 6 comments

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In which Alan Davis is Team Cyclops; everyone gets depowered; it’s hard to connect with kids your age when you’re a superhero; Sinister’s gotta sinister; everyone gets repowered; and the ‘90s were much more eclectic than they get credit for being.

X-PLAINED:

Side effects of Decimation
Uncanny X-Men #379-380
X-Force #101
X-Men #99
Cadre K
Summers family drama
The High Evolutionary (more) (again)
The (other) time all the mutants got depowered
Kevin
A very beautiful book
The ongoing mess of Genoshan politics
The Neo (slightly)
To what extent Logan’s claws are a mutant power
Sinister monologues
Herbert Evolutionary
The New New Men
The ‘90s, in general
What makes a Morlock

NEXT EPISODE: Magneto: Dark Seduction!

Check out the visual companion to this episode on our blog.

Find us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify!

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 474 – Giant-Size Special #13 (feat. Anthony Oliveira)

January 19, 2025 Miles One comment

Listen to the episode here.

Hey, that’s not what Warlock looks like in this series! (Warlock #1)

Jeez, Doug’s coffin needs to put up a NO TRESPASSING sign or something. (Warlock #1)

We had to really try to not just post all of Warlock’s transformations in this visual companion. (Warlock #1)

Meet Hope! No, not that one. The other one. (Warlock #1)

Anime hair, robot dinosaurs, and angst! (Warlock #2)

Classic (x2). (Warlock #2)

Warlock’s health is readable through the length of his cape. (Warlock #2)

Meet the Psi-Cops! (Warlock #3)

Our core cast! (Warlock #4)

Terry Gilliam’s been trying to make this movie for decades. (Warlock #4)

Jack Kirby smiles from the afterlife. (Warlock #4)

We love these kids. Wish they’d stuck around. (Warlock #4)

Mainspring can villain-splain with the best of them. Also… toucan? (Warlock #5)

I mean, to Warlock’s credit, it is pretty cool. (Warlock #5)

Team-up time! (Warlock #6)

“Alas, poor Bastion! I knew him-” SPAKKOW! (Warlock #6)

An oversimplification of the events of this story? Yes. Still hilarious? Also yes. (Warlock #7)

Friendship! (Warlock #7)

Grade A villainy, Mainspring! (Warlock #7)

I WANNA CLIMB IT. (Warlock #8)

“I know writers who use subtext, and they’re all cowards.” (Warlock #8)

If dad bods were evil. (Warlock #8)

/ FIGHT / TRANSFORM / MAGIC / ITEM / (Warlock #9)

“Eel” catch you later, dad! (Warlock #9)

When strength of identity meets strength of robot dinosaur. (Warlock #9)

If most of the cast will never be seen again, that’s not a bad panel to go out on. (Warlock #9)

Avengers Academy: Marvel’s Voices Infinity Comic by Anthony Oliveira!

NEXT TIME: Demon Bear!

LINKS AND FURTHER READING

Find Anthony Oliveira on Bluesky! And lots of other places too.
Check out Avengers Academy on Marvel Unlimited!

474 – Giant-Size Special #13 (feat. Anthony Oliveira)

January 19, 2025 Miles 3 comments

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In which the Warlock ongoing series is fun, and fun is good; people should maybe leave Doug Ramsey’s grave alone; Tony Stark is probably not in touch with the Indigo Girls; the heroes skate awfully close to the “no killing” line; Bastion gets exhumed, rehumed, and re-exhumed; you should really read the Avengers Academy Infinity Comic; and you remain the best listeners of any podcast, ever.

X-PLAINED:

X-related characters of Avengers Academy
Warlock vol. 5, #1-9
Warlock (more) (again)
M-Tech
Jay’s Bluey Test for all-ages media
The visual semiotics of Warlock
Project Mainspring
Hope (Esperanza Ling)
Chi-Chee
Psi-cops
Gatekeepers
Technarchs
The transmode virus
A fancy hat
Many guest stars
The Phalanx (more) (again)
Psiren
Psimon
The techno-mechanic virus
Complicated feelings
Psycho Man (more) (again)
Astro-computers
Hope’s actual powers
Template
Magus (more) (again)
Avengers Academy Marvel Voices Infinity Comic
Why there are so many Canadian comic-book writers
Superhero comics vs. religious texts
Defining heroism
Escapade
Captain America of the Railways
Bloodline
Red Goblin
Moon Girl
Kid Juggernaut
Blackheart
Ongoing storytelling
Emplate as a queer character
Marcus Wetherell
What else to read if you love Avengers Academy Marvel Voices Infinity Comic
The 11^th Annual Super Doctor Astronaut Peter Corbeau Awards for Excellence at X-Cellence
Many people to whom we are profoundly grateful

NEXT EPISODE: The return of the Demon Bear!

Check out the visual companion to this episode on our blog!

Find us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify!

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!