shi’ar – Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men

502 – Milkshakes of Despair (Maximum Security, Part 2 of 2)

October 12, 2025 Jay One comment

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In which t’ieves and assassins dress to impress; Bishop returns; Rogue and Carol Danvers have a moment; and the revolution will be stored on compact disc.

X-PLAINED:

The New Son
The First Half of Maximum Security
Gambit #23
X-Men #107
X-Men Unlimited #29
Maximum Security #3 (briefly)
Several of Gambit’s buddies
How to dress for… stealth? I guess?
Heth’sa of the planet Culth
Where Carl the X-Cutioner got his silly outfit
A heist
How to restore your lost honor without messing up the timeline
12-18 milkshakes
What Colossus is into these days
Vampire clowns (maybe)
Z’Cann
The Blood Brothers
Vibes memories
A big fight
A touching moment of touching
Mechamage, briefly
Quasar, superficially
Cadre K
The Skrull cows
Writing for the trade vs. podcast pacing
Limits of power-cancelling accessories

NEXT EPISODE: Dream’s Rather Anticlimactic End!

The visual companion to this episode will be up later this week. We apologize for the inconvenience.

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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 426 – A Gift from the Lower Regions

October 9, 2023 Jay One comment

Listen to the episode here.

Karel’s planet may be far from Earth, but his people still appreciate a good Terminator 2 reference. (Uncanny X-Men #358)

Tu is a very Chris Bachalo character. (Uncanny X-Men #358)

Lookit this pulp hero-looking scallawag! (Uncanny X-Men #358)

They’re so dysfunctional. I love it. (Uncanny X-Men #358)

I TOLD YOU THE BEAR WAS CANON (Uncanny X-Men #358)

Deathbird is horny on main. (Team X 2000)

In the far future of 2018, it will be illegal to cover your navel. (Team X 2000)

It’s not Cable and Domino’s tub, but I suppose it’ll do. (Team X 2000)

Team X! (Team X 2000)

You know it’s a really dark future when Doom is fighting on the same side as the good guys (see also: Age of Apocalypse, the Summers Rebellion). (Team X 2000)

IT’S VERY SEXUAL (Team X 2000)

The more you know! (Team X 2000)

NEXT EPISODE: Domino rejoins X-Force!

426 – A Gift from the Lower Regions

October 8, 2023 Jay 6 comments

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In which the Shi’ar have zero chill; Bishop and Deathbird do space opera; we travel to the far-future year of 2018; Alanna Nerimani stretches the definition of “bird”; Deathbird is the cool aunt; Bishop needs a break from dark futures; and Bishop and Sauron have an intimate encounter.

X-PLAINED:

The current number of Summers brothers
Uncanny X-Men #358
Team X 2000
The Shi’ar Empire (more) (again)
Shi’ar voices
Parker Posey vs. Posie Parker
Sexual dimorphism in art
The Ursaa
Organs
The Chnitt
Karel
Several cameos
Nullifier charges
Tu
The first appearance of Cyclops’s Captain America teddy bear
2018
Alan Smithee
Gith
Deathbird’s terrible childhood
Shi’ar-occupied Earth
Alanna Nerimani
Your cool murder aunt
Earth-9922
Deathbird’s war journals
The Morlocks (but not those ones)
Team X (but not that one)
Bribery
A very sexual encounter
Explorations of disability and ableism in comics
Beast’s long, slow heel turn

NEXT EPISODE: Domino rejoins X-Force!

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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 386 – No Puppy for Storm

October 2, 2022 Jay Leave a comment

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

In which Sam Guthrie has an Experience. (Uncanny X-Men Annual 1997)

D’Gard is a snappy dresser. (Uncanny X-Men Annual 1997)

Brotherhood! (Uncanny X-Men Annual 1997)

This is the most menacing Maggott will ever be, ever. (Uncanny X-Men #345)

Who is this metal dude? It remains a mystery to this day. (Uncanny X-Men #345)

Remember when Maggott was Australian? (Uncanny X-Men #345)

Gambit, penitent. (Uncanny X-Men #345)

Thirst-trap Bishop. (Uncanny X-Men #345)

Thirst-trap Deathbird. (Uncanny X-Men #345)

NEXT EPISODE: Party on Mount Wundagore!

386 – No Puppies for Storm

September 25, 2022 Jay 11 comments

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In which treading water isn’t always a bad thing; Storm remains an irresponsible leader; nobody should ever trust Dark Beast; we are befuddled by a large metal man; Maggott makes his debut; and we ship the heck out of Deathbird and Bishop.

X-PLAINED:

The time Captain America dated a supervillain
Treading water
Gene Nation (again)
Uncanny X-Men Annual 1997
Uncanny X-Men #345
Razors
Humanity’s Last Stand
Surprise
Boost and Tether
D’gard
A Star Trek allusion
The Morlock retcon
Maggott (Japheth)
A large metal individual
Foreshadowing
A large, inconvenient spaceship
Magneto’s relationship to Judaism
Recovery from the Legacy Virus

NEXT EPISODE: Field Trip to Mount Wundagore!

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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 379 – Stardate: Today

July 24, 2022 Jay Leave a comment

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

FAO Schwarz, allegedly. (Uncanny X-Men #341)

Gladiator is not great at diplomacy. (Uncanny X-Men #341)

I AM SO WORRIED ABOUT THIS POOR MAN AND HIS HORSE (Uncanny X-Men #341)

New Outfits: Trish (Uncanny X-Men #342)

New Outfits: Bishop and Rogue (Uncanny X-Men #342)

New Outfits: Gambit, Joseph, and Beast (Uncanny X-Men #342)

Well, that’s a new look for the Phalanx. (Uncanny X-Men #343)

One for your reaction files. (Uncanny X-Men #343)

Word balloons on the cover are an underrated gimmick. (Uncanny X-Men #344)

Where babies come from! (Uncanny X-Men #344)

NEXT EPISODE: Generation X vs. Black Tom Cassidy!

379 – Stardate: Today

July 17, 2022 Jay 7 comments

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In which what happens in space stays in space; a horse is imperiled; Joseph does some dubious science; Gladiator’s name is absolutely not Gary; everybody gets new costumes; and we learn where babies come from.

X-PLAINED:

Shi’ar taxonomy, sort of
The Shi’ar (again)
The Phalanx (again)
Uncanny X-Men #341-344
A whole bunch of callbacks to X-Men #98
A carriage ride
The Z’noxx chamber (again)
One way to have safer sex
FAO Schwarz
The Shi’ar Imerial Guard (again)
Diplomacy, kind of
Space outfits
Trademarks
Pure Phalanx
Dinosaur Kingdom 2
Where Shi’ar babies come from
Flirting
The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl vs. Isca the Unbeaten
Characters we would happily voice if invited to do so

NEXT WEEK: Hawk Talk

NEXT EPISODE: Generation X vs. Black Tom Cassidy!

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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!

As Mentioned in Episode 365 – A Whole Year of This Nonsense

March 20, 2022 Jay 2 comments

Listen to the episode here.

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

It sure is 1996. (X-Force/Cable Annual 1996)

Hi, Pulse! (X-Force/Cable Annual 1996)

I mean, wouldn’t you? (X-Force/Cable Annual 1996)

THAT’S NOT HOW TORSOS WORK. (X-Force/Cable Annual 1996)

Seriously, what is Cyclops attached to? (X-Men Unlimited #13)

Where’s an editorial footnote when you need one? (X-Men Unlimited #13)

The cover of our new metal album! (X-Men Unlimited #13)

No real episode context; I just think this explosion looks really cool. (X-Men Unlimited #13)

How they celebrate in Junction, NY. (X-Men Unlimited #13)

NEXT EPISODE: Beast and/or Karma!

365 – A Whole Year of This Nonsense

March 13, 2022 Jay 15 comments

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In which you can now listen to a unique episode of Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men every day for a year; Shi’ar tech support leaves something to be desired; Super Doctor Astronaut Peter Corbeau does not appear in a story; it’s Deathbird, not Dueprocessbird; Zenn-La gets destroyed a lot; and we shall never speak of this incident again.

X-PLAINED:

Where babies come from
The Shi’ar (again)
Cable/X-Force Annual 1996
X-Men Unlimited #13
Organs
Shi’ar ship names
Pulse
Unconventional use of the Danger Room
Butt-first framing
Interplanetary extradition
The word “contemplative”
Binary (again)
More Shi’ar ship names
Zenn-La
Silver Surfer (Norrin Radd)
The Inciters
A giant metal space skull
Junction, NY
A metaphor for America
Marie Cavendish
Mutants with synthetics-based powers
Literary intersections

NEXT EPISODE: Beast!

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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!

Buy rad swag at our TeePublic shop!