453 – X-Men ’97, Part 1

June 23, 2024 Jay 21 comments

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SPOILER WARNING: ALL OF THEM, NONSTOP

In which we put the comics on hold to take a look at X-Men ’97; it is still always Inferno in here; Wolverine is best used sparingly; a Marvel show finally embraces politics; Wolverine is best in small doses; Madeylne Pryor still always deserves better; Jubilee grows up; and we are all in on this series.

X-PLAINED:

“Beyond Good and Evil”
X-Men: The Animated Series and our respective feelings about it
X-Men ’97, episodes 1-5
Watching X-Men ’97 with and without context
Making animated Cyclops work
The Magneto’s-hair-length morality index
Politics
Voices
Adaptation pacing
Agency
Abcissa
Foreshadowing
Time compression
Horniest Rogue
Death in cartoons
A metaphor
Nonbinary identity in 1997
Character evolution

NEXT EPISODE: Episodes 6-10

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As Mentioned in Episode 448 – Skamageddon

May 5, 2024 Miles Leave a comment

Listen to the episode here.

The two Emma Frosts: Shadowy and Pouty. (X-Force #87)

James Proudstar x-plains Uncanny X-Men #281. (X-Force #87)

Reconnecting via X-Factoring. (X-Force #87)

Now that is a lair. (X-Force #87)

Magma’s back! And she’s a jerk! (X-Force #87)

Meet Paradigm. (X-Force #87)

The New New Mutants vs. the New Hellions. New. (X-Force #88)

We can accept covering Empath’s face with word balloons – but hey, show some respect to Firestar! (X-Force #88)

Feral’s back – just in time to wreck Jay’s voice again! (And Siryn’s, but we’ll get to that later.) (X-Force #88)

Life got complicated since the last time these two saw each other. (X-Force #88)

X-Force’s x-treme tactics have just saved us like half an issue of misunderstandings! (X-Force #88)

The techno-organic virus: bad for free will and not great for skin health. (X-Force #88)

Paradigm x-plains X-Force. (X-Force #89)

This party sucks! (X-Force #89)

Blood relation has no inherent virtue. (X-Force #89)

Aww, there’s plenty of logic! Just look at the little manual that comes with most Tarot decks! (X-Force #89)

Among Dani’s new powers is the ability to turn robot-guys into eggs. (X-Force #89)

Kind of a weird font choice. Times New Armageddon? (X-Force #89)

Feral never misses an opportunity to learn the worst possible lesson. (X-Force #90)

Tarot, is that really a new manifestation of your mutant power, or did you just rob a Spirit Halloween? (X-Force #90)

Welp, I guess the entire West coast is completely demolished and will take decades to rebuild. Funny how no other comics have mentioned that… (X-Force #90)

Sorry, Jesse. Your brother is the absolute worst. (X-Force #90)

Sam Guthrie: annoying people into virtue since 1980-something. (X-Force #90)

BADDA BOOM (X-Force #90)

Aww. (X-Force #90)

NEXT TIME: Talking X-costumes with Russell Dauterman!

LINKS AND FURTHER READING:

Want one of our 10th Anniversary prints? Contact Books With Pictures!
The Judgment of Magneto by Asher Elbein

448 – Skamageddon

May 5, 2024 Miles 5 comments

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In which timeline math is almost never worth it; Tarot comes back from the dead (kind of) (maybe); Magma makes a heel turn; “King Bedlam” would be a great name for a ska band; not every nude man can turn into a bear; and you don’t have to talk to your supervillain relatives.

X-PLAINED:

The Triune Understanding
Birthday party follow-up
X-Force #87-90
Legacy and continuity
Bedlam (Jesse Aaronson)
Tarot (Marie-Ange Colbert)
Goat Simulator
King Bedlam (Christopher Aaronson)
The New Hellions
Perils of body-swapping
Linear time
Science
Armageddon Man
Paradigm
Senator Owen Danville
Family
A fancy hat
Madame Web
Many natural disasters
Early Genoshan history
Longshot as a villain

NEXT EPISODE: Dressing the X-Men with Russell Dauterman!

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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 437 – Dismember the Titans

January 14, 2024 Miles 3 comments

Listen to the podcast here.

“Hot Topic Rennfaire” was a somewhat controversial choice for X-Force’s prom theme. (X-Force #85)

I’m impressed Pandemonia is so well put-together after 600 years in captivity! I was wearing pajama pants by day three of the pandemic. (X-Force #85)

“I’ll never forget that day… Rusty was inexplicably blonde, I was in a costume I wouldn’t have for months, and all was right in the world.” (X-Force #85)

You can tell Sam and Dani are in great shape: they’re having a conversation about feelings and continuity during a run while most of us couldn’t manage more than “*wheeze* *cough*” (X-Force #85)

“This place seems different! Did somebody replace a lamp or something?” (X-Force #85)

…How long have they been posing like that? (X-Force #85)

Nice fight scene, Angel Unzueta! (X-Force #85)

As distinct from prolific video game voice actress Jennifer Hale! (X-Force #85)

Say it, Dani! Focused totality… you know the next part… (X-Force #85)

“We’re here to cast glamours and rock out for Satan, and we’re all out of glamours!” (X-Force #85)

Pictured: Hades in disguise, Hades’s girlfriend, and Hades’s surprisingly detailed and colorful statue of Hades. (X-Force & Champions Annual 1998)

It’s no Larry Stroman crowd scene, but still, pretty great! (X-Force & Champions Annual 1998)

Cannonball wants to axe Meltdown what she was thinking. (X-Force & Champions Annual 1998)

“Well, at least it’s not a, you know.” (X-Force & Champions Annual 1998)

To Meltdown’s credit, that lady does seem like she’s about to take a bite out of Cannonball. (X-Force & Champions Annual 1998)

“Why were we the members of this team? Well, we happened to all be free on a Tuesday.” (X-Force & Champions Annual 1998)

Magic! Flirtation! Fonts! (X-Force & Champions Annual 1998)

“Happy tenth high school reunion, everybody!” (X-Force & Champions Annual 1998)

Now THAT’S playing the long game. (X-Force & Champions Annual 1998)

Don’t feel bad, I always mix them up with the Defenders too. (X-Force & Champions Annual 1998)

NEXT TIME: A very Wolverine Wolverine story.

437 – Dismember the Titans

January 14, 2024 Miles 16 comments

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In which the overlap between Rocky Horror and ‘90s X-Force fans is probably pretty significant; Pandemonia has priorities; the warehouse gets an evil, sexy glowup; swears are great; Johnny Blaze’s motorcycle probably shouldn’t still be on fire; and there is no single definitive X-Men experience.

X-PLAINED:

Master Pandemonium
X-Force #85
X-Force/Champions Annual 1998
What X-Force has been up to lately
The regrettable absence of Doctor Doom
Possession
Community
Cougars (euphemistic)
The thrift cycle
Rusty Collins on Krakoa
Fashion
An eons-old accord between the Houses of Chaos and the Lord of Valhalla
Jennifer Kale
The list
Swears
A statue of Hades
Various appendages sticking out of the earth
Hercules
The mystic power of sarcasm
The greatest fear of a Titan
Monet St. Croix vs. the Count of Monte Cristo
Good X-books for your fifteen-year-old niece

NEXT EPISODE: Wolverine vs. Vampires (again)!

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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 427 – Standard Deviation

October 22, 2023 Miles Leave a comment

Listen to the episode here.

Why doesn’t Adam Pollina draw all the mythology? (X-Force #81)

Just another day for X-Force. (X-Force #81)

You could take away the word balloons and we’d still know so much about these characters just from their outfits and body language! (X-Force #81)

This panel doesn’t have much to do with continuity, but it sure is pretty. (X-Force #81)

Again: JUST ANOTHER DAY FOR X-FORCE (X-Force #81)

Siryn flirts. (X-Force #81)

“Your first clue should have been the rad halo-thing Adam Pollina drew behind me.” (X-Force #81)

We’ll miss you, Adam Pollina. Thanks for the memories. (X-Force #81)

Hi, Jesse Aaronson AKA Bedlam! Hi, Cait Sith! (X-Force #82)

I enjoy how “rebuilt from the brink of death” also translates to “wearing a super-cool set of insectoid armor.” (X-Force #82)

Pollina may be gone, but the action scenes are still pretty awesome. (X-Force #82)

Jesse, that is not how you give a massage. (X-Force #82)

“Sorry we’re late, it took us a while to adequately rip up our clothes.” (X-Force #82)

Yeah, okay – we love this guy. (X-Force #82)

Sam Guthrie X-Plains (his time on) the X-Men. (X-Force #83)

I think your guts may actually be tied up in abs, Sam. (X-Force #83)

Just enough of that yellow and purple left to still make them look like a team – and just enough folks without that uniform to make it clear how long it’s been since those days. (X-Force #83)

You may have thought we were being euphemistic when we said Jesse was sent off to live on a farm – but nope, actual farm. (X-Force #83)

Pig-riding blonde Lara Croft thinks these gentlemen make some excellent points. (X-Force #83)

This sentai team looks mean. (X-Force #84)

Loyalty, punching, and heroism. That’s our Sam. (X-Force #84)

It’s cool, Guthrie – not everyone can be photogenic. (X-Force #84)

Nobody ever gets to finish a conversation in the Marvel Universe. (X-Force #84)

Arcadia has the power to make people look really cool. (X-Force #84)

Jim Cheung does Jack Kirby. (X-Force #84)

NEXT EPISODE: The end of Excalibur!

427 – Standard Deviation

October 15, 2023 Jay 2 comments

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In which we have grown to love Adam Pollina; the Vanisher is delightfully awful; Ekaterina Gryaznova gets a new look; Domino rejoins X-Force; superheroes actually have a conversation instead of fighting; Cannonball rejoins X-Force; we don’t even remember recording this one; and something cool is coming (stay tuned).

X-PLAINED:

Arcadia DeVille
The Deviants
X-Force #81-84
What’s been up with X-Force
The goddess Pele and the heart thereof
Beachwear
An episode of The Brady Bunch
Krotok the Lava Man
Lava Men, in general
Gortokians
Jinku the Lava Man
A diabolical plan
Jesse Aaronson (Bedlam) (but not that one)
Terry and/or Christopher Aaronson
The Aguilar Institute
The Griffin (Ekaterina Gryaznova, again)
Infinite Guthries
Ulysses Dragonblood
Odysseus Indigo
Lucas Wyndham
M.U.S.E. (Mutant Underground Support Engine)
A very Summers situation
Foreshadowing
Whether Shard can (and should) be resurrected by the Five
Accidental foreshadowing

NEXT EPISODE: The end of Excalibur!

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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!

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As Mentioned in Episode 418 – Reignfirefighters

July 23, 2023 Jay Leave a comment

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Those youth and their hijinks! (X-Force #77)

This is the branch of S.H.I.E.L.D. that shows up to assure you that all you saw was a weather balloon. (X-Force #77)

I’m never gonna be able to see a superhero conversation on a swingset without thinking of the Justice League Unlimited episode “Epilogue.” (X-Force #77)

The return of the bunny slippers! (X-Force #78)

Aw, Skids. (X-Force #78)

Some very good pacing. (X-Force #78)

Reignfire X-Plains Reignfire, somewhat. (X-Force #79)

Well, shit. (X-Force #79)

Fun Fact: Psychic powers work better when they look cooler. (X-Force #80)

Oh, dear me. (X-Force #80)

Dr. Joshua X-Plains Reignfire. (X-Force #80)

The Elvis windows really make this scene. (X-Force #80)

One more Elvis, for good measure. (X-Force #80)

NEXT EPISODE: Generation X and the Seven Dwarves!

418 – Reignfirefighters

July 23, 2023 Jay 9 comments

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In which S.H.I.E.L.D. agents are scarier in suits; Reignfire is the new Erik the Red; “background assets” would be a very funny euphemism; it’s always either time travel or clones; and you should probably not get a corporate logo tattooed on the side of your head.

X-PLAINED:

Crimes of Dark Beast
X-Force #77-80
The Mutant Liberation Front
Reignfire (repeatedly)
Video Renaissance
Almost Reno, NM
The inversion of several common tropes
Small towns
Different kinds of mutants
X-Force Fun Facts
Skids (Sally Blevins)
Several continuity errors
Some kidnappings
Sexiness without prurience
Background assets
Dr. Joshua (again)
(Henry Wallinger)
Psychic shenanigans
Las Vegas
Word-balloon disambiguation
X-Force’s new HQ
Historical X-Men we’d like to see

NEXT EPISODE: Generation X and the Seven Dwarves

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!

Buy rad swag at our TeePublic shop!