Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men

Tag: Uncanny X-Men

As Mentioned in Episode 53 – Sometimes They Come Back

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Listen to the episode here!

Cyclops has mixed feelings about fatherhood. (Uncanny X-Men #201)
Rick Leonardi is so good. (Uncanny X-Men #201)
Let’s pause for a moment to admire Rachel’s super sharp outfit. Those yellow shoes! (Uncanny X-Men #201)
Not actually story-relevant. I just really like this panel. (Uncanny X-Men #201)
You do you, Rogue. (Uncanny X-Men #201)
Madelyne Was Right. (Uncanny X-Men #201)
Look at Magneto on the end, like, “I’m a supervillain, and I think these people are out of their damn minds.” (Uncanny X-Men #201)
Like the outcome was ever in question. Also, how awesome is Leonardi’s Storm? So awesome. (Uncanny X-Men #201)
Cyclops’s father issues are basically their own character in this issue.
Grey house break-in #1 of 2. (Uncanny X-Men #201)
Love, love, love the way Mary Wilshire draws contemporary fashion–and uses it as a subtle storytelling element. (New Mutants #35)
This is what happens when, between the inks and the colors, someone decides you can’t show characters in just their underwear. (New Mutants #35)
Lee Forrester has no time for your ridiculous superhero hijinks. Lady’s got a job to do. (New Mutants #35)
Fun Fact: This poppy-field environment first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #175, where Cyclops used it to take down Rogue. (New Mutants #35)
On one hand: poor Warlock. On the other hand: I LOVE THIS PANEL SO MUCH. (New Mutants #35)
THE MIRACLE OF MAGNETISM! (New Mutants #35)
Horses are fucking terrifying. (New Mutants #35)
Warloooooooooock. (New Mutants #35)
Sienkiewicz eyebrows are the best eyebrows. (New Mutants #35)
Magneto is the cool teacher. (New Mutants #35)
This is what happens when you flout FAA guidelines for the safe transport of Kirby dots. (Avengers #263)
GOOD QUESTION, Captain Marvel! (Avengers #263)
Spoiler: This entire plot line is a pointless red herring. (Avengers #263)
Bonus Namor abs for you. (Avengers #263)
WHAT A SHOCKING TWIST! (Avengers #263)
If no one sends in lyrics to “Like a Phoenix,” we’re going to be kind of disappointed. (Fantastic Four #286)
1) Those credits, man. 2) THAT EPIGRAM. (Fantastic Four #286)
Look at She-Hulk and Hercules being all charming in the background. (Fantastic Four #286)
Hi, Jean. We missed you, too. (Fantastic Four #286)
“Also, there’s no way any actual human being would get that haircut.” (Fantastic Four #286)
Grey house break-in #2. Doesn’t anyone ever think to call ahead? (Fantastic Four #286)
Beast X-plains the Dark Phoenix Saga. (Fantastic Four #286)
“I’m a retcon, Jean. Just run with it.” (Fantastic Four #286)
Aw. (Fantastic Four #286)
Classic X-Men #8 does the whole thing over again, somewhat more graphically.
Next Week: X-Factor begins (for real, this time)!

53 – Sometimes They Come Back

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Rachel screwed up and accidentally gave David material for episode 54 instead of 53, so there's no illustration this week. Instead, we offer both our sincere apologies and this photo of Miles dressed up as Mister Sinister at a costume party.
Rachel screwed up and accidentally gave David material for episode 54 instead of 53, so there’s no illustration this week. Instead, we offer both our sincere apologies and this photo of Miles dressed up as Mister Sinister for a costume party.

In which Wolverine doesn’t care about your baby; Storm takes charge; duels are terrible bases for systems of government; editorial mandate is hell on a marriage; Magneto is a pretty cool teacher; Jean Grey comes back; and we have mixed feelings about the Phoenix retcon.

X-PLAINED:

  • Kenji Uedo
  • Uncanny X-Men #201
  • New Mutants #35
  • Avengers #263
  • Fantastic Four #286
  • Classic X-Men #8
  • The post-Trial of Magneto status quo
  • Nathan Christopher Charles Summers
  • A small cross-section of Cyclops’s myriad issues
  • The wrong means to the right end
  • Magneto’s educational philosophy
  • The politics of creative credits
  • “You Know Who”
  • The Phoenix retcon
  • Several unrelated break-ins
  • The return of Jean Grey
  • Jean and the Phoenix Force
  • Alternate-timeline Madelynes Pryor
  • Jean Grey’s code names

NEXT WEEK: X-Factor begins! (for real, this time – sorry about that SNAFU!)

You can find a companion index to the material mentioned in this episode on our blog!

Find us on iTunes or Stitcher!

Rachel 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!

 

Rachel & Miles Review the X-Men, Episode 33

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Week of April 15, 2015:

In which Jordie Bellaire is our god now, Black Vortex is way too long, and Miles makes gremlin noises.

REVIEWED:

  • Spider-Man and the X-Men #5 (0:28)
  • Uncanny X-Men #33 (1:55)
  • *Magneto #17 (3:59)
  • Legendary Star-Lord #11 (5:46)
  • Wolverines #14 (8:01)

*Pick of the Week (9:39)

Rachel and Miles X-Plain the X-Men is 100% ad-free and listener supported. These video reviews–and everything else here–are made possible by the support of our Patreon subscribers. If you want to help support the podcast–and unlock more cool stuff–you can do that right here!

Abs Mentioned in Episode 51 – The X-Istentialists, Featuring Kris Anka, Marguerite Bennett, Kieron Gillen, and Peter Nguyen

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Listen to the episode here!

For the record: I am not even a little bit sorry. -Rachel
Art by David Wynne. We’re not selling prints of this one, but you can still hit David up for the original!
Many thanks to Kris Anka, Marguerite Bennett, Kieron Gillen, and Peter Nguyen! (I have no idea why this photo keeps displaying upside down, but at this point, I’m just gonna keep running with it.)
NEXT WEEK: Rachel and Miles Recap 51 episodes in under an hour.

LINKS:

Special thanks to Elle Collins for the last-minute abs-sist.

 

51 – The X-Istentialists, Featuring Kris Anka, Marguerite Bennett, Kieron Gillen, and Peter Nguyen

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Art by David Wynne. We're not selling prints of this one, but you can still hit David up for the original!
Art by David Wynne. We’re not selling prints of this one, but you can still hit David up for the original!

In which Rachel and Miles go to Emerald City Comicon; six people try to share one microphone with varying success; you will never love anything as much as Kris loves Broo; Marguerite may or may not be a time-traveling supervillain; Peter is Laser Guy; Kieron joins an X-team; Hell is other X-Men; everyone lies egregiously; and it all comes back to Namor’s abs.

Special thanks to Jean, who let us borrow her mic and pop filter at the very last second when we realized we’d left ours in Portland! <3

X-PLAINED:

  • Namor’s last name
  • Several Secret Wars titles
  • Wiz Kid
  • Favorite characters
  • Lady Deathstrike’s new look
  • Seanan McGuire’s cats
  • Machetes of Future Past
  • Emily Aster
  • Asteroid P
  • Secret origins
  • Points of entry
  • Headcanon
  • The Wolverine and the X-Men Season 2 that might have been
  • The pros and cons of an isolated X-universe
  • The X-Istentialists
  • Hela’s Angels
  • Namor’s abs
  • What defines the X-Men
  • Mr. Sinister
  • Our X-movie wish lists
  • Wes Anderson’s X-Men (both of them)

NEXT WEEK: Previously on Rachel & Miles X-Plain the X-Men…

You can find a visual companion to this episode on our blog!

Find us on iTunes or Stitcher!

Help us keep making cool stuff on Patreon!

We’re not selling prints of this week’s illustration, but you can still contact David Wynne to inquire after the original!

 

Rachel and Miles Review the X-Men, Episode 31

9 comments

Week of March 25, 2015.

In which Nightcrawler comes to an end, Rachel finally learns to appreciate Black Vortex, we have some feelings about Cyclops and Havok, and you should totally come to the ECCC meetup this Saturday.

REVIEWED:

  • Nightcrawler #12 (0:55)
  • Amazing X-men #18 (2:22)
  • Wolverines #12 (3:14)
  • *Uncanny X-Men #32 (5:02)
  • All the Black Vortex Tie-Ins (7:30)

*Pick of the Week (10:36)

These video reviews are made possible by the support of our Patreon subscribers. If you want to help support the podcast–and unlock more cool stuff–you can do that right here!

As Mentioned in Episode 45 – A Woman Who Could Fly

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Listen to the episode here!

Art by David Wynne. Prints, cards, and travel mugs available until 3/1/2015 in the shop, or contact David for the original.
The first page of Lifedeath II. (Uncanny X-Men #198)
Contrast to the first page of Lifedeath I, 12 issues previous. (Uncanny X-Men #186)
Hallucinatory Forge. Check out those background textures, too. (Uncanny X-Men #198)
Barry Windsor Smith’s X-Men. (Uncanny X-Men #198)
Pretty snake. (Uncanny X-Men #198)
Isn’t it cool how when you don’t compulsively draw every woman as super sexy all the time, you can actually tell stories? (Uncanny X-Men #198)
Motion and rhythm in a still medium. (Uncanny X-Men #198)
Didn’t actually talk about these panels in the episode, but can we just take a moment to admire how splendidly Barry Windsor-Smith draws hands? And, y’know, everything else? (Uncanny X-Men #198)
SERIOUSLY, THIS COMIC. THIS IS OUR STORM.(Uncanny X-Men #198)
Tanya Moodie as Hunter in Neverwhere.
Frenzy is both rad as hell and criminally underused. ARE YOU THERE, MARVEL? IT’S ME, RACHEL. (X-Men: Legacy vol. 1 #249)
Idie Okonkwo (Oya) is awesome and adorable and also one of the best new X-characters of the last five years. (Generation Hope #10)
Next Week: A lot of Beauty and the Beast callbacks.

 

Links and Further Reading:

45 – A Woman Who Could Fly

31 comments

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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Art by David Wynne. Prints, cards, and travel mugs available until 3/1/2015 in the shop, or contact David for the original.
Art by David Wynne. Prints, cards, and travel mugs available until 3/1/2015 in the shop, or contact David for the original.

In which we discard our regularly scheduled programming to focus on Storm and Lifedeath II; no one draws motion like Barry Windsor-Smith; Storm goes up to eleven; and we really wish we had the frame of reference to place this story in the larger context of diaspora literature.

X-Plained:

  • Forge
  • The Adversary
  • Uncanny X-Men #198 (Lifedeath II)
  • Storm
  • The narrative impact of sexualization
  • Barry Windsor-Smith
  • Extreme weather in comics
  • Hallucinatory X-Men
  • Storm in adaptation
  • The Storm elevator pitch
  • Our Storm dream casting
  • Mjnari
  • Artist editions
  • Colonialism
  • Storm as a liminal figure

NEXT WEEK: The New Mutants Go to the Arena!

You can find a visual companion to this episode on our blog!

Find us on iTunes or Stitcher!

Support us on Patreon!

Buy prints of this week’s illustration at our shop, or contact David Wynne for the original!

Rachel and Miles Review the X-Men – Episode 26

7 comments

Week of February 18, 2015

In which we spoil the hell out of Uncanny X-Men #31, Rachel has Mystique feelings, and Kris Anka draws the best bitchface ever forever.

Reviewed:

  • *Uncanny X-Men #31 (1:00)
  • Legendary Star-Lord #9 (5:08)
  • Storm #8 (6:23)
  • Wolverines #7 (8:45)
  • Magneto #15 (10:56)

*Pick of the week (13:02)

These video reviews are made possible by the support of our Patreon subscribers. If you want to help support the podcast–and unlock more cool stuff–you can do that right here!

Rachel and Miles Review the X-Men, Episode 23

11 comments

Week of January 28, 2015.

In which we carefully avoid spoiling Uncanny X-Men and remain disappointed by the lack of Wolverines heists; and Rachel mispronounces Bachalo but doesn’t realize until she’s already editing the video (oops).

Reviewed:

  • Uncanny Avengers vol. 2 #1 (0:27)
  • *Uncanny X-Men #30 (2:59)
  • Wolverines #4 (4:17)
  • Spider-Man and the X-Men #2 (5:52)
  • Amazing X-Men #16 (6:57)

*Pick of the Week (8:22)

These video reviews are made possible by the support of our Patreon subscribers. If you want to help support the podcast–and unlock more cool stuff–you can do that right here!