Tag: villains
504 – One Day, Four Ways
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In which Banshee is chronically hapless; the team gets new costumes (again); Chamber is a self-fulfilling prophecy; toddlers will sell you out in a hot minute; Moira MacTaggert is definitively not in; we are frustrated by excessive ambiguity; and it’s not Rashômon, but it’ll do.
X-PLAINED:
- Banshee post-Generation X
- Generation X #71-74
- Interior decorating
- New costumes (again)
- Chamber, but a housecat
- A meet-cute
- Teen angst
- Fashion
- An extremely awkward conversation
- A brief history of boba in the United States
- A fracas
- Fun things to do with extra skin
- Evolving teacher-student relationships
- Poor interrogation technique
- Husk vs. international terrorism, in general
- Ghosts of the Massachusetts Academy
- Villains and heroes we think would be neat as the reverse
- A world in which Peridot of Steven Universe imprinted on X-Men
NEXT EPISODE: Fast times in Otherworld!
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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 292 – Weekend at Sinister’s
Listen to the podcast here.
LINKS & FURTHER VIRTUES
- YOU CAN BID ON OUR #CREATORS4COMICS AUCTIONS UNTIL MONDAY, APRIL 20, AT NOON EST:
- A custom voicemail greeting from Jay and Miles!
- A private (remote) screening of X-Men Origins: Wolverine with Jay–at an intoxication level of your choice–along with a custom cocktail recipe, a very tasteful poster, and–goal just unlocked–Jay’s mother-in-law, a retired school principal who has never seen the film!
- Learn more about the original Scarlett McKenzie in Episode 114 – Meltdown.
292 – Weekend at Sinister’s
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In which it is probably not actually possible to be too nasty for Earth-295; Sinister is on nobody’s side but his own; Vulcan is still the worst Summers in the multiverse; the Bedlam Brothers are too delightful for the EMF; Heaven is just straight-up Rick’s Bar now; Polaris of Earth-295 is the saddest Polaris; Scott Summers and Jean Grey make a good team in most universes; and the metaphors of 1995 read very differently in 2020.
X-PLAINED:
- Nathaniel Essex of Earth-1610
- A regrettable tattoo
- #Creators4Comics
- Scott Summers (Cyclops) of Earth-295
- Alex Summers (Havok) of Earth-295
- Factor X #1-4
- Working for the Man
- Costume design as narrative
- The EMF (Elite Mutant Force)
- Northstar and Aurora of Earth-295
- Sam and Elizabeth Guthrie (Cannonball and Amazon) of Earth-295
- Jesse and Terrence Aaronson (Bedlam Brothers) of Earth-295
- Heaven (the bar)
- Scarlett McKenzie of Earth-295
- Someone who is not Magneto
- The Brain Trust
- Lorna Dane (Polaris) of Earth-295
- An obscene monument
- Innuendo of several sorts
- That time Jean Grey got captured
- Resistance of various sorts
- Poetic almost-kinda justice
- One more fallen angel
- Villains of the Age of Apocalypse
NEXT EPISODE: Generation Next!
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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!
As Mentioned in Episode 269 – Double Dactyl

Listen to the episode here!
LINKS & FURTHER VILLAINY
- See Jay’s Halloween 2013 Quentin Quire costume.
- We never miss an opportunity to link to Sigrid Ellis’s excellent essay, “Kitty Queer”!
- Support the Bish & Jubez Kickstarter for a collected edition of one of our favorite fanworks!
SEANAN MCGUIRE IS COOL AS HELL
- Hear her talk Emma Frost in last year’s NYCC Sofa Special, and story and legacy in our ECCC 2019 live episode!
- Here’s her website!
- You can also follow her on Twitter and Tumblr!
269 – NYCC 2019 Sofa Special: Double Dactyl, feat. Seanan McGuire
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In which Seanan and Jay break down their favorite X-Villains; technically everyone is always cosplaying Mystique; Magneto remains the gold standard; and we have some concerns about Eye Boy.
X-PLAINED:
- Candy Corn, and our official stance thereon
- Halloween candy economy
- Which X-Character to dress as for your office Halloween party
- X-Villains
- What makes Magneto tick
- Magneto as a Holocaust survivor
- What makes a villain redeemable
- Face turns
- The last DDR machine in New York, and denizens thereof
- An X-Villain musical
- Mystique
- How to make Daken work
- Avengers as antagonists
- Sinister’s goals
- Bringing back Cameron Hodge
- Meggan vs. Brexit
- Heel turns
NEXT EPISODE: Stokes + Stokes!
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!
2 – Sentinels in the Mist
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In which we introduce the villains of the Silver Age: Magneto makes some valid points, Mastermind is a Nice Guy of OkCupid, the Scarlet Witch predicts Cat Breading, the Trasks should really have known better, and the Comics Code Authority is down with pterosaurs.
X-Plained:
- Common characteristics of enduring X-villains
- Mutant identity politics and moral relativism
- Context-agnostic Juggernaut flashbacks
- An unorthodox approach to anthropology
- Cyclops’s greatest diplomatic achievement
- Silver-Age haberdashery
- An innovative modification to vampire mythology
- Cultural assimilation
- The propaganda-and-sweater-vest machine
- Hex bolts
- Supplemental reading
You can find a visual companion to the episode – and links to recommended reading – on our blog.
Rachel and Miles X-Plain the X-Men Is Now Available on Stitcher!
Yaybo! Click here to listen or subscribe!
Meanwhile, we’re gearing up for our second episode. If you’ve got an X-question–especially iconic villains of the Silver Age–drop it in the comments below or our tumblr ask-box, or tweet it to @RaeBeta with the hashtag #xplainthexmen!
