Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men

Latest Episodes:

20 – The Brood They Carried Aug 24, 2014

Show notes

In which Claremont levels up; the Brood are legitimately scary; Colossus is an ethical dude; Nightcrawler and Wolverine share beers in the face of certain death; Storm turns into a space whale; we are Carol Corps for life; New Mutants are really into Magnum, P.I.; Kitty meets a dragon; and Xavier dies (again).

X-Plained:

Broo
The Brood Saga (X-Men #161-167)
Paul Smith
Space fashion
A really terrible awards ceremony
Tim O’Brien’s X-Men
The Brood
How to tell a good Wolverine story
Rocket sharks
The single most badass magical-girl transformation sequence of all time
Binary
The X-Men’s Kobayashi Maru
Friendship (more) (again)
The Acanti
Whether Cyclops watches Star Trek
The New Mutants
Cloning
Our secret cold-open formula
Cosmic crossovers

Next Week: Kurt Busiek! We would have words with thee!

You can find a visual companion to the episode – and links to recommended reading – on our blog.

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19 – Acorns and Swords Aug 17, 2014

Show notes

In which we continue our delve into the eldritch end of the X-Universe, Illyana Rasputin has a rough childhood even by X-Men standards, Kitty Pryde is a Niven fan, Limbo is way metal, Vincent Price is our Belasco, and Rachel and Miles have feelings about female friendships in Claremont’s X-Men.

X-Plained:

Mikhail Rasputin
Hell dimensions, including but not limited to
- The Void
- The Dark Zone
- The Hill
- Limbo
- The other Limbo
- Yet a third Limbo
Reincarnation
Illyana Rasputin
Magic vs. Magik
Uncanny X-Men #160
Octopusheim
Stepping Disks
Otherplace
Belasco
Emergo
S’ym
Storm and Illyana: Magik #1-4
Bloodstones
Yet another set of alternate X-Men
Friendship
The Soulsword
Podcasting

You can find a visual companion to the episode – and links to recommended reading – on our blog.

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Next week: In space, no one can hear you snikt.

18 – You’ve Got a Dracula Problem Aug 10, 2014

Show notes

In which Dr. Nemesis is delightful, Bill Sienkiewicz foreshadows himself, Dracula hits on absolutely everyone, Blade Godwins a crossover event, Jubilee get a jet ski, the X-Men do Castlevania 2, Rachel and Miles pick a vacation destination, and Cyclops wants you to follow your heart.

X-Plained:

Dr. Nemesis
A very good page of a very good comic
Dracula variations
X-Men #159
Appropriate use of holy symbols
“The D”
Tomb of Dracula
Bloodstorm
Carrotstorm
Curse of the Mutants
Jubilee
Crossover events
Why we can’t have nice things
Some really sweet weaponry
The Dracula Reassembly Machine
Phone sex with Gambit
The point of being Lord of the Vampires
X-Club
Authorial voice in comics
Why there probably won’t be a Starjammers movie

Next Episode: Rachel and Miles go to Hell (kind of)!

You can find a visual companion to the episode – and links to recommended reading – on our blog.

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17 – The Island of Dr. Corbeau Aug 04, 2014

Show notes

In which we make our Comics Alliance debut, Cyclops makes a startling discovery, Carol Danvers joins the team (sort of), Chris Claremont calls out some bullshit, Havok still has terrible taste in hats, and Peter Corbeau gets his own theme music

Content note: In this episode, we spend a lot of time talking about a rape that occurs in a previous Avengers arc, the community and narrative response thereto, and the larger landscape and ethics of portrayals of sexual violence in superhero comics.

X-Plained

Mystique’s mercurial alliances
Rachel and Miles X-Plain the X-Men
Uncanny X-Men #154-158
Avengers Annual #10
Bollywood Starjammers
The dread Psi-Scream
Shi’ar Fashion Technology
Dr. Peter Corbeau (more) (again)
Rogue
Carol Danvers
The Whole Marcus Thing
Chris Claremont vs. rape culture
Computers
Gender politics of the Dark Phoenix Saga

Next week: Dracula!

Clarification, since we neglected to specify in the episode: Avengers #200 was written by James Shooter, George Pérez, Bob Layton, and David Michelinie; Avengers Annual #10 was written by Chris Claremont.

You can find a visual companion to the episode – and links to recommended reading – on our blog.

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16 – The Official Unofficial Not-at-SDCC (Rachel and Miles X-Plain the) X-Men Panel Jul 28, 2014

Show notes

In which we correct a startling omission, explore the current state of the X-Universe, and speculate wildly; Quentin Quire has excellent fashion sense; Rachel gets a new accessory; Miles goes off-brand; the X-Men are somewhat complicated; Iron Man has poor decision-making skills; Charles Xavier dies for real; Beast might be a supervillain; we briefly forget Marc Guggenheim’s first name; and the future remains a relative mystery.

For purposes of continuity, it’s probably worth noting that this episode was recorded before the SDCC Marvel panel.

X-Plained:

Quentin Quire
Patreon
A startling omission from the official SDCC lineup
The current state of the X-Men
Decimation
Dark Reign
Utopia
Schism
Avengers vs. X-Men
Mutant politics
Hope Summers
The Phoenix/P.E.N.I.S. five (again)
The (real) (this time) (we think) death of Charles Xavier
Teenager hijinks
Crossover events
Battle of the Atom
Semantics of supervillainy
How Wolverine is 100% definitely going to die
Jumping-on points
Current X-books
Jubilee

You can find a visual companion to the episode – and links to recommended reading – on our blog.

Find us on iTunes or Stitcher!

Support us on Patreon!

15 – The Ballad of Harvey and Janet Jul 20, 2014

Show notes

In which we announce exciting new developments, the ASPCA should probably have a word with Emma Frost, Kitty Pryde gets a new costume, Lee Forrester is still the best, Cyclops has an octopus on his chest, Magneto has a change of heart, and Wolverine embraces transhumanism.

X-Plained:

The Thomas Hardy novel of superhero comics
Friendship
X-Men #148-152
Unstable Denim
Disco Dinner Clubs
Caliban (a little)
Kitty Pryde’s amazing fashion sense
Garokk the Unremarkable
Atlantean couture
Why Magneto is Interesting
The Massachusetts Academy
The Persona Exchange Gun
Harvey and Janet
How to win $2500 in 1980
Editorial Outsourcing

You can find a visual companion to the episode – and links to recommended reading – on our blog.

Find us on iTunes or Stitcher!

Support us on Patreon!

14 – Look Upon My Man-Thing and D’Spayre Jul 14, 2014

Show notes

In which Canada is complicated, the X-Perts join Twitter, Rachel cares about a Wolverine story, Angel had one job, Kitty Pryde is pretty cool, Cyclops gets a hat, neither of us knows how to pronounce “Aleytys,” Doctor Doom is a terrible date, and the X-Men have an awful lot of signature moves.

X-Plained:

Department H
Department K
Director X
The Weapon Plus Program
Weapon P.R.I.M.E.
Weapons I-XVI
The Death-Defying Doctor Mirage
The new normal
Stevie Hunter
The Wendigo
Berserker rage
Yard work
Wolverines
Angel’s one move
The N’Garai (again)
Lee Forrester
D’Spayre
Magic-Feather villains
Man-Thing
Doctor Doom
Arcade
Why it sucks to be Havok
The X-Perts’ relative areas of X-pertise
Cyclops vs. Storm
Signature moves

CORRECTIONS: Lee’s dad’s house is in Florida, not Louisiana; Doctor Doom is not in Europe but in New England, where has taken over Toad’s theme park, because that was definitely a thing.

If you’re looking for our coverage of X-Men 141 and 142—”Days of Future Past”—you can find that in Episode 6, “Days of Future Whatever.”

You can find a visual companion to the episode – and links to recommended reading – on our blog.

Find us on iTunes or Stitcher!

13 – Last Stand on the Moon Jul 06, 2014

Show notes

In which Jean commits genocide, the Shi’ar are total dicks (again), we have feelings about X-Men #137, Claremont and Byrne do what they do best, shit gets real on the moon, Kitty joins the team, and the Dark Phoenix Saga concludes.

X-Plained:

Inhumans
The Kree
The Terrigen Mist
Teamwork
The Dark Phoenix
Cameos with cosmic implications
The Phoenix event horizon
Establishing scale
Psychic battles
The winged never-nudes of the Marvel Universe
Danger-room exposition
The Shi’ar’s really dubious justice system
Why X-Men #137 is the definitive issue of X-Men
Pacing
The power of friendship
Quiet moments
The blue area of the moon
The best last stand
Moon vandalism
The Phoenix Retcon

You can find a visual companion to the episode – and links to recommended reading – on our blog.

Find us on iTunes or Stitcher!

12 – Inner Circle Jerk Jun 29, 2014

Show notes

In which we wade into the first arc of the Dark Phoenix Saga, Rachel does not like Sage, the Hellfire Club are the mean girls of the Marvel Universe, Cyclops and Phoenix have a Moment, Mastermind ruins everything, Emma Frost is a force to be reckoned with, Wolverine gets awesome, and we meet the Dark Phoenix.

X-Plained:

Sage
The Hellfire Club
The Inner Circle
Jason Wyngarde (again)
Sebastian Shaw
Harry Leland
Emma Frost
Donald Pierce
Hegemony and social politics of the Hellfire Club
18^th Century bondage cosplay
Kitty Pryde
The worst disco ever
Alison Blaire
Tiny shorts
How to make Wolverine work
Sexual politics of the Dark Phoenix
Why Magneto’s powers are broken post-AvX
The P.E.N.I.S. five

You can find a visual companion to the episode – and links to recommended reading – on our blog.

Find us on iTunes or Stitcher!

Next week: Showdown on the Moon

11 – Who Would Win in a Fight Jun 22, 2014

Show notes

In which we answer 45 straight minutes of your questions and alienate everyone with our answer to Jean vs. Emma, Miles is probably too nice to win in a fight, we are really into The Adventures of Pete & Pete, Rachel is the Vega to Miles’s Shepard, Excalibur is awesome, you should stop punching the DNA, Wolverine is Rogue, Longshot is the prettiest man, and Professor X is a pufferfish.

X-Plained: