Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men

Illustration by David Wynne In which we remain frustrated with Morrison’s Magneto; Esme Cuckoo’s hat game is lacking; and the status quo dies with Jean Grey. X-PLAINED: Dubious X-relationships Some excellent songs from an excellent show New X-Men #149-150 Various atrocities and catastrophes The resistance, such as it is Magneto’s limits A rebirth Neutron warheads The cavalry Yet another death of M...

Illustration by David Wynne In which many plot threads come together; Charles Xavier is a catastrophically bad listener; you should probably not live in the Marvel Universe; bridges are really important ; there’s nothing sexy about dying of heat exhaustion; and we judge Morrison’s Magneto and find him wanting. X-PLAINED: What Xorn did after dying The story so far New X-Men #146-148 Beast’s typing...

Illustration by David Wynne In which friends don’t let friends drink sparkling wine at the Hellfire Club; Cyclops is a Silent Hill protagonist; Fantomex is a cool dude; John Sublime has his grubby little fingers in everything ; and three men do a lot of things to avoid going to therapy. X-PLAINED: What happened to the World Weapon XVI New X-Men #142-145 Fantomex (more) (again) The Weapon Plus prog...

Illustration by David Wynne In which Jean Grey crosses several lines; Emma Frost is killed; Bishop and Sage visit from X-Treme X-Men ; mutants are weird; the plot thickens; Emma Frost is resurrected; and we learn several secrets of fly reproduction. X-PLAINED: The brothers Xorn A question of reading order New X-Men #139-141 Cosmic force problems A showdown A brief tour through the mind of Emma Fro...

Illustration by David Wynne In which you should use drugs only with caution; a famous shirt makes its debut; Wolverine is the new Mary Worth; and you were never Quentin Quire’s age (unless you were). X-PLAINED: What Quentin Quire’s been up to since discorporating New X-Men #135-138 The Special Class Basilisk Ernst Dummy No Girl Whether the Xavier School should admit human students Quentin’s new lo...

Illustration by David Wynne In which Warren Kenneth Worthington III is a terrible teacher; we are all Magneto’s children; Sooraya Qadir deserves a better origin story; teenagers have a lot of feelings; and we meet one of the modern age’s most controversial mutants. X-PLAINED: The destiny of Quentin Quire New X-Men #131-134 An underattended funeral How to fly? Kinda? I guess? A kiss A friendship An...

Illustration by David Wynne In which Xorn goes out on the town; silverware is morally neutral; Cyclops pursues dubious counsel; the X means ten; and Fantomex is eminently enjoyable. X-PLAINED: The parentage of Hope Summers New X-Men #127-130 Mutant Town A monster who is not a monster but is, perhaps, a metaphor X-Corporation Paris The whole Phoenix situation Fantomex Weapon XII A gene-hazard Corpo...

Illustration by David Wynne In which Wolverine learns to fly; pants are a basic human right; we decide to cherry-pick our Xorn retcons; Xavier’s eyebrows follow his mind; and the first year of New X-Men ends with a bang. X-PLAINED: The origin of the Shi’ar Imperial Guard New X-Men #124-126 The current state of Charles Xavier’s body G-Type Neosaurus Plutonia Schism Oracle Stuf Gladiator (more) (aga...

Illustration by David Wynne In which Marvel goes wordless; Cassandra Nova breaks space; none of the X-Men have media training; and Gus was the best dog ever. X-PLAINED: Erik the Red (more) (again) Kin Crimson A big messy bag of mutant glory New X-Men #121-123 ‘Nuff Said A journey into Charles Xavier’s mind What Emma is drinking A fetus fight The criminal culpability of a fetus Space problems A cos...

Illustration by David Wynne In which John Sublime sucks; Angel Salvatore rules; trauma does not justify evil; and you should never, ever, ever mess with Jean Grey. X-PLAINED: A horrifying revelation The universe where Jay and Miles work for Cassandra Nova New X-Men #118-120 John Sublime (more) (again) The U-Men Psychic energy, gender-reveal party-style The Stepford Cuckoos One way to disperse a mo...

Illustration by David Wynne In which several individuals are not what they seem; John Sublime sucks; Cyclops talks Xorn down from a cosmic ledge; we meet the inimitable Beak; and Cassandra Nova makes herself (limitedly) known. X-PLAINED: John Sublime Marvelscope™ New X-Men 2001 Annual New X-Men #117 Xorn X-Corporation The U-Men Ao Jun (and his super gross mutant power) Synchronized heists Psychome...

Illustration by David Wynne In which we start the Morrison Run; Professor X gets his hands on Chekhov’s gun; Cassandra Nova raises X-villains to a new level of weird; and humanity is running on borrowed time. X-PLAINED: No-Girl New X-Men #114-116 Grant Morrison and their approach to the X-Men Superhero fashion Cerebra Beast’s new look Ugly John Interpersonal dynamics Cassandra Nova (somewhat) Dona...

In which Dr. Jey McCreight joins us to discuss all things X-Genetics! X-PLAINED: The genetics and taxonomy of Marvel’s merry mutants NEXT EPISODE: The Morrison run begins! Follow Dr. Jey on Bluesky , and check out Beyond X and Y ! Find us on  Apple Podcasts  or  Spotify ! 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...

In which we totally forgot to record a cold open (sorry); a lot of characters die (but not in Earth-616); Vampires may already be in command of America’s atomic arsenal; and we revisit a favorite. X-PLAINED: What If vol. 2 #9 What If vol. 2 #24 What If: Magik #1 Rahne Sinclair (moppet stage) The deaths of the Silver Age and All-New-All-Different X-Men Fancy television Sliding-scale ransom Then Ani...

In which Asher Elbein joins us to discuss the complicated intersections between Magneto, big feelings, and international politics. X-PLAINED: Some complicated intersections between Magneto, big feelings, and international politics. Check out links to some of what we discuss in this episode on our blog . Find us on  Apple Podcasts  or  Spotify ! Jay and Miles X-Plain the X-Men is 100% ad-free and l...

In which we do a thing and are not even sorry. X-PLAINED: X-Men Origins: Wolverine Next Episode: Magneto, with Asher Elbein! Check out the visual companion to this episode  on our blog . Find us on  Apple Podcasts  or  Spotify ! 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 ! Bu...

In which we provide some inroads to resisting fascism in your community; pacifism has amazing abs; Cyclops and Wolverine play revolutionary chicken; Amelia Voght fails to live up to her narrative potential; Jean Grey continues to make spectacularly bad choices; Polaris deserves better; and Wolverine finally gets to stab Magneto. X-PLAINED: Community action and aid X-Men #112-113 Uncanny X-Men #393...

In which Jay and Miles make an announcement; the X-Men are down to bare bones; Cyclops and Corsair are stunningly bad at feelings; Trish Tilby is stunningly bad at journalism; Magneto says goodbye to nuance; and Jean Grey assembles a team. X-PLAINED: X-Corps vs. X-Corp A thing that will be happening in a few months The story so far Uncanny X-Men #391-392 X-Men #111 The state of the X-Men A short-l...

In which it’s rude to eat in a helmet; Cable does his best villain bit; Bishop is clearly unfamiliar with early X-Force ; we’re pretty sure clones still count as people; and Stryfe is the surprise MVP of Gambit & Bishop: Sons of the Atom . X-PLAINED: Another time Stryfe and Bishop teamed up Gambit & Bishop: Sons of the Atom #3-6 Some of the Witness’s fancy swag An extremely awkward meal St...

In which we unapologetically ship Gambit and Bishop; pelicans are deeply alarming birds; Charles Xavier watches your sex dreams; the Witness is a Whole Continuity Thing; and the T’ieves Guild is really just here to steal your stuff. X-PLAINED: Destiny’s frequently retconned diaries Midi series Gambit (more) (again) Bishop (more) (again) Gambit and Bishop: Sons of the Atom Alpha Gambit and Bishop:...

In which we attempt an all-Cyclops Winter special; X-Men are bad at processing grief; writer Alex Paknadel X-Plains his upcoming Cyclops miniseries; every character (except Cameron Hodge) is someone’s favorite; and you remain the best listeners of any podcast, ever. X-PLAINED: Clones of Cyclops Gwen Warren Our year in review X-Men: The Search for Cyclops #1-4 Ahmed and his mustache Emotional suppo...

In which Marrow just want to be left alone; Spider-Man remains hapless; S.H.I.E.L.D. is unhelpful; Colossus dies; Shadowcat leaves the X-Men; and we are all on board for Mutants to Watch Out For. X-PLAINED: How Magik caught the Legacy Virus Marrow (again) Spider-Man and Marrow #1 Uncanny X-Men #390 X-Men #110 A fancy club A terrible plan The Legacy Virus (more) (again) Some deeply contrived “scien...

In which Professor Xavier is a jock; all of Shadowcat’s friends are dead; Storm recruits a team; Bishop makes new pals; and everyone gets festive. X-PLAINED: Some of Mystique’s secret kids Uncanny X-Men #389 X-Men #109 Charles Xavier’s workout routine Two funerals Rave (the drug) The wrong necklace Destiny’s doodles A large knife Charles Xavier/Moira MacTaggert backstory A snowball fight A very sk...

In which there are a lot of explosions in X-Force ; Great Britain-616 is to intelligence as Canada-616 is to military; Alastair Stuart used to be fun; Emma Frost is here to stomp on your dreams; Chamber joins the X-Men; and the Generation X kids graduate themselves. X-PLAINED: Revolution (again) Counter-X (again) X-Force #114-115 Generation X #75 Yet another origin of humanity and/or life on Earth...

In which Jay remains angry at a font; a person who is obviously Kang the Conqueror is not in fact Kang the Conqueror; the pig men deserve better; and Nightcrawler should never, ever, ever be allowed to attempt grief counseling. X-PLAINED: Storm/Cable Cable #85-86, 88 Cable (more)(again) Earth-4935 Mother Askani Irene Merryweather Several cryptic witches Are you as dangerous as you think martial ar...