Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men

In which Widget takes a heel turn; there is some confusion over sword identification; we appreciate Sir Benedict of the Falls; the Braddock family has a lot going on; and Otherworld changes hands. X-PLAINED: Names for flying horses Excalibur (2001 miniseries) #1-4 Captain Britain (Brian Braddock) (briefly) (again) The Black Knight (Dane Whitman) Darkmoor Research Facility Sword and amulet distribu...

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 housec...

In which history repeats itself; Senator Kelly prevaricates (and then dies); Magneto keeps the cape on; Mystique does evil science; Post remains irrelevant (and then dies); Pyro saves the day (and then dies); Cable is a large man; Moira MacTaggert does the astral nasty (and then dies); and we really, really, really want to go to Froggy World. X-PLAINED: Moira MacTaggert’s mutation A dubious plan E...

In which t’ieves and assassins dress to impress; Bishop returns; Rogue and Carol Danvers have a moment; and the revolution will be stored on compact disc. X-PLAINED: The New Son The First Half of Maximum Security Gambit #23 X-Men #107 X-Men Unlimited #29 Maximum Security #3 (briefly) Several of Gambit’s buddies How to dress for… stealth? I guess? Heth’sa of the planet Culth Where Carl the X-Cution...

In which an event begins; Earth is problematic; the Phoenix Force is an unreliable narrator; Max Power just wants to make safer party drugs; and we miss Opal Tanaka. X-PLAINED: The fate of the D’Bari Maximum Security: Dangerous Planet Maximum Security #1 Uncanny X-Men #387 Iron Man #35 Bishop the Last X-Man #15 Voting in space A bad plan U.S. Agent (John Walker) A peculiar marketplace A dangerous...

In which we sure did that. X-PLAINED: Miracles of magnetism Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men NEXT EPISODE: Maximum Security! Special thanks to: Producer, fellow musketeer, and all-around mensch Matt Hunter Episode 500 guests David Maybury and Josephine Riesman David’s blog and upcoming Vegas trivia tournament Josie’s website and Morrison run-focused podcast Illustrator David Wynne Pro...

In which we meet some delightful monsters; Cannonball is a man who knows how to wear overalls; Domino is the Leslie Knope of X-Force; red liquid babies deserve love, too; and not all British authors know each other. X-PLAINED: A murder X-Force #110-113 Peak butts Domestic bliss Misplaced guilt Several monsters Comics Codium Warborgs and/or Rawborgs Poison problems Additional monsters SHIELD busine...

In which the Twisted Sisters are vanquished by water; there is no way to make Stryfe cool; and the X-Men fight a hurricane. X-PLAINED: Ego the Living Planet and his dysfunctional family X-Men #105-106 Uncanny X-Men #386 The Neo (more) (again) The state of Psylocke and Archangel’s relationship The Twisted Sisters Helix Coil Gyre Ringlet Torque Pelicans Bad decisions of past Jay and Miles A mysterio...

In which Prosh’s plans sort of come to fruition; we do not know very much about movies; Iceman dies (but is fine); The Stranger gets around; and Toad learns nothing. X-PLAINED: The Stranger X-Men Forever #4-6 Prosh (more) (again) The story so far Astra (again) The Black Womb Project Toad’s secret origins, possibly Fashion Hazard Amanda Mueller (a bit) Anguirus The end of human civilization Foresha...

In which Prosh assembles a peculiar team; the cosmic forces are somewhat paranoid; Mystique gets shit done; and we are very into the concept of Toadland. X-PLAINED: The Black Womb Project X-Men Forever #1-3 Prosh Several custom-grown people A motley crew of mutants (and one human) Cataclysm keys The assassination of Graydon Creed Several poignant reunions The cosmic construction worker (Death) Why...

In which Rogue is beset with leadership; Psylocke’s telekinetic sword is narratively inconsistent; the Crimson Pirates are bad at their job; and you should not look to Frank Punisher as a role model. X-PLAINED: Whether Dani Moonstar is still a Valkyrie X-Men #103-104 Uncanny X-Men #384-385 A crossover Tessa (somewhat) A test The Goth (group) Skulls The Crimson Pirates The mind of Tullamore Voge So...

In which the X-Men zealously protect their trademarks; Cable can have as many moms as he wants to; not everyone should have to be a superhero; Lady Deathstrike knows how to handle unauthorized emails; and somehow there are still more gun arms. X-PLAINED: Lady Deathstrike X-Men Unlimited #27-28 X-Men Annual 2000 One reason to recycle code names Thunderbird III (Neal Shaara) Sanjit Shaara and his el...

In which the first X-Men film turns 25 (and holds up remarkably well). X-PLAINED: A startling absence The X-Men’s big-screen debut An X-film that might have been X-Men (2000), in general; and related publications Some very casting What makes a good adaptation Wolverine’s hair Those costumes The cinematic X-Men The cinematic Brotherhood Sabretooth’s eyebrows Condensed backstories The movie magic of...

In which the Shockwave Riders are exceptionally silly; we are deeply impressed by brain sharks; and chrome plating and gun arms are among the lesser explored recurring Claremont motifs. X-PLAINED: The fate of Sara Grey Revolution Claremont X-book disambiguation Uncanny X-Men #381-383 The Neo (again) An unmarked anniversary A secret treasure trove Vagaries of telekinesis and telepathy The Shockwave...

In which we record live from the Library of Congress; time travel complicates everything; X-Men is a fundamentally queer narrative; we attempt to summarize a lot of history very fast; and when identities are politicized, claiming them becomes a political act. X-PLAINED: LC-GLOBE The first openly queer X-Man Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men Why we do what we do Why the X-Men are worth studying Ret...

In which Chris Claremont tries to make the Neo happen; Cecilia Reyes continues to have no time for this bullshit; Rogue gets some action; Shadowcat flees the comic; and Tessa returns. X-PLAINED: The Evolutionaries X-Men #100-102 The current X-Men rosters Thunderbird (Neal Shaara) Claremont vs. continuity Dove crimes The Neo Domina Jaeger Rax Fancy space suits What to do with someone else’s bone cl...

In which Pete Wisdom does his best Charles Xavier; Alastair Stuart has not aged well; San Francisco has monster problems; and there’s probably an alternate universe where Dr. Niles Roman fronts a metal band for toddlers. X-PLAINED: The value of Pete Wisdom X-Force #102-105 Revolution (more) (again) Counter X (more) (again) Flight Elf stuff Alastair Stuart (again) The eyepatch of love Science City...

Join us for an X-beginner-friendly, mutant-metaphor-focused, live episode of Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men: presented by LC-GLOBE, the LGBTQ+ organization of employees of the Library of Congress! When: 6:00 PM on Friday 06/06/25 Where: The Mumford Room (LM-649) in the James Madison Building of the Library of Congress in Washington, DC If you’d like to join the staff in attending, you&#82...

In which we reap the consequences of our choices; possession is 18/10 of the law; Sinister dresses for the occasion; Hank gets his groove back; Havok of Earth-1298 is a jerk; Hank loses his groove; Captain America blows up the moon; the Beyonder experiences a stirring; Dracula makes a deal; and Mutant X May comes to an end. X-PLAINED: The aftermath of Mutant X Mutant X #19-32 Mutant X Annual 2001...

In which Mutant X May continues; the X-Men return from space; it’s okay not to fill in every detail of a world; Havok leans into parenthood; we meet the only well-adjusted Cyclops in the multiverse; in any universe, Forge has terrible judgment; and the Six get some new members. X-PLAINED: Several notable upcoming events in Mutant X What’s happened so far Mutant X #9-18 Mutant X Annual 2000 The Mor...

In which we embark on a Great Work; it remains hard to be Alex Summers; and it’s also always Inferno on Earth-1298. X-PLAINED: Mutant X May Mutant X #1-8 Mutant X Annual 1999 Havok (Alex Summers) (more) (again) Earth-1298 The Six The Brute (Hank McCoy) Ice-man (Bob Drake) Bloodstorm (Ororo Munroe) The Fallen (Warren Kenneth Worthington III) Marvel Woman (Madelyne Pryor) Bannerman Castle The origin...

In which we go back to the future of Generation X ; Jay once again gets pedantic about lettering; Generation X takes on the carceral state; we take a deep dive into the late ‘90s; Jubilee does her best Nick Fury; and superpowers should be noisier. X-PLAINED: Earth-14042 Marvel Disk Wars: The Avengers Generation X #63-66 Revolution and Counter X (more) (again) An evil Oyster Warden Coffin The Decen...

In which the 2000 Magik miniseries is not a good comics series but is an excellent heavy metal concept album; Nightmare has a nightmare; and tubas work differently in Hell. X-PLAINED: Belasco: the early years Magik (2000 series) #1-4 Magik (Amanda Sefton) (Jimaine Szardos) (more) (again) Some art stuff The realm of Nightmare The Splinter Realms The Soul Sword (Amanda Sefton version) An Archfiend o...

In which a lot has happened in the Six Month Gap (and we even get to learn about some of it); we’d missed Claremontian narration; Miles has questions about Colossus’s ponytail; the Soulsword is basically a Poké Ball; the Shadow Pope is cooler than the regular Pope; and Magik has a secret. X-PLAINED: Some big news X-Men: Black Sun  #1-5 Phoenix and Psylocke’s sorta-power-swap Impl...

In which Pete Wisdom canonically smells weird; we are inordinately entertained by a villain; everyone levels up their superpowers; and you probably shouldn’t shave the logo of your secret super team into the side of your head. X-PLAINED: Nasty Boys disambiguation X-Force #106-109 Counter X (more) (again) Shockwave (more) (again) Turn-of-the-millennium cool X-Force (more) (again) How to dress for f...