Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men

  This would usually be a skip week, but thanks to some generous donors to Equality Florida, Hawk Talk is back! This week: Jadzia Axelrod and Jess Taylor’s graphic novel,  Galaxy: The Prettiest Star!

Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line! In which we make an omission; X-Factor’s concept of “underground” is somewhat unconventional; Trevor Chase turns uncanny moppet; and Strong Guy and Lila Cheney have some very silly space adventures. X-PLAINED: X-Factor #134-135 Strong Guy Reborn #1 The “deaths” of X-Factor (again) Lady Cop A contextually inappropriate pun The Adversary (...

In which it’s hard to be a mutant post-Onslaught; two Chrises make friends; X-Force goes to off-brand Disney World; we are Team Risque; and you can go to the punch dimension but probably shouldn’t stay long. X-PLAINED: X-Men Unlimited #15 X-Force #65-66 Mutant life post-Onslaught Spinning editorial oversight into story Weasel, Jumbo, and Headcase How not to write the Friends of Humanity The Marvel...

Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line! In which the Crimson Dawn is secretly a bad Daredevil arc; shadow-based transportation requires careful lighting; Dark Phoenix Saga references will not always do you favors; and Earth is big. X-PLAINED: Atlan the Dolphin Psylocke and Archangel: Crimson Dawn #1-4 What the Crimson Dawn arc should actually be Archangel (more) (again) Psyloc...

This would usually be a skip week, but thanks to some generous donors to Equality Florida, Hawk Talk is back!

Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line! In which Brian Braddock has grown as a person; we remain unimpressed by the Crimson Dawn; Marvel discovers email; seven swords to two people is a pretty good ratio; everyone hates Spiral; and love may or may not save the world. X-PLAINED: Where Brian Braddock is these days Excalibur #107-110 Post-Onslaught fallout Excalibur (more) (again...

Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line! In which real life sucks; Havok may or may not be a bad enough dude to rescue mutantkind; X-Factor quits; CD-ROMs were never THAT cool; subtlety is for suckers; Val Cooper hates nothing more than she hates the U.S. government; and Jamie Madrox wants nothing to do with your nonsense. X-PLAINED: One way to end a wedding X-Factor #130-133 M...

Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line! In which no one wants to be compared to Chris Bachalo; it’s always a holiday for Generation X; you may already be a Guthrie; M is a fascinating mystery; and Black Tom Cassidy (finally) makes his move. X-PLAINED: What Black Tom Cassidy is up to these days Generation X #23-25 Generation X (again) Seasons Visual representations of Banshee’s...

This would usually be a skip week, but thanks to some generous donors to Equality Florida, Hawk Talk is back! This week’s topic was chosen by Blindseer0.

Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line! In which what happens in space stays in space; a horse is imperiled; Joseph does some dubious science; Gladiator’s name is absolutely not Gary; everybody gets new costumes; and we learn where babies come from. X-PLAINED: Shi’ar taxonomy, sort of The Shi’ar (again) The Phalanx (again) Uncanny X-Men #341-344 A whole bunch of callbacks to X...

In which our favorite(?) fear lord returns; Sirocco Sprawl is an extremely unpleasant fictional town; the Juggernaut is not a subtle man; we really need to get our hands on the Generation X novels; Tarot gets a logo font; and Banshee is menaced by spectral leprechauns. X-PLAINED Several Juggernauts Soap Operas D’Spayre (again) D’Spayre vs. Nightmare Juggernaut #1 Generation X Annual 1997 Magical p...

In which Domino’s miniseries earns a grade of “present”; Miles gets to know Sam Hill; Domino trades pouches for boots; and we would prefer that you not sexualize Lady Deathstrike. X-PLAINED: Halloween Jack Domino (Neena Thurman) Domino #1-3 Milo Thurman The idiomatic Sam Hill Lady Deathstrike (again) The Reavers (again) Pico Boot pouches Puck (Eugene Judd) Dante’s Beatrice Several Skullbusters Rob...

This would usually be a skip week, but thanks to some generous donors to Equality Florida, Hawk Talk is back! This week’s topic was chosen by Chuck Reynolds.

Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line! In which we begin John Francis Moore’s run on X-Force ; Latveria is less fun without Doctor Doom; there may still be a tiny clone of Meltdown running around; Forearm is a good pal; Marvel Asgard is a realm of crossover fan fiction;  and you should totally watch both Our Flag Means Death and Doom Patrol . X-PLAINED: Blackbeard, somewhat X...

In which there is definitely a wrong way to enjoy your comics; Storm could probably use a more secure storage system; the Externals need more camp; and Joseph makes some valid points. X-PLAINED What Storm’s up to X-Men Unlimited #7 (again) (briefly) X-Men #60-61 X-Men Unlimited #14 Karima Jamil Candra (again) A surprising absence of Howard Mackie Candra’s heart Some excessively complex psychic pow...

Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line! In which Frank Punisher is not a role model; Carl the X-Cutioner is not very good at secret identities; Miles tries his hand at poetry; and everything’s funny with a sidecar. X-PLAINED: Frankencastle Frank Punisher and his cultural context Punisher #12-16 Carl the X-Cutioner S.H.I.E.L.D. The New Mutant Liberation Front and several member...

This would usually be a skip week, but thanks to some generous donors to Equality Florida, Hawk Talk is back! This week’s topic was chosen by Andy Bartholomew.

Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line! In which the Drake Roberts identity is retired; Gambit bonds with William Drake; Graydon Creed is evil but nondescript; tales of Pyro’s death have been somewhat exaggerated; and some mysteries resolve better than others. X-PLAINED: Damian Tryp X-Factor (more) (again) Uncanny X-Men #340 X-Factor #128-30 More Drake family dynamics The Swor...

Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line! In which the first Magneto miniseries is actually a Joseph miniseries; Magneto lost a lot of nuance in the ‘90s; Fabian Cortez is friend to neither man nor bird; Joseph finds his inner supervillain; Marvel’s United Nations is unusually heavily armed; and bears are much cooler than guns. X-PLAINED: Magneto (again) The Acolytes (again) Jos...

Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line! In which Douglock is Douglock; Kitty Pryde gets lost in nostalgia; it continues to suck to be Colossus; Professor Xavier is a jerk; the MLF makes one and only one valid point; Ben Raab’s Excalibur run begins; the Acolytes try to get the band back together; and the land mines are a metaphor that are also real land mines. X-PLAINED: Exodus...

This would usually be a skip week, but thanks to some generous donors to Equality Florida, Hawk Talk is back! This week’s topic was chosen by Play Comics .

Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line! In which Max Carleton and Miles take a trip back to the Silver Age, the origins of Marvel Girl’s telepathy are questionable, the nature of Polaris’s parentage is also questionable, and the quality of Sauron’s origin story shall never be questioned. X-PLAINED: The Locust (Dr. August Hopper) Uncanny X-Men #46, 52, and 60...

Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line! In which Storm & Joseph X-Plain the X-Men, Alex Summers is not brainwashed this time, he promises, Scott Lobdell writes better moments than stories, Ed McGuinness draws very large chins, and it’s Denver the Last Dinosaur, not Denver the Lost Dinosaur X-PLAINED: Uncanny X-Men #339 Spider-Man disambiguation A. Kubert disambiguation J....

Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line! In which we return to Rutland, Vermont; Emma Frost faces her salad demons; Banshee is not even supposed to be here today; no one should ever have to drive in New York City; Fenris is both evil and obnoxious; and we’re still not over that one Senator Kelly action figure. X-PLAINED: How to help us help queer and trans youth Generation X #2...

Sometimes when the world’s a trash fire, it’s hard to figure out where to start. We talk activism, figuring out how you can help, and what we’re doing to fight back against anti-LGBTQ+ legislation in Florida. Click through here to find out more about our campaign to raise funds for Equality Florida!