Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men

Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line! In which Jay and guest X-Pert Connor Goldsmith explore approaches to podcasting about X-Men; difficult characters; costume preferences; our mutual mistrust of horses; owning our perspectives; and good on-ramps. X-PLAINED: The ghost of Madelyne Pryor Cerebro (podcast) Good Selene stories Potential vs. payoff Costume opinions Fashion in co...

Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line! In which the Beast miniseries is actually a cleverly disguised Karma miniseries; Gateway’s moral alignment remains a mystery; Cannonball rocks some sideburns; there are many reasons to dislike Viper; and every #1 is somebody’s first. X-PLAINED: An off-panel death X-Force #62 Beast #1-3 Karma’s family and backstory (again) Twin absorption...

Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line! In which you can now listen to a unique episode of Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men every day for a year; Shi’ar tech support leaves something to be desired; Super Doctor Astronaut Peter Corbeau does not appear in a story; it’s Deathbird, not Dueprocessbird; Zenn-La gets destroyed a lot; and we shall never speak of this incident again....

Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line! In which we lie extensively about how comics schedules work; the Mystery School is clearly a backdoor pitch; the Wisdom family has a lot going on; red dyes fade fast; and we (roughly) calculate the odds of Cyclops having a good day. X-PLAINED: Marvel’s KISS comics Pryde and Wisdom #1-3 Age Cheerful hissing Jardine A serial killer Departm...

Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line! In which standing in fields looking confused is a way of life; Psylocke gets a new superpower; when you gotta confess you gotta confess; Iceman’s dad stands up for justice; we mourn a Sentinel; and it’s probably a good thing that most companies don’t do mind melds as a team-building exercise. X-PLAINED: Levels of mutant power Omicron-lev...

Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line! In which Chris Bachalo draws excellent critters; Bastion is a terrible boss; everyone fucks in the Danger Room; Jubilee fails a midterm; and humans were the real monsters all along. X-PLAINED: The worst mutant power Generation X #20-21 X-Factor #127 Bachalo critters Bastion (more) (again) Daria (but not the one you’re thinking of) Chevy...

Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line! In which the 1990s were full of miniseries; Mystique and Sabretooth take a sabbatical from X-Factor; Mystique’s powers are wildly inconsistent; we meet a second Cypher; most secret agents are Mystique; and you should never tell Sabretooth about your girlfriend. X-PLAINED: Sabretooth’s ambitions Sabretooth and Mystique #1-4 A Helicarrier...

Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line! In which history gets rewritten (again); Shatterstar definitely knows how to dance; and everyone gets extremely grumpy about Loeb’s final X-Force arc. X-PLAINED: What happened to Reverend Craig X-Force (again) The Mojoverse (again) X-Force #59-61 Shatterstar vs. Benjamin Russell The Weisman Institute for the Criminally Insane (again) Sub...

Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line! In which Excalibur has a lot going on; Margali Szardos is never up to any good; Nightcrawler grows into leadership; we delve into the politics of superheroism; Pete Wisdom earns his keep; Miles catches a Prisoner reference; and we reach the end of Warren Ellis’ Excalibur . X-PLAINED: John the Skrull Excalibur #100-103 The current state o...

Inferno #4 is out; and, as promised, we’ve got a bonus interview with Jonathan Hickman–unedited this time, so please forgive the audio–going into the gory details of the miniseries and its finale! (Again, spoiler warning–we can’t emphasize this enough– we spoil  Inferno , including its ending, real hard . Listen at your own risk.)

Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line! In which Hub & Lisa X-Plain Howard the Duck; Jay & Miles X-Plain Daydreamers ; and Jonathan Hickman X-Plains his tenure on the X-line! X-PLAINED: The many lives of Moira MacTaggert Feral moppets Man-Thing and several characters who closely resemble Man-Thing Howard the Duck At least one Nexus of All Reality Duck sex Daydreamers #...

Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line! In which Professor X has no time for your sympathy; there are too many people in the bathroom; everything’s more fun with J. Jonah Jameson; psychologists dress better in the 616; the Rainbow Bears have your back; and Onslaught finally, actually, for-real ends. X-PLAINED: How Logan got his adamanitum back (again) Onslaught (briefly) Uncan...

Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line! In which it’s hard to be Joseph; we do our best to explain the inexplicable; Miles is full of feelings; Hulk smashes; and Onslaught finally (mostly) ends. X-PLAINED: Heroes Reborn Return Wild times with the Dreaming Celestial Onslaught so far X-Men  #56 Onslaught: Marvel Universe Jay’s definitive Bond Joseph (more) The physical evolution...

Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line! In which we take a break from X-Men to talk Onslaught tie-ins; Miles learns about coffee shop AUs; Sentinels are very large; there are no bystanders in a crossover event; we are really not Punisher people; and all the bad guys have plans. X-PLAINED: The Clone Saga (briefly) How not to dispose of a dead clone Ben Reilly Amazing Spider-Man...

This would usually be a skip week, but the world is still being a jerk, so we made you a bonus, entirely unedited, and almost entirely off-topic episode. This time, Jay and Miles talked about Hawk Talk.

Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line! In which Onslaught is a party that goes on way too long; we are grateful that the Hand is mostly someone else’s problem; there’s always time to get hosed down by firemen; and Emma Frost should never, under any circumstances, cook. X-PLAINED: The Golden Archer Wolverine #104-105 Generation X #18-19 Portions of Elektra’s deal Stick Wolveri...

Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line! In which Dark Beast is an unlikely father figure; Wild Child remains low-budget Wolverine; X-Factor foreshadows the XSE; no one else thwarts Richardses on Doom’s watch; the cow goes “hate”; and Juggernaut fails to grow as a person. X-PLAINED: The Red Ghost Onslaught thus far X-Factor #126 Fantastic Four #416 X-Men Unlimited #12 Random’s...

This would usually be a skip week, but the world is still being a jerk, so we made you a bonus, entirely unedited, and almost entirely off-topic episode. This time, Jay and Miles talked about bugs (and Tea Fougner  taught us about bees)! As mentioned in the episode: bee cute furry face

Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line! In which Onslaught: Phase 2 does not live up to the promise of Phase 1; Hulk is not the most trustworthy individual; Miles is his own best audience; Sentinels know their continuity; and true heroism is scored by James Horner. X-PLAINED: The Phoenix Five Onslaught thus far The Incredible Hulk #445 Invincible Iron Man #332 Avengers #402 Pe...

Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line! In which we enter Phase 2 of Onslaught; Cable is a man of many purposes; Onslaught gets a makeover; Intentions only matter if you’re Longshot; and Sue Richards will pull over this crossover event right now if you don’t behave. X-PLAINED: Red Onslaught Onslaught Phase 1 Uncanny X-Men #336 Cable #35 X-Man #19 X-Force #58 A large number of...

Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line! Variant cover by Dylan Meconis! And a real, live, downloadable sketch variant! In which we celebrate a milestone with a special collectible episode; there may already be a Charles Xavier in your basement; Onslaught lacks subtlety; Bill Watterson may or may not have changed his licensing policy on Earth-616; guns should not have hair; and...

This would usually be a skip week, but the world is still being a jerk, so we made you a bonus, entirely unedited, and almost entirely off-topic episode. This time, Jay and Tina Carleton of Welcome to Television talked about sitcoms!

Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line! In which Onslaught nomenclature has some consistency issues; electricity is the new magnetism; Nate Grey mopes; Sinister doesn’t care about your guns; the Xavier mansion blows up (again); and we track down an elusive Sentinel. X-PLAINED Doctor Doom’s absolutely irrelevant Onslaught encounter Cable #34 Incredible Hulk #444 X-Man #18 X-For...

Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line! In which all the heroes fight each other, a lot. X-PLAINED: Teenage Iron Man Onslaught thus far What Onslaught wants Uncanny X-Men #335 X-Men Unlimited #11 Avengers #401 The rebirth of Apocalypse The Apocalocophagous The Age of Wonders X-Man vs. Professor X Nate Grey-sitting Humanity’s Last Stand Simon Trask Bastion Rogue and Joseph Aven...

Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line! In which we stop procrastinating and dive headfirst into Onslaught; Professor Xavier is a jerk; Dark Beast wasn’t even supposed to be here today; Onslaught declaims like it’s the Silver Age; Bishop gets some long-awaited closure; and we pitch alternate candidates for the X-traitor. X-PLAINED: Hyperstorm Onslaught (entity) Onslaught (even...