Manchildren of the Atom

Season 2 is here! The X-Men are back... to the future! And the past! And the present! But this time, mostly the future! And Matt and Bret have things to say about it, and also about X-Men cross-promotional tie-ins with real world places and products! Theme by ⁠⁠⁠⁠Cheer Captain⁠⁠⁠⁠ ! And visit us on ⁠⁠⁠Bluesky⁠⁠⁠ !

Bret and Matt are back one more time before Season 2 launches in July to react to the OFFICIAL trailer for X-Men '97 Season 2 (no bootlegs this time) and fancast another fictional X-Men movie, this time from the 1980's based on 70's and early 80's X-Men storylines! Theme by ⁠⁠⁠Cheer Captain⁠⁠⁠ ! And visit us on ⁠⁠Bluesky⁠⁠ !

Matt and Bret share their thoughts on the leaked X-Men '97 Season 2 teaser trailer, discuss the obvious antagonist of the upcoming season, Apocalypse, revisit the history of X-spinoff teams and lineups, and finally go back to a past that never existed in which an X-Men movie based on the 60's run was being created in the 70's and needed our help to cast it! ⁠⁠⁠ Theme by ⁠⁠Cheer Captain...

Matt and Bret are back just for the love of the game after a long hiatus and they're talking about the 1989 X-Men animated pilot episode "Pryde of the X-Men" featuring Australian Wolverine, spherical hard drives, unexplained space dragons... but hey, we're just selling toys! ⁠ Theme by ⁠Cheer Captain⁠ ! And visit us on Bluesky !

Matt and Bret are plunging straight ahead to the finish line, serving up discussion of episodes 4 through 9 of Daredevil: Born Again - that's the entire rest of the season for those of you keeping score! What worked? What didn't? What is a reasonable number of murders for a psycho killer? What should you do if a shit brickhouse of a man tosses you an axe and demands you fight him? Who else...

Matt and Bret talk about recent reading (Excalibur! Avengers! Columbine!) and the third episode of Dardevil: Born Again. Along the way they ask the hard questions, like which fictional newspaper is more famous: The Daily Bugle or The Daily Planet? All this and more! Music by Cheer Captain!

We are joined by Graham aka Cheer Captain to talk about what makes the X-Men Animated Series theme song (and by extension our own theme song) tick and superhero media themes and scores more generally. And then we dive into our first full-length feature film discussion with a conversation about the first X-Men movie from 2000!

Matt and Bret continue their look at Daredevil: Born Again with the much improved second episode as well as talking about reading through compilation volumes of old comics and even the secret nickname of the late Dr. Stephen Hawking! Theme music by Cheer Captain!

Welcome listeners to Manchildren of the Atom Presents: The Manchildren Without Fear! We are checking out Daredevil: Born Again to get a taste of following a current show as it airs (or close enough to it) in preparation for eventual release of X-Men '97 Season 2. Endure mic issues and enjoy the MOTA boys talking about their likes and dislikes of DD:BA episode 1! Theme music by Cheer Captain!

It's the JUMBO-sized Season 1 Recap extravaganza! Matt and Bret talk about the full first season of X-Men '97, bang out a couple of tier lists (check the Bluesky for the visual), provide live coverage from the 1st Manchildren of the Atom (Manchy) Awards, and open up the Mailbag of the Atom to answer YOUR questions! Theme by Cheer Captain ! Additional sounds used with thanks from CyrelJayVi...

It's the last episode of X-Men '97 Season 1 and Matt and Bret are here to ride the falling asteroid all the way down, Dr. Strangelove style! Psychic violations, pyrotechnic amputations, polymorphic love proclamations... please enjoy our conversation! Music by ⁠Cheer Captain⁠ !

Matt and Bret discuss the middle chapter of the three-part season finale of X-Men '97 Season 1 and go way off course talking about old comics issues, filmmaking techniques, and the insane ratio of good Magneto lines to Professor X lines in this series. Then the boys get down to a little game of X-MASH and use the magic of editing to spare you listeners a hell of a lot of dead air while they think...

The season finale three-parter begins and Bret and Matt just wish they could try getting pulled through a Nightcrawler teleport too! They also talk about some exciting vacation destinations within the world of the X-Men! Music by Cheer Captain !

The X-Men globe hop and pick up the pieces after the events of Episode 5. Matt and Bret are along for the ride to Genosha, Mexico, Brazil, and Madripoor and then guess their way through some Songs in the Key of X! Music by Cheer Captain !

Avian adversaries abound (and Professor X maybe gets bound) in X-Men 97's sixth episode! Matt and Bret talk it through and play Would You Rather?: Mutant Edition! Music by Cheer Captain !

Bret and Matt welcome their first guest, John Regan of CactusHead Puppets as they ride the emotional roller coaster that is the brutal 5th episode of X-Men '97. Music by Cheer Captain !

It's pixel parties and chili dates for the X-Men, and they've invited Matt and Bret along! Plus a stroll through the history of X-Men video games including a chance to separate the real game titles from some imposters. Music by Cheer Captain !

Send in the (brimstone) clones! Bret and Matt hang on for dear life as the third episode of X-Men '97 sprints through a season's worth of material in a single episode. And their mics don't suck anymore - butter smooth audio poured directly into your ears! Music by Cheer Captain !

Magneto takes center stage in a banger of an episode! Bret and Matt are somewhere off in a balcony yukking it up like a couple of elderly muppets. Everybody wins! Music by Cheer Captain !

The X-Men are back in animated form and Bret and Matt are here to talk about them! They discuss their connection to the X-Men franchise more broadly and go beat by beat through X-Men '97's first episode "To Me, My X-Men" while demonstrating the difference between a good and a bad microphone (and passing the savings on to you, listener)! Music by Cheer Captain !