Mutant Studies 101

We are finally talking about the BEST characters in X-Men, the Shi'Ar Imperial Guard!!! For this week's summer session lecture, your hosts are joined by newly appointed best friends of the show Matt and Allison Parent of Escape the Mojoverse to talk about a pair of shorter arcs in the front half of Morrison's run, Germ-Free Generation! Disclaimer: Some of the comics discussed in this episode are d...

Well... Supergirl is a movie. It is out. It... doesn't work. Your professors want to know why it doesn't work. Topics for this lecture include: Why doesn't this movie work? How is it that every time it fixes a problem with the comic it creates 3 new ones? At least Milly Alcock is good but oh goodness this movie is rough. You can follow the show @mutantstudies101 on Instagram, TikTok, and Bluesky a...

Time to go on a new adventure, students! For this week's lecture, your professors are doing some field trip prep for next week as they head into the stars with Tom King and Bisques Evelyn's Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow Topics for this lecture include: Blackout DC Comics, how this book really doesn't work for us, what Tom King should be doing instead of this, and a lot more ranting than normal! You...

Hope you're ready to get weird with it, students! For this summer session, your hosts dig deep into New X-Men Annual 1, The Man From Room X! Joining them is Lord Rinzler (X-Men Horoscopes, You Are Good, You Are Enough) to dig deep into the philosophy of both Xorn and John Sublime! Topics for this lecture include: How does Xorn function as representation for Buddhism in Marvel, if at all? Does John...

Welcome to Summer Class, students! For our inaugural Summer Session, we will be diving DEEP into Grant Morrison's seminal run on New X-Men from 2001-2004. Joining us for our first episode is Sara Century (Comics critic, zine maker, and co-creator of The Forgotten Five ) to talk all about E is For Extinction! Topics for this lecture include: How Morrison and Quitely radically reinvent the franchise...

Hope you're ready to go back in time, students! For this guest lecture, Morgan has had to step out so we've brought in one of our absolute best people and a true pillar of the community, Chad Anderson of the Graymalkin Lane podcast! He's joined us to talk all about a very strange artifact from the 90s, The Continued Adventures of the X-Men. Topics for this lecture include: introducing Chad, what d...

Become the Ghost in the Machine with us today, students! For this week's lecture, your professors are talking the origins of one of the most bizarre and punchy characters in modern X-Men, the living Danger Room known as Danger! And joining them for this discussion is none other than the great Matt and Alison Parent of Escape the Mojoverse! Topics of this lecture include: The deep-seeded dangers of...

Check into Answers, Students! For this special BONUS episode of Mutant Studies 101, your professors are joined by the team behind the upcoming Dark Horse Horror Comic Did You Hear About Mimi Green? , writer Connor Goldsmith (CEREBRO, The Kibitz) and artist Josh Cornillon ( Young Men in Love, Pool Boys )! Topics for this lecture include: The process of creating a creator-owned book, what was challe...

Welcome back to Office Hours, students! For this session, your professors are joined by someone truly qualified to teach the class Mutant Studies 101, Dr Ramzi Fawaz ( The New Mutants: Superheroes and the Radical Imagination of American Comics, Queer Forms ). They discuss his work, the current state of modern comics studies, how we can imagine what the world could be through the lens of psychedeli...

Get ready to craft some bloodstones and summon your soulswords, students! For this lecture, your professors are deep diving into Ilyana Rasputina, aka Magik, specifically through her original 1983 miniseries. Topics of this lecture include: What does this miniseries do so well with Claremont's own tendencies? How does the allegories of this tale work in context of then and now? How has Magik chang...

That's right, it's the fanfic episode! Dean is away so the mice get to play. The mice, in this instance, meaning Morgan and returning guest Eileen, finally get to talk about fanfic. What is it? We'll find out! Topics include: Some of the origins of fanfic; false reports of Dean's death; a lot of discussion about gay hockey yaoi; TWO games; some fanfiction recommendations; very tenuous connections...

EVERYTHING is Romantic, students! For this Valentines guest lecture, your hosts are joined by cosplayer Olivia DeFillipo (@thelibraliv) and content creator Nikhil Clayton (@NikhilClayton) to discuss one of the longest-lasting couples in X-Men: Rogue and Remy LeBeau, aka Gambit! Topics for this lecture include: How Rogue and Gambit's relationship has changed over the years, what the shifting nature...

Hear us, students! No longer are we the professors you knew, we are Academia and Unseriousness Incarnate! That's right, to kick off this new semester we are diving into arguably the most seminal text in the history of the X-Men: The Dark Phoenix Saga! Specifically, we will be taking a look at the story through the lens of the Monstrous Feminine and Jean Grey! Topics for this lecture include: We're...

Get ready to boldly go, students! For this lecture, your hosts sit down with the writing collective known as "The Hivemind" Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing (NYX, Giant Size Ms. Marvel, Star Trek: The Last Starship , and more) to discuss not just their work on Star Trek and the X-Men, but their unique perspectives on how to fight against fascistic regimes. Topics for this lecture include: How The...

Time to focus our totality, students! for this lecture, your hosts dive deep into the themes of Psylocke (2024) before being joined for an interview with the writer of the series Alyssa Wong (Psylocke, Deadpool, Doctor Aphra). Topics for this episode include: How Kwannon has evolved over the course of her publication history, what this series is doing that allows it to find clear footing in the -p...

Get ready to fall in love again and again, students! For this weeks lecture, your hosts are joined by Dr. Anna Peppard ( Supersex: Sexuality, Fantasy, and the Superhero, Sequential Scholars, Oh Gosh Oh Golly Oh Wow) to discuss the ways in which romance and romance comics have changed and shaped around the character of Jennifer Walters, the Sensational She-Hulk! Topics include: A close analysis of...

Time to lock in, students! For this episode, your hosts are joined by returning guests Ollie and Emily to discuss one of the trickiest topics we've ever delved into: The court case of the International Justice Court vs. Erik Lensherr, also known as Magneto! Topics for this lecture include: A close-reading of Uncanny X-Men 200, discussing and diving deep into the (DEEPLY complicated) character of G...

Welcome back to class students! For this lecture, your professors are joined by special guest Priya Saxena (comics editor and critic) to discuss Leah Williams and Carols Gomez's X-Terminators (2022)! Topics for this lecture include: A discussion of Laura Mulvey's "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema", how comics fandom reacts to provocative works, how much fun this book is, and grappling with per...

Put on your philosophy hats, students! For this lecture, your hosts are examining the current line of Ultimates comics through the lens of the ship of Theseus: what remains, what has changed, and what does this mean for the medium as a whole. Topics for this episode include: How is Jonathan Hickman and Marco Cecchetto's Ultimate Spider-Man still very recognizably Spider-Man? In contrast, what does...

Hope you're ready to reckon, students! For this lecture, your hosts dive back into the deep mine that is Alison Blaire, the Dazzler. It's Dazzler Studies 301! This time, we're trying ton answer the question: Is Dazzler bad, actually? Topics for this episode include:Dean's adventures at Flame Con, Dazzler as a symbol for progressive or regressive politics, a close reading of Brian Johnson's essay "...

Dia duit, Students! On this episode, Dean gets to take a student role as Morgan flexes their knowledge of Irish post-modernism as we look at the X-Men villain Black Tom Cassidy through the lens of James Joyce's Dubliners! Topics for today's episode include: What distinguishes Joyce's writing from his contemporaries? How does one care for a homeland while also being drawn out of it? Can we relate B...

Strap in, Students! For today's field trip, professors Dean and Morgan discuss a highly anticipated release for both of them: Fantastic Four: First Steps!! Topics for this lecture include: Morgan loving this movie and Dean... liking it! Your hosts getting a divorce, what works and what doesn't, a failed Doechii needle drop, and what this movie could mean for the future. Also Jamie Lloyd's Sunset B...

Sharpen your swords, students! For this lecture, your hosts dig deep into one of the most fascinating X-Men series over the last few years: Peach Momoko's Demon Days and Demon Wars! Topics for this episode include: The X-Men as fairy tales. The Ship of Theseus in these comics. How do we handle talking about a work that is such a radical departure from the norm? And some words of encouragement for...

Once again wishing you a Happy Pride, Students! For this lecture, your hosts examine queer theory as it relates to the body and the mutant metaphor with an extremely exciting special guest: PhD in Literature and current writer for Marvel Comics Anthony Oliveira! Topics include: How do you navigate writing queerness in rooms where you aren't allowed full creative control? When does the mutant metap...

Happy Pride Month, Students! For this session, your hosts uhhhhhhhh queen out about our favorite lesbian terrorists Mystique and Destiny! Topics include: How old are these ladies? Was Mystique John Hinckley, Jr.?, Were they in Gertrude Stein's salon? and radical queer activism through X-Men Podcasting! Also Oh, Mary!! Content Warning: This episode contains discussions on state sanctioned violence...