Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men

In which Adrienne Frost is absolutely terrible (and so was Ronald Reagan); you should not put guns in your butt; Synch deserved better; and Jay and Miles inventory their favorite dangling plot threads of the ‘90s. X-PLAINED: Several potential origins of Havok’s stupid hat Generation X #67-70 Revolution (more) (again) Shockwave (more) (again) Adrienne Frost (more) (again) The New Xavier School and/...

In which we check in on Nate Grey; yet another Madelyne Pryor is not what she seems; dead men tell tales; there are a lot of Canadians out there; and Nate gets a makeover. X-PLAINED: What happened to Nate Grey (short-term) Counter X Shockwave Nate Grey (more) (again) X-Man #67-70 Non-dildo futures Madelyne Pryor (kind of) A dubiously ethical relationship The destruction of Quito, Ecuador Earth-998...

In which Genosha gets better and/or worse; Fabian Cortez is the Secretary of Betrayal; having an action figure of yourself is the path to immortality; and Hammer Bay sounds like a sex toy company. X-PLAINED: Triathlon The Revolution relaunch and the six-month gap Magneto: Dark Seduction #1-4 Erotic skyscrapers Magneto (again) (forever) X-Men Tijuana Bibles The Genoshan Cabinet Dark friendship with...

In which Alan Davis is Team Cyclops; everyone gets depowered; it’s hard to connect with kids your age when you’re a superhero; Sinister’s gotta sinister; everyone gets repowered; and the ‘90s were much more eclectic than they get credit for being. X-PLAINED: Side effects of Decimation Uncanny X-Men #379-380 X-Force #101 X-Men #99 Cadre K Summers family drama The High Evolutionary (more) (again) Th...

In which reality shatters; Ghost Rider wants friends; Jay’s toddler weighs in on the X-Men; the Phoenix costume is pretty much perfect; Caliban puts all his resources into an epic mount; and the future is so bright you’re gonna need shades. X-PLAINED: The Triune Understanding Ages of Apocalypse Uncanny X-Men #378 Cable #77 Wolverine #148 X-Men Unlimited #26 X-Men #98 Earth-23378 Things you can lea...

In which we remain adamant pro-POG advocates; Artie and Leech have adventures; Firestar and Emma Frost get some resolution; Santa Claus may or may not be the avatar of Cyttorak; Black Tom Cassidy exceeds expectations; and Monet has vampire problems. X-PLAINED: Marvel’s Revolution line POGs (somewhat) (again) Who’s on Generation X these days Generation X #59-62 Artie and Leech’s adventures in NYC H...

Meet Dani, Dani, Dani, and Dani. ( X-Force #99) In which we wrap up John Francis Moore’s run on X-Force ; the Demon Bear returns (kinda); four Moonstars are not in fact better than one; the Queen of Star Swords is an extremely rad villain; and X-Force takes a very contained multiversal tour. X-PLAINED: Multiversal canon X-Force #99-100 The Demon Bear (more) (again) Arcadia DeVille (more) (again) M...

Classic (x2). ( Warlock #2) In which the Warlock ongoing series is fun, and fun is good; people should maybe leave Doug Ramsey’s grave alone; Tony Stark is probably not in touch with the Indigo Girls; the heroes skate awfully close to the “no killing” line; Bastion gets exhumed, rehumed, and re-exhumed; you should really read the Avengers Academy Infinity Comic; and you remain the best listeners o...

In which you know it’s serious business when a logo gets smashed; the prophecy of the Twelve is an elaborate prank; we have a lot of Summers family feelings; Apocalypse is not a very good planner; and the Twelve reaches its conclusion. X-PLAINED: Who Madelyne Pryor’s psychic ghost really is The story so far Uncanny X-Men #377 Cable #76 X-Men #97 Perks of immortality A slightly gratuitous way to de...

In which the Twelve should really be twelve chapters long; Archangel has issues; we continue to bemoan the absence of captions; the X-Men ditch their crossover event for a side quest; Magneto is Genosha’s official chaperone; and we would absolutely elect Emma Frost to a school board. X-PLAINED: What Cable does next The event so far Wolverine #146-147 Uncanny X-Men Annual 1999 Whether the Shadow Ki...

Survival of the Toothiest ( Cable #75) In which we begin our coverage of The Twelve; Scott and Jean get sucked back in AGAIN; Apocalypse probably doesn’t tip; and we have become awfully fond of Cable. X-PLAINED: A codename that deviates from common patterns The story so far Uncanny X-Men #376 Cable #75 X-Men #96 Fiz the Skrull (again) The Twelve Foreshadowing, both accurate and otherwise The Livin...

In which Cable may or may not have been a spokesperson for AT&T; it’s impossible to draw a CD dramatically; Wolverine gets his adamantium back; Apocalypse says the thing; and we probably can’t keep putting off The Twelve forever. X-PLAINED: One way to dispose of a corpse Cable #73-74 Wolverine #145 Cable (more) (again) Poor font choice Sarcophagus nipples Caliban (more) (again) Impromptu tailo...

In which the Shattering officially concludes; you can’t swoop over the phone; toddlers are engines of pure chaos; the X-Men do some processing; and we are mildly scandalized by the absence of footnotes. X-PLAINED: Rama-Tut Evan Sabahnur Uncanny X-Men #375 X-Men #95 X-Men Unlimited #25 Skrull problems One very upsetting way to identify a traitor Skrullverine Fiz and Jaq The Ally A ruse Death’s mask...

In which St. Croix History reminds us of a Martian with a big butt; Penance’s escape is ambiguous; Avengers Academy Infinity Comic successfully reinvents Emplate; you should not learn to flirt from Vanilla Ice; Jubilee fires two fireworks blasts into the air whilst going aaahhh; and we go in through the ears. X-PLAINED: Apocalypse’s influence The Big House (about which we are confused) Generation...

In which Nightcrawler has a type; the Hill is a bad place to raise your kids up; Colossus introduces Marrow to art; we come out against autotrepanation; Mikhail Rasputin never learns; Destiny leaves clues from beyond the grave; and The Twelve looms. X-PLAINED: That one universe where Mystique raised Nightcrawler in an attic An event in name only Some shit that went down a while ago The Hill (more)...

In which Lenore Zann joins us to talk Rogue, Canadian politics, and her upcoming memoir! Lenore’s memoir,  A Rogue’s Tale , will be out November 1! You can preorder it here.   Find us on  Apple Podcasts  or  Spotify ! Jay and Miles X-Plain the X-Men is 100% ad-free and listener supported. If you want to help support the podcast–and unlock more cool stuff–you can do that  right her...

In which “Astonishing X-Men” is something of a misnomer; Death has a good look; sometimes you just need a guy who swoops; Miles stops worrying and learns to love Nate Grey; Telekinesis is silly looking; “Wolverine” dies; and nothing really changes. X-PLAINED: Astonishing X-Men (miniseries) Ambience Nina (again) Mannites (again) The third-best way to get out of awkward conversations The Hulkbuster...

In which X-Force is kind of silly; that really isn’t what “quantum” means; polite and lawful are two entirely different things, and Sam Guthrie is only one of them; Selene vogues; and the Hellfire Club plays the dead girlfriend card. X-PLAINED: Blackheart The Damocles Foundation (more) (again) Lucas Bartholomew Guthrie The difference between prisons and jails X-Force #98-98 Whether Dr. Octopus enj...

In which Gambit is fundamentally goofy; t’ieves love research; Magneto was ripped; Professor Xavier remains a jerk; Miles attempts to convey something very fundamentally visual in an audio format; Marrow is adorable; the X-Men pretty much disband (again); and a miniseries is the opposite of a vacation. X-PLAINED: Where Wolverine went Gambit Annual 1999 Uncanny X-Men #372 X-Men #92 A lot of backsto...

In which the 1990s were very long; if you die in the simulation, you die in real life; Adrienne Frost is a bad person with good clothes; we judge the number 57; things just keep happening; and Penance somehow gets even more complicated. X-PLAINED: Bevatron Generation X #55-57 The Hellions and their untimely demise (again) Uncanny X-Men #281 A continuity conundrum Many allusions and references Cogn...

In which Magneto may be right but is also wildly impractical; X-Force goes on a sneaking mission; Magneto isn’t mad, he’s just disappointed; Rictor and Shatterstar return; Strong is not a common surname in the Marvel universe; and being a mutant on TV doesn’t mean you’re one in the comics. X-PLAINED: How Jubilee became a vampire The most X-treme youth of them all X-Force 94-95 X-Force Annual 1999...

In which Synch is better with your powers than you are; Generation X gets some actual training; Artie and Leech are fully feral; everyone gets the hots for Paladin; Zeus has probably fucked a motorcycle at some point; many countries have valleys; and Adrienne Frost is terrible. X-PLAINED: Generation X #52-54 Tristan Brawn (more) (again) Grant Morrison on suspension of disbelief in superhero media...

In which Devin Toohey joins Miles to discuss X-Men’s DC Comics cousin Doom Patrol, and their bastard Amalgam child, X-Patrol! X-PLAINED: X-Men vs. Doom Patrol Meet Your Doom Doom Patrol Amalgam X-Patrol Elasti-Girl (Amalgam) Shatterstarfire Beastling Ferro Man Dial H.U.S.K. X-Patrol #1 Exciting X-Patrol #1 Niles Cable Dr. Doomsday Superhero aviation Brother Brood Raveniya Niles Dayspring Technoorg...

In which Tommy Lee Edwards draws a damned fine everything; death gods get taken a lot less seriously when their avatars are seagulls; warm and cool colors get in a fight; Domino has no time for this bullshit; Cable and Domino wait ’til the kids are asleep; Sunspot’s alibi is too complicated; X-Force forges a pouches path; Engines are nothing but trouble; and Ry’lor the Destroyer puts himself in ti...

In which the theme is too many inkers; Cecilia Reyes has no patience for your bullshit; Genosha’s going to be just fine (it’s not); we would watch a supercut of Fabian Cortez getting punched; we bid an abrupt farewell to Gaia; and comics are exhausting, yet captivating. X-PLAINED: Dazzler’s murder trial X-Men Unlimited #24 The past and future of X-Men Unlimited Doctor Cecilia Reyes Ghost Pirate Ca...