David is on vacation this week! We hope you enjoy this substitute illustration of two gentlemen enjoying each other's company. In which Miles is almost caught up on The Gifted (but still hasn't seen The Prisoner and should be very ashamed of himself); Omega Red is a cool action figure but a boring character; Professor Xavier definitely knows what you did last night; Fenris remains delightfully trashy; Weapon X had an improbably high survival rate; Sabretooth cleans up pretty well; we need to wor...
Feb 05, 2018•1 hr 14 min•Season 1Ep. 183
Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line! In which Alan Davis spins dangling plot threads into gold; comics artists are storytellers; Technet is a feature, not a bug; Brian Braddock's issues reach their boiling point; if you're going to learn about Earth from TV, you should probably stick with PBS; and our Lila Cheney t-shirts are officially canon! X-PLAINED: An unlikely alliance Jay & Miles at Emerald City Comic Con Alan Davis's return to Excalibur Excalibur #42-44 Breakfast ...
Jan 29, 2018•56 min•Season 1Ep. 182
Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line! In which X-Force is the cotton candy of comics; Jay & Miles overanalyze; eye spots are not the new domino masks; Feral is all about some murder; Black Tom and Juggernaut remain a delightful criminal power couple; Siryn's costume is on point; over the edge is where we live; Jay gets briefly and intensely into Todd McFarlane; nothing will convince us that Fabian Nicieza did not know exactly what he was doing; and Kelly Thompson is a nati...
Jan 22, 2018•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 181
Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line! In which Jay is deeply invested in The Gifted; Trevor Fitzroy is generally inexcusable; there are a lot of reasons to be uncomfortable in the Hellfire Club; the mix just got altered in this little clambake; Jean Grey (kind of) dies (again); Earth-1191 gives the Age of Apocalypse some glam competition; Lucas Bishop is a pretty decent metaphor for fan culture; everyone is probably Kang the Conqueror; and now Miles really has no excuse fo...
Jan 15, 2018•1 hr 6 min•Season 1Ep. 180
Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line! In which X-Factor gets a revamp; Larry Stroman is the best part of 1991; Havok used to have principles; Multiple Man is his own worst enemy; Jay's Doonesbury knowledge finally becomes relevant; Strong Guy breaks the Washington Monument; and Val Cooper may or may not have married Mister Sinister. X-PLAINED: The Madrox who got away Alan Disambiguation The X-Factor that might have been X-Factor #71-75 Banter™ A small selection of a gratui...
Jan 08, 2018•1 hr 10 min•Season 1Ep. 179
Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line! In which we enter a new era of X-Men; Magneto reluctantly returns to villainy; Jay tries to like X-Men volume 2; when in doubt, you should open your story with a space fight; Nick Fury has so many pouches; experimenting on babies unsurprisingly backfires; psychic powers are pink; Claremont deserved better; Producer Matt makes his on-air debut; and you (yes, you!) are once again the recipients of a Super Doctor Astronaut Peter Corbeau A...
Dec 25, 2017•2 hr 19 min•Season 1Ep. 178
Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line! In which we discuss several Very Special Issues; the real cautionary tale is not to trust Hank McCoy; horses are vehicles of lies and heartbreak; the X-Men shill for a state fair; whatever you're doing, Cyclops is here to stop you; smoking is a gateway to some really weird vices; and we want YOU to design the latest X-Men PSA! X-PLAINED: The alternate-timeline terrible choices of Hank McCoy Our wholly unfounded theories about Spongebob...
Dec 18, 2017•1 hr 9 min•Season 1Ep. 177
Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line! In which we were on public radio; it's probably best just to ignore Romulus; Miles still hasn't seen the Prisoner and should be very ashamed of himself; toy licensing is the stuff of nightmares; you can upgrade your bloodbath for an additional $1.25; Jay may or may not have family ties to Weapon X; we are suckers for die-cut covers; Wolverine knows how to commit to a gag; and you have some pretty remarkable dreams. X-PLAINED: Wolverine...
Dec 11, 2017•1 hr 7 min•Season 1Ep. 176
Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line! In which Gambit is transatlantically terrible; Rick Leonardi is the poor man's Alan Davis (but in a good way); we try and fail to care about British royals; Miles should probably read some Oscar Wilde already; Jay has a lot of feelings about The Rocketeer; Shadowcat gets a genuinely stylish costume; and we would read the hell out of a series about Destiny, Mystique, and Wolverine's WWII adventures. X-PLAINED: Why Gambit isn't welcome i...
Dec 04, 2017•1 hr 2 min•Season 1Ep. 175
Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line! In which Jay sits down with cartoonist Ed Piskor to talk about the upcoming X-Men: Grand Design! NEXT EPISODE: X-Men: Gal Pals! The visual companion to this episode can be found in X-Men: Grand Design #1, available from your local comics shop this December! Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! 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 ...
Nov 27, 2017•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 174
Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line! In which Abs-lantis will not be denied; "slightly traumatized" is basically the default state of Xavier's original students; we pick up the slack for Nicieza; Banshee and Moira MacTaggert probably have an active and varied love life; Xavier miscounts the X-Men; we look back over the Claremont/Simonson era of the X-Universe; and Jay makes a case for the re-resurrection of Jean Grey. X-PLAINED: X-Men: Red Namor's beard The conclusion of ...
Nov 20, 2017•1 hr 12 min•Season 1Ep. 173
Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line! In which you are probably more familiar with this show than Jay and Miles are; Paul Smith makes good art; the Shadow King is so extra that his narration has its own narration; Evil Sexy Moira is a fashion queen; there are absolutely no circumstances in which it is appropriate to use the phrase "fist-o-rama"; Legion gets possessed; and we know absolutely nothing about Pokémon. X-PLAINED: Universes where people are other people What Mile...
Nov 13, 2017•1 hr 18 min•Season 1Ep. 172
Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line! In which 1991 runs right into 2010, X-Factor: Endgame (and everything after it) never happened, Jay covets the hell out of Cyclops's X-Factor: Forever jacket, Apocalypse’s alternative universe motives are actually pretty fascinating, and Miles will never call his junk Traitorous Unit. X-PLAINED: The Strucker siblings (and the Strucker siblings) X-Factor Forever #1-5 Earth-TRN237 What makes a good Forever comic The best jacket in the X-...
Nov 06, 2017•1 hr 8 min•Season 1Ep. 171
Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line! In which Miles speculates about superheroes' sex lives; Doctor Doom is an incorrigible scamp; the Lady of the Lake visits California; Captain Britain lacks basic superheroic social skills; Jay has strong feelings about doggerel; the warwolves know how to commit to a bit; and Excalibur and the X-Men continue to have terrible communication skills. X-PLAINED: One aspects of doombot functionality Excalibur #37-41 The Soul Sword's origins a...
Oct 30, 2017•59 min•Season 1Ep. 170
Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line! In which Justin Thyme is a forgotten superstar of comics; Nazis should pretty much never be used as a metaphor; Charles Xavier is somehow even worse than usual; Excalibur may lack object permanence; Phoenix defeats Hitler with the power of gayness; we may have hit Peak Nocenti; Brett Blevins should draw Boom Boom forever; and the New Mutants get a taste of media theory. X-PLAINED: The exact nature of Shatterstar and Longshot's relation...
Oct 23, 2017•58 min•Season 1Ep. 169
Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line! In which X-Legends Chris Claremont and Louise Simonson join us for our first-ever live show on the East coast! NEXT EPISODE: Bits 'n' Bobs No visual companion this week, but keep an eye out for our NYCC gallery! Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! 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 here! We’re in the process of migra...
Oct 16, 2017•55 min•Season 1Ep. 168
Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line! In which things are not as they were; "yaybopunk" is definitely our aesthetic; Cable is officially foreshadowed; and the NYCC live show did in fact go really well! X-PLAINED: Cable's childhood Some ECCC plans X-Factor #65-68 The Riders of the Storm "Riders on the Storm" Some X-Factors that might have been Babies as drawn by Whilce Portacio Medieval cats Yaybohunk vs. yaybopunk A red herring Jen Askani A kidnapping Visual representation...
Oct 09, 2017•1 hr 11 min•Season 1Ep. 167
Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line! In which we finally announce our NYCC panel lineup; Boom Boom is the Gina Linetti of X-Force; we don't actually know very much about the New Warriors; Cable grows as a person; Cyclops makes an ethically dubious call; Warren Kenneth Worthington III is a jerk; Jay gets very angry at a fictional character; no one gets a happy ending and the skeleton was inside you all along. X-PLAINED: Penance (but not that Penance) Our actual, for-real N...
Oct 02, 2017•1 hr 12 min•Season 1Ep. 166
Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line! In which Charles Xavier returns to the pages of Uncanny X-Men; Storm is out of our league forever; Miles would be a terrible president; Psylocke picks up the frequent-shower torch; everyone gets possessed; Gambit acts more Sinister than he is; and our NYCC panel is definitely on THURSDAY, not Friday. X-PLAINED: The Pantheon Uncanny X-Men #275-277 Dinosaurs in space A very impressive cover Several kinds of manacle Small children we'd li...
Sep 25, 2017•58 min•Season 1Ep. 165
Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line! In which Jay and Miles finally sit down for an in-depth discussion of the political weight of superheroes and what the X-Men mean to us in America's current political climate. Correction: In the episode, we said that Kyle Yount produced this one. In actuality, Kyle recorded the episode and Kurt Loyd produced it. Sorry, Kurt! You can find our photos from Rose City Comic Con on our blog. Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Jay and Miles X-Pla...
Sep 18, 2017•50 min•Season 1Ep. 164
Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line! In which Rose City Comic Con was in fact pretty awesome; we return to Marvel Presents; Colossus has a bad day; Ann Nocenti engages in some bipartisan satire; Cyclops has a bad day; Moira MacTaggert gets possessed again; Master Mold is really hard to kill; you should absolutely not send Jay naked leprechaun pictures; sentinels are basically rationalization engines; and that is really not how consciences work. NOTE: In this episode, we s...
Sep 11, 2017•1 hr 8 min•Season 1Ep. 163
Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line! In which almost everyone is better than Romulus; Barry Windsor-Smith continues to draw the best naked X-Men; Jay has strong feelings about Wolverine's origins; Miles still hasn't seen The Prisoner; when in doubt, it's probably Kang the Conqueror and/or Mystique; we remain unqualified to give bear-fighting advice; you should not hide out in a nuclear reactor; and the Coffee-a-Go-Go has probably been turned into a new-wave sushi bar or s...
Sep 04, 2017•1 hr 8 min•Season 1Ep. 162
Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line! In which we return to Excalibur, and Excalibur returns to form; "Girls' School from Heck" is way better than we remembered; Jay has strong feelings about penmanship; we examine the semantics of field hockey; the band gets back together; Dai Thomas has no time for your comic-book bullshit; and you should never, ever install a good/evil switch in your technological abominations. X-PLAINED The first appearances of Colonel Vazhin Perks of ...
Aug 28, 2017•1 hr 29 min•Season 1Ep. 161
Thanks again to James and Sam for letting us use their hotel room for this ridiculousness! WHAT?! Less than a month back, and it's a brand new mid-week bonus episode! In which Jay, Niki, Sina, and James drink fancy Scotch and talk FlameCon; what X-Men means to us as queer readers and writers; the difference between the bat family and the X-Men; mutant metaphors; favorite 'ships; and more! GUESTS: Sina Grace Niki Johnson James Tynion IV This episode comes courtesy of our rad Patreon subscribers. ...
Aug 23, 2017•2 hr 32 min
Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line! In which the ladies love Hank McCoy; feelings are terrible; wereStarlins stalk the night; Stan Lee is definitely trying to sell you a car; Iceman has a lot to prove; we bid a reluctant farewell to Louise Simonson's tenure on X-Factor; and yes, video reviews will be back eventually. X-PLAINED: The Intelligentsia Jay & Miles at Rose City Comic Con and New York Comic Con Prestige Format comics X-Factor: Prisoner of Love X-Factor #63-64 A ...
Aug 21, 2017•1 hr 3 min•Season 1Ep. 160
***NOTE: We're aware of the audio issues in this episode. We're still troubleshooting our cross-country setup. Thank you for your patience!*** Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line! In which Stryfe is the Jan Brady of the Summers family; Miles's dreams are trampled beneath tiny, delicate feet; Rictor goes on an unnecessary rescue mission; Cable is Washington to Cannonball's Hamilton; the New Mutants may or may not time travel; Boom Boom scarfs up some chow for the bohunk; y...
Aug 14, 2017•1 hr 9 min•Season 1Ep. 159
Art by David Wynne. Wanna buy the original? Drop him a line! In which we return triumphant from hiatus; it's still always Inferno in here; no one should ever under any circumstances date Cameron Hodge; Kenneth is a fundamentally hilarious name; Magneto's family gets retconned to death; Pterosaurs are still the absolute worst; and Magik totally deserves a sidekick. X-PLAINED: Ka-Zar's real name Shanna the She-Devil Our new production set-up What we did on our summer vacations Previously on X-Men ...
Aug 07, 2017•1 hr 5 min•Season 1Ep. 158
Art by David Wynne. Contact David to purchase the original! In which the X-Tinction Agenda reaches its Return of the Jedi; Wolverine is a weaponized nuisance; HR would like a word with Gambit; Havok gets framed; Cameron Hodge is the great unifier; Genosha is revolting; you don't get to make a threatening speech about someone else's powers; Jean Grey is tired of your bullshit; and Jay and Miles may or may not dive into the Siege Perilous! X-PLAINED: The Law of Conservation of Plot Elements Uncann...
May 01, 2017•1 hr 17 min•Season 1Ep. 157
Art by David Wynne. Contact David to purchase the original! In which we hit the Empire Strikes Back of X-Tinction Agenda; it's hard to be Laura Kinney; the psychic knife makes its debut; Evil!Sexy Moira retains some moral high ground; if your society is built on slavery, your society deserves to crumble; words mean things; Havok would be a terrible housecat; the mutants do not have the patent on stupidity; the opposite of blades is cotton; we give Cameron Hodge's severed head a pep talk; and Cyc...
Apr 24, 2017•1 hr 3 min•Season 1Ep. 156
Art by David Wynne. Contact David to purchase the original! In which the X-Tinction Agenda begins in earnest; Jim Lee rocks our world; Cable doesn't need any Mickey-Mouse schedules; Jean Grey is not paid by the word; Havok makes a heel turn; Boom Boom's pretext of self-interest fools no one; Cameron Hodge is STILL the worst; and Jay and Miles make an announcement. X-PLAINED: Warlock across the multiverse Uncanny X-Men #270, New Mutants #95, X-Factor #60 X-Tinction Agenda The first modern crossov...
Apr 17, 2017•1 hr 1 min•Season 1Ep. 155
