Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men

Illustration by David Wynne In which friends don’t let friends drink sparkling wine at the Hellfire Club; Cyclops is a Silent Hill protagonist; Fantomex is a cool dude; John Sublime has his grubby little fingers in everything; and three men do a lot of things to avoid going to therapy. X-PLAINED: What happened to the World Weapon XVI New X-Men #142-145 Fantomex (more) (again) The Weapon Plus program A large number of things men will do instead of going to therapy How to murder a nice, romantic mood The Hellfire Club, the rest of the time Jake Danials Whisky A drinking contest The Mysteries of Harris Burdick The World Weapon XV A series of B&Es Advanced Idea Mechanics (A.I.M.) Car cops Weapon XV’s feelings Weapon Plus’s secret space headquarters Education at the Xavier School Gender-swapped superheroes and heirs to superheroes NEXT EPISODE: Magneto, unmasked! Check out the visual companion to this episode on our blog. 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 here! Buy rad swag at our Dashery shop!

In which Asher Elbein joins us to discuss the complicated intersections between Magneto, big feelings, and international politics. X-PLAINED: Some complicated intersections between Magneto, big feelings, and international politics. Check out links to some of what we discuss in this episode on our blog. 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 here! Buy rad swag at our Dashery shop!  

In which we provide some inroads to resisting fascism in your community; pacifism has amazing abs; Cyclops and Wolverine play revolutionary chicken; Amelia Voght fails to live up to her narrative potential; Jean Grey continues to make spectacularly bad choices; Polaris deserves better; and Wolverine finally gets to stab Magneto. X-PLAINED: Community action and aid X-Men #112-113 Uncanny X-Men #393 Genosha (more) (again) Northstar (more) (again) Dazzler (more) (again) Sunpyre (more) (again) Hector Rendoza (more) (again) Paulie Provenzano (more) (again) Frenzy (more) (again) Amelia Voght (more) (again) St. Sebastian thirst traps Sewer adventures Post-Apocalypse Cyclops (more) (again) Awkward conversations about feelings Implausible knitting The Age of Apocalypse X-Babies A protracted confrontation Bad strategy A confusing ruse Some stabbing What happens to the unlikeliest X-Men Jean Grey as Charles Xavier’s heir Best potential uses of Hector Rendoza NEXT EPISODE: The secret (retconned) origin of Wolverine! Check out the visual companion to this episode on our blog. 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 here! Buy rad swag at our Dashery shop!

In which it’s rude to eat in a helmet; Cable does his best villain bit; Bishop is clearly unfamiliar with early X-Force; we’re pretty sure clones still count as people; and Stryfe is the surprise MVP of Gambit & Bishop: Sons of the Atom. X-PLAINED: Another time Stryfe and Bishop teamed up Gambit & Bishop: Sons of the Atom #3-6 Some of the Witness’s fancy swag An extremely awkward meal Stryfe in four pages Unsubtle foreshadowing The relative ethics of killing Stryfe A visual representation of time Somewhat logical consequences Bad clone ethics Future uncertainty Le Bête Noir Hell-lord / anti-Phoenix disambiguation A fancy t-shirt The appropriate amount of mean to be to Stryfe When Gambit and Bishop: Sons of the Atom takes place relative to The Search for Cyclops (more) (again) (inconclusive) Reasons not to live under a crypt in New Orleans Betty Noir’s Relative (fictional) body counts Business-casual Stryfe Lucas Bishop, kitten guy Relitigating the X-traitor NEXT EPISODE: Eve of Destruction (and some bonus Summers family bullshit) Check out the visual companion to this episode on our blog. 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 here! Buy rad swag at our Dashery shop!

In which we attempt an all-Cyclops Winter special; X-Men are bad at processing grief; writer Alex Paknadel X-Plains his upcoming Cyclops miniseries; every character (except Cameron Hodge) is someone’s favorite; and you remain the best listeners of any podcast, ever. X-PLAINED: Clones of Cyclops Gwen Warren Our year in review X-Men: The Search for Cyclops #1-4 Ahmed and his mustache Emotional support boats A monkey Apoca-lips Anias Boxes of fire One way of coping with trauma Ozymandias (more) (again) The relative criminality of a trail of questions Cat lady problems Twice as many cat ladies named Anias as you’d expect Terrible logic Caliban (more) (again) Several unpleasant reunions Alex Paknadel’s definitive Cyclopses Fun with minor characters Proxy characters and “highly polished surfaces” Characters to revisit Sentinels Cyclops vs. his own powers Cyclops’s powers vs. continuity Who Scott Summers is when he’s alone The punch dimension The 11th Annual Super Doctor Astronaut Peter Corbeau Awards for Excellence at X-Cellence Many people to whom we are profoundly grateful NEXT EPISODE: Gambit & Bishop: Now Kiss Sons of the Atom Check out the visual companion to this episode on our blog. 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 here! Buy rad swag at our Dashery shop!

In which Professor Xavier is a jock; all of Shadowcat’s friends are dead; Storm recruits a team; Bishop makes new pals; and everyone gets festive. X-PLAINED: Some of Mystique’s secret kids Uncanny X-Men #389 X-Men #109 Charles Xavier’s workout routine Two funerals Rave (the drug) The wrong necklace Destiny’s doodles A large knife Charles Xavier/Moira MacTaggert backstory A snowball fight A very sketchy circus A break-up “Christmas cheer” A mysterious package An X-Men nativity Sage (Tessa) Origins of X-Treme X-Men Several gifts, some more mysterious than others Charles Xavier’s legacy Warwolves (more) (again) Archangel’s color vision NEXT EPISODE: Colossus dies! Check out the visual companion to this episode on our blog. 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 here! Buy rad swag at our Dashery shop!

In which Jay remains angry at a font; a person who is obviously Kang the Conqueror is not in fact Kang the Conqueror; the pig men deserve better; and Nightcrawler should never, ever, ever be allowed to attempt grief counseling. X-PLAINED: Storm/Cable Cable #85-86, 88 Cable (more)(again) Earth-4935 Mother Askani Irene Merryweather Several cryptic witches Are you as dangerous as you think martial arts training for advanced students Shin An unlikely sound effect The Black Dawn A time catapult An End of Time Earth-805110 The House on the Borderline Gaunt One of Esad Ribic’s more entertaining accomplishments A fight One way to weaponize the T-O virus The future past of Rachel Summers Cable’s friendship with Moira MacTaggert Streets of Fire Grief counseling? Sort of? I guess? A very impressive spear Our muppet counterparts NEXT EPISODE: Two endings! Check out the visual companion to this episode on our blog. 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 here! Buy rad swag at our Dashery shop!

In which Banshee is chronically hapless; the team gets new costumes (again); Chamber is a self-fulfilling prophecy; toddlers will sell you out in a hot minute; Moira MacTaggert is definitively not in; we are frustrated by excessive ambiguity; and it’s not Rashômon, but it’ll do. X-PLAINED: Banshee post-Generation X Generation X #71-74 Interior decorating New costumes (again) Chamber, but a housecat A meet-cute Teen angst Fashion An extremely awkward conversation A brief history of boba in the United States A fracas Fun things to do with extra skin Evolving teacher-student relationships Poor interrogation technique Husk vs. international terrorism, in general Ghosts of the Massachusetts Academy Villains and heroes we think would be neat as the reverse A world in which Peridot of Steven Universe imprinted on X-Men NEXT EPISODE: Fast times in Otherworld! Check out the visual companion to this episode on our blog. 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 here! Buy rad swag at our Dashery shop!