Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men (Jay Edidin & Miles Stokes)

In which we continue our delve into the eldritch end of the X-Universe, Illyana Rasputin has a rough childhood even by X-Men standards, Kitty Pryde is a Niven fan, Limbo is way metal, Vincent Price is our Belasco, and Rachel and Miles have feelings about female friendships in Claremont's X-Men. X-Plained: Mikhail Rasputin Hell dimensions, including but not limited to The Void The Dark Zone The Hill Limbo The other Limbo Yet a third Limbo Reincarnation Illyana Rasputin Magic vs. Magik Uncanny X-Men #160 Octopusheim Stepping Disks Otherplace Belasco Emergo S'ym Storm and Illyana: Magik #1-4 Bloodstones Yet another set of alternate X-Men Friendship The Soulsword Podcasting You can find a visual companion to the episode – and links to recommended reading – on our blog. Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Support us on Patreon!   Next week: In space, no one can hear you snikt.

In which Claremont levels up; the Brood are legitimately scary; Colossus is an ethical dude; Nightcrawler and Wolverine share beers in the face of certain death; Storm turns into a space whale; we are Carol Corps for life; New Mutants are really into Magnum, P.I.; Kitty meets a dragon; and Xavier dies (again). X-Plained: Broo The Brood Saga (X-Men #161-167) Paul Smith Space fashion A really terrible awards ceremony Tim O'Brien's X-Men The Brood How to tell a good Wolverine story Rocket sharks The single most badass magical-girl transformation sequence of all time Binary The X-Men's Kobayashi Maru Friendship (more) (again) The Acanti Whether Cyclops watches Star Trek The New Mutants Cloning Our secret cold-open formula Cosmic crossovers Next Week: Kurt Busiek! We would have words with thee! You can find a visual companion to the episode – and links to recommended reading – on our blog. Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Support us on Patreon!

In which we introduce the villains of the Silver Age: Magneto makes some valid points, Mastermind is a Nice Guy of OkCupid, the Scarlet Witch predicts Cat Breading, the Trasks should really have known better, and the Comics Code Authority is down with pterosaurs. X-Plained: Common characteristics of enduring X-villains Mutant identity politics and moral relativism Context-agnostic Juggernaut flashbacks An unorthodox approach to anthropology Cyclops's greatest diplomatic achievement Silver-Age haberdashery An innovative modification to vampire mythology Cultural assimilation The propaganda-and-sweater-vest machine Hex bolts Supplemental reading You can find a visual companion to the episode – and links to recommended reading – on our blog. Find us on iTunes or Stitcher!

Art by David Wynne In which special guest Kurt Busiek is the J. Robert Oppenheimer of X-Men, Rachel and Miles learn to love the Silver Age, Cyclops gets a job, Bernard the Poet falls from grace, we really wish X-Men: The Secret Years was a real book, everyone recites poetry, and we still don’t get around to Marvels. X-Plained: METOXO, the Lava Man The true, secret purpose of Rachel and Miles X-Plain the X-Men The Phoenix retcon Archival pocket dimensions Enid Blyton’s X-Men Early-to-mid-20th Century American Jewish Socialism Why the X-Men are terrible mutant P.R. Band names of the Silver Age An X-Men series that might have been. Why Cyclops should be the Rachel Maddow of Marvel Quicksilver’s childhood dreams The Coffee-a-Go-Go Bernard the Poet Zelda Kurtzberg The Barefoot Beats Next week: The wedding of Scott Summers and Jean Grey! You can find a visual companion to the episode – and links to recommended reading – on our blog. Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Support us on Patreon!

Art by David Wynne In which Rachel and Miles celebrate an anniversary with a retrospective of one of the great romances of the Marvel universe; the Summers/Grey family tree is more of a transdimensional strawberry patch; the X-Men play some football; Professor Xavier is not a jerk; and Scott Summers and Jean Grey are the power couple of existentialism. X-Plained Summers kids Scott and Jean Feelings X-Men #32 The worst date ever Madelyne Pryor Plot-relevant prosopagnosia Three proposals X-Factor #53 Uncanny X-Men #308 “Fatal Attractions” That one panel that gets us every time X-Men vol. 2 #30 Some really excellent wedding vows The best kiss in X-Men Cats Laughing Why “One” is actually a pretty decent first dance Existential ramifications of fictional romance Next week: Rachel and Miles take a much-needed vacation. Week after next: The New Mutants! You can find a visual companion to the episode – and links to recommended reading – on our blog. Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Support us on Patreon!

Art by David Wynne. In which Rachel and Miles return triumphant, the X-Men get a second ongoing series, we hit peak Moira MacTaggert, R-A-H-N-E is definitely pronounced “rain,” Sam Guthrie is the nicest henchman, Claremont is hit-and-miss on cultural diversity, and Bobby da Costa is the teenageriest teenager of them all. X-Plained: Nova Roma The New Mutants and The New Mutants Marvel Graphic Novels Greenberg the Vampire call-backs Karma Wolfsbane Sunspot Cannonball Mirage Whitewashing in superhero comics The mercurial Guthrie family Xi’an the Obscure The Dr. Claw Effect (and why Dr. Doom and Arcade are exceptions) Donald Pierce Eras of New Mutants Lila Cheney The Hellions Next Week: The X-Men do Barbarella You can find a visual companion to the episode – and links to recommended reading – on our blog. Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Support us on Patreon!

Art by David Wynne. In which Professor X is (canonically!) a jerk, Miles has Sidrian Hunter feelings, Kitty Pryde is Clarissa Darling with a dragon, we introduce a drinking game, the X-Men do Barbarella, Rachel has a ‘shipper moment, Rogue joins the team, Storm gets a haircut, Mastermind is still the worst, and Madelyne Pryor is underrated. X-Plained: Lockheed Uncanny X-Men #168-175 Reset issues A one-sided rivalry The lowest-drama X-romance The Cream of Wheat box as a metaphor for infinity Kitty’s Kostume Korner Rachel’s questionably-canon ships The Morlocks Class privilege and the mutant metaphor Callisto Caliban Sunder Plague Masque A dubbing error Gender dimorphism in superhero media Storm’s first major character arc Our single favorite superhero artist Rogue Rogue’s accent A Charles Xavier we can believe in Yukio Punk Storm Madelyne Pryor Closure Cyclops vs. formalwear Art Challenge: Send us your Kitty Pryde costume redesigns--any era, any codename--to xplainthexmen(at)gmail(dot)com Next Week: Claremont and Miller’s Wolverine! You can find a visual companion to the episode – and links to recommended reading – on our blog. Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Support us on Patreon!

Art by David Wynne, after Katsushika Hokusai. In which Wolverine gets his first miniseries, Yukio is still (and forever) the best, we categorically reject the classification “manic pixie dreamgirl,” everything is noir as hell, Wolverine gets an Iron Giant moment, Storm is too cool for your dress code, and we finally made “Probably a Summers Brother” t-shirts. X-Plained: X-23 The 1982 Wolverine miniseries Uncanny X-Men #172-173 Rachel’s Wolverine feelings An auspicious road trip Early Frank Miller A really epic team-up Plug’n’play storytelling How to tell a good Wolverine story Mariko Yashida Honor Shingen Yashida Yukio The Inverse Law of Ninjas The Forty-Seven Ronin Silver Samurai Viper A Ninja meet-cute The Cyclops / Wolverine double standard The secret origins of Wolverine’s mask and hair Next Week: The New Mutants meet Team America! You can find a visual companion to the episode – and links to recommended reading – on our blog. Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Support us on Patreon!  

Art by David Wynne. In which Danielle Moonstar is the Wolverine of the New Mutants, Henry Peter Gyrich is the Walter Peck of the Marvel Universe, Michael Rossi is no Peter Corbeau, Xavier is a Brood Queen (who is a jerk), Bob McLeod draws really good teenagers, the New Mutants do an after-school special, Chris Sims drops in for some emergency X-Plaining, Elsie Carson is the Harvey and Janet of Hydra, and Team America is generally sort of baffling. X-Plained Viper Brood stuff The original New Mutans (more) (again) The New Mutants #1-6 Denial Dani vs. the Danger Room Mall stories Neighborhood kids Henry Peter Gyrich Sebastian Shaw (again) Project Wideawake (sort of) Michael Rossi A poorly-timed crossover Gabrielle Haller A profoundly unethical relationship A Very Special Episode Overkill Magnum, P.I. Team America (but not that one) Elsie Carson, middle manager of Hydra The Girl With the Silver Eyes X-Men reading order The visual companion for this episode will go up mid-week, due to New York Comic-Con generally kicking our asses (Among MANY other things, Rachel is tweeting--mostly cool X-cosplay pics--from the show floor, and Miles is working at the Dark Horse booth. Come say hi!). Meanwhile, for further supplemental material, we recommend reading Chris's in-depth history of Team America: Part One Part Two Part Three Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Support us on Patreon!

Adam X the X-Treme, updated by David Wynne! In which we sit down with two of our favorite X-artists for an hour of continuity, character design, and a lot of wine; Corsair is the coolest; Emma Frost is a secret viewpoint character; Bishop is the anti-Booster Gold; Adam X the X-Treme gets a new hat; and none of us know how to pronounce “Bachalo.” X-Plained: The secret X-origins of Kris Anka and Russell Dauterman Definitive books and artists Favorite characters and series Mephistoid spacesuit logistics Emma Frost as a reader stand-in The secret origin of Psylocke’s pants Uncanny X-Men The best flashback montage ever Underappreciated / underdeveloped characters All the Rogues Plot twists Bishop Dream teams Sexy dudes with sexy abs How to update Adam X the X-Treme Next Week: What's New, Shadowcat? You can find a visual companion to the episode – and links to recommended reading – on our blog. Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Support us on Patreon!

Storm #1 cover art by Victor Ibañez Rachel caught up with Greg Pak during NYCC--on no sleep, and on the con floor, so apologies in advance for the sound--to talk about Storm, Storm, team vs. solo titles, post-colonial X-Men, and more. Note: This was recorded on October 9, so the "last issue" referenced in the interview is Storm #3.

Art by David Wynne. In which we welcome back Greg Rucka, Rachel makes a valiant effort to read Secret Wars, Earth-200500 is still the best Earth, Kitty Pryde and Wolverine is kind of dodgy, Ogūn is low-rent Mister Sinister, Miles talks about empathy, Greg has an Edna Mode moment, and we all love Kitty Pryde. X-Plained: X-Men #153 Kitty’s Fairy Tale Earth-5311 Earth-200500 (again) Kitty Pryde and Wolverine #1-6 Samurai eyefucking Ogūn Special cuddles Some really dodgy stuff The best Kitties Pryde Professor K. Smart kids in fiction Why we love Shadowcat Point-of-entry characters and gender Costume theory Our favorite new podcast Next Week: Cyclops is the worst at vacations. You can find a visual companion to the episode – and links to recommended reading – on our blog. Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Support us on Patreon! Like this weeks' art? You can get prints here until 11/2, or contact David to inquire after the original!

Featuring Emergency Backup Co-Host Chris Sims! In which Rachel and Chris X-plain three cartoons and track a disagreement to its source; Gambit is definitely the worst person you know; Broadcasting Standards and Practices is tired of your death ceremonies; Storm doesn't have an inside voice; and we finally get around to mentioning that one dude with the claws. X-Plained: Weaponized creepiness The evolution (and Evolution) of X-Toons Why you hate Cyclops (and Rachel doesn't) Adaptation overload Broadcast standards, practices, and laser rifles How to order pizza like a weather goddess A paramilitary after-school club G-Rated Wolverine Comics based on cartoons based on comics Morph The Batman Standard The Wolverine and the X-Men trifecta of perfection Why the Mojoverse works better on TV Dazzler's secret second job Basic jacketry CORRECTION: In this episode, Rachel mentions that Morph's first comics appearance is in Exiles. It's not: he's in Age of Apocalypse. Mea culpa. You can find a visual companion to the episode – and links to recommended reading – on our blog. Find us on iTunes or Stitcher!

In which Cyclops is the worst at vacations, Mystique is your favorite MurderMom™, Havok is eternally ABD, Kitty Pryde does science, Callisto doesn’t give a damn about her bad reputation, Xavier has a Troy Barnes moment, Miles may be the only person with fond memories of Secret Wars, and Rachel finally gets to make Spalding Gray references. X-Plained: Fantomex Uncanny X-Men #176-181 Reset issues Scott Summers’s second-worst honeymoon Cephalopod disambiguation Project Wideawake (more) (again) Valerie Cooper Foreshadowing Public displays of affection Leech How X-Men age A sewer wizard Doug Ramsey Secret Wars Japan Mystique’s kids Douglock Mystique’s powers The other X-Men Forever Next Week: The New Mutants gets weird! You can find a visual companion to the episode – and links to recommended reading – on our blog. Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Support us on Patreon! Send us your submissions to the Stealth / Plainclothes Cosplay Contest until the end of the day on Friday, November 7!

  Art by David Wynne   In which the New Mutants are the Bobbsey Twins to the X-Men’s Sam Spade; Nina da Costa is Ms. Frizzle; New Mutants does a Rachel-and-Miles cold open; Selene is the Elizabeth Bathory of lava; Rahne likes Sam, Sam likes Amara, Dani likes Bobby, and Bobby likes everyone; Gil and Art are no Harvey and Janet; Miles has a Del Preston moment, Magma is a Horta; and if something super happens, you should tell a super adult. X-Plained: Selene Externals New Mutants #7-17 The da Costa family Axe Some really dubious cosmetic choices Nova Roma Amara Aquilla (Magma) Op-art as a superpower Doug Ramsey’s hair The Massachusetts Academy New-Wave Superteens Deflection The Hellions Not-Particularly-Secret Origins of the Hellfire Club Publishing schedules Next Week: Lifedeath, time travel, and Forge's tiny shorts. You can find a visual companion to the episode – as well as links to recommended reading and the winners of the stealth / plainclothes cosplay contest – on our blog. Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Support us on Patreon!

Art by David Wynne In which there is a whole, whole lot going on; we continue to have no use for Michael Rossi; Wolverine should be an advice columnist; Forge makes bold fashion choices; the health of a timeline is directly tied to the awesomeness of Storm’s hair; and the X-Men get their first dark-future refugee. X-Plained: Dire Wraiths ROM Tailoring Uncanny X-Men #182-188 Just how much story can be shoehorned into seven issues A dubious Silent Hill metaphor The people in Rogue’s head Inexorable momentum Several profoundly uncomfortable conversations Parallel narrative in comics Being friends with Wolverine Casual enmity Forge Miles’s X-doppelganger Tiny shorts Chekhov’s Raygun Rachel Summers (again) Timeline disambiguation Rachel disambiguation “Lifedeath: A Love Story” Feelings Storm, powers, and identity X-Men Mad-Libs Hound marks X-Men: The End Next Week: THE DEMON BEAR SAGA! You can find a visual companion to the episode – as well as links to recommended reading and the winners of the stealth / plainclothes cosplay contest – on our blog. Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Support us on Patreon!

Art by David Wynne In which we hit the definitive arc of New Mutants; Bill Sienkiewicz blows our minds; Rachel gets choked up over a credits spread; Rahne gets a makeover; Doug Ramsey is justifiably flustered; and Warlock is a friend to household appliances. NOTE: This episode includes a lot of art talk. While doing so is not strictly necessary to follow the discussion, we recommend listening with the visual companion open. X-Plained: Warlock The transmode virus New Mutants #18-21 The Demon Bear Saga Bill Sienkiewicz Task leaders vs. social leaders Page layout as a storytelling tool Soul armor The Demon Bear and its shadow One of the best covers of all time Makeovers The deeply problematic fate of Tom Corsi and Sharon Friedlander What the New Mutants are up to these days Next Week: Crossovers! You can find a visual companion to the episode on our blog. Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Support us on Patreon! Buy prints of this week's illustration here, or contact David Wynne for the original!

Art by David Wynne! Prints here, or contact David for the original. In which we dive into two crossovers; our DCU is the DCAU; the Greys just cannot catch a break; Darkseid is basically Santa Claus; the Phoenix Force has Cyclops feels; Baron Karza is the sonic screwdriver of supervillains; and the Enigma Force is aptly named. CONTENT NOTE: The Micronauts portion of this episode involves not-particularly-graphic but still fairly involved discussions of sexual violence. If that’s not something you want to listen to, we’d recommend stopping the episode after the Teen Titans portion at 26:26, and fast-forwarding to 47:52 for conclusions, questions, and outro. X-Plained: Crossover Earth Amalgam Crossovers The Uncanny X-Men and the New Teen Titans The Teen Titans The One True Flash Cosmic Kirby Darkseid Metron The Source Wall Deathstroke the Terminator Ravok Butte sex Cyclops and the Phoenix Force The X-Men and the Micronauts #1-4 Bill Mantlo The Hero Initiative Micronauts The Microverse Baron Karza Evil Xavier (more)(again)(seriously, how is anyone still surprised when this happens) Several moral event horizons crossed in quick succession Female protagonists in X-books Next Week: Captain America in a loincloth! You can find a visual companion to the episode on our blog. Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Support us on Patreon! Buy prints of this week’s illustration here, or contact David Wynne for the original!

Art by David Wynne. Prints available here through Sunday, December 14! In which we venture forth into an age undreamed of, there are so many reasons to have Northstar on your team, Selene is the worst guest, Rachel X-Plains Conan, Cyttorak is the Mordenkainen of the Marvel Universe, Miles loves Doctor Strange, we have some fairly serious Captain America feelings, the X-Men completely fail at hide-and-seek, and we make more D&D references in one episode than in the previous 34 combined. X-Plained Northstar Beard privilege X-Men 189-192 Anachronistic timeline markers Hounds The Culture Shock Class An Age Undreamed of Conan disambiguation Red Sonja vs. Red Sonya Kulan Gath Marvel Team-Up #79 Barbarian Avengers Why we love Captain America Several haircuts WiFi sorcery A really good inspirational speech The inevitable cephalopod revolution Why Hank Pym is the absolute worst Claudication Hide-and-seek How Rachel Summers actually traveled back in time Magus Warlock, Adam Warlock, and their respective Magi Politics, religion, and Nightcrawler Edited to Add: In this episode, we answered a question from a listener looking for textual evidence that Nightcrawler isn’t homophobic (we pointed them to Amazing X-Men #13). We also discussed that question from a different angle--and at considerably more length--on the blog. Next Week: Dazzler: The Movie! You can find a visual companion to the episode on our blog. Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Support us on Patreon! Buy prints of this week’s illustration at our shop, or contact David Wynne for the original!

Art by David Wynne In which literally every character in Dazzler: The Movie is the absolute worst; Beauty and the Beast is secretly kind of awesome; Ann Nocenti is an editorial war-bard; Rachel issues a hat-related retraction; and we would read the hell out of Tales from the Heartbreak Hotel. X-Plained: The many mutations of Hank McCoy Alison Blaire Dazzler: The Movie Dazzler’s corporate origins The original plans for the actual unmade Dazzler movie Severely off-model Storm Ziggy the Butler Several frankly horrifying courtships Roman Nekoboh Eric Beale Beauty and the Beast (but not that one) The correct way to open a miniseries Ann Nocenti Alexander Flynn The importance of voice in writing Beast Max Rocker The Heartbreak Hotel (but not that one) and its residents Nocenti narration Some really dubious underground theater The worst hat What Dazzler’s been up to lately NEXT WEEK: Rock'n'Roll Annuals... IN SPACE! ART CHALLENGE: Join us in a world where Beauty and the Beast spinoff Tales from the Heartbreak Hotel is a real, published comic--and send us your fan-art from that series! You can find a visual companion to this episode on our blog! Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Support us on Patreon! Buy prints of this week’s illustration at our shop, or contact David Wynne for the original!

In which Rachel finally gets to say "WHAT?!," we examine three variations on the Silver Age, Twin Peaks is reality TV, we can't believe you hired Hitler, Angel is not Batman, even the most sympathetic Xavier is still pretty creepy, Cyclops has a good day, Marvel Girl is not going to throw a dinosaur for you, Iceman is the Troy Barnes of the X-Men, and we say a fond farewell to the Silver Age. X-Plained: The X-Axis X-Men: Children of the Atom Hard-sell noir How to party like it's sometime between 1986 and 1991, as filtered through 1999 The perils of over-referencing Why Marvel is in the Tommy Westphall Universe The worst guidance counselor ever Villain speeches X-Men: First Class (but not that one) Fun, and several places to find it Angst-free X-Men Gender politics of superheroism X-Men: Season One Teenagers The solution to the Silver-Age-Jean Grey problem Why Iceman matters The Silver Age cram book You can find a visual companion to the episode – and links to recommended reading – on our blog. Find us on iTunes or Stitcher!

Art by David Wynne. Prints available in the shop until 12/28, or contact David for the original! In which we play Six Degrees of Lila Cheney; Cannonball gets a makeover; Earth does not in fact blow up; the X-Men like their s’mores with thinly veiled allegories; and Magik dabbles in erotic friend fiction. X-Plained: Strong Guy Annuals New Mutants Annual #1 (Steal This Planet) Lila Cheney Both versions of Cats Laughing The Vrakanain Chris Claremont Book Club Uncanny X-Men Annual #8 (The Adventures of Lockheed the Space Dragon and His Pet Girl Kitty) Some dubious campfire games Illyana’s Space Opera Space pirate X-Men Some long-awaited resolution NEXT WEEK: Rachel and Miles’s Giant-Size Special #1, featuring God Loves, Man Kills! You can find a visual companion to this episode on our blog! Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Support us on Patreon! Buy prints of this week’s illustration at our shop, or contact David Wynne for the original!  

Art by David Wynne. Prints available until 1/15 in the shop, or contact David for the original. In which we launch our first-ever giant-size special; God Loves, Man Kills is the definitive X-Men story; Bobby makes his R&MXtXM on-air debut; we repopulate the world with X-writers; Rachel is really excited about x-plaining X-Cutioner’s Song; Miles takes a strong stance on Wolverine’s mask; we award some awards; and it’s all your fault.   X-Plained God Loves, Man Kills (Marvel Graphic Novel #5) William Stryker An inappropriate analogy Keeping it interesting Favorite episodes Bridging the fan/critic divide Our ongoing obsession with bit characters The challenge of keeping Charles Xavier relevant X-Planation Curation Several stories we’re really looking forward to covering X-Writers on a desert island Internet fights Favorite stories vs. best stories Stupid hats of the Marvel Universe Dr. Doom as Tim Gunn Havok vs. ceiling fans Educational standards of the Marvel Universe The First Annual Super Doctor Astronaut Peter Corbeau Awards for Excellence in X-Cellence NEXT WEEK: Rachel and Chris Sims X-Plain Arcade CORRECTION: In this episode, Rachel claims that there is only one Super Doctor Astronaut Peter Corbeau in the Marvel Multiverse. This is patently untrue. There are numerous versions of Super Doctor Astronaut Peter Corbeau in the Marvel Multiverse, who may or may not be able to combine Voltron-style into a giant Corbeau Singularity. You can find a visual companion to this episode on our blog! Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Support us on Patreon! Buy prints of this week’s illustration at our shop, or contact David Wynne for the original!

Art by David Wynne. Prints and travel mugs available until 1/11/2015 in the shop, or contact David for the original. In which we welcome back Emergency Backup Co-Host Chris Sims; comics writers are basically supervillains; Cyclops is not here to have fun; Spider-Man flirts with objectivism; Murderworld is probably not financially sustainable; you should totally cosplay the Proletarian; Arcade may or may not secretly be the Archie Andrews of Earth-616; and Doctor Doom remains absolutely delightful. X-Plained Captain Britain Arcade Francisco Scaramanga The vastly inferior Arcade of Earth-1610 Uncanny X-Men #123-124, 146-147, 197 Chris’s first X-Men A really sweet truck Spider-Man’s brief flirtation with objectivism What the X-Men do on their night off Hella nipples Murderworld Miss Locke Mr. Chambers Marvel comics in the Marvel Universe A large number of elaborate deathtraps Soviet Nick Fury The Proletarian Hostage-wrapping Phil and Tobe One way to celebrate your birthday Avengers Arena Miss Coriander The best non-X Arcade stories The end of Axis Sixis Arcade at the Arcade NEXT WEEK: Cloak and Dagger! You can find a visual companion to this episode on our blog! Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Support us on Patreon! Buy prints of this week’s illustration at our shop, or contact David Wynne for the original!

Art by David Wynne. Prints and travel mugs available until 1/11/2015 in the shop, or contact David for the original. In which Miles and his Doom voice return triumphant; we reach an understanding regarding Lila Cheney; Mob science is pretty shoddy; Magneto has fancy hair; New Mutants Xavier is Best Xavier; no one is more goth than Cloak and Dagger; and you can have Rachel’s Speed Racer references when you pry them from her cold, dead hands. X-Plained: Spider-Man crossovers Cats Marvel Team-Up Annual #6 New Mutants #22-25 Phone calls with bears Glam day at the Hellfire Club Rahne’s fairytale Cloak & Dagger Drugs Eldritch curtains A seriously flawed evil plan Harry’s Hideaway The Sam and Dani Show Magneto’s hair Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch’s parentage Waiting for the T Whether Cloak and Dagger are mutants How to buy original art NEXT WEEK: G. Willow Wilson! You can find a visual companion to this episode on our blog! Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Support us on Patreon! Buy prints of this week’s illustration at our shop, or contact David Wynne for the original!

Art by David Wynne. Prints available until 1/25/2015 in the shop, or contact David for the original. In which writer G. Willow Wilson joins us to talk about her new run on X-Men; the Future is really confusing; we consider the many iterations of Rachel Grey; Storm probably has strong feelings about climate change; and writing for a shared universe takes some seriously fancy footwork. X-Plained: Jubilee Shogo (a little) The future vs. the Future X-Men vols. 1-4 The logistics of stepping into a book mid-series Pigeonholing and “girl” books The proper pronunciation of Kamala Storm (again) Psylocke M Rachel Grey (again) Cross-title coordination Writing in a shared universe Super-powered ecology The gender politics of telepathy Writing and dialogue across media Marginalization, intersectionality, and the mutant metaphor Next Week: Pink robots from the future! You can find a visual companion to this episode on our blog! Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Support us on Patreon! Buy prints of this week’s illustration at our shop, or contact David Wynne for the original!

Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available until 2/1/2015 in the shop, or contact David for the original. In which Nimrod is probably an honorary Summers by this point; Claremont hits a centennial; it’s probably pretty hard to get an unconscious person into tight leather pants; the X-Men finally encounter a world that actually hates and fears them; and the Power Pack fits somewhat uneasily with the grown-up Marvel Universe. X-PLAINED: Nimrod Uncanny X-Men #193-195 Thunderbird II (James Proudstar) Situation-inappropriate attire The worst Hellions Firestar (Angelica Jones) Why you call ahead before breaking into NORAD Leadership Public opinion Juggernaut fights How the X-Men wake up Nazgûl Tyranny of the Masses: The Robot The Voltron Special The Power Pack Navigating crossovers NEXT WEEK: Firestar! You can find a visual companion to this episode on our blog! Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Support us on Patreon! Buy prints of this week’s illustration at our shop, or contact David Wynne for the original!

Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available until 2/1/2015 in the shop, or contact David for the original. In which Miles has a brush with nostalgia; Angelica Jones is secretly a Thomas Hardy protagonist; it doesn’t need to make sense if it’s awesome; and Emma Frost really needs a mustache to twirl. X-Plained: Trevor Fitzroy Firestar (Angelica Jones) Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends Nostalgia X-Men, if sometimes the main characters were bears Inexplicably Australian Wolverine Ms. Lion Marvel Divas Sudsy fun Superhero sitcoms Firestar #1-4 Basic palmistry Generic mean girls Coen Brothers YA The reinvention of Emma Frost Some epic gaslighting Butter Rum Mutivac Miles’s favorite star-crossed ‘ship Why Thunderbird I has stayed dead Contextual definitions of “organic” NEXT WEEK: Secret Wars You can find a visual companion to this episode on our blog! Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Support us on Patreon! Buy prints of this week’s illustration at our shop, or contact David Wynne for the original!

  Art by David Wynne. Prints, cards, and travel mugs available until 2/15/2015 in the shop, or contact David for the original. In which we cover 21 issues in one episode; Secret Wars is a toy commercial; Jim Shooter’s X-Men are not the X-Men to which we are accustomed; Doctor Doom makes a surprisingly benevolent god; Secret Wars II is neither secret nor a war; The Beyonder learns to poop; and Boom-Boom is the best thing to come out of Secret Wars. X-Plained: Secret Wars The not-particularly-secret origin of Secret Wars Binary morality Battleworld The Wrecking Crew Klaw The Beyonder Molecule Man Doki-Doki Universe Titania and Volcana Zsaji Secret Wars II The Passion of Jim Shooter Stewart Cadwall What people do Tie-ins Pooping What it means to be Spider-Man Boom-Boom (Tabitha Smith) The time a bunch of superheroes saved the universe by killing a baby NEXT WEEK: Legion, with Si Spurrier! You can find a visual companion to this episode on our blog! Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Support us on Patreon! Buy prints of this week’s illustration at our shop, or contact David Wynne for the original!

Art by David Wynne. Prints, cards, and travel mugs available until 2/22/2015 in the shop, or contact David for the original. In which Legion grows from setting to protagonist; Rachel is a master of narrative rationalization; “Claremont” is a verb; Warlock befriends an airplane; Xavier owns a significant mistake; New Mutants does a deep dive into power dynamics; you should go read X-Men: Legacy already; and Si reveals the true secret nature of reality. X-PLAINED: Blindfold (Ruth Aldine) Luca Aldine Legion (David Haller) Mental illness in fiction New Mutants #26-28 Socialized medicine Appropriate gym apparel Rachel’s favorite scene from any X-book, ever Claremonting Jack Wayne Cyndi Jemail Karami Roughly 20 years of condensed continuity The Age of Apocalypse Age of X X-Men: Legacy vol. 2 Father issues David Haller’s accent The Origamist Santi Sardina A visual metaphor The true secret nature of reality Professor Y The Franklin Richards Universe Hypothesis NEXT WEEK: Spotlight on Storm You can find a visual companion to this episode on our blog! Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Support us on Patreon! Buy prints of this week’s illustration at our shop, or contact David Wynne for the original!

Art by David Wynne. Prints, cards, and travel mugs available until 3/1/2015 in the shop, or contact David for the original. In which we discard our regularly scheduled programming to focus on Storm and Lifedeath II; no one draws motion like Barry Windsor-Smith; Storm goes up to eleven; and we really wish we had the frame of reference to place this story in the larger context of diaspora literature. X-Plained: Forge The Adversary Uncanny X-Men #198 (Lifedeath II) Storm The narrative impact of sexualization Barry Windsor-Smith Extreme weather in comics Hallucinatory X-Men Storm in adaptation The Storm elevator pitch Our Storm dream casting Mjnari Artist editions Colonialism Storm as a liminal figure NEXT WEEK: The New Mutants Go to the Arena! You can find a visual companion to this episode on our blog! Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Support us on Patreon! Buy prints of this week’s illustration at our shop, or contact David Wynne for the original!

Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available until 3/8/2015 in the shop, or contact David for the original. In which we bid a fond farewell to Bill Sienkiewicz; Secret Wars II continues to ruin everything; the New Mutants end up in an improbable number of gladiatorial arenas; Shadowcat’s secondary mutation is queer subtext; Magik gives no fucks about your crossover event; Warlock transcends storytelling conventions; and Karma rejoins the team. X-PLAINED: The chronologically inconsistent mobility of Professor Xavier The Shadow King New Mutants #29-34 Steve Leialoha The Arena (more) (again) Evil group projects Easter eggs Rachel Summers: butch fashion icon Some major failures of positive size diversity in comics Madripoor Ashake The incredible changing Guthries The wickedest club in Cairo Default X-teams Cypher’s powers NEXT WEEK: Miles and Elisabeth Allie X-Plain X-Men / Alpha Flight No visual companion this week, because, reasons. Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Support us on Patreon! Buy prints of this week’s illustration at our shop, or contact David Wynne for the original!

Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available until 3/15/2015 in the shop, or contact David for the original. In which Emergency Backup Co-Host Elisabeth Allie saves the day; the Berserkers are not the breakout hit you’ve been waiting for; Paul Smith continues to be awesome; nothing good ever happens in the Danger Room; Charles Xavier dabbles in cosplay; Nightcrawler has serious hat game; Rachel Summers lacks healthy coping skills; your life would be way more epic if Claremont narrated it; Northstar is a surprisingly good prom date; Loki is a total dick; and Longshot is totally Miles's favorite. X-PLAINED: Madelyne Pryor X-Men/Alpha Flight vols. 1&2 The Berserkers An unconventional model of family therapy Aggressive foreshadowing NPC dialogue Jazzercise superheroes Superhero color theory Sasquatch Aurora Those Who Sit Above in Shadow Norse fashion of the ‘80s Very specific superpowers Some sweet boots The price of power A deus ex machina squared Kitty and Piotr’s first date Snowbird’s powers Miles’s favorite X-Man NEXT WEEK: Asgardian Wars! You can find a visual companion to this episode on our blog! Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Support us on Patreon! Buy prints of this week’s illustration at our shop, or contact David Wynne for the original!

Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available until 3/22/2015 in the shop, or contact David for the original. In which Asgardian Wars occupies the precise intersection of Miles’s favorite things; Marvel Asgard is your favorite metal album; no one appreciates Cypher; Wolfsbane gets some action; Warlock gets meta; Cannonball is a catch; Rachel Summers gets a new costume; Loki does Shakespeare; and Rachel overthinks Leverage. X-PLAINED: Various Mjolnirs and their attendant powers Asgardian Wars New Mutants Special Edition #1 X-Men Annual #9 The Surtwar Art Adams Amora the Enchantress Lorelei Several pop culture cameos A really dubious beach party The Viking Sorceress Asgardian Portrait of Dorian Grey Ed Grimley Hrimhari Wolf makeouts The Marvel version of Norse mythology The Warriors Three Rule #1 of dealing with fairies A hawk ‘hawk Valkyries Einherjar A costume in somewhat questionable taste Interdimensional lightning-bolt mixology Our favorite Thor story, ever How to get your friends and neighbors into comics Asgardian mutants (or lack thereof) X-Leverage cross-casting NEXT WEEK: Longshot! You can find a visual companion to this episode on our blog! Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Support us on Patreon! Buy prints of this week’s illustration at our shop, or contact David Wynne for the original!

Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available until 3/29/2015 in the shop, or contact David for the original. In which we meet Miles’s favorite X-Man; Longshot is Secret Wars II done right; we are fairly committed to the idea of Ann Nocenti as a post-apocalyptic daredevil superhero; Longshot is patient zero of the ‘90s; Ricochet Rita is the best; luck is a zero-sum commodity; Mojo is legitimately terrifying; and nuance is Longshot’s secret weakness. X-PLAINED: Spiral The Body Shop Several ill-advised body swaps Longshot Longshot Rachel Summers Syndrome The evolution of Art Adams The metaphysics of luck The secret origin of pouches A large number of pop culture allusions Glam survivalists Psychometry Moral complexity Gog’n’Magog Ricochet Rita The social economics of jetpacks A whole lot of social satire and commentary Star Slammers Mojo The Mojoverse Luck as a zero-sum commodity Arize Quark Longshot and Dazzler’s star sigils Finding (or creating) your comics community NEXT WEEK: The Trial of Magneto! You can find a visual companion to this episode on our blog! Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Support us on Patreon! Buy prints of this week’s illustration at our shop, or contact David Wynne for the original!

In which the Bronze Age begins; Dave Cockrum is your god now; the band gets together; Sunfire joins the team; cultural sensitivity is not Marvel's strong suit; Sunfire quits the team; it sucks to be Cyclops; Professor X crosses a moral event horizon; Sunfire joins the team; Ed Brubaker channels Thomas Hardy; you are probably a Summers brother; and Sunfire quits the team. X-Plained: Bamf-Voltron Nightcrawler Giant-Size X-Men #1 The worst hat of the Marvel Universe The Mostly-New, Mostly-Different X-Men A business-casual angry mob The limits of creative good intentions Tractor punching on the Ust-Ordynski Collective The correct spelling of "fine" Canada Sunfire's utter disdain for everything, including you Krakoa: The Island That Walks Like a Man! Characteristics of good X-fights Yet another miracle of magnetism X-Men: Deadly Genesis Summers Family Continuity (Introductory) More hats The Muir-MacTaggert Research Facility Summers Family Continuity (Intermediate) The Charles Xavier Scale of Supervillainy Relative immunity Wolverine's ubiquity AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION: What would you do with thirteen X-Men? Help us find all-ages-friendly Marvel Girl stories! You can find a visual companion to the episode – and links to recommended reading – on our blog. Find us on iTunes or Stitcher!

Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available until 3/29/2015 in the shop, or contact David for the original. In which Magneto makes an official alignment shift; Claremont does a court drama; Professor Xavier makes poor choices; Rachel Summers comes by her communication skills honest; the Strucker kids are the evil Wonder Twins; and the podcast hits a major milestone! X-PLAINED: Xorn Uncanny X-Men #196, 199, and 200 The X-Men status quo circa 1985 Magneto’s alignment shift Beyonder-related existential crises A hypothetical murder mystery Minor vandalism as a harbinger of dark futures Psi-scream Brood classified ads A thematic parallel The tipping point in Scott and Madelyne’s relationship The new, improved Magneto The Professor Who Cried Wolf Phoenix II Earth-811/Earth-616 disambiguation Freedom Force The Trial of Magneto NPR-616 James Jaspers The best editor’s note The mystery of Magneto’s age Andrea & Andreas Strucker What not to wear to court A super icky sword Phoenix morality Sponsorship & conflict of interest NEXT WEEK: Emerald City Comicon special with Kris Anka, Marguerite Bennett, Kieron Gillen, and Peter Nguyen! You can find a visual companion to this episode on our blog! Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Support us on Patreon! Buy prints of this week’s illustration at our shop, or contact David Wynne for the original!

Art by David Wynne. We're not selling prints of this one, but you can still hit David up for the original! In which Rachel and Miles go to Emerald City Comicon; six people try to share one microphone with varying success; you will never love anything as much as Kris loves Broo; Marguerite may or may not be a time-traveling supervillain; Peter is Laser Guy; Kieron joins an X-team; Hell is other X-Men; everyone lies egregiously; and it all comes back to Namor’s abs. Special thanks to Jean, who let us borrow her mic and pop filter at the very last second when we realized we'd left ours in Portland! <3 X-PLAINED: Namor’s last name Several Secret Wars titles Wiz Kid Favorite characters Lady Deathstrike’s new look Seanan McGuire’s cats Machetes of Future Past Emily Aster Asteroid P Secret origins Points of entry Headcanon The Wolverine and the X-Men Season 2 that might have been The pros and cons of an isolated X-universe The X-Istentialists Hela’s Angels Namor’s abs What defines the X-Men Mr. Sinister Our X-movie wish lists Wes Anderson’s X-Men (both of them) NEXT WEEK: Previously on Rachel & Miles X-Plain the X-Men... You can find a visual companion to this episode on our blog! Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Help us keep making cool stuff on Patreon! We're not selling prints of this week's illustration, but you can still contact David Wynne to inquire after the original!  

Art by David Wynne. In which we recap a year’s worth of podcasts--and 23 years’ worth of X-Men--in under an hour. X-PLAINED: Rachel & Miles X-Plain the X-Men, Episodes 1-51 Uncanny X-Men #1-200 & assorted annuals Giant-Size X-Men #1 The New Mutants New Mutants #1-35 & assorted annuals and specials The Uncanny X-Men and the New Teen Titans God Loves, Man Kills Wolverine vol. 1 X-Men/Micronauts Storm and Illyana: Magik Kitty Pryde and Wolverine Dazzler: The Movie Beauty and the Beast Firestar Secret Wars vol. 1 Secret Wars vol. 2 Longshot Several other assorted X and X-relevant stories Our pipe-dream pitches Multiversal designations NEXT WEEK: The return of Jean Grey! Special thanks to R. Pawson for the WHAT?! supercut! You can find a companion index to the material mentioned in this episode on our blog! Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Help us keep making cool stuff on Patreon! We’re not selling prints of this week’s illustration, but you can still contact David Wynne to inquire after the original!  

Rachel screwed up and accidentally gave David material for episode 54 instead of 53, so there's no illustration this week. Instead, we offer both our sincere apologies and this photo of Miles dressed up as Mister Sinister for a costume party. In which Wolverine doesn’t care about your baby; Storm takes charge; duels are terrible bases for systems of government; editorial mandate is hell on a marriage; Magneto is a pretty cool teacher; Jean Grey comes back; and we have mixed feelings about the Phoenix retcon. X-PLAINED: Kenji Uedo Uncanny X-Men #201 New Mutants #35 Avengers #263 Fantastic Four #286 Classic X-Men #8 The post-Trial of Magneto status quo Nathan Christopher Charles Summers A small cross-section of Cyclops’s myriad issues The wrong means to the right end Magneto’s educational philosophy The politics of creative credits “You Know Who” The Phoenix retcon Several unrelated break-ins The return of Jean Grey Jean and the Phoenix Force Alternate-timeline Madelynes Pryor Jean Grey’s code names NEXT WEEK: X-Factor begins! (for real, this time - sorry about that SNAFU!) You can find a companion index to the material mentioned in this episode on our blog! Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Rachel 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!  

Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available until 5/3/2015 in the shop, or contact David for the original. In which the X-Men get their third ongoing series; Elle drops in to x-plain the Defenders; the band gets back together; rich people are not like the rest of us; Cyclops is in desperate need of some kind of intervention; and X-Factor is basically Ghostbusters. X-PLAINED: Cameron Hodge The fairly spectacular secret origins of X-Factor The Champions The New Defenders The evolution of Hank McCoy X-Factor #1 The death throes of Scott and Madelyne’s marriage Rusty Collins A really bad first date The increasingly dubious life choices of Scott Summers The worst job interview Sushi-a-Go-Go How not to have an intervention X-Factor The X-Terminators The Phoenix Force on Earth-811 (and its relationship to Rachel Summers) NEXT WEEK: The Beyonder ruins everything. Again. You can find a companion index to the material mentioned in this episode on our blog! Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Rachel 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!

Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available until 5/10/2015 in the shop, or contact David for the original. In which Secret Wars II ruins everything (more) (again) (forever); Rachel Summers hates the Beyonder almost as much as we do; Miles gets mad at comics; Nightcrawler does not do gritty well; Lady Deathstrike gets wired; and we consult our favorite 3-year-old for book recommendations. X-PLAINED: Rogue vs. Carol Danvers Life before social media Uncanny X-Men #202-205 Alpha Flight #33-34 Phoenix II vs. the Beyonder (twice) The Reverse Gwen Stacy Still more miracles of magnetism Kitty Pryde disambiguation SFLANNG! Good times in Murderworld The third-worst honeymoon Lady Deathstrike (Yuriko Oyama) Spiral’s Body Shop The Reavers One way to build a Wolverine antagonist Skirting the Comics Code Sound-effects lettering as a narrative device Good X-books for a 3-year-old Special thanks to Katie and Kestrel P. NEXT WEEK: The Beyonder kills the New Mutants! You can find a visual companion to this episode on our blog! Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Rachel 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 prints of this week’s illustration at our shop, or contact David Wynne for the original!

Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available until 5/17/2015 in the shop, or contact David for the original. In which nothing comes between Sam Guthrie and his classic sci-fi allusions; Sunspot tries; the Beyonder is really scary; you can have Danielle Moonstar’s agency when you pry it from her cold, dead hands; Empath remains the worst kid; Tom Corsi and Sharon Friedlander just cannot catch a break; Emma Frost gets nuanced; Magneto does the wrong things for the right reasons; Rachel and Miles like liking things; and we finally wrap up Secret Wars II. X-PLAINED: Soulsword custody New Mutants #36-40 The best Secret Wars II tie-in Several Beyonder-triggered crises of confidence A literal derailment in the midst of a metaphorical derailment The Greek tragedy of Illyana Rasputin Personal personifications of death Counting coup The death of the New Mutants Crossover-related PTSD A pep talk from a frog Art style as a component of narrative The Hellions (again) Sadneto Madneto A completely avoidable fight Rachel’s definitive Emma Frost moment Emma Frost, Charles Xavier, and moral culpability NEXT WEEK: The dubious debut of Apocalypse! You can find a visual companion to this episode on our blog! Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Rachel 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 prints of this week’s illustration at our shop, or contact David Wynne for the original!

Art by David Wynne. We're not selling prints of this one, but you can still hit David up for the original! In which Miles tries to find things to like about Bob Layton’s X-Factor run; Cyclops’s life is literally an anxiety dream; X-Factor is very Leverage; Layton’s Angel is just godawful; Rachel is all about the Red Scare; Frenzy is awesome; and we bid a fond farewell to producer Bobby Roberts. X-PLAINED: An Apocalypse that might have been Mid-80s X-title thematic disambiguation The limited value of nostalgia Creative history of X-Factor X-Factor #2-5 and Annual #1 The baffling reinvention of Vera Cantor Tower (Edward Pasternak) Dubious didactic strategies Carl Maddicks Artie Maddicks Muffin the kitten Bad timing Soviet mutant policy Soviet robot disambiguation The Doppelganger (Wolfgang Heinreich) A ruse Alexei Garnov, Mentac the Living Computer, Concussion, Iron Curtain, and Siberian Tiger The worst phonetic accent we have ever seen. The Alliance of Evil Frenzy (Joanna Cargill) The color of Beast’s fur Our favorite X-Men toys NEXT WEEK: Miniseries Mayhem! Many thanks to Bobby Roberts for 57 spectacular episodes of production, advice, and boundless patience. You are the best, and we love you forever. You can find a visual companion to this episode on our blog! Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Rachel 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 not selling prints of this week's illustration, but you can contact David Wynne for the original!

Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available until 5/31/2015 in the shop, or contact David for the original. In which Nightcrawler does Weird Tales; Iceman does Back to the Future; we want a vacation home in Dave Cockrum’s brain; Bamfs are terrible; the 1983 Iceman miniseries is straight-up bananas; parents just don’t understand; and Rachel will take literally any excuse to talk smack about John Ruskin. X-PLAINED: Vanisher Nightcrawler #1-4 Bizarre Adventures #27 Iceman #1-4 The Well at the Center of Time The downside to hanging out with pirates A shark wizard in a tiny loincloth Better living through sound-effect awareness Boggies The key to a classic Nightcrawler story Earth-5311 Bamfs The full extent of Rachel’s Smurfs knowledge Cretaceous Sam Sehv Illyana Rasputin’s porn collection The Drake family An exceptionally unlikely girl next door The definitive Miles’s Mom anecdote Marge Smith / Mirage White Light Idiot Kali (but not that one) Two generations of Officers Ratchit Pornography no one wants to see Death by time travel Oblivion Night Man (kinda) Our ideal cross-media adaptations NEXT WEEK: X-Men '92, with Chris Sims and Chad Bowers! You can find a visual companion to this episode on our blog! Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Rachel 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 prints of this week’s illustration at our shop, or contact David Wynne for the original!

Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available until 6/7/2015 in the shop, or contact David for the original. In which Chris and Chad teach us to stop worrying and love the ‘90s; the line between parody and homage is thin and flexible; everything happens at the mall; no one wants to play volleyball with Cyclops; and we totally fail to resolve the question, “Does a mall babe eat chili fries?” WARNING: This episode contains minor spoilers for X-Men '92 #1. X-PLAINED: The Westchester Wars Battleworld X-Men ’92 #1 Digital vs. print pacing A continuity error Narrative restrictions of Battleworld The actual X-Men of 1992 (and the post-Claremont X-Universe) X-Men Adventures X-Men Collector’s Edition Mutatant Genesis X-Cutioner’s Song Early Deadpool Piecing together the Marvel Universe from trading cards The X-Men animated series Concurrent and complimentary adaptation Cassandra Nova ‘92 The fine line between homage and parody Definitive story arcs of the 1990s NEXT WEEK: Rachel Summers and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day You can find a visual companion to this episode on our blog! Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Rachel 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 prints of this week’s illustration at our shop, or contact David Wynne for the original!

In which we more or less prepare you for the upcoming feature film; Rachel Summers is a black hole of continuity; Kitty Pryde breaks the Danger Room; Earth 200500 is clearly the best earth; even the X-Men have no idea what's going on; First Class Emma Frost is so boring that we forget she exists; wolverines are definitely not wolves; and you can have Rachel's Community references when you pry them from her cold, dead hands. X-Plained: Rachel Summers "Days of Future Past" Gravestone engraving standards of 2013 The Mostly-New, Mostly-Different Brotherhood of Evil Mutants Another unfortunate hat Causality in the Marvel Multiverse Earths 811, 1191, 295, 311, and 200500 Hall monitors with laser rifles How to fix a broken timeline The X-Men cinematic universe, and points of divergence from the comics The one thing X-Men: The Last Stand does right The Xavier Index of Cinematic Continuity The difference between Canis lupus and Gulo gulo A Days of Future Past cinematic cram course Fix-it fic Blink, Bishop, and dark-future mash-ups The enduring appeal of Earth-811 The significantly less enduring appeal of Earth-242 The Nazi Excalibur of Earth-597 You can find a visual companion to the episode – and links to recommended reading – on our blog. Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Next week: Greg Rucka, Cyclops, and Starjammers!  

Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available until 6/14/2015 in the shop, or contact David for the original. In which Rachel Summers went to sleep with Wolverine’s claws in her dreams and now there’s claws in her lungs and when she got out of bed this morning she tripped on her traumatic backstory and by mistake she dropped the Phoenix Force in the sink while the water was running and she could tell it was going to be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. X-PLAINED: Freedom Force Supervillains’ day jobs Uncanny X-Men #206-209 The X-Men’s first brief tenure in San Francisco Terrible house guests Lindsay McCabe David Ishima Bree Morrell A metaphorical ghost story Lycanthropy, but dumber The crossing of several ethical lines Death by narrative stasis (and also impaling) Craft night at the Hellfire Club Death by costume satin (and also heart failure) One way to write someone out of a book Our favorite Summers kids X-Music Special thanks to Elle Collins NEXT WEEK: The New Mutants break your heart. You can find a visual companion to this episode on our blog! Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Rachel 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 prints of this week’s illustration at our shop, or contact David Wynne for the original!

Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available until 6/21/2015 in the shop, or contact David for the original. In which the band gets back together; Dani faces down Death; Sam takes Lila home to meet his mom; revenge is a dish best left unserved; there is nothing sadder than Warlock confused by the concept of death; Kitty Pryde has a some opinions about identity politics; and X-Men has not been great with textual representations of neurodiversity. NOTE: Given some of the material covered in this episode, we wanted to link a few resources below, for anyone who might need them: National Suicide Prevention Line (U.S.): 1-800-273-TALK (8255) www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org A fairly comprehensive list of suicide prevention hotlines outside of the U.S.: http://www.suicide.org/international-suicide-hotlines.html Advice for intervention if you suspect that someone you know may be suicidal: http://www.helpguide.org/articles/suicide-prevention/suicide-prevention-helping-someone-who-is-suicidal.htm Autistic Self Advocacy Network: http://autisticadvocacy.org/ X-PLAINED: The rotating members of the Guthrie family New Mutants #41-45 One way to end a friendship A respectable number of dubious decisions enacted over several issues An epic showdown with an anthropomorphic personification Additional Guthries The Xavier Institute PTA The worst Hellion (more) (again) Legion (more) (again) The second-saddest issue of New Mutants The life and death of Larry Bodine A somewhat bleak recurring continuity error Depression and mental illness in X-canon Care and storage of comic books Autism in X-canon NEXT WEEK: GIANT-SIZE SUMMER SPECIAL SUPER TABLETOP TEAM-UP! You can find a visual companion to this episode on our blog! Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Rachel 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 prints of this week’s illustration at our shop, or contact David Wynne for the original!

Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available until 6/28/2015 in the shop, or contact David for the original. In which we welcome Logan Bonner, Mikey Neilson, and AdministratriX Tina to the gaming table for an original X-Men Animated Adventure; the real enemy is BS&P; Australia is kind of terrible; Rogue is concerned about kangaroos; Wolverine taps into the power of love; Storm makes a long-distance call; and Cyclops plans for failure (but not color-coded labels). FEATURING: Logan Bonner as Writer, Gamemaster, and Broadcast Standards & Practices Tina Abate as Wolverine Mikey Neilson as Storm Rachel Edidin as Cyclops Miles Stokes as Rogue NEXT WEEK: Walking the Wildways! You can find a visual companion to this episode on our blog! Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Rachel 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 prints of this week’s illustration at our shop, or contact David Wynne for the original!

Guest art by Ryan Hill! In which cartoon logic is terrifying; it’s immensely frustrating to be Doug Ramsey; Psylock gets evil robot eyes; queer subtext is not just for the ladies; Danger Room cold opens are the new Kitty’s costume changes; Mojo predicts reality TV; Longshot joins the X-Men; and we answer what may be the best question we have ever gotten. X-PLAINED: Captain Britain Corps Alan Davis New Mutants Annual #2 X-Men Annual #10 Captain Britain (Brian Braddock) Psylocke (Betsy Braddock) Slaymaster Mojo Why cartoon logic is terrifying Animal Man vol. 1 #5, “The Coyote Gospel” (Incorrectly described as “The Ballad of Wile E. Coyote” in episode) Wildways Robot eyes Template Snitch Straight Arrow Jubilee (but not that Jubilee) The trouble with determining character ages in superhero comics The stated mission of the New Mutants The proto-X-Babies Longshot’s X-Men debut The New Mutants’ graduation costumes A really charged costume choice Tonal shifts in New Mutants X-Men vs. geese NEXT WEEK: APOCALYPSE NOW! ART CHALLENGE: Design a new graduation costume for one or more of the New Mutants! Send your designs to xplainthexmen(at)gmail(dot)com, with the subject line GRADUATION, and we’ll collect ‘em on the blog at the end of the week! You can find a visual companion to this episode on our blog! Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Rachel 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! Special thanks to Ryan Hill for this week's art, and to Claire Miller for the research X-Pertise!  

Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available until 7/12/2015 in the shop, or contact David for the original. In which Louise Simonson saves X-Factor; Apocalypse gets off to a rough start; Cyclops is bad at people; Apocalypse should be the Kingpin of X-Men; Jean Grey is sick of your bullshit; you should totally cosplay Skids; and Mystique fundamentally misunderstands branding. X-PLAINED The Maximoff family tree The Whizzer X-Factor as sketch comedy Louise Simonson X-Factor #6-8 Apocalypse Bulk Glow Worm Skids (Sally Blevins) Weaponized fashion Trish Tilby Favorite Claremontisms X-Finance NEXT WEEK: The Mutant Massacre! Special thanks to Master of Maximoffs Max Carleton of Waiting for the Trade. A very happy birthday to the Consulting X-Pert Kestrel! You can find a visual companion to this episode on our blog! Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Rachel 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 prints of this week’s illustration at our shop, or contact David Wynne for the original!

With guest Greg Rucka! In which death is a revolving door, we really liked Days of Future Past, space pirates are the best pirates, Vulcan is (still) the worst, Miles has a Corsair costume, Lilandra has lovely plumage, no one knows how to pronounce "M'Kraan," we studiously avoid discussing the Phoenix force, Saurids speak Hebrew, Raza Longknife's name is a bit on the nose, Rachel is the worst at hugs, Greg has a 'ship, and we all kind of identify with Cyclops. X-Plained: The Starjammers (and how to pronounce their names) The Shi'ar The Neremani Dynasty Plumage Apostrophe abuse Corsair The secret origins of the Starjammers Why Hepzibah talks like that The Rule of Cool Visor iterations Summerstaches Cyclops's dubious deductive skills Hugs The All-New, All-the-Same X-Men Teenagers, again Cyclops #1 Cyclops vs. Scott Space-parenting Rachel's convention sketchbook Greg's Kitty Pryde feelings An exceptionally vivid threat Intergalactic fashion Corsair's pecs Key parties in space The greatest romance of the Marvel Universe You can find a visual companion to the episode – and links to recommended reading – on our blog. Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Next week: Welcome to the Claremont era, listeners—hope you survive the experience!  

Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available until 7/19/2015 in the shop, or contact David for the original. In which we hit the first big X-centric crossover; a lot of Morlocks die; X-Factor is a dark farce; Kitty Pryde talks down a mob without using racial slurs; when Doug Ramsey tells you there’s a problem, you listen; and Callisto should be one of the iconic leaders of the Marvel Universe. X-PLAINED: Death by intellectual-property dispute The Mutant Massacre Mutant Massacres that might have been Uncanny X-Men #210-213 New Mutants #46 The Marauders The best way to guarantee the New Mutants’ involvement in a storyline Limbo fashion The responsibility of leadership Wolverine vs. Sabretooth Psylocke vs. Sabretooth The evolution of crossovers Characters we’d like to see more of post-Secret Wars NEXT WEEK: The Mutant Massacre, Part 2! You can find a visual companion to this episode on our blog! Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Rachel 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 prints of this week’s illustration at our shop, or contact David Wynne for the original!

Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available until 7/26/2015 in the shop, or contact David for the original. In which we wrap up our first official two-parter; Gambit ruins everything; Rachel has a theory about Mister Sinister; Marvel communication technology is behind the times; Trish Tilby is tired of your bullshit; Walter Simonson is the best of the best; X-Factor pulls it together; Power Pack gets uncomfortably dark; Miles has Thor feelings; and even more mutants die. NOTE: This episode is the second of a two-parter! If you haven't listened to Episode 65, where we cover the first half of the mutant massacre, you should probably do that before you listen to this one! X-PLAINED: Masque Tentacle disambiguation More of the Mutant Massacre A Sinister hypothesis Several Marauder-related retcons X-Factor #9-11 Power Pack #27 The Mighty Thor #373-374 Trish Tilby Artie & Leech Several awkward reunions Walter Simonson The fall of Angel Apocalypse’s horsemen Yet another crossover that will probably scar the Power kids for life Franklin Richards Thor, Donald Blake, and Sigurd Jarlson The best issue of any comic, ever. The Tunnelers Ongoing repercussions of the Mutant Massacre Rachel & Miles’s horseman identities Which X-Men could and should wield Mjolnir NEXT WEEK: The New Mutants party like it’s 1299! You can find a visual companion to this episode on our blog! Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Rachel 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 prints of this week’s illustration at our shop, or contact David Wynne for the original!

Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available until 8/2/2015 in the shop, or contact David for the original. In which the New Mutants get unstuck in time; Robert the Bruce is surprisingly shallow; Sentinels dabble in decoupage; Rachel pitches a comic; there’s no such thing as a happy Magneto flashback; you should probably respect teenagers more than you do; the seeds of Inferno are sewn; and Doug Ramsey hacks the planet. NOTE: Rachel and Miles are moving this week. Expect everything to be late. X-PLAINED: Messing with the past New Mutants character themes You Can’t Do That on Television New Mutants #47-50 Constructive stabbing Sad Darin Morgan Magneto Adventures in time and space Tactical retreat Several dark alternate futures Earth-8720 Decoupage of Future Past A singularly evocative Sentinel Earth-87050 Magneto’s terrible, terrible life The New Mutants vs. Magus Peak Magma Karma's codename Soul Sword continuity NEXT WEEK: Hunting humans for sport! You can find a visual companion to this episode on our blog! Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Rachel 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 prints of this week’s illustration at our shop, or contact David Wynne for the original!

Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available until 8/9/2015 , or contact David for the original. In which we catch our breath after the Mutant Massacre; Miles’s taste is both epic and adorable; Dazzler’s Achilles heel is fame; Madelyne Pryor; it’s hard to be a teenage ghost; Crimson Commando is not actually Frank Borman (but we wish he were); Wolverine may or may not make truck noises; Heroes for Hope is profoundly baffling; and Sunspot would definitely be way into Leslie Knope. X-PLAINED: Several untimely deaths Uncanny X-Men #214-216 Heroes for Hope The post-Mutant Massacre X-Men Malice Another set of Phoenix callbacks The Murder Grandpas Crimson Commando Super Sabre Stonewall Actual superhero Marsha P. Johnson Priscilla the jerk Wolverine SFX Some fairly spectacular misunderstandings One hell of a jam comic X-costumes A Thomas Magnum for 21st-century X-kids NEXT WEEK: Elle Collins and Graeme McMillan X-Plain Beast’s solo adventures! You can find a visual companion to this episode on our blog! Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Rachel 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 prints of this week’s illustration at our shop, or contact David Wynne for the original!

Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available until 8/9/2015 in the shop (once Redbubble’s uploader starts working again, anyway), or contact David for the original. In which Elle and Graeme save the day; Hank McCoy joins the real world (sort of) (briefly); Carl Maddicks may or may not be undead; academic discourse in the Marvel Universe leaves a few things to be desired; Steve Englehart is an unsung hero of X-Men; Mastermind lives up to his name; Warren Worthington has a good attitude about mutation; and Avengers Beast is the best Beast; and Graeme has strong feelings about Moira MacTaggert. X-PLAINED: The complex romantic life of Patsy Walker The increasingly terrible life choices of Hank McCoy Amazing Adventures #11-17 Incredible Hulk #161 Captain America #173-175 Avengers #137, 144, & 178 Marvel Team-Up #124 Life after the X-Men The Brand Corporation Carl Maddicks (again) Vampire Secret Agent Linda Donaldson The dubious chemical cause of mutation Beast as proto-Wolverine Steve Englehart The high price of passing Several unusually realistic latex masks Norman Mailer’s Handbook for Unliberated Women Sad clowns Buzz Baxter Hellcat (Patsy Walker) Someone who might be Carole King, Indira Gandhi, or your sister (but isn’t) Questionable corporate practices Quasimodo (but not that one) Semantics of fur color The Griffin The Secret Empire Actual supervillain Richard Nixon Mimic (Cal Rankin) Avengers Auditions Best Beast stories Scotland Special thanks to guest hosts Elle Collins & Graeme McMillan! NEXT WEEK: Everything is terrible. You can find a visual companion to this episode on our blog! Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Rachel 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 prints of this week’s illustration at our shop, or contact David Wynne for the original!

Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available until 8/23/2015 in the shop (also pencils skirts, ‘cause, why the hell not?) or contact David for the original. In which everything is terrible; miscommunication triangles are way more awkward than love triangles; Boom Boom is universally delightful; Miles has feelings about ‘80s fashion; Apocalypse is judging your band posters; X-Factor still hasn’t gotten the hang of doors; Cyclops’s life continues to be an anxiety dream; the Twelve are better in foreshadowing than practice; and Angel dies as he lived: half-naked, at an airport. X-PLAINED The evolution of Angel Cold opens rachelandmiles.com X-Factor so far X-Factor #12-15 A miscommunication triangle Boom Boom (Tabitha Smith) Rachel’s Marc Silvestri causality loop Boom Boom vs. Jubilee Cameron disambiguation Famine Master Mold (more) (again) The Twelve Tanya Trask Caliban NEXT WEEK: Technoorganic blues! You can find a visual companion to this episode on our blog! Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Rachel 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 prints of this week’s illustration at our shop, or contact David Wynne for the original!

In which Chris Claremont defines the X-Universe; Sunfire quits the team (again); Nightcrawler is the best; the narrator is nobody's friend; Colossus is a good kid; Cyclops has a long series of bad days; everyone is a bondage Viking; Rachel is a space pedant, we meet the Phoenix, and Wolverine is the Batman of Marvel. X-Plained: Polaris's kinda-powers Our first crossover event How much we love you Chris Claremont, and why he's the definitive X-writer Comics In Focus: Chris Claremont's X-Men Why Nightcrawler is the best point-of-view character The long game Tom Orzechowski's dimension-folding lettering skills Claremontisms The malicious narrator Count Nefaria Sliding-scale ransom The life, death, and occasional reanimation of Thunderbird Friendship The care and feeding of cairns Erik the Red Quiet moments Sentinels and X-Sentinels Steven Lang The (first) death and return of Jean Grey Accents You can find a visual companion to the episode – and links to recommended reading – on our blog. Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Next week: Leprechauns!  

Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available until 8/30/2015 at the shop, or contact David to purchase the original.   In which the New Mutants return from space; Professor Xavier ruins everything; Magneto is the Craig Pelton of X-Men; Cypher carouses shamefully with Hellfire tramps; Karma quits the team; and we wrap up Chris Claremont's New Mutants run. X-PLAINED: Leong and Nga Coy Manh New Mutants #51-54 The Starjammers (again) The paradox of Professor X Several dramatic speeches The Hellfire Club for Creative Anachronism Plan Omega (but not that one) A fairly epic dress-code violation Magik vs. Limbo A very specific bit of fancasting Best Magneto What X-fans (may or may not) live for A well-wrought nightmare Hellion disambiguation Doug Ramsey’s Fancy Hair New Mutants X Frank Zappa Wacky teen hijinks at the Hellfire Club Carousing shamefully with Hellfire tramps A heroic challenge A counterintuitive heart’s desire Claremont’s New Mutants run. Libraries Emma Frost’s accent The sounds of blastin’ NEXT WEEK: It's hard to be Havok. You can find a visual companion to this episode on our blog! Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Rachel 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 prints of this week’s illustration at our shop, or contact David Wynne for the original!

Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available until 9/6/2015 at the shop, or contact David to purchase the original.   In which Dazzler is not a team player; Longshot is the Zonker Harris of the X-Men; Juggernaut is That Guy; Rachel and Miles channel Statler and Waldorf; and Alex Summers is seriously never, ever going to finish grad school. X-PLAINED: Mutant X The only well-adjusted Scott Summers in the Multiverse The Goblin Entity Uncanny X-Men #217-219 The evolution of the X-Men’s lineup Standards for a good twist Doonesbury Several Dungeons & Dragons analogies A dubious literary allusion Flying jeeps CrimeBros The fundamental tragedy of Longshot Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart and several homages thereto Geordie and Rupert Havok (more) (again) Car-wreck sex An unfortunate end to a camping trip The Plot Bus Several ways to stat Rogue up as a D&D character Narrative-friendly power sets Special thanks to: The wonderful Adam Warrock, for letting us sample his song “Teamwork” in this episode! You can listen to the full track here, and find more of Adam’s work at adamwarrock.com. Harrison Barber for his X-Pert D&D advice (not to mention nearly fifteen years of tolerating our nonsense at the gaming table)! NEXT WEEK: X-Men: Evolution with Robert N. Skir! You can find a visual companion to this episode on our blog! Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Rachel 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 prints of this week’s illustration at our shop, or contact David Wynne for the original!

Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available until 9/6/2015 at the shop, or contact David to purchase the original. In which Rachel holds down the fort; Robert N. Skir X-Plains several cartoons; teenagers are basically mutants; Southern goths are the best goths; and you should really just watch X-Men: Evolution already. X-PLAINED: Bad parenting choices Rachel & Miles @ Rose City Comic Con Secret origins of Robert N. Skir The development of X-Men: Evolution The Unauthorized X-Men Point-of-view points of entry The Evolution series bible Spyke (Evan Daniels) Mutants in society Rogue variations Brushes with fandom NEXT WEEK: Fantastic Four vs. X-Men There's no visual companion to this episode, but you can find links and further reading on our blog! Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Rachel 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 prints of this week’s illustration at our shop, or contact David Wynne for the original!

Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available until 9/20/2015 at the shop, or contact David to purchase the original.   In which Franklin Richards is definitely a normal human meat child; Thing’s code-name is delightfully ambiguous; your kids are probably robot sailors; it’s always a Doombot; Rachel accidentally identifies with Reed Richards; all dramatic roads lead to Latveria; and superheroes are terrible at conflict resolution.   X-PLAINED: Franklin Richards Rachel & Miles at Rose City Comic Con Rachel & Miles X-Plain the X-Men LIVE Fantastic Four Versus the X-Men #1-4 The best hugs in the biz The Fantastic Four Mr. Fantastic (Reed Richards) Invisible Woman (Susan Richards) Human Torch (Johnny Storm) Thing (Ben Grimm) The Fantasticast Special dreams (but not that kind) Alicia Masters (sort of) Dubiously informative cover art The doomed frenemyship of Reed Richards and Victor von Doom Varyingly competent parenting An awful lot of incidental nudity Ethics of super-science Robot sailors Latveriandroids Agency Dubious conflict-resolution skills Human Torch costume logistics Dr. Doom’s history with Magneto Relative roles and themes of Marvel teams NEXT WEEK: X-Factor still hasn't really gotten the hang of doors. You can find a visual companion to this episode on our blog! Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Rachel 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 prints of this week’s illustration at our shop, or contact David Wynne for the original!

Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available until 9/20/2015 at the shop, or contact David to purchase the original.   In which Masque is the worst Morlock; makeouts are a good reason to learn to control your powers; Cyclops and Marvel Girl are terrible role models; Iceman is the heart of X-Factor; Cameron Hodge finally shows his hand; the kids are all right (and probably the only ones who are); and we’ve basically given up on X-Factor ever learning to use doors. X-PLAINED: The Right The Ani-Mator X-Factor #16-20 Training with X-Factor Skids’ backstory Motivational makeouts Miles’s Thor-ner Thor #377-378 Why you don’t make deals with frost giants The mystical realm of Pittsburgh Redundant funeral graffiti A totally rad villain speech The evolution of Iceman Dubious flight safety precautions Rictor (Julio Esteban Richter) Some really epic gaslighting A probably-inevitable confrontation Supervillain team-building exercises Park maintenance NEXT WEEK: Rachel & Miles Live at Rose City Comic Con; with Ann Nocenti, Jeff Parker, and Christopher Yost! You can find a visual companion to this episode on our blog! Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Rachel 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 prints of this week’s illustration at our shop, or contact David Wynne for the original!  

Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available until 10/4/2015 at the shop, or contact David to purchase the original.   In which we record our first live episode; Rose City Comic Con is AMAZING; Ann tells us how to torture the X-Men; Jean Grey needs more friends; Chris survives an encounter with an angry vampire; Squirrel Girl sets the high bar for questions; everyone has opinions about Longshot's hair; Jeff gets meta; Cyclops is the best at fighting Sentinels; and Rachel ALMOST gets through an entire panel without swearing.   X-PLAINED: Cable (Nathan Summers) Stryfe (Also Nathan Summers) Rose City Comic Con Christopher Yost Jeff Parker Ann Nocenti The X-Men Superheroes vs. soap operas Continuity vs. evolution Updating the Silver Age What defines an X-book All of our iconic X-eras Close encounters of the fan kind The Continuiteens Marvel Girl and Squirrel Girl team-ups Narrative regrets How we'd end the X-Men X-Men best suited to professional wrestling Our personal mutant metaphors Which of the X-Men is best at fighting Sentinels NEXT WEEK: Fallen Angels! There's no visual companion this week, but you can see photos from the panel, party, and more in our Rose City Comic Con roundup! Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Rachel 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 prints of this week’s illustration at our shop, or contact David Wynne for the original!  

In which Rachel refuses to back down from a challenge, we reject a point of canon, Leprechauns know Wolverine's secrets, Erik the Red is (still) awful, Professor X is (still) a dick, the X-Men are your D&D party, the Shi'ar do a Star Trek riff, Phoenix is kind of a big deal, the circus comes to town, and Magneto gets creepy. X-Plained: Cassandra Nova More early Claremont Sound effects Cassidy Keep Seneschals Shillelaghs Image inducers Black Tom Cassidy Supervillain bromance Bronze-age pacing Leprechauns Hovercraft rental Muir Island The Shi'ar Imperial Guard The M'Kraan Cyrstal Phoenix 101 Secret volcano lairs Magneto's mercifully short-lived age-play fixation The (dis)continuity of mutant powers You can find a visual companion to the episode – and links to recommended reading – on our blog. Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Next week: Wolverine punches a pterosaur, Cyclops grows a mustache, and everyone gets possessed!  

Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available until 10/11/2015 at the shop, or contact David to purchase the original.   In which we relax our definition of X-book; we really want Sunspot to grow a mustache; Miles gets an excuse to say "shillelagh"; Bill the Lobster goes on a rampage; and Fallen Angels is really, really, really wonderful. X-Plained: Devil Dinosaur Moon Boy Fallen Angels #1-8 Jo Duffy Assembling a team Sunspot as a point-of-view character Compassion as a superpower Da Costa's Devils vs. Ma Guthrie's Gorillas Goat Simulator An unfortunate incident Somewhat harsh student evaluations The moral compass of Magnum, P.I. Warlock and Sunspot as mutual foils Chance Ariel Multiple Man (Jamie Madrox) and several notable duplicates Siryn (Theresa Cassidy) Gomi Bill Don The Fallen Angels The Vanisher The Marvel Girl Fan Club Lobster feelings Kirby monsters Doris Danger Dinosaur World Fallen Angels as a spiritual antecedent to Runaways The tragic death of Don the Lobster Fallen Angels II How to party like Dr. Doom Doom Patrol vs. X-Men NEXT WEEK: A Sinister debut. You can find a visual companion to this episode on our blog! (Thanks for your patience!) Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Rachel 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 prints of this week’s illustration at our shop, or contact David Wynne for the original!

Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available until 10/18/2015 at the shop, or contact David to purchase the original.   In which we persevere in the face of adversity; Storm goes on a quest; Mr. Sinister makes his first appearance; Dazzler learns about teamwork (again); it still sucks to be Havok (but not as much as it sucks to be Madelyne Pryor); you should probably put down that cactus; the Murder Grampas join Freedom Force; Storm's life is a metal-album cover; and the X-Men are doomed as hell.   X-Plained: The Mr. Sinister / Summers family time loop Uncanny X-Men #220-224 Actual and potential origins of Mr. Sinister's name How Longshot's powers work in combat Teamwork (again) Representing sound and silence in a visual medium A protracted fight Forge (again) Naze (kind of) The Adversary Eye Killers One of many reasons not to masturbate with a cactus The X-Men in San Francisco Madelyne Pryor vs. fate Storm vs. Forge Character names vs. code names X-Makeovers NEXT WEEK: X-Men vs. Avengers You can find a visual companion to this episode on our blog! Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Rachel 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 prints of this week’s illustration at our shop, or contact David Wynne for the original!

Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available until 10/25/2015 at the shop, or contact David to purchase the original.   In no one trusts Magneto; Dr. Druid is the comfiest superhero; She-Hulk wants to punch a meteor; Rachel and Miles are really bad at both nature and maritime law; boat fights are the best fights; everyone makes terrible choices; and James Jaspers should really have been disbarred by now.   X-PLAINED: Darkstar vs. Dark Star X-Men vs. Avengers #1-4 Magneto's narrative milestones Dr. Anthony Druid A most peculiar meteor The Soviet Super Soldiers Vanguard Darkstar The Titanium Man / Gremlin Ursa Major Floridian vs. Australian fauna Crimson Dynamo Dock parties with the X-Men Secrets of Asteroid M Cartoonish pursuit The drinking rules of costume semi-destruction The Laws of the Sea Why you should put your multi-team brawls on a boat An abrupt creative shift The Light Several miracles of magnetism An ethical dilemma The (other) trial of Magneto Magneto heel turns Picking which tie-ins to read The Secret Convergence on Infinite Podcasts NEXT EPISODE: Warlock vs. the Impossible Man! You can find a visual companion to this episode on our blog! Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Rachel 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 prints of this week’s illustration at our shop, or contact David Wynne for the original!

Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available until 11/1/2015 at the shop, or contact David to purchase the original.   In which we go back in time to take a look at two annuals; everyone is really excited about Excalibur; Claremont ups his illusion game; Horde should probably not be allowed to dress himself; Rachel fires the X-Men; Havok needs better role models; Psylocke's secondary mutation is femme power; Kyle X-Plains giant monsters; we check in with Super Doctor Astronaut Peter Corbeau; and you should totally come see us at Vegas Valley Comic-Book Festival on November 7! X-PLAINED: Dazzler's powers Uncanny X-Men Annual #11 Uncanny X-Men Annual #7 New Mutants Annual #3 The Hostage, by Brendan Behan Wolverine vs. Historical Fiction Horde and his amazing outfit The Citadel of light and shadow The fantasy lives of X-Men Things to do with a shed human skin The secret origin of Wolverine's overactive healing factor The Impossible Man (and how to defeat him) The Shogun Warriors What happened to Super Doctor Astronaut Peter Corbeau Powers we don't like Vegas Valley Comic Book Festival NEXT EPISODE: All-New X-Men with Dennis Hopeless! You can find a visual companion to this episode on our blog! Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Rachel 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 prints of this week’s illustration at our shop, or contact David Wynne for the original!

Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available until 11/8/2015 at the shop, or contact David to purchase the original. In which we sit down with one of our favorite writers to talk about his upcoming series; the X-teens take to the road; Season One is kind of Friday Night Lights; good relationships make good stories; and we are really excited for All-New X-Men. X-PLAINED: Genesis (Evan Sabahnur) Dennis Hopeless Secret origins of X-Men: Season One All-New X-Men, vol. 2 How to write Jean Grey Building a team Why Quentin Quire isn't in All-New X-Men All-New in the larger X-line, and the X-line in the larger Marvel Universe Definitive X-eras Cable & X-Force What makes Cable tick Boom Boom Colossus and Domino The narrative case for solid relationships Favorite villains Mark Bagley Character evolution across multiple creative teams X-teen hobbies Vegas Valley Comic Book Fest NEXT WEEK: The New Mutants meet Bird Boy, with mixed results. There's no visual companion this week, but you can find a list of links mentioned in this episode on our blog! Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Rachel 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 prints of this week’s illustration at our shop, or contact David Wynne for the original!

Art by David Wynne.   In which Louise Simonson's New Mutants run gets off to a rough start; drugs are not a reliable way to impress your space girlfriend; Magma gets a character arc; Tarot's powers are kind of iffy; it'll take more than a few illegal fish to stop Magik; and Bird Brain thoroughly fails to live up to his potential. X-PLAINED: Sunspot's brushes with villainy The de-aging of the New Mutants New Mutants #55-58 A memorable dress Raek A cautionary tale The New Mutants as a Saturday morning cartoon Bird Boy / Bird Brain June Brigman A romantic dilemma Several alternative foci for Tarot's powers Redemption and humanization of villains in X-books Undignified birds The best and worst of Bret Blevins Non-comics writers we'd like to see write X-books Other teen time travelers we'd add to All-New X-Men NEXT WEEK: Live in Las Vegas! You can find a visual companion to this episode on our blog! Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Rachel 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'll have prints of this week's illustration up at our shop later this week. As always, you can contact David Wynne to inquire after the original!

Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available until 11/22/2015 at the shop, or contact David to purchase the original.   In which we travel back in time to 1979 for our second live convention special; X-Men Annual #3 desperately needs a Queen soundtrack; George Perez draws great Banshee; Polemachus is kind of a bullshit planet; we dream of a world without Funky Winkerbean; Cyclops's costume does not mix and match well; if you can be someone else, you should probably be Brian Blessed; Colossus gets a dragon; and Vegas Valley Comic Book Festival is awesome. X-PLAINED: X-misadventures in Las Vegas X-Men Annual #3 Arkon the Magnificent Isadore and Irmagarde Uhman The Comical Books Polemachus the planet vs. Polemachus the person Funky Winkerbean Several logistical problems with the Danger Room MVP Cyclops Some very good visual counterpoint to dialogue Paperboard lightning bolt disambiguation Jay's favorite Starman story X-title and music pairings Imperions Visual perspective in grand melees How to order a meal on Polemachus One specific variation on Cyclops's powers The X-Men as Spinal Tap Space-barbarian eyewear The annual cabinet The most appropriate X-team placement for Funky Winkerbean Best worst characters Our favorite X-Force teams Secret Convergence on Infinite Podcasts NEXT WEEK: Somehow, Cameron Hodge manages to get even worse. You can find a visual companion to this episode on our blog! Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Rachel 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 prints of this week’s illustration at our shop, or contact David Wynne for the original!

In which Phoenix has nothing on Jamie Madrox when it comes to retcons, Pterosaurs have super punchable faces, Colossus gets laid, we are uninterested in the Savage Land, Wolverine and Storm are both pretty interesting, smiling costs extra if you're Doctor Doom, Banshee saves the day, Alpha Flight tries, Angry Hovercraft Guy comes back, and Proteus is fairly upsetting. X-Plained: X-Men #109, 114-16, 118-122, and 125-128 Multiple Man Metacontinuity The Savage Land Pterosaurs Shi'ar mustache technology Karl Lykos Misty Knight Colleen Wing Wolverine in Japan Mandroids Moses Magnum A Heist Angus McWhirter, disgruntled hovercraft rental guy Alpha Flight Team Dynamics Why you always leave a note Proteus You can find a visual companion to the episode – and links to recommended reading – on our blog. Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Next week: Secret origins, shipper wars, the Siege Perilous, and which of us would win in a fight.

Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available until 11/29/2015 at the shop, or contact David to purchase the original.   In which Franklin Richards is the center of a disproportionate number of X-Men specials; Quicksilver without powers is comedy gold; Luna is the best little girl on the moon (but it's kind of a low bar); Jay accidentally cares about the Inhumans; Jean Grey may or may not be the Wesley Willis of X-Factor; Cameron Hodge's exit interview is weirdly professional; Boom Boom is the best reluctant hero; and Archangel makes his debut. X-PLAINED: Quicksilver's team associations Knights of Wundagore Chthon X-Factor Annual #2 X-Factor #21-23 The Inhumans Black Bolt Medusa Crystal Lockjaw QWOP Quicksilver Leech's wildly inconsistent powers Gorgon Luna Headbutting ghosts, or, why sentence structure matters Maximus Several methods of mind control A really terrible place for a date Cameron Hodge: Bureaucrat Supervillain The last will & testament of Warren Worthington III Another superpower pet peeve A theoretical team-up we would love to see The Arlington Interactive Museum of (evil) Science Some really dumb armor Archangel Our preferred third Summers brothers NEXT WEEK: Secret Convergence on Infinite Podcasts! You can find a visual companion to this episode on our blog! Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Rachel 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 prints of this week’s illustration at our shop, or contact David Wynne for the original!

Art by James Stokoe In which Miles finally makes it to Battlepod; we delve into our favorite continuity snarls for the benefit of the Beyonder; Kang is everyone; we're really grateful that the D.C. Multiverse is out of our usual scope; someone gets a new costume; and the Secret Convergence on Infinite Podcasts reaches its shocking conclusion! Featuring Paul O'Brien of House to Astonish and Kieran Shiach of Journey Into Misery; with Greg Rucka as the voice of the Beyonder! X-PLAINED: Kang The Third Summers Brother The D.C. Multiverse Cable This is the final episode of the Secret Convergence on Infinite Podcasts, a nine-part crossover event featuring the bravest and boldest of comics podcasts. You can find a list of the previous #SCOIP episodes--and where to jump into participating podcasts--on our blog! ART CHALLENGE: Miles apparently came home from Secret Convergence with a snazzy new costume that may or may not be a hostile alien symbiote! What does it look like? Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Rachel 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!

Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available at the shop, or contact David to purchase the original. In which we begin our 3-part coverage of Fall of the Mutants; Roma is very good at her job; strange things are afoot in Dallas; Mystique's parenting skills are somewhat lopsided; Neal Conan is awesome; Havok gets a soapbox; Storm and Forge flirt with godhood; Rogue's costume exists in a state of quantum uncertainty; Colossus is the organic steel wrench in the gears of chaos; and the X-Men die for real (but get better).   X-PLAINED: Crossovers vs. events The Fall of the Mutants Uncanny X-Men #225-227 A really great marketing campaign The Adversary (again) Roma The Starlight Citadel Retcons as applied pareidolia A metaphor that is also a real chess piece A sort-of stabbing Neal Conan & Manoli Wetherell Literally hard-hitting journalism A whole new world Another variation on the Rogue's-costume drinking game A really improbable plan The death and resurrection of the X-Men Mutant metabolisms NEXT WEEK: It's Always Darkest… You can find a visual companion to this episode on our blog! Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Rachel 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 prints of this week’s illustration at our shop, or contact David Wynne for the original!

Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available at the shop, or contact David to purchase the original. In which the New Mutants learn that they are not, in fact, immortal; Louise Simonson finds her stride; the Ani-Mator makes Cameron Hodge look downright reasonable; hating humans is Magneto's security blanket; Doug Ramsey dies; and we continue our coverage of the Fall of the Mutants. X-PLAINED: Sugar Man New Mutants #59-61 Bird Brain The Ani-Mator The Ani-Mates Stylistic whiplash Why you always leave a note The death of Doug Ramsey Black Condor's amazing origin story Interpersonal dynamics in New Mutants Parsing ongoing series Why Doug died 616 characters we'd trade for their Battleworld counterparts Storytelling trends and the decline of though balloons NEXT WEEK: …Just Before Dawn You can find a visual companion to this episode on our blog! Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Rachel 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 prints of this week’s illustration at our shop, or contact David Wynne for the original!

Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available at the shop, or contact David to purchase the original.   In which X-Factor finally comes out ahead; Jay and Miles weigh in on the X-Men: Apocalypse trailer; En Sabah Nur is better at theater than tactics; no one does scale like Simonson; Iceman pulls an Xavier; Cyclops and Marvel Girl totally do it; and we conclude our three-part coverage of Fall of the Mutants. X-PLAINED: A potential (but unlikely) vector for resurrecting Cyclops-616 Events vs. crossovers Our thoughts on the X-Men: Apocalypse trailer X-Factor #24-26 Power Pack #35 Incredible Hulk #340 Captain America #339 Fantastic Four #312 Daredevil #252 Newsletters of Apocalypse Some deeply dubious immunology The fall of Caliban Sense of scale The kiss we've been waiting for Teen Titans Wasteland A recognizable ruse A thematically significant crash landing Some long-awaited resolution How to judge an original-5 book Sweatsuits of Apocalypse The iconic X-Factor costumes Fall of the Mutants tie-ins Emus The best-dressed X-Men NEXT WEEK: GIANT-SIZE WINTER SPECIAL #2! You can find a visual companion to this episode on our blog! Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Rachel 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 prints of this week’s illustration at our shop, or contact David Wynne for the original!

Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available at the shop, or contact David to purchase the original.   In which Jay and Miles finally X-Plain some Excalibur; Kyle interviews the X-Perts; Logan gets up-close and personal with the X-Men; Elle casts Excalibur; Chris X-Plains Santa Claus; and you are still the best listeners of any podcast, ever. X-PLAINED: Excalibur: The Sword Is Drawn Christmas at the X-Mansion The best hair in the Marvel Universe The not particularly secret origins of Excalibur Mojoverse anxiety dreams Warwolves Meggan Captain Britain (Brian Braddock) Sexiest Nightcrawler Technet (and several of its members) Gatecrasher Yap Omniversal Majestrix Opal Luna Saturnine The Special Executive Mutant intersectionality Why we chose the X-Men Favorite X-Spinoffs Our podcast-guest wish list The theoretical cast of an Excalibur movie Our ideal X-lineups Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men The Second Annual Super Doctor Astronaut Peter Corbeau Awards for Excellence in X-Cellence Marvel Holiday Special 1991 Santa Claus The true meaning of Christmas You can find a visual companion to this episode on our blog! Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Rachel 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 prints of this week’s illustration at our shop, or contact David Wynne for the original!

Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available at the shop, or contact David to purchase the original.   In which the X-Men move to Australia; O.Z. Chase is definitely not a werewolf; Dazzler is a smart, glittery laser cookie; Gateway falls into some uncomfortable tropes; Havok remains the king of terrible hats; Madelyne Pryor hacks the planet; Rogue makes a friend; Rick Leonardi draws the definitive Magik; Colossus' secondary mutation is allegory; and there are a lot of great places to donate your old backissues. X-PLAINED: Gateway's probable origin Wintry mix Miles's definitive X-era Uncanny X-Men #228-231 O.Z. Chase Vladimir Zaitzev The Reavers (No, not those Reavers) Bonebreaker Skullcrusher Pretty Boy Children Jessan Hoan (Tyger Tiger) Gateway Teamwork (more) (again) The Siege Perilous Cooterman's Creek Jay's favorite mythic figure (and long-term career goal) The best brother in the Marvel Universe A really sad team-up Favorite X-science moments Where to donate comic books NEXT WEEK: The saddest story ever You can find a visual companion to this episode on our blog! Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Rachel 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 prints of this week’s illustration at our shop, or contact David Wynne for the original!

Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available at the shop, or contact David to purchase the original.   In which New Mutants #64 is the saddest single issue of any X-book ever; the New Mutants have to grow up fast; Warlock comes to terms with mortality; The Last of Us is harder to play the second time; Tattoo Tales: X-Men: Masquerade is delightfully unhinged; animated Cyclops is totally the worst; Beast probably has a terrible garage band; Jean starts a kitchen fire; and Wolverine saves Jubilee's birthday.   X-PLAINED: The saddest issue ever New Mutants #64 The only okay way to watch Grave of the Fireflies The aftermath of Doug Ramsey's death Several unhealthy coping mechanisms The Last of Us Tattoo Tales: X-Men: Masquerade Some varyingly impressive costumes General irresponsibility Why Wolverine is wearing a clown suit Douglock The New Mutants' D&D alignments NEXT WEEK: You never forget your first Ship. You can find a visual companion to this episode on our blog! Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Rachel 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 prints of this week’s illustration at our shop, or contact David Wynne for the original!

Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available at the shop, or contact David to purchase the original. In which X-Factor loves press conferences, Archangel provides many opportunities for terrible puns, Cyclops gets to be happy for a whole five pages, X-Factor learns how doors work, the X-kids are generous (except Boom Boom), Infectia makes monsters to fight the patriarchy, Ship is your cool aunt, and Destiny accidentally predicts Cable.   X-PLAINED: Apocalypse versus Ed Wood X-Factor #27-31 Superhero mortality Star-crossed mugger romance Marvel Girl as, and not as, Team Mom The greatest line in all of X-Factor Ship’s anatomical resemblances Combat and relationship discussion multitasking X-Men Evolution Syndrome Iceman as joker-by-necessity Infectia and the Anti-Bodies Rambo Nukes Commando In Nicaragua Wacky sitcom humor Warren Worthington, PI Earth 13122 and LEGO optic blasts Musical careers of the X-Men NEXT WEEK: Magik versus Forge. You can find a visual companion to this episode on our blog! Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Rachel 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 prints of this week’s illustration at our shop, or contact David Wynne for the original!

Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available at the shop, or contact David to purchase the original. In which airplanes are really dangerous if you’re a mutant, Magik remembers that time she dreamed about remembering a dream, those who live by mystically bad judgment die by mystically bad judgment, It’s Always Mystique (TM), and everything leads to Inferno.   X-PLAINED: Forge’s moral compass New Mutants #62-63 and #65-66 Empath and irredeemable vs. sympathetic villains Magical postal eagles Nova Roma Jag-u-ars Art as era signifier Time travel nightmare logic Sharpiemancy The “last” Brood Jerk headmasters who won’t even let you commit murder A long-awaited roomie reunion Bret Blevins’s mad Limbo skillz Claremont / Simonson character maturity equilibrium Astrally furry pants Loyalty to the living versus loyalty to the dead The Ultimate Darkchilde Wolverine’s surprisingly non-metallic teeth Partying with the New Mutants NEXT WEEK: Pryde of the X-Men. You can find a visual companion to this episode on our blog! Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Rachel 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 prints of this week’s illustration at our shop, or contact David Wynne for the original!

In which we answer 45 straight minutes of your questions and alienate everyone with our answer to Jean vs. Emma, Miles is probably too nice to win in a fight, we are really into The Adventures of Pete & Pete, Rachel is the Vega to Miles's Shepard, Excalibur is awesome, you should stop punching the DNA, Wolverine is Rogue, Longshot is the prettiest man, and Professor X is a pufferfish. X-Plained: Who would win in a fight The Rachel & Miles Fastball Special Cycloptometry Backissues, collections, and where to find them Podcaster 'shipping Spinoffs Rachel Summers (more) (again) Five tattoos Non-X stuff we're into X-Force versus the Comics Code Authority Ultimate X-Men How to keep track of crossovers Textual queerness The Siege Perilous Jean vs. Emma Some good Nightcrawler and Iceman stories Dream teams The Glammest Timeline Best and worst code names Bendis's X-books X-animals You can find a visual companion to the episode – and links to recommended reading – on our blog. Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Next week: The Dark Phoenix Saga  

Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available at the shop, or contact David to purchase the original. In which Miles and Elisabeth X-Plain Pryde of the X-Men; Magneto is somehow even worse at branding than Mystique; the X-Universe is in desperate need of responsible adults; Wolverine hates kids; everybody's mean to Lockheed; and the Sentinels represent your feelings. X-PLAINED: Wolverine's Australian accent Pryde of the X-Men X-Men / Muppet Babies analogues The Brotherhood of Mutant Terrorists How not to comfort scared teenagers The X-Cessible X-Men The Mutant Power Circuit Terrible parenting A MacGuffin A Really Dubious Evil Plot Several Additional MacGuffins THE POWER! One of many reasons to be nice to animals Space The X-Men Arcade Game Ground Kontrol X-Men: Madness in Murderworld The Uncanny X-Men (game) Metaphorical sentinels Mysterious lizards Video game mechanics vs. superhero ethics Pryde of the X-Men vs the '90s animated series vs. X-Men: Evolution Alternate animated series hooks NEXT WEEK: The Brood go to a revival meeting You can find a visual companion to this episode on our blog! Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Rachel 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 prints of this week’s illustration at our shop, or contact David Wynne for the original!

Art by David Wynne   In which the X-Men finally follow up on a dropped plotline; you should probably not mess with abandoned star sharks; "Dawn of Blood" is a sometimes food; The Goblin Queen makes her first appearance; we debut a new podcast feature; and there may or may not be a frozen woman in the Xavier School basement. X-PLAINED: The Providian Order Uncanny X-Men #232-234 The Brood (again) Several ill-fated campers Harry Palmer The Brood as horror antagonists Why John Doggett is the best X-Files agent Psylocke's armor Why Nestor Carbonell should play Gambit Some deeply dubious codenames Red Bee Michael the Bee Reverend William Conover and his Glory Day Crusade The Mile High Diner The strange case of Hannah Conover One hell of a nightmare A deal with a devil InfernoWatch The direct market Ways to approach an endless serial INFERNO WATCH: Madelyne meets and strikes a deal with S'ym First appearance of the Goblin Queen costume NEXT EPISODE: Evolutionary War CORRECTION: In this episode, Jay recalled the direct market as having been conceived in significant part by Carol Kalish. It was, in fact, the brainchild of Phil Seuling. You can find a visual companion to this episode--and links to recommended reading--on our blog! Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Rachel 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 prints of this week’s illustration at our shop, or contact David Wynne for the original!

Art by David Wynne. Prints, cards, and travel mugs available at the shop, or contact David to purchase the original.   In which we play Evolutionary War Mad-Libs; it's probably a bad sign when Apocalypse decides you need an intervention; Dani is (briefly) the new Doug; horses are jerks; it's probably really dangerous to be Longshot; Storm has the coolest friends; the High Evolutionary is very high indeed; and we make a (very token) nod to Valentine's Day. X-PLAINED: Secret Origins of the High Evolutionary Evolutionary War The actual history of eugenics in America X-Factor Annual #3 New Mutants Annual #4 Uncanny X-Men Annual #12 Classic X-Men #22 Purifiers (but not those purifiers) Stack Purge How to tell when an event has major psychic repercussions A Silver-Age callback An Apocalypse-style intervention Toga Steve (Val-Or) The return of Bulk and Glow Worm Equal-opportunity Hellfire lingerie Mirage's power upgrade Miles vs. puberty vs. Uncanny X-Men The coolest civilization ever Colossus's illegitimate kid The cutest sound effect Origins of the Scott/Jean/Logan love triangle Stuff Jay likes and Miles doesn't The Elle Collins Theory of Podcast Roles NEXT EPISODE: Captain Britain! You can find a visual companion to this episode on our blog! Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Rachel 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 prints (or travel mugs) of this week’s illustration at our shop, or contact David Wynne for the original!

Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available at the shop, or contact David to purchase the original. In which we venture out of our wheelhouse; Contest of Champions is ridiculous in any medium; Captain Britain would like you to unhand that elf; the Fury is legitimately terrifying; the Special Executive is the best at heists; Brian Braddock knows exactly what he's getting into; Merlyn is the multiversal Charles Xavier; and this is really just the tip of the iceberg. X-PLAINED: Various Contests of Champions ISO-8 Marvel UK Marvel Superheroes 377-388 Daredevils 1-11 Mighty World of Marvel 7-13 Captain Britain (Brian Braddock) Jackdaw Earth-238 Mad Jim Jaspers The Crazy Gang Algernon the Rat Omniversal Majestrix Opal Luna Saturnyne Life-Enhancing Fluid The Fury Alan Moore juvenilia The (first) death and rebirth of Captain Britain How to make a retcon work Mastermind (but not that Mastermind) Emma Collins Pre-Psylocke Betsy Braddock S.T.R.I.K.E. Vixen Slaymaster The Trial of Saturnyne The Special Executive Mandragon The Captain Britain Corps Captain U.K. (Linda McQuillan) Marvelman vs. Miracleman Future Traumatic Stress Disorder NEXT EPISODE: But wait! There's more! You can find a visual companion to this episode on our blog! Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Rachel 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 prints of this week’s illustration at our shop, or contact David Wynne for the original!  

Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available at the shop, or contact David to purchase the original.   In which we continue our coverage of pre-Excalibur Captain Britain; S.T.R.I.K.E. is D.U.C.K. is W.H.O.; the R.C.X. is one lapse in judgment away from on-the-job cosplay; Meggan levels up; your name will never be as cool as Doctor Crocodile's; Technet writes their own cold opens; and we announce the upcoming debut of Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men!   X-PLAINED: A large number of acronyms Irony Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men Mighty World of Marvel #14-16 Captain Britain #1-14 The aftermath of the Jaspers Warp Inspector Dai Thomas How to work out a superhero's secret identity The Crazy Gang (more) (again) Slaymaster Captain Britain's costume Sidney Crumb Gatecrasher's Technet (more) (again) Earth-794 Kaptain Briton Sat-Yr-Nin The R.C.X. Agents Gabriel & Michael The Warpies The Cherubim Meggan (more) (again) Doctor Crocodile Jamie Braddock Betsy Braddock's short and calamitous tenure as Captain Britain Women in Refrigerators Our thoughts on the X-movies Mutant heredity NEXT EPISODE: Genosha Is for Lovers You can find a visual companion to this episode on our blog! Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Rachel 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 prints of this week’s illustration at our shop, or contact David Wynne for the original!

In which we wade into the first arc of the Dark Phoenix Saga, Rachel does not like Sage, the Hellfire Club are the mean girls of the Marvel Universe, Cyclops and Phoenix have a Moment, Mastermind ruins everything, Emma Frost is a force to be reckoned with, Wolverine gets awesome, and we meet the Dark Phoenix. X-Plained: Sage The Hellfire Club The Inner Circle Jason Wyngarde (again) Sebastian Shaw Harry Leland Emma Frost Donald Pierce Hegemony and social politics of the Hellfire Club 18th Century bondage cosplay Kitty Pryde The worst disco ever Alison Blaire Tiny shorts How to make Wolverine work Sexual politics of the Dark Phoenix Why Magneto's powers are broken post-AvX The P.E.N.I.S. five You can find a visual companion to the episode – and links to recommended reading – on our blog. Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Next week: Showdown on the Moon

In which we begin at the beginning: everything clicks with #3, Professor Xavier is a jerk, Magneto is a fearless fashionista, Cyclops gets a name, Jean Grey has a chronic case of the Silver Age, and allegorical diversity is not enough. X-Plained: Mutant genetics and taxonomy Practical semantics of "X-Men" Charles Xavier's equally dubious ethics and decorating choices Superhero couture of the Atomic Age Why Cyclops can't control his powers The miracle of comic-book magnetism A problematic analogy X-books for beginners Snow grenades The word "yaybo" The mystery of the ubiquitous plaid suit You can find a visual companion to the episode – and links to recommended reading – on our blog. Find us on iTunes or Stitcher!

In which Jean commits genocide, the Shi'ar are total dicks (again), we have feelings about X-Men #137, Claremont and Byrne do what they do best, shit gets real on the moon, Kitty joins the team, and the Dark Phoenix Saga concludes.   X-Plained: Inhumans The Kree The Terrigen Mist Teamwork The Dark Phoenix Cameos with cosmic implications The Phoenix event horizon Establishing scale Psychic battles The winged never-nudes of the Marvel Universe Danger-room exposition The Shi'ar's really dubious justice system Why X-Men #137 is the definitive issue of X-Men Pacing The power of friendship Quiet moments The blue area of the moon The best last stand Moon vandalism The Phoenix Retcon You can find a visual companion to the episode – and links to recommended reading – on our blog. Find us on iTunes or Stitcher!

In which Canada is complicated, the X-Perts join Twitter, Rachel cares about a Wolverine story, Angel had one job, Kitty Pryde is pretty cool, Cyclops gets a hat, neither of us knows how to pronounce "Aleytys," Doctor Doom is a terrible date, and the X-Men have an awful lot of signature moves. X-Plained: Department H Department K Director X The Weapon Plus Program Weapon P.R.I.M.E. Weapons I-XVI The Death-Defying Doctor Mirage The new normal Stevie Hunter The Wendigo Berserker rage Yard work Wolverines Angel's one move The N'Garai (again) Lee Forrester D'Spayre Magic-Feather villains Man-Thing Doctor Doom Arcade Why it sucks to be Havok The X-Perts' relative areas of X-pertise Cyclops vs. Storm Signature moves CORRECTIONS: Lee's dad's house is in Florida, not Louisiana; Doctor Doom is not in Europe but in New England, where has taken over Toad's theme park, because that was definitely a thing. If you're looking for our coverage of X-Men 141 and 142—"Days of Future Past"—you can find that in Episode 6, "Days of Future Whatever." You can find a visual companion to the episode – and links to recommended reading – on our blog. Find us on iTunes or Stitcher!

In which we announce exciting new developments, the ASPCA should probably have a word with Emma Frost, Kitty Pryde gets a new costume, Lee Forrester is still the best, Cyclops has an octopus on his chest, Magneto has a change of heart, and Wolverine embraces transhumanism. X-Plained: The Thomas Hardy novel of superhero comics Friendship X-Men #148-152 Unstable Denim Disco Dinner Clubs Caliban (a little) Kitty Pryde's amazing fashion sense Garokk the Unremarkable Atlantean couture Why Magneto is Interesting The Massachusetts Academy The Persona Exchange Gun Harvey and Janet How to win $2500 in 1980 Editorial Outsourcing You can find a visual companion to the episode – and links to recommended reading – on our blog. Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Support us on Patreon!

In which we correct a startling omission, explore the current state of the X-Universe, and speculate wildly; Quentin Quire has excellent fashion sense; Rachel gets a new accessory; Miles goes off-brand; the X-Men are somewhat complicated; Iron Man has poor decision-making skills; Charles Xavier dies for real; Beast might be a supervillain; we briefly forget Marc Guggenheim's first name; and the future remains a relative mystery. For purposes of continuity, it's probably worth noting that this episode was recorded before the SDCC Marvel panel. X-Plained: Quentin Quire Patreon A startling omission from the official SDCC lineup The current state of the X-Men Decimation Dark Reign Utopia Schism Avengers vs. X-Men Mutant politics Hope Summers The Phoenix/P.E.N.I.S. five (again) The (real) (this time) (we think) death of Charles Xavier Teenager hijinks Crossover events Battle of the Atom Semantics of supervillainy How Wolverine is 100% definitely going to die Jumping-on points Current X-books Jubilee You can find a visual companion to the episode – and links to recommended reading – on our blog. Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Support us on Patreon!  

In which we make our Comics Alliance debut, Cyclops makes a startling discovery, Carol Danvers joins the team (sort of), Chris Claremont calls out some bullshit, Havok still has terrible taste in hats, and Peter Corbeau gets his own theme music Content note: In this episode, we spend a lot of time talking about a rape that occurs in a previous Avengers arc, the community and narrative response thereto, and the larger landscape and ethics of portrayals of sexual violence in superhero comics. X-Plained Mystique's mercurial alliances Rachel and Miles X-Plain the X-Men Uncanny X-Men #154-158 Avengers Annual #10 Bollywood Starjammers The dread Psi-Scream Shi'ar Fashion Technology Dr. Peter Corbeau (more) (again) Rogue Carol Danvers The Whole Marcus Thing Chris Claremont vs. rape culture Computers Gender politics of the Dark Phoenix Saga Next week: Dracula! Clarification, since we neglected to specify in the episode: Avengers #200 was written by James Shooter, George Pérez, Bob Layton, and David Michelinie; Avengers Annual #10 was written by Chris Claremont. You can find a visual companion to the episode – and links to recommended reading – on our blog. Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Support us on Patreon!

In which Dr. Nemesis is delightful, Bill Sienkiewicz foreshadows himself, Dracula hits on absolutely everyone, Blade Godwins a crossover event, Jubilee get a jet ski, the X-Men do Castlevania 2, Rachel and Miles pick a vacation destination, and Cyclops wants you to follow your heart. X-Plained: Dr. Nemesis A very good page of a very good comic Dracula variations X-Men #159 Appropriate use of holy symbols "The D" Tomb of Dracula Bloodstorm Carrotstorm Curse of the Mutants Jubilee Crossover events Why we can't have nice things Some really sweet weaponry The Dracula Reassembly Machine Phone sex with Gambit The point of being Lord of the Vampires X-Club Authorial voice in comics Why there probably won't be a Starjammers movie Next Episode: Rachel and Miles go to Hell (kind of)! You can find a visual companion to the episode – and links to recommended reading – on our blog. Find us on iTunes or Stitcher! Support us on Patreon!

In which we review the New Mutants' film debut.