recursal/Fanatic-Fandom huggingface dataset:
Episode 015 - The Ballad of Harvey and Janet

## Episode Description

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.

## Cold Open

The comic book backstory of Firestar is explained.

## 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

## Listener Questions

* I’ve wondered since I was a kid reading X-Men back in the 90′s, what was the reason X-Men #137 could be worth $2500? I’m sure it’s actually something anti-climactic, but at the time I thought that it meant that they already knew how good it was. Reprints never seem to include the important details.
* Didn’t Lee Forrester hook up with Magneto at some point on his Bermuda Triangle island base?
Episode 139 - Starjammed

## Episode Description

In which *Spotlight on Starjammers* is basically a RPG module; Jay may or may not have developed superpowers; artfully tattered clothing is a Summers family tradition; the Starjammers kill a planet; Raza may or may not be super progressive; and Professor X dies (again).

## X-Plained

* The T-Bomb
* *Spotlight on Starjammers* Vol 1 #1-2
* The Starjammers (more) (again)
* Phlazers
* Keel-hauling
* The space plank
* Phalkon
* The Groff System
* Vam & Mer
* Cr’eee’s dubious past
* Several really on-the-nose planets
* *Doki-Doki Universe*
* A critical comma
* The expected endurance of the Starjammer
* A Shi’ar imperial poop fight
* Zenith
* Many cameos
* An entirely gratuitous superhero slugfest
* Death Phoenix
* Bald Phoenix
* Several dropped plot threads
* Our thoughts on ResurrXion
* Creative teams vs. characters

## Listener Questions

* What do you guys thinks of the ResurrXion announcements so far?
* How do you balance your opinion on a creative team vs your desire to read the characters? There are some good ResurrXion pitches with questionable teams, and great teams with odd pitches. What do you put your weight on?
Episode 014 - Look Upon My Man-Thing and D’Spayre

## Episode Description

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

## Listener Questions

* I have a question about the openings, some variation of which I was SURE was going to be asked in the all-question-spectacular. Is Miles always the one with the “WHAT?!?” because Rachel actually knows more/has read more X-Men comics? Or is it just a dynamic you decided on for your “characters” on the show? Even if it was just an artistic choice, and not based in fact, I’m curious: who’s read more X-Men? And, just in case the answer to this question is different, who knows more about Marvel’s Merry Mutants?
* How did Storm become leader of the X-men over Cyclops and who do you think is the better leader?
* Can you catalog all the many patented Danger Room tried-and-tested maneuvers such as the "Fastball" from Colossus and Wolverine?

## 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.
Episode 111 - You’ll Have to Look Inside for That

*Art by David Wynne*

## Episode Description

In which Wolverine gets a wolverine; the Crazy Gang meets their match; Inferno is business as usual for Excalibur; Alan Davis covers are the best covers; David Wynne makes his on-air debut; Courtney Ross is more competent than you; Murderworld operates on a dubious economic model; Nightcrawler is the anti-Nice Guy™, and everything basically works out for the best.

## X-Plained

* Wolverine’s wolverine
* A subtle but critical spelling difference
* *Excalibur* #4-7
* The greatest comic-book cover of all time
* Dialogue on covers
* Courtney Ross
* Edwardian power suits
* Arcade (again)
* The dubious economics of Murderworld
* The Looney Toones school of sexploitation
* Search terms
* Fashion in *Excalibur*
* A mundane but useful superpower
* The death of Courtney Ross
* Perils of transatlantic flight
* The Goblin Princess
* A really excellent gargoyle
* Several cinematic references
* A very revealing outfit
* Brigadier Alysande Stuart
* Sinister fashion
* Still more Limbo disambiguation

## Listener Questions

* What are your thoughts about Mister Sinister's outfit?
* Considering Inferno, is the Limbo of Immortus and Marcus, S'ym and Magik, Rom and the Dire Wraiths, and The Space Phantoms the same place?
Episode 148 - That's So Ravens

## Episode Description

In which Archangel falls in with the LARP crowd; all yuppies are (probably) vampires; Beast is kind of a jerk; there are a lot of reasons to be mad at Forge; and you should totally come hang out with us at ECCC!

## X-Plained

* A peculiar scheme
* *X-Factor* #54, 56-59
* Crimson
* The Ravens
* A gallery opening
* Several varyingly tortured souls
* Charlotte Jones (more)
* Archangel vs. Archangel’s wings
* Ethical reporting
* An accidental bank robbery
* The return of a long-lost villain
* Timmy Jones

## Listener Questions

* I can't remember if you had discussed this when you debuted, but is there a reason why you pronounced Opal Lun Sat-yr-9 as "Sat ayer nine" instead of "Saturnine"? Since she's the dark evil counterpoint of 616 Courtney Ross, I always assumed her name was a pun on the adjective Saturnine and meant to be a homophone of that word.
* Who would be the best fit for a horror movie villain besides Mystique, the Wolverines, and Sabertooth?
Episode 016 - The Official Unofficial Not-at-SDCC (Rachel and Miles X-Plain the) X-Men Panel

## Episode Description

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

## Listener Questions

* How come Jean Grey gets a free pass for wiping out an entire solar system under Dark Phoenix's influence, but Cyclops is essentially dead to the majority of his lifelong friends for murdering Professor X under the exact same influence?
* Why is Jubilee a vampire? No, seriously -- I heard she's a vampire now. Wait, wait, forget the whole vampire thing...Jubilee's a MOM?!?
Episode 265 - Rude Awakenings

*Art by David Wynne*

## Episode Description

In which Glen Danzig was the most popular Wolverine fancast for a weirdly long time; breasts have physical mass; the Shi’ar empire is not your friend; Deathbird should not be left in charge of anything alive; Jubilee learns about privilege; Sinister is not subtle; plasma is the new magnetism; Scott and Jean return from the future; and Nick Fury probably sews his name into the waistband of all his underpants.

## X-Plained

* Some guy from Earth-1610
* *X-Men: Unlimited* #5
* *X-Men* #34-35
* Shi’ar sexting
* A rude awakening (literal)
* Rococo Stryfe
* Some uncomfortable fashion choices
* X-pajamas
* Definitely nude Charles Xavier
* Breasts
* Shi’ar imperial bullshit
* A very impressive headdress
* Reality TV… in space!
* A rude awakening (metaphorical)
* Shi’ar childhood
* Negotiation
* A total dick move
* Another total dick move
* Beast’s brief tenure as field leader of the X-Men
* The return of Threnody
* The titles of several sex tapes
* High-tech spelunking
* Sinister’s secret DNA library
* Controversial outfits
* Nick Fury’s stuff
* Sunset Grace
* The racism inherent to Evan Sabahnur’s background
* A question we’ve answered before and will probably answer again

## Listener Questions

This article needs a transcription of the episode questions.
Episode 104 – The Noodle Incident

*Art by David Wynne*

## Episode Description

In which Brett White joins us for a look at the current state of the X-line; Dennis Hopeless helps shed some light on a persistent mystery; Brett has a lot of feelings about the Dark Riders; All-New Wolverine is our everything; All-New X-Men is the new New Mutants; X-Men ’92 is the prize at the bottom of the continuity cereal box; we speculate on potential fatalities in the upcoming Death of X; and everything is probably going to be more or less okay.

## X-plained

* Why everyone is mad at Cyclops
* The Noodle Incident
* How we variously define X-titles
* The current state of the X-line
* The 8-Month Gap
* Secret Wars
* Earth 616.1
* Extraordinary X-Men (Current series)
* Uncanny X-Men (Current series)
* All-New Wolverine
* Old Man Logan (Current series)
* All-New X-Men (Current series)
* X-Men: Worst X-Man Ever
* X-Men ’92 (Current series)
* The Dark Riders
* Being personally invested in characters you don’t own
* Favorite formats
* The mystic end of the X-Men cinematic universe
* Mysteries and mysteries

## Listener Questions

* Do you think it would be a good for the X-Men comics to do multiple miniseries instead of a bunch of ongoings like there have been in the past?
* With the recent announcement of The New Mutants movie, do you think it's finally time for the X-Men films to get really weird and introduce elements of magic and more cosmic sci-fi?
* What's the difference between a mystery like "What Scott Did" and something like the long-form mysteries on Hickman's *Avengers*?
Episode 034 - Mordenkainen’s Marvelous Mutants

*Art by David Wynne*

## Episode Description

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

## Note

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.

## Listener Questions

* Are there any comics where Nightcrawler struggles with his religion not lining up with his personal beliefs? I'm asking because I know someone who insists Kurt must be a homophobe because a devout Catholic wouldn't disagree with the church's teachings. I'm not Catholic but I went to a Catholic school for eight years and I know she's wrong. Also, Kurt is one of my favorite characters. I'm queer and she keeps telling me that it's unethical to like him. Are there any comics that will shut her up?
* It seems oddly serendipitous that there'd be a mutant alien named Warlock whose father's named Magus in the same universe with a character named Adam Warlock whose evil twin is named Magus. Is there a connection between these two pairs of characters?
Episode 280 - Casual Basilisk

*Art by David Wynne*

## Episode Description

In which the future is not great at codenames; spot foil is cool as hell; Mountjoy is bafflingly business-themed; Bishop goes full *Point Break*; Jean Grey and Lorna Dane should absolutely be friends; and Jay & Miles are heading to ECCC 2020!

## X-Plained

* Lola vs. L.O.L.A.
* A very good cat
* *Bishop* #1-4
* Lucas Bishop
* Earth-1191
* X.S.E.
* A surprising convergence
* Guilt
* Bantam
* Mountjoy
* Some terrible banter
* Several nontraditional modes of possession
* Shard Bishop
* How the kids talk these days
* Hancock
* Fashion of the future
* A complex ethical struggle

## Listener Questions

This article needs a transcription of the episode questions.
Episode 056 – Death by Crossover

*Art by David Wynne*

## Episode Description

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

## Listener Questions

* You've covered the Firestar miniseries - another in the long line of domineering mutant plutocrat Emma Frost's early crimes. How does she get a pass for her long criminal history, yet Professor X remains eternally in the doghouse?
* What is the biggest discrepancy you two have over something X-related? Whether it's a character you don't agree on or a story one of you likes but the other hates?
Episode 273 - The Back-End Creep (The Phalanx Covenant, Part 3 of 3)

*Art by David Wynne*

## Episode Description

In which we have been on All the Podcasts; Full Shred Thrash is easier to say that it sounds; the Phalanx uses dial-up; Cable is a very large man; Larry Hama writes excellent banter; Cyclops has been progressively desensitized to plane crashes; Cameron Hodge is never graceful in defeat; and Final Sanction is actually about family.

## X-Plained

* Mithras
* A large number of guest appearances
* *Thor: Metal Gods*
* The Phalanx Covenant so far
* Full Shred Thrash
* Adam Kubert
* *Wolverine* #85
* *Cable* #16
* Gorp, Waldo, and Apache
* Popping silk
* A Summers family reunion
* Jean and Nathan
* Jean Grey’s astral form
* Genetics
* Several airplanes
* Mountain climbing
* Gelatinous yahoos
* Several impermanent deaths
* Pregnant X-team members
* Outside references to the X-Men

## Listener Questions

This article needs a transcription of the episode questions.
Chris Sims

## External links

Marvel Database: Chris Sims

Twitter: @theisb

Website: Chris's Invincible Super-Blog

Podcast: War Rocket Ajax

**Chris Sims** is the host of the comic book podcast *War Rocket Ajax*. He has featured in several episodes of *Jay and Miles X-Plain the X-Men*, and was also part of the Secret Convergence on Infinite Podcasts.

## Featured in:

* Episode 003 - Cartoons, Lies, and Video Tape
* Episode 026 - The Other Team America
* Episode 038 - Welcome to Murderworld
* Episode 059 – X is for Xtinction
* Episode 089 – Giant-Size Special 3
Episode 267 - The Saddest Joyride

*Art by David Wynne*

## Episode Description

In which Emma Frost is a better Iceman than Bobby Drake; *Generation X* is aggressively foreshadowed; Malcolm and Randall are the Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to Bishop’s Hamlet; and we launch a campaign for our own Multiversal designation.

Game show music by MusicManiac301; used with permission.

## X-Plained

* The first time the X-Men met Emma Frost
* *Uncanny X-Men* 314-315
* *X-Men* Annual #18
* A game show nobody should ever under any circumstances actually make
* Emma Frost’s recruitment tactics
* Previously unexplored ice powers
* The direct prelude to Generation X
* Caliban (more) (again)
* SoftPaws(TM)
* The giant squids of New York
* The neophyte
* A trial, kind of
* X-Men power fantasies
* Earth-X-Plain

## Listener Questions

This article needs a transcription of the episode questions.
Comic Book Cover Story

***Comic Book Cover Story*** is a podcast discussing comic book covers, hosted by Kurt Loyd and Sean Wynn. It's released via YouTube, to allow for accompanying visuals of the guest hosts and the covers being discussed. Each episode is themed, discussing covers that have something in common.

## Relevant episodes:

* Episode 23 - Genies! with Miles Stokes
* Episode 25 - Happy Anniversary! with Elisabeth Allie
Episode 262 - Science Fiction Double Feature

*Art by David Wynne*

## Episode Description

In which the Phalanx would make pretty fun novelty candy; “B-Plot” implies that we only have 26; nobody will take Jubilee to the movies; *Repo Man* and *Repo: The Genetic Opera* are in fact two entirely different films; Storm is a fashion icon; Sabretooth is the monster in the basement; it’s really rough to be the kid on the X-Men; Yuko gives Gambit a shovel talk; and a number of familiar faces return to the page.

NOTE: Per our expert source Doctor Internet, what Miles knows as “water weenies” are mostly sold as “water wigglers” or “water snakes.”

## X-Plained

* One of the many problems with Sentinels
* *Uncanny X-Men* #311-313
* Whether the Phalanx is squishy
* Robo-Candy
* Plotline disambiguation
* A cult classic
* Carl the X-Cutioner (again)
* Creative use of Bishop’s powers
* Storm fashion
* Technical difficulties
* A decision Iceman will come to regret
* Bishop vs. Sabretooth
* *What If* Vol. 2 #87
* Variations on Iceman’s appearance
* Early seeds of Generation X
* A night out with Yukio
* A heavily euphemized relationship
* Xavier’s mutant underground
* The Phalanx
* A shovel talk
* The return of Steven Lang (and some other people)
* How Cyclops cries
* Cassandra Nova’s signature look

## Listener Questions

This article needs a transcription of the episode questions.
Episode 289 - Unsolved Mysteries

*Art by David Wynne*

## Episode Description

In which this episode is way more topical than it was when we recorded it; Apocalypse makes a terrible Statue of Liberty; there are no reliable narrators; Robbie Robertson and Carmen Sandiego are your new OTP; Emplate is creepy in any universe; lawful evil is still evil; and partial universe reboots come with some fairly silly problems.

## X-Plained

* Awkward intersections of fiction and reality
* Pandemic (Dr. Richard Palance)
* *Tales from the Age of Apocalypse: Sinister Bloodlines*
* *Tales from the Age of Apocalypse: By the Light*
* Brooding in multiple ways at once.
* Corsair (Christopher Summers) (Earth-295)
* Reconciling cross-universe timelines
* The Shi’ar (Earth-295)
* Comparative Summers Backstory
* Robbie Robertson (Earth-295)
* Northstar and Aurora (Earth-295)
* Emplate and the Monets (Earth-295)
* The Bedlam Brothers (Earth-295)
* Brood problems
* The most awkward Summers family reunion to date
* The Absorbing Man (Earth-295)
* Diablo (Earth-295)
* Senator Robert Kelly (Earth-295)
* The fall of the Guthrie family
* An early era of Magneto’s X-Men
* A trip to the moon
* Death (Maximus Boltagon)
* Whether the Beyonder of Earth-295 knows how to poop
* Listening to this podcast with kids

## Listener Questions

This article needs a transcription of the episode questions.
Episode 088 – …Just Before Dawn (Fall of the Mutants, Part 3 of 3)

*Art by David Wynne*

## Episode Description

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

## Listener Questions

* As an Australian who has been run down and mugged by an emu for my lunch, I understand the terror that they can inspire. I'm fascinated at how often emus have been mentioned in passing in your podcast, and I was wondering if there was a specific source was for this interest in those avian thugs? Also, to bring it back on topic: Could the X-Men have won the Emu War of 1932 that the Australian forces lost? Which team would have been best suited to fighting this war?
* Costumes and uniforms aside: who is the best dressed X-Man?
Episode 049 – Of Mullets and Miracles

*Art by David Wynne*

## Episode Description

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

## Listener Questions

* Has the similarity in Dazzler and Longshot's star symbols ever been addressed? I've been reading Excalibur for the first time and have been loving it, and in a couple of flashback scenes Alan Davis draws them essentially having the same symbol. I just assumed it was because they're in love and it's cute, but I wonder if there's some Claremont-ian explanation lurking somewhere?
* Hi! I really love your show and I was wondering if you had any advice on how to meet and make friends with other X-Men fans? I know it's a strange question, but I'm in high school and I don't have anyone to discuss the comics with, and I want to make some more friends. Any advice? Thanks!
Episode 132 - Nornheim Lemonade

Art by David Wynne

## Episode Description

In which Rusty is an honorary Bluth; we bid a sad farewell to Bret Blevins; Hogan the Grim is probably the best at bedtime stories; Asgard has really tight hat game; Hela is a remarkably competent supervillain; there are some sound effects you have to earn; Rusty and Skids fight the Vulture; and Miles has *so many feelings* about Thor.

## X-Plained

* Cortex
* Damian Tryp
* Our weird 2016 recording schedule
* Jay & Miles at Vegas Valley Comic Book Fest 2016
* Recent ResurrXion announcements
* The second half of the Asgard Adventure
* The end of Bret Blevins’ *New Mutants* run
* *New Mutants* #82-85
* The Odinsleep
* A fairly upsetting board game
* Volstagg’s awesome kids
* Tiwaz of the Wastes
* Many excellent hats
* Ula and the Savage Swarm
* Garm
* Miles’s favorite Fenrir story
* A remarkably clever villainous plan
* A signature sound effect
* Karnilla the Norn Queen
* Cable’s relationship to Longshot
* Recommendations for a comics newcomer

## Listener Questions

* Hey hey! I've been binge-listening to your episodes, and I'm deep into the throes of Inferno, but I have an X-related question that's been bugging me for a long time. Was Cable originally supposed to be an older, grizzled Longshot with his memories back fighting to save Mojoworld after *Uncanny X-Men* #248? The name (Cable TV), and the eye flare, and the fifth fingers that look added on in the first cover with him, always made me think there was supposed to be a connection, but I can never find an answer.
* My husband grew up without much exposure to the comics. Most of his exposure to the characters has mostly been through video games or movies. He has stated that he craves continuity, which stops him from getting in to comics. Can you guys suggest a starting point he might like? The Last of Us, which I've heard you guys mention before, is his heart and soul, but he also like Dragonball Z and some AMC shows like Breaking Bad and the Walking Dead.
Episode 230 - Touchstones

*Art by David Wynne*

## Episode Description

In which tragedy strikes; leisure suits are underappreciated; Jubilee is fundamentally opposed to feelings; that MCU joke would definitely have been hilarious; we have trouble accepting Beast as a 20-something; when Gambit and Rogue work, they work; Wolverine makes an unlikely agony aunt; Dr. Strange was the mentor Illyana Rasputin really needed; and *What If: Magik* is pretty much a perfect comic.

## X-Plained

* The Human High Council
* Many terrible things that have happened to the Rasputin family
* *Uncanny X-Men* #303
* *X-Men* #24
* *What If: Magik*
* A tonal disconnect
* *Leisure Suit Larry*
* A prospective movie marathon
* Insecurity
* Molecular Cohesion Unit
* The death of Illyana Rasputin (and its aftermath)
* Death in America
* A dubious idea for a theme park
* A reunion
* Papa Gumbo’s Cajun Cookout
* Illyana Rasputin and Dr. Strange
* Navigating vs. erasing trauma
* Why *What If: Magik* is absolutely amazing
* How to cite X-Men volumes
* Earth-242 (Earth on Fire)

## Listener Questions

This article needs a transcription of the episode questions.
Episode 206 - Anatomy of a Phoenix

*Art by David Wynne*

## Episode Description

In which you should all come see us at FlameCon; all lizards are good lizards; we recap a recap; the Phoenix force is really complicated; Earth-99476 may or may not be the secret history of Earth-616; Alan Davis takes on continuity; the X-Men fail to save the day; the Phoenix says its piece; Rachel takes a vacation in space; Captain Britain doesn’t like to be psychoanalyzed; and the Crazy Gang gets a happy ending.

UPDATE: Not only can birds see color, but they can see a wider spectrum than humans. THE MORE YOU KNOW!

## X-Plained

* Evil Shadowcats
* Jay & Miles at FlameCon
* *Excalibur* #51, 52, and 54
* A brief history of Excalibur
* The Phoenix Force
* A recap of a recap
* What this episode isn’t covering
* Lizard Excalibur
* The most meta t-shirt in the multiverse
* Several long-ago Halloween costumes
* Dinosaurs of Earths-616 and -99476
* *National Lampoon Vacation* apocrypha
* Earth-99476 and its Savage Land
* The Fantastic Five
* A vow of vengeance
* Feron as an antecedent to Kubark
* Alan Davis’s modern authorial counterpart
* A telepathic journey
* The full history of the Phoenix Force (as established circa 1991)
* Inherited vs. inherent mutant powers (and a No-Prize explanation thereof)
* The rehabilitation of Rachel Summers
* Several retcons yet to come
* Jean Grey’s inconsistent relationship to the Phoenix Force
* A mysterious disappearance
* What the Crazy Gang has been up to
* The nicest kind of twist
* A very easy way to make Kitty Pryde textually queer
* Differentiating X-teams
* The X-Plain Discord
* Strong Guy’s new hobby

## Listener Questions

This article needs a transcription of the episode questions.
Episode 251 - Triple Word Score

*Art by David Wynne*

## Episode Description

n which Jay proposes a new way of comparing superheroes; Beast faces an ethical dilemma; Mister Sinister has an Xavier moment; Sabretooth is a terrible houseguest; Cyclops totally gets what you see in Wolverine; Psylocke would absolutely be into hunting humans for sport; Sage probably vapes; rich people are definitely not like us; Shinobi Shaw is his own best friend; and *Classic X-Men* backup stories are canonical as hell.

## X-Plained

* Blue Team vs. Gold Team
* *X-Men* #27-29
* Threnody
* The fate of Infectia
* One of Mister Sinister’s favorite aliases
* Dr. Gordon Lefferts
* Several complicated choices
* A very frustrating cover
* A secret meeting
* The dubious evolution of Charles Xavier
* Communication
* An invitation
* A sick burn
* Rich people
* The key to happiness
* The theoretical adventures of Honey Badger and Princess Powerful

## Listener Questions

This article needs a transcription of the episode questions.
Episode 299 - Toaster Ovens of the Gods

## Episode Description

In which some universes are more pleasant than others; Havok is basically a Care Bear; Wolverine is a P.R. nightmare; Nate Grey tries; stealth is not among the Silver Surfer’s strengths; Night Thrasher ascends to godhood; Jay and Miles dive down the What If rabbit hole.

## X-Plained

* Earth-200500 (again)
* Earth-42409
* *What If? vol. 2 #77*
* *What If? Featuring X-Men: Age of Apocalypse*
* *What If? vol. 2 #81*
* Earth-77995
* Fashion editorials
* One of the worse versions of Forge
* Superheroes x fashion
* Care Bears vs. X-Men
* The Hellfire Club of Earth-77995
* A surprisingly normal Grey-Summers family
* Several uses for the Phoenix Force
* Worst-case scenarios
* Earth-93074
* Savage Land home ec
* Bad choices
* The Defenders of Earth-93074
* How to manipulate Nate Grey
* Narrative benefits of omnipotence
* A time loop
* Earth-9601
* A meeting on the moon
* What the Watcher watches
* Galactus
* The Silver Surfer
* Grandpa Magneto
* Some remarkable technology
* A heavy-handed metaphor
* Our takes on What If scenarios
* The Corbeau-Grey scale of decision making
* Storm’s eyes
* Our character voices

## Listener Questions

This article needs a transcription of the episode questions.
Episode 146 - Asshole Factor (feat. Elisabeth Allie)

## Episode Description

In which Elisabeth plans for her reign as Omniversal Majestrix; Hulks and moons are two great tastes that go great together; Nightcrawler takes the lead; Alastair gets a new gadget; it’s just not a cosmic event without Alan Davis; Mastermind is still the absolute worst; Excalibur fixes problems by playing dress-up; Moira MacTaggert desperately needs to hire some staff; and Jamie Braddock is legitimately terrifying.

## X-Plained

* M’gubgub
* *Nth Man*
* *Excalibur* #25-27
* Nova (Frankie Raye)
* The continually poor decisions of Brian Braddock
* A convergence of cosmic forces
* Lumberjack Death
* Character growth both literal and metaphorical
* A cosmic snit
* Asshole Factor
* A villainous ruse
* Several rounds of reality warping
* Definitive incarnations of characters

## Listener Questions

* Do you think the plans for Mutant Wars could ever be resurrected the Twelve style?
* To what extent are comic book characters (or any shared universe ongoing characters) defined for you by their best representations in the various stories as opposed to the worst representations?
Episode 166 - Proteus Has Two Mommies

## Episode Description

In which we finally announce our NYCC panel lineup; Boom Boom is the Gina Linetti of X-Force; we don’t actually know very much about the New Warriors; Cable grows as a person; Cyclops makes an ethically dubious call; Warren Kenneth Worthington III is a jerk; Jay gets very angry at a fictional character; no one gets a happy ending and the skeleton was inside you all along.

## X-Plained

* Penance (but not *that* Penance)
* Our actual, for-real NYCC panel details
* “Kings of Pain”
* *New Mutants Annual* #7
* *New Warriors Annual* #1
* *Uncanny X-Men Annual* #15
* *X-Factor Annual* #6
* The Alliance of Evil
* Harness
* Piecemeal
* Genetech
* IDIC
* Symbolic chess
* The New Warriors
* The Clean Plate Club from Hell
* The Pec Twins
* *ReBoot*
* A really screwed up debate
* Magneto vs. Human Nature
* Privilege and Callouts
Episode 269 - NYCC 2019 Sofa Special: Double Dactyl, feat. Seanan McGuire

*Art by David Wynne*

## Episode Description

In which Seanan and Jay break down their favorite X-Villains; technically everyone is always cosplaying Mystique; Magneto remains the gold standard; and we have some concerns about Eye Boy.

## X-Plained

* Candy Corn, and our official stance thereon
* Halloween candy economy
* Which X-Character to dress as for your office Halloween party
* X-Villains
* What makes Magneto tick
* Magneto as a Holocaust survivor
* What makes a villain redeemable
* Face turns
* The last DDR machine in New York, and denizens thereof
* An X-Villain musical
* Mystique
* How to make Daken work
* Avengers as antagonists
* Sinister’s goals
* Bringing back Cameron Hodge
* Meggan vs. Brexit
* Heel turns

## Listener Questions

This article needs a transcription of the episode questions.
Episode 136 - Fill-in Frenzy

## Episode Description

In which we find the idea of Jack Kirby as G-d deeply comforting; “Jercules” is our new favorite insult; the difference between camp and divinity is good backlighting; Zeus does not have the moral high ground; Ron Lim’s Captain Britain is the definitive cad; the Demon Druid is the saddest supervillain; Archangel broods like it’s his day job; and Jay gets to do all the fun voices for once.

## X-Plained

* The Upstarts
* An inflatable Batman
* *New Mutants* #81
* *Excalibur* #20
* *X-Factor* #47
* Our favorite Magma story
* The best insult
* Pugilistic impunity
* A context-inappropriate oath
* The worst film festival
* Fighting fire with Magma
* The Demon Druid
* A Satanic pirate tavern
* Reactorhenge
* The depths of fuchsia
* Archangel’s deeply weird comfort mechanisms
* Some dude named Greg
* Publishing delays

## Listener Questions

* The last major events - Secret Wars, and now Civil War II - have been plagued with delays. Is there an industry reason that big events with a set schedule and issue count can't be completed ahead of time to ensure release? I know you can't do that for ongoings, but when you know the story and that it's going to be so many issues, couldn't it all be done in advance?
* In the past ten years we've seen Logan as a headmaster, Cyclops as a gritty rebel, and Colossus on a no holds barred paramilitary unit to name just a few. Do you think there are any X-Men who are truly stuck in a single team role and interpretation, and are there characters you'd like to see shaken up with a new place within the various teams.
Episode 152 - Ghosts of Future Present

## Episode Description

In which Franklin Richards makes everything more complicated; Reed Richards is a terrible parent; Days of Future Present is a surprisingly good ghost story; Valeria Richards is awesome (but does not appear in this crossover); everyone’s got hounds these days; Banshee is your sad cyborg dad; Phoenix has a lot of feelings; and X-Factor once again manages to up the ante for child endangerment.

## X-Plained

* Nightcrawler’s brief clerical career
* Days of Future Present
* Annuals, in general
* Some extraordinarily specific Namor headcanon
* *Fantastic Four Annual* #23
* *New Mutants Annual* #6
* *X-Factor Annual* #5
* *Uncanny X-Men* Annual #14
* Franklin Richards
* Several statuses quo
* The reproductive potential of Doombots
* Ms. Marvel (Sharon Ventura)
* Ahab
* A Code Red Time Emergency
* One of Jay’s dream pitches
* Your sad cyborg dad
* The worst tea party
* One hell of a kiss
* *Robocop vs. Terminator*

## Listener Questions

* For Jay, what are your favorite versions of Cyclops' casual ruby quartz glasses, and for Miles, who has your favorite beard in any Marvel Universe?
* If you could bring back an X-man from the dead to fight in Inhumans vs X-Men, who would you resurrect?
Episode 085 – Secret Convergence on Infinite Podcasts

*Art by James Stokoe*

## Episode Description

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

## 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?

## Note

*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!*
Episode 090 – Ghosts of the Outback

*Art by David Wynne*

## Episode Description

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 back issues.

## 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

## Listener Questions

* Hi Jay and Miles! Wondering if you could help on a project I'm working on. I teach science in an inner city school in New York, and most of my students approach science through superhero comics. So I'm building an inspirational wall of science moments from Marvel Comics featuring Drs.Doom, Nemesis, and Octopus reading "Learn Science, Rule the World!" I was wondering if you had any favorite science moments from X-Men? Also, any explicitly Afro-Caribbean scientists in Marvel? Thanks!
* My comic book collection is starting to get too big to manage, and I'm gathering the bulk of the titles I know I'm not going to read again. I would love to donate most of it, but I'm not sure who would be best be suited for this kind of donation. Do you know of any comic book based charities or causes, or other appropriate organizations I could donate them to?
Episode 130 - The Soule Protocols (feat. Charles Soule)

## Episode Description

In which writer Charles Soule joins us for a (spoiler free) discussion of *Death of X* and how to make mortality matter in universes where death is a revolving door.

## X-Plained

* Fang
* Who’s *really* trying to kill off the X-Men
* *Death of Wolverine*
* *Death of X*
* Charles Soule’s favorite death scenes
* Several reasons to care about the Inhumans
* Unpacking Cyclops
* The correct pronunciation of “ResurrXion”
Episode 039 - Forever Alone Together

*Art by David Wynne*

## Episode Description

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

## Listener Questions

* What's the deal with Cloak and Dagger? I've recently started reading some old series with them, and I like the team. It seems like they're mutants, but wiki is telling me that they're not. What's up?
* My girlfriend loves the X-Men, and I would really love to get her an original page from a more recent X-comic. What's the best way to go about doing that? Are they really expensive?
Episode 169 - Bad Kansas

## Episode Description

In which Justin Thyme is a forgotten superstar of comics; Nazis should pretty much never be used as a metaphor; Charles Xavier is somehow even worse than usual; Excalibur may lack object permanence; Phoenix defeats Hitler with the power of gayness; we may have hit Peak Nocenti; Brett Blevins should draw Boom Boom forever; and the New Mutants get a taste of media theory.

## X-Plained

* The exact nature of Shatterstar and Longshot’s relationship
* *Excalibur: Weird War III*
* *New Mutants Summer Special: A Mutant in Megalopolis*
* Justin Thyme
* Bad Kansas
* Nazi Charles Xavier
* Kinda-Nazi Moira MacTaggert
* The Reichsmen
* Lightning Squad (again)
* Naked Space Xavier
* Largely unsuccessful denouement
* The Wobbly Sneaker Gang
* Megalopolis
* Media theory and several of its anthropomorphic personifications
* Socially conscious comics
* *The Gifted*
* The *New Mutants* trailer

## Listener Questions

* I haven't purchased comics in a long time, for a long story of reasons, but I want to dive back in. However, I'm also trying to be more socially conscious, and I want to support writing that does the same. Where should an X and Runaways fan put their dollars these days?
* What are your thoughts on *The Gifted* and the *New Mutants* trailer?
Episode 068 – The Most Dangerous Game

*Art by David Wynne*

## Episode Description

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

## Listener Questions

* I was wondering who made the costumes for the X-Men? Is there a mutant with the power to construct costumes perfectly? Do they hire someone to construct them? Does Xavier make them? Has this ever been x-plained or mentioned at all in the comics?
* Magnum P.I. and Tom Selleck seem to come up in The *New Mutants* a lot. For a modern day adaptation like a movie might do, what TV show and what actor might take their place?
Episode 295 - The Nuclear Naked

*Art by David Wynne*

## Episode Description

In which this episode may or may not be a temporal aberration; Gambit is bad at marketing; Jubilee’s sixth birthday was probably worse than yours; Earth-295’s chronology doesn’t make that much more sense than 616’s; Super Doctor Astronaut Peter Corbeau wears this timeline well; Rictor makes a terrible Javert; Jubilee has no time for your makeouts; superheroes are basically preschoolers; there is only one Jahf; babies are bad at stealing; and Apocalypse is not a tactician.

## X-Plained

* How Magneto got his own country
* A numerical convergence
* Earth-295
* *Gambit and the X-Ternals* #1-4
* X-Ternals
* The human resistance
* The Temple of Human Redress
* A terrible way to celebrate your birthday
* Lila Cheney of Earth-295
* The Nuclear Naked
* Super Doctor Astronaut (mermaid) Peter Corbeau of Earth-295
* Julio Richter (Earth-295)
* Mudir
* Homage
* Cross-timeline vocabulary
* Cosmic peril
* The state of the Shi’ar Empire in Earth-295
* The Starjammers of Earth-295
* Varyingly versatile energy absorption
* Jahf
* An exchange
* Some fancy sewers
* Guido Carosella’s devil’s bargains
* Earth-295… IN SPACE
* The nominal justification for Apocalypse’s society
* Which Apocalypse is currently running around Earth-616

## Listener Questions

This article needs a transcription of the episode questions.
Episode 282 - The Tide Takes the Castle

*Art by David Wynne*

## Episode Description

In which the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning should really be the setting of a stoner comedy; Garrabed Bashur’s brain is probably 90% porn by now; the tide always takes the castle; William Drake remains terrible; Adam X the X-Treme deserved better; Jay pitches a series; disability is not a boolean and exclusively medically-defined state; and we are all about some weird X-Men tie-in products.

## X-Plained

* Mariko Yoshida in the afterlife
* Moon Talk
* Some upcoming X-books
* *X-Men* #38-39
* *Uncanny X-Men* #319
* Many unhealthy coping mechanisms
* Sinister foreshadowing
* Fancy hair
* Commcast (Garabed Bashur)
* Hawk sex
* An exceptionally resonant callback
* Intersectional bigotry
* The domestic dynamics of the Drake household
* The remarkably poignant return of Adam X the X-Treme
* The opposite of a Jack London story
* An unlikely intergenerational frienship
* A novel use of a novel superpower
* Mutation as and intersecting with disability
* X-Men tie-in products we’d like to see

## Listener Questions

This article needs a transcription of the episode questions.