recursal/Fanatic-Fandom huggingface dataset:
Episode 172 - The Muir Island Saga, Part 1

## Episode Description

In which you are probably more familiar with this show than Jay and Miles are; Paul Smith makes good art; the Shadow King is so extra that his narration has its own narration; Evil Sexy Moira is a fashion queen; there are absolutely no circumstances in which it is appropriate to use the phrase “fist-o-rama”; Legion gets possessed; and we know absolutely nothing about Pokémon.

## X-Plained

* Universes where people are other people
* What Miles thought of *Thor: Ragnorok* (spoiler-free)
* The Muir Island Saga (Part 1)
* *Uncanny X-Men* #278-279
* *X-Factor* #69
* Teflon continuity
* Our (lack of) favorite episodes of *Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men*
* The *Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men* wiki
* An alternate timeline
* Corpse telepathy
* A diabolical plan, sort of
* Topicality
* Theft
* Sci-Fi Warlord Moira MacTaggert
* Improbable aerodynamics
* The greatest thing
* The death of Peter Nicholas
* The uncanny genital valley
* Interesting ways to expand Cyclops’s powers
* X-Pokémon

## Listener Questions

* Hey Jay and Miles, you mentioned a few episodes ago how Cyclops is the only one of the original team who hasn't really had his powers expand in any lasting way. If you were to consider how his powers might further evolve, how do you think they might? Related, might his tactical abilities be a secondary mutation?
* What types of Pokemon would the X-Men be, and how would you team them up?
Episode 097 – The Crooked World

*Art by David Wynne*

## Episode Description

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

## Listener Questions

* I've been listening to some older episodes today, specifically #57 , and I was wondering: did you ever find out what happened to Artie's kitten Muffin?
* If you had to cast Nic Cage as a character from the X-universe, who would he be?
* I was wondering: what's Deadpool's deal? I know he's not an X-character, but (and I guess this is more for Jay) why is there such a strong distaste for him? Is it because of a Wolverine problem where he's been oversaturated?
Episode 277 - Hedgehogs of Cairo

*Art by David Wynne*

## Episode Description

In which Sauron is a huge nerd; the Savage Land is where Marvel stores the weird stuff; an etymology detour does not come from the X-Pert you’d expect; and Storm will straight-up stab you.

## X-Plained

* Responsible weapon storage
* *X-Men Unlimited* #6-7
* A very large creative team
* Sauron (more) (again)
* Blood-derived powers
* The Mutates
* A pterosaur glow-up
* Achmed El-Gibar
* Street urchins (and the etymology thereof)
* How to get a t’ieve mentor
* Style vs. taste
* The proportional relationship between knife skills and leadership potential
* Tattoos vs. healing factors

## Listener Questions

This article needs a transcription of the episode questions.
Episode 211 - A Cornucopia of Mayhem: X-Cutioner’s Song (Part 2 of 3)

*Art by David Wynne*

## Episode Description

In which Jubilee is underwhelmed by X-Force; Havok and Gambit make weirdly good buddy cops; Department K is a hot vacation destination; Cable is secretly a Coen Brothers protagonist; you can cancel Community but you can never take away Jay’s gratuitous *Community* references; Rusty goes full cultist; nobody is Stryfe’s real dad; smoking on a space station is a REALLY bad idea; Apocalypse is here to help; and Miles lies at length about music.

## X-Plained

* Kuurth
* Various Juggernauts
* The Story So Far
* More trading-card taxonomy
* *Uncanny X-Men* #295
* *X-Factor* #85
* *X-Men* #15
* *X-Force* #17
* Varyingly hilarious misunderstandings
* *Wire Mothers: Harry Harlow and the Science of Love*
* What happened
* Good Cop / Sleazy Cop
* A deal
* A tragic absence of Draculas
* The Coen Brothers’ *X-Cutioner’s Song*
* Thanksgiving with Cable
* Miles’s summer camp hijinks
* Murderbots in space (again)
* A dubious strategy
* MLF Redshirts
* The second time someone force-fed superheroes baby food in space
* A dropped plot thread
* Things you shouldn’t do on space stations
* Additional awkward reunions
* Whether Stryfe is a Summers
* The X-Cutioner’s signature karaoke song

## Listener Questions

This article needs a transcription of the episode questions.
Episode 278 - A Sheep in Wolf’s Clothing

*Art by David Wynne*

## Episode Description

In which Moonstar really wasn’t fooling anybody; Bird Brain is somehow still alive; Cassidy Keep is weird; Gene Ha draws excellent Storm; Reeva Payge makes her sole comics appearance; and Shinobi Shaw is wrong about everything.

## X-Plained

* A not-particularly-cunning disguise
* Upcoming coverage
* *X-Force Annual* #3
* *X-Men* Annual #3
* The MLF
* Reignfire (more) (again)
* Moonstar (more) (again)
* An unconventional way to keep a secret diary
* A bittersweet semi-reunion
* 3Peace
* Murphy Keep
* A ghost, maybe
* The kind of thing that happens at Cassidy Keep
* An excellent burn
* Leather
* “Neurotoxins”
* *Sex House* as the definitive artifact of the 2010s
* How not to draw someone having a nightmare
* A very short-lived version of the Hellfire Club
* How not to villain
* Coming to terms with bad fictional tech

## Listener Questions

This article needs a transcription of the episode questions.
Episode 181 - Badgers Everywhere

*Art by David Wynne*

## Episode Description

In which *X-Force* is the cotton candy of comics; Jay & Miles overanalyze; eye spots are not the new domino masks; Feral is all about some murder; Black Tom and Juggernaut remain a delightful criminal power couple; Siryn’s costume is on point; over the edge is where we live; Jay gets briefly and intensely into Todd McFarlane; nothing will convince us that Fabian Nicieza did not know *exactly* what he was doing; and Kelly Thompson is a national treasure.

## X-Plained:

* Rumekistan
* *X-Force* #1-4
* *Spider-Man* #16
* Leaping, both literal and metaphorical
* Cannonball
* Boom Boom
* Cable
* Domino
* Warpath
* Feral
* Shatterstar
* Siryn (Theresa Cassidy) (again)
* MLF
* The second and third-best-selling issues of all time
* The Profit$
* A very violent catchphrase
* Chalet Shwartzkopf
* Power Poses™ with Gideon™
* The All-New, All-Different Weapon X (Garrison Kane)
* 6-Pack
* Good vs. Awesome
* George Washington Bridge
* A moment so dramatic that it produces a second Shatterstar in a single panel
* Some sports stuff, kind of
* Uncomfortable anachronism
* The stylistic necessity of healing factors
* Marvel Unlimited view options
* *Rogue and Gambit*

## Listener Questions

This article needs a transcription of the episode questions.
Episode 010 - Not All Mandroids

## Episode Description

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
Episode 159 - Childhood's End

## Episode Description

In which Stryfe is the Jan Brady of the Summers family; Miles’s dreams are trampled beneath tiny, delicate feet; Rictor goes on an unnecessary rescue mission; Cable is Washington to Cannonball’s Hamilton; the New Mutants may or may not time travel; Boom Boom scarfs up some chow for the bohunk; you should definitely not mess with Feral’s pigeons; Liefeld fights are pure rule-of-cool; Jay is *absolutely* not qualified to give legal advice; and we bid a bittersweet goodbye to *New Mutants*.

## X-Plained

* Zero
* Production transitions
* The end of *New Mutants*
* New Mutants #98-100
* Plotting vs. scripting
* The most valuable issue of *New Mutants*
* Gideon
* Liefeld butts (more) (again)
* The very dramatic death of Emmanuel da Costa
* Tolliver
* Some Spider-Man looking jerk
* Domino (Neena Thurman)
* A specific and likely inaccurate timeline
* Feral (Maria Callasantos)
* The signature Liefeld Kick™
* The Tavern on the Green
* Five or six kinds of mutants
* A sad goodbye
* Shatterstar (Gaveedra Seven)
* Cadre Alliance
* Nesting habits of the urban bohunk
* Some rad moves
* A prologue that is also an epilogue
* The Stryfe that might have been
* How *Logan* fits into the X-Men movie timeline
* X-Men mostly likely to watch *Yuri!!! On Ice*
* Jay at FlameCon!!

## Listener Questions

This article needs a transcription of the episode questions.
Episode 032 - Off the Map

*Art by David Wynne*

## Episode Description

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

## Listener Questions

* What's the deal with Tom Corsi and Sharon Friedlander? In the Demon Bear Saga, both were turned from white to Native American, and this was never addressed again to my knowledge. Has Claremont ever stated the reason for this? It seems like something major, but it just sort of happened and the characters got on with their lives.
* Where are the New Mutants now? It's my understanding that the book turned into X­Force but that title is not that anymore.
Episode 257 - The Adventures of Rachel Summers in the 37th Century

*Art by David Wynne*

## Episode Description

In which Rachel Summers’ continuity somehow becomes even more complicated; *X-Men: Phoenix* is pretty much a Star Wars (minus the stars); cultural appropriation remains a problem in the distant future; we are surprisingly into the origins of the Askani; and you should totally come see us at FlameCon!

## X-Plained

* Several Rachels Summers who may or may not actually be the same Rachel Summers
* Time, somewhat
* Gaunt
* Jay & Miles at FlameCon 2019
* *X-Men: Phoenix* #1-3
* Bird stuff
* What happened after Rachel got sucked into the timestream
* High Councilor Diamanda Nero
* An extremely poor choice of ornamentation
* Luminesca
* Ch’vayre
* The origins of Blaquesmith
* A questionable alias
* Diogenes Chang
* The Order of Witnesses
* A rad team
* Malachai Hark
* Qua
* Lexii
* Ozana
* The word “Askani”
* The Hellhole
* A resurrection
* Penguins of Apocalypse
* Sanctity (Tonya Trask)
* A butt-on
* The Phoenix Force and its hosts
* Characters we’d like to see imported into comics from other X-media

## Listener Questions

This article needs a transcription of the episode questions.
Episode 061 – Even Horses

*Art by David Wynne*

## Episode Description

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.

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

## 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/

## Listener Questions

* Recently issue #10 of Mark Waid's current *Daredevil* run concluded an arc with a simple yet effective and emotional narrative on the horrors of depression. I've suffered from moderate to severe clinical depression for years, and I finally began treatment several months ago. Being a lifelong X-Men fan, I was wondering if you have recommendations for any issues, arcs, or titles that successfully explore depression or other mental illnesses? Reading comics, especially X-Men titles, is a great support system.
* Hey! I'm new to comics, and how do you store them? Like, not old-first-edition-worth-$100 comics, but just normal trade paperbacks that come out any other week? I mean, the stereotype is keeping them in boxes or whatever, but where do you even get those?
* I've seen a couple of pages from a comic where one of the X-Men (I forgot who) figures out that Monet has autism. Is that still canon? Also, how well did the writer of that comic handle the topic? I'm wondering because I was recently diagnosed with autism (by recently, I mean literally 14 hours ago.) I'm thinking that reading a comic about one of the X-Men having autism, especially if her teammates are OK with it would, make me more OK with my own diagnosis.
Episode 099 – Those Who Walk Away from Genosha

*Art by David Wynne*

## Episode Description

In which the podcast gets a new name; Jay starts (another) imaginary band; mutant issues break away from the metaphor; Genosha’s leading industry is cognitive dissonance; invisibility to electronic surveillance is not always a plus; Rogue and Wolverine are the X-Men most likely to find themselves nude in a fight; Carol Danvers is awesome even when disembodied; and we both have a lot of feelings about Mad Max: Fury Road.

## X-plained

* The Havok dilemma
* Our new name
* *Uncanny X-Men* #235-238
* Genosha
* Jenny Ransome
* The Press Gang
* A really good bit of vintage slang
* The downside of electronic invisibility
* Naked teleportation
* The Genegineer (David Moreau)
* Philip Moreau
* Mutates
* The (sort of) return of (sort of) Carol Danvers
* The portmanteaus of Genosha
* Moral binary in superhero comics
* Possible antecedents of Sterling Archer
* The only good reason to bring Logan back
* N’astirh
* Several versions of Madelyne Pryor
* “Gone to America”
* Off-page baby theft
* How to have fun re-reading

## Inferno Watch

This week, it’s all about Madelyne Pryor: her first contact with N’astirh and escalating romance with Havok; the first hints of her connection to Mister Sinister; her oblique connection to the Phoenix Force; and her first foray into baby theft!

## Correction

In this episode, Miles mentioned Those Who Walk Away From Omelas as having been written by Margaret Atwood. It was, of course, actually written by Ursula K. LeGuin. Miles blames the Jaspers Warp for this mistake.

## Listener Questions

* We all know horses are jerks. But I'm curious: Are there any good, not-so-jerkish horses in X-Men continuity? Or is Brightwind just the best horse by default despite the fact that he, too, can be kind of a jerk?
* Hello Jay and Miles, I have a question. How do you make re-readings more interesting and enjoyable? I'm someone that usually reads a series or specific run and I'm done. Re-reading feels like a slog because I already know what to expect, but I want to change that. What should I be looking for that I might be missing in a more casual reading?
Episode 026 - The Other Team America

*Art by David Wynne*

## Episode Description

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 Mutants (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

## Supplemental Reading

Chris Sims' brief history of Team America:

* Part One
* Part Two
* Part Three

## Listener Questions

* I've decided to read the X-Men from the get-go, and I want to be thorough. But I also want to get the most coherent narrative. In regards to the Summers, you chose to go into depth with the Deadly Genesis retcon. But with Phoenix you specifically chose to examine it with retcons removed. Which way do you suggest to go through the X-Men in order to have the most rewarding experience?
* Whom in your opinion is the most 90s X-character that's since been the best redeemed? Discounting Deadpool off the bat, because, well, he needs to be discounted.
Episode 160 - Hank McCoy and the Hickey of Destiny

## Episode Description

In which the ladies love Hank McCoy; feelings are terrible; wereStarlins stalk the night; Stan Lee is definitely trying to sell you a car; Iceman has a lot to prove; we bid a reluctant farewell to Louise Simonson’s tenure on *X-Factor*; and yes, video reviews will be back eventually.

## X-Plained

* The Intelligentsia
* Jay & Miles at Rose City Comic Con and New York Comic Con
* Prestige Format comics
* *X-Factor: Prisoner of Love*
* *X-Factor* #63-64
* A possible cameo
* Synthia Naip
* Several ways to identify individuals from outer space
* Visual conceits of supernatural noir
* A deeply unhealthy relationship
* The mysterious wereStarlin
* The hickey of destiny
* Whether Starfox would fuck a crystal
* Cyburai and/or cyberpunks
* What makes for good team costumes
* Post-Iceman cleanup
* The secret origins of Opal Tanaka
* Tatsu’o
* Hiro
* The Gal Pal Squad
* Assorted macho bullshit
* The end of Louise Simonson’s involvement with the central X-line
* Where to find Dr. Nemesis
* Magneto’s D&D alignment
* Whether and when video reviews will return
Episode 069 – Weird Science

*Art by David Wynne*

## Episode Description

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

## Note

Special thanks to guest hosts Elle Collins & Graeme McMillan!

## Listener Questions

* What is your best Beast story?
* I recall that Graeme believes Moira MacTaggert is the worst person in the Marvel universe. Care to x-plain?
* Graeme McMillan also went on to answer another 13 questions that were submitted specifically for this episode.
Episode 173 - The Muir Island Saga, Part 2

## Episode Description

In which Abs-lantis will not be denied; “slightly traumatized” is basically the default state of Xavier’s original students; we pick up the slack for Nicieza; Banshee and Moira MacTaggert probably have an active and varied love life; Xavier miscounts the X-Men; we look back over the Claremont/Simonson era of the X-Universe; and Jay makes a case for the re-resurrection of Jean Grey.

## X-Plained

* *X-Men: Red*
* Namor’s beard
* The conclusion of the Muir Island Saga
* *Uncanny X-Men* #280
* *X-Factor* #70.
* Cool orange spacesuits that make you immune to telepathy
* Off-brand Magneto hats
* Literary terrors of our childhoods
* Agents DeMarco & Heacock (R.I.P.)
* Casual use of nuclear weaponry
* The cavalry
* The end of the Shadow King
* The most dysfunctional timeline
* *Uncanny X-Men* #200-278
* The case for an eclectic X-Universe
* *X-Campus*
* Resurrections, and when they do and don’t work

## Listener Questions

* What is *X-Campus*, exactly? What do you guys think of it?
* What are your thoughts on the *Jean Grey* comics leading to the resurrection of adult Jean Grey? And, on top if that, what are your thoughts on Charles Xavier not being truly dead, but battling the Shadow King in the Astral Plane? Why can't we let these characters go?
Episode 053 - Sometimes They Come Back

## Episode Description

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

## Listener Questions

* Has Marvel ever done a *What If* or alternate timeline where Cyclops stays with Madelyne? I wonder if things would still lead to Inferno?
* Is there an in-comics explanation as to why Jean Grey stops using a codename after dropping Marvel Girl in X-Factor? Can you explain?
Ann Nocenti

## ***Ann Nocenti***

### First podcast appearance

Episode 076 – Live at Rose City Comic Con

## External links

Marvel Database: Ann Nocenti (Earth-1218)

Wikipedia: Ann Nocenti

Twitter: @annienocenti

**Ann Nocenti** writes comics.

## X-Men related work

* *Beauty and the Beast* #1-4 (1984)
* *Longshot* #1-6 (1985)
* Classic X-Men, various backup stories (1988)

## X-Plain appearances

* Episode 076 – Live at Rose City Comic Con
Episode 114 - Meltdown

*Art by David Wynne*

## Episode Description

In which Havok and Wolverine head to Mexico; Havok tries his hand at noir; Wolverine gets serious about hair gel; Meltdown is probably not actually a common Russian surname; Susan X-Plains nuclear reactors; and we are pretty thoroughly besotted with *Havok & Wolverine: Meltdown*.

## X-Plained

* Age of Apocalypse Corsair
* Epic Comics
* *Marvel Comics Presents* #24-31
* Leila O’Toole (Plasma)
* The Cold War
* Samantha Smith
* *Havok & Wolverine: Meltdown* #1-4
* General Meltdown
* Dr. Neutron
* The varying deadliness of vices
* Scarlett McKenzie (Quark)
* Some exceptionally gorgeous artwork
* Why we love Havok
* Chernobyl
* How nuclear reactors do and don’t work
* Other characters we’d like to see in Meltdown-type stories
* Adamantium vs. vibranium

## Special Thanks

Special thanks to guest reactor X-Pert Susan Beaver!

*Kickass scientist Susan Beaver–who’s also the former associate director of the Reed Research Reactor–joined us in Episode 114 – Meltdown to talk about the actual science of nuclear reactors. Unfortunately, the downside of talking about complex science on a comics podcast is that there’s never enough time to go into as much depth as we’d like. Luckily for us–and you–Susan was kind enough to write a follow-up, discussing some of the terms and concepts we had to gloss over in the episode proper. -Jay*

## Listener Questions

* Which is stronger: vibranium or adamantium? I thought that each of those was at one time or another said to be the strongest material known to man. Could Wolverine successfully cut, or at least scratch, Cap's shield?
* The obvious question related to Meltdown is this: at the end, we see more chess pieces, with the implication we should see more scheming. What other two characters would you want to see paired in a second miniseries like this?
Episode 076 – Live at Rose City Comic Con

*Art by David Wynne*

## Episode Description

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

## Note

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!

## Listener Questions

* Do you think that Marvel Girl and Squirrel Girl could be friends? And if they were, what kind of adventure would they have together?
* You mentioned earlier that you kind of wished you could go back and make Angel a girl. I'm wondering what all of you -- what sort of a change you wish you could make, possibly even to your own work, or to that which came before, that you think be more fun than what happened?
* The X-Men being what it is, it will probably never have a true conclusion. If it were down to you to decide, you know, what would be a logical end point for the X-Men as a series, what it has been before -- what do you think that would be?
* Which of the X-Men do you think would be great as a professional wrestler?
* I was just wondering if there are any currently inactive characters that any of you miss in particular. Besides Maggot, obviously.
* How has the vagueness of the mutant metaphor impacted you?
* Which one of the X-Men is best at fighting Sentinels?
Episode 249 - The Parent Trap

*Art by David Wynne*

## Episode Description

In which Sabretooth is weirdly ubiquitous; Maverick is a terrible guest; not all second chances are equivalent; Graydon Creed is the red delicious apple of people; Mystique is the master of murder monologues; and the Darkholmes give the Summers family a run for its dysfunctional money.

## X-Plained

* *X-Men Unlimited* #3-4
* Sabretooth (more) (again)
* Emergency back-up Wolverine
* Faces
* A stained-glass window that is probably a metaphor
* Evocation
* Maverick’s nose
* Maverick’s manners
* Commcast (but not that one)
* Sabretooth’s mind
* The “mystery” of Nightcrawler’s parentage
* Mystique’s murder monologues
* *Killing Eve*
* The skull of friendship
* Several versions of Nightcrawler’s backstory
* Glove magic
* One way to get out of an awkward family conversation
* The ‘90s X-Men cartoon
* Character migration between media

## Listener Questions

This article needs a transcription of the episode questions.
Episode 110 - Lights, Camera, Apocalypse!

*Art by David Wynne*

## Episode Description

In which the X-Men cinematic universe is a *really* mixed bag; Kang the Conqueror ruins everything; everyone wants a Sphinx hovercraft; Elle was right; and we bring you up to speed on all things En Sabah Nur–just in time for *X-Men: Apocalypse*!

## X-Plained

* How Chamber got his torso back (and then lost it again)(twice)
* Several ways to count X-Men movies
* *X-Men*
* *X2: X-Men United*
* *X-Men: The Last Stand*
* *X-Men: First Class*
* *X-Men: Days of Future Past*
* Adaptation anxiety
* Distillation vs. dilution
* Apocalypse (En Sabah Nur)
* *Rise of Apocalypse* #1-4
* Akkaba
* Dubious survival tips
* *Fantastic Four* #19
* *Doctor Strange* Vol 2 #53
* Ozymandias
* Various horsemen of Apocalypse
* Age of Apocalypse (Earth-295)
* The Twelve
* Cinematic X-costumes
* Cast Party

 Correction

In this episode, Jay states that Kieran Shiach explained Kang in the Secret Convergence on Infinite Podcasts. It was, in fact, the amazing Paul O’Brien. Mea culpa.

## Listener Questions

* What are your thoughts on the cinematic X-Men uniforms?
* What would be Jay and Miles' ideal versions of an X-Men film or cinematic universe?
* Who is your favorite Apocalypse successor, or potential successor? (For example Archangel, the twins, Evan, etc.)
* Apocalypse seems almost cemented in the public mind by an alternate reality story. I've even heard people assume that the movie was about Age of Apocalypse because En-Sabah-Nur was in it. Why has that become the touchstone for the character?
Curiosities

* You can find all the food items in Food.
* You can find all the other items in Items.

Curiosities, along with discovering new items, are a main source of Learning Points for a player.

Curiosities rely on three factors to deliver LP to players: **Experience Points**, the level of **Attention** available, and the **Time** the curiosity requires to study. Experience points are attained by gaining Experiences in the world, Attention can be increased with the Intelligence attribute (the two are equivalent), and Time is non-negotiable -- however characters still study curiosities while logged out.

## Craftable

Some Curiosities are created by crafting via one's own skills and discoveries.

## Foragable

Some Curiosities may be foraged directly from randomly spawned plants. The ability to see these foragables depends on a multiplied product of one's Perception attribute and Exploration skill. As both go up, more and more of these can be seen.

## Catchable

Some Curiosities take the form of animal parts directly removable while they are living, and mobile insects or insects within their nests.

Flying insects' hitboxes are very small, and prove very frustrating to try and click correctly. To circumvent this, right click their icon on the mini-map, and your character will begin to chase them.

When raiding anthills, be wary of ants that move very quickly. These may catch up to you when running away, and cause serious damage.

When pulling hair from Wild Aurochs, feeding them clover will make the process safer.

## Randomly Added to Inventory

Some curiosities appear by pure coincidence when doing certain tasks.

These curiosities are often extremely rare.
Episode 237 - X-Treme

*Art by David Wynne*

## Episode Description

In which there is only one Big Pine Key; Empyrean is actually a pretty sensible dude; the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants are ride-or-die; you should probably avoid setting X-Men stories in Phoenix, Arizona; Adam X the X-Treme is the Longshot of the 1990s; Miles adopts a ship; heteronormativity is why we can’t have nice things; and you should really seriously come see us at ECCC!

## X-Plained

* Why Nate Grey is Like That
* *X-Men Annual* #2
* *X-Force Annual* #2
* The worst book Aron Wisenfeld ever drew
* Big Pine Key
* Empyrean
* Jonathan Chambers
* A very fancy bathrobe
* What’s going on in Psylocke’s head
* Pallative care for late-stage Legacy virus patients
* Revanche’s fairly bleak legacy
* X-Men: Time Gliders
* How to dress to discuss Adam X the X-Treme
* Adam X the X-Treme
* Personal lettering styles
* Michelle
* Flashing, but not like that
* Martin Strong
* Miles’s new ship
* Subtext vs. canon
* Heteronormativity
* X-Crayons

## Listener Questions

This article needs a transcription of the episode questions.
Episode 050 – The People Vs. Erik Lehnsherr

*Art by David Wynne*

## Episode Description

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

## Listener Questions

* Is the Phoenix force evil? Was everyone freaking about it justifiable in Avengers vs. X-men or just for story drama? Should they just have sent Rachel Summers out? Do you think the Phoenix force will ever be redeemed or will it always be this dark entity now?
* I saw on Twitter that you'd consider sponsorship from Marvel a conflict of interest, but I was wondering if you could flesh that out more? It's not unusual for critics to be sponsored by the industries or companies they review. Most newspaper movie reviews appear alongside ads for the movies. Siskel & Ebert (the show) was even owned by Disney at one point I think. Is there something about your situation that's different from those that I'm missing?
Episode 122 - Boom Boom Von Doom and the Ontology of Monsters

*Art by David Wynne*

## Episode Description

In which the back-up stories of Atlantis Attacks are way better than the main event; the Serpent Society is hilarious; Longshot finds a rock; the S.U.R.F.E.R.S. are no Neutrinos; our volume of digressions is inversely proportional to our investment in this crossover; Jay overthinks sunglasses; and somehow we *still* aren’t entirely done with Inferno.

## X-Plained

* Leonard McKenzie
* Princess Fen
* Tiger Shark
* A dubious crossover event and three splendid backup stories
* The best thing in *Marvel Puzzle Quest*
* *Skateman*
* Atlantis Attacks
* *Uncanny X-Men* Annual #13
* *New Mutants Annual* #5
* *X-Factor Annual* #4
* Ghaur
* Llyra
* *Homo mermanus*
* The Serpent Society
* Boomslang
* Why snakes don’t wear vests
* The Maple Hill Farm books
* The Horn of Doom (again)
* Namorita
* Impractical swimwear
* Surf, or S.U.R.F.E.R.S., or whoever the hell they are
* Zak and the Neutrinos
* The trouble with mobile landmarks
* A case of mistaken identity
* The true meaning of something, probably
* Ralph Macchio, but not that Ralph Macchio
* Circumstances in which it is acceptable to throw a small child down an elevator shaft
* The definitive Boom Boom
* Eligible gentlemen of the Marvel Universe
* Boom Boom Von Doom
* A false dichotomy
* Sally Pashkow
* A really great outfit
* Presidencies rated by X-Books
* Best and worst moral inversions

## Listener Questions

* If you were going to judge the US presidents solely by the quality of the X-Men comics that came out during their presidencies, who would be the best president, and who would be the worst?
* Who do you think is the most and least convincing multiverse character inversion in the X-world?

## Note

*In this episode, Jay briefly confused two Marvel villain teams: the Serpent Society (snake-themed villains); and the Sons of the Serpent, also known as the Serpent Men (hate group). We would like to offer our apologies to the Serpent Society, who are ridiculous but not, as far as we know, racist.*

## Audience Participation

An Art Challenge contest was started in this episode, where listeners were encouraged to send in their best Boom Boom romance stories, covers, and pin-ups by September 15, 2016.
Episode 066 – The Mutant Massacre, Part 2

*Art by David Wynne*

## Episode Description

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.

## 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

## Note

This episode is the second of a two-parter! If you haven’t listened to Episode 065 – The Mutant Massacre, Part 1 , where we cover the first half of The Mutant Massacre, you should probably do that before you listen to this one!

## Listener Questions

* If you two had to be servants of Apocalypse, which Horsemen or Horsewomen would you want to be?
* Which X-Man would be most worthy to wield Mjolnir? Which X-Man would try the longest to lift it?
Episode 231 - Life Bites

*Art by David Wynne*

## Episode Description

In which DC is out of our bailiwick; Random gets around; someone finally makes an explicit reference to disability politics; death has not improved the Chalkers; Strong Guy can’t catch a break; we’re all whole other people; Sienna Blaze has a crayon name; we totally want to play *D&D* with Evan Skolnick; a trading card does not a memorable character make; and we are 100% here for the mutant episode of Sesame Street.

CORRECTION: Chris Claremont did not in fact write *Dragonlance* comics.

## X-Plained

* What happened to Fred Duncan
* Beastwriting
* Marvel’s 1993 Annuals
* The speculator boom
* *X-Factor Annual* #8
* *Uncanny X-Men* Annual #17
* *Excalibur Annual* #1
* Charlie Ronalds (Charon) and his issues
* A protracted Batman reference
* How to string pearls
* A dubious twist on the danger room
* The pure joy of a child, but twisted and distorted like a shredded butterfly
* Cloot (Satannish)
* *Howling Mad*, by Peter David
* The greatest enemies of X-Factor (but not really)
* Cruel and arbitrary moralizing
* The other X-Cutioner (Carl Denti)
* A protracted illusion
* The Amazing Icemaster
* Metacommentary
* An accidental trap
* The death of Jason Wyngarde (Mastermind)
* Resolution versus forgiveness
* The other first appearance of Sienna Blaze
* More wizard stuff
* Khaos
* Khaos & Gritty 4 Lyfe
* Ghath
* Irth
* Mutants on *Sesame Street*
* Cycling in and out of comics

## Listener Questions

This article needs a transcription of the episode questions.
Episode 116 - The Pooper of This Party

## *Jay and Miles X-Plain the X-Men 116 - The Pooper of This Party*

*Art by Marc Silvestri from Uncanny X-Men #244. David Wynne’s art will return next episode*

## Episode Description

In which Jubilee makes her fabulous debut, the X-Ladies visit Hotbods, the X-Dudes accidentally (and drunkenly) save the world, Longshot is Sexy Johnny Karate, the only thing worse than one anti-mutant super-robot is two, and we say goodbye to a quarter of the team.

## X-Plained

* Hellfire Club leadership
* *Uncanny X-Men* #244-247
* Team-relative Inferno after-effects
* Jubilation Lee
* Teddy girls
* The surprisingly not-dead M Squad
* Chaos (but not KAOS)
* Dazzler, heart and/or steamroller of the X-Men
* Miles’s alternate career as alien archivist
* DC’s *Invasion*
* Logan’s Guide to Kissing Etiquette
* Havok & Wolverine: Meltdown continuity disambiguation
* Sexy dead girls
* Perils of the Siege Perilous
* Sharon Kelly
* Rogue, Carol Danvers, and relative (im)maturity
* The MTV Generation
* Wolverine’s hair
* X-(misc.) Forever
* Storm’s threads

## Listener Questions

* What's up with Wolverine's hair? I get that it serves for something of a silhouette, but it sort of got out of hand. By the 90s he had a mane that was threatening to consume small children if it wasn't watched closely. And then I look at his sideways spires in *Meltdown* and I'm at a loss. What happened?
* Are there any X-Men runs you'd like to see continued in the vein of the *X-Men*and *X-Factor Forever* series?
* In Episode 113's Q&A you talk about color. I've always wondered if you think Storm's 1990s Jim Lee costume is supposed to be black, or white / silver? I always read it as black with white highlights / reflections, but I often see it described as white or silver by others. Do you have a definitive answer?
Episode 082 – Birds and Boys

*Art by David Wynne*

## Episode Description

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

## Listener Questions

* If you could pick one non comics writer to head up an X-Men series, who would it be?
* If you could add the teenage version of another X-Man to the All-New team, who would it be?
Episode 212 - Drumbeats of Despair: X-Cutioner’s Song (Part 3 or 3)

*Art by David Wynne*

## Episode Description

In which nobody but Stryfe’s diary understands him; Apocalypse is the best at what he does (and what he does is remarkably versatile); Scott and Jean weaponize their clichés; Jae Lee does his best Patrick Nagel; Apocalypse is poisonous; Cable goes full T-800; nothing good ever happens to Cyclops on the moon; Stryfe dies as passive-aggressively as he lived; and X-Cutioner’s Song finally concludes.

Special thanks to Matt for the subject of this episode’s cold open; and to the Protomen for use of their cover of “Total Eclipse of the Heart.”

## X-Plained

* How Cable dies
* The Story So Far
* Still more trading-card taxonomy
* *Uncanny X-Men* #296
* *X-Factor* #86
* *X-Men* #16
* *X-Force* #18
* An AU we’d like to read
* The not-Stüssy S
* How to effectively reference *X-Men* #137
* A decoy baby
* An abortive escape
* Moon gravity
* Revelatory vandalism
* A trip to the moon
* A probably excessive number of hawk facts
* Various daring rescues
* How to kill time in space
* Cathexes
* A very fancy moon base
* The cavalry, kind of
* Stryfe vs. Cable
* An X-Cellent epilogue
* Several *Silent Hill 2* references
* Stryfe’s Legacy
* Pawnee, Indiana vs. Marvel
* Sexy high-security prisons of the future

## Listener Questions

This article needs a transcription of the episode questions.
Episode 242 - Spider-Mansfield Park

*Art by David Wynne*

## Episode Description

In which we encounter one of comics’ greatest rarities; Spider-Man cannot actually do whatever a spider can; Flash Thompson subscribes to the X-Factor school of child endangerment; alliteration is the source of a very specific sort of powers; Spider-Man is not Phil; guilt is Spider-Man’s greatest motivator; we root for the antagonists; Guido Carosella would be an epic Twitter monster; a lot of people have hung out with the X-Men; and Glob Herman is a lovable, gross mystery.

## X-Plained

* Spider-Man / X-Men Crossovers
* Other media we have consumed recently
* *Spider-Man and X-Factor: Shadow Games*
* What a spider can do
* What Spider-Man can do
* Shadow Force
* Hard Time
* Airborne
* Oversize
* Firefight
* Ambush
* Mirrorshade
* JELLO Jigglers(TM)
* Journalistic alliteration
* The government
* A comfortable fictional jacket
* How to find Flash Thompson
* Many sound effects
* The untimely death of Mirrorshade
* Why we’re not covering the Captain Marvel movie
* Glob Herman’s powers

## Listener Questions

This article needs a transcription of the episode questions.
Episode 081 - The Kids Are All Right

*Art by David Wynne*

## Episode Description

In which Rachel and Miles sit down with one of their 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 Rachel and Miles are really excited for *All-New X-Men*.

## Cold Open

The deal with the original X-Men who have been displaced in time, as well as Genesis (Evan Sabahnur).

## X-plained

* Secret origins of *X-Men: Season One*
* *All-New X-Men*, vol. 2
* How to write Jean Grey
* Angel
* 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

## Listener Questions

(Answered by Dennis Hopeless)

* Who is sexier, Beast or Nightcrawler?
* Given that the All-New X-Men crew are still teenagers, what teen hobbies do you think they would have outside of the super stuff?
* What are some challenges or surprises you've found with revisiting the original five X-Men?

## How To Follow Along

* *X-Men Season One*
* *All New X-Men* vol. 2
* *Inferno*