Art by David Wynne.

In which Professor X is (canonically!) a jerk, Miles has Sidrian Hunter feelings, Kitty Pryde is Clarissa Darling with a dragon, we introduce a drinking game, the X-Men do Barbarella, Rachel has a ‘shipper moment, Rogue joins the team, Storm gets a haircut, Mastermind is still the worst, and Madelyne Pryor is underrated.

X-Plained:

Lockheed

Uncanny X-Men #168-175

Reset issues

A one-sided rivalry

The lowest-drama X-romance

The Cream of Wheat box as a metaphor for infinity

Kitty’s Kostume Korner

Rachel’s questionably-canon ships

The Morlocks

Class privilege and the mutant metaphor

Callisto

Caliban

Sunder

Plague

Masque

A dubbing error

Gender dimorphism in superhero media

Storm’s first major character arc

Our single favorite superhero artist

Rogue

Rogue’s accent

A Charles Xavier we can believe in

Yukio

Punk Storm

Madelyne Pryor

Closure

Cyclops vs. formalwear

Art Challenge: Send us your Kitty Pryde costume redesigns--any era, any codename--to xplainthexmen(at)gmail(dot)com

Next Week: Claremont and Miller’s Wolverine!

You can find a visual companion to the episode – and links to recommended reading – on our blog.

Find us on iTunes or Stitcher!

Support us on Patreon!