Art by David Wynne. We're not selling prints of this one, but you can still hit David up for the original!

In which Miles tries to find things to like about Bob Layton’s X-Factor run; Cyclops’s life is literally an anxiety dream; X-Factor is very Leverage; Layton’s Angel is just godawful; Rachel is all about the Red Scare; Frenzy is awesome; and we bid a fond farewell to producer Bobby Roberts.

X-PLAINED:

An Apocalypse that might have been

Mid-80s X-title thematic disambiguation

The limited value of nostalgia

Creative history of X-Factor

X-Factor #2-5 and Annual #1

The baffling reinvention of Vera Cantor

Tower (Edward Pasternak)

Dubious didactic strategies

Carl Maddicks

Artie Maddicks

Muffin the kitten

Bad timing

Soviet mutant policy

Soviet robot disambiguation

The Doppelganger (Wolfgang Heinreich)

A ruse

Alexei Garnov, Mentac the Living Computer, Concussion, Iron Curtain, and Siberian Tiger

The worst phonetic accent we have ever seen.

The Alliance of Evil

Frenzy (Joanna Cargill)

The color of Beast’s fur

Our favorite X-Men toys

NEXT WEEK: Miniseries Mayhem!

Many thanks to Bobby Roberts for 57 spectacular episodes of production, advice, and boundless patience. You are the best, and we love you forever.

You can find a visual companion to this episode on our blog!

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We're not selling prints of this week's illustration, but you can contact David Wynne for the original!