Art by David Wynne. Prints and cards available until 8/9/2015 in the shop (once Redbubble’s uploader starts working again, anyway), or contact David for the original.

In which Elle and Graeme save the day; Hank McCoy joins the real world (sort of) (briefly); Carl Maddicks may or may not be undead; academic discourse in the Marvel Universe leaves a few things to be desired; Steve Englehart is an unsung hero of X-Men; Mastermind lives up to his name; Warren Worthington has a good attitude about mutation; and Avengers Beast is the best Beast; and Graeme has strong feelings about Moira MacTaggert.

X-PLAINED:

The complex romantic life of Patsy Walker

The increasingly terrible life choices of Hank McCoy

Amazing Adventures #11-17

Incredible Hulk #161

Captain America #173-175

Avengers #137, 144, & 178

Marvel Team-Up #124

Life after the X-Men

The Brand Corporation

Carl Maddicks (again)

Vampire Secret Agent Linda Donaldson

The dubious chemical cause of mutation

Beast as proto-Wolverine

Steve Englehart

The high price of passing

Several unusually realistic latex masks

Norman Mailer’s Handbook for Unliberated Women

Sad clowns

Buzz Baxter

Hellcat (Patsy Walker)

Someone who might be Carole King, Indira Gandhi, or your sister (but isn’t)

Questionable corporate practices

Quasimodo (but not that one)

Semantics of fur color

The Griffin

The Secret Empire

Actual supervillain Richard Nixon

Mimic (Cal Rankin)

Avengers Auditions

Best Beast stories

Scotland

Special thanks to guest hosts Elle Collins & Graeme McMillan!

NEXT WEEK: Everything is terrible.

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

Find us on iTunes or Stitcher!

Rachel and Miles X-Plain the X-Men is 100% ad-free and listener supported. If you want to help support the podcast–and unlock more cool stuff–you can do that right here!

Buy prints of this week’s illustration at our shop, or contact David Wynne for the original!