eXaMENation

Inferno #4

This week, the last week, the guys discuss Disney+’s Hawkeye finale as well as MCU’s latest banger, Spiderman: No Way Home.  After that the guys dig into Inferno #4.  First, as an individual issue, and then, what it meant to the event as a whole, and finally, Inferno as a larger part of Hickman’s run.  Was the issue good?  Is the payoff there for the set up?  What might this story have looked like if Hickman had full access?  After that, the guys recap the end of an era.  What characters and books meant something, the ups, the downs, just all of it.  Finally, a short send off as the guys discuss the long run of the podcast as a whole before signing off one final time.

Thank you to everyone that has listened over the years.

Inferno #3

This week the guys discuss their interest level in No Way Home’s upcoming release, Dane waxes poetic for way too long on his love of Disney+’s Hawkeye, Spiderman in video games, and brief thoughts on Destiny of X.  It wouldn’t be the eXaMENation podcast if we didn’t talk about Hellions and boy do we have a reason to this episode as the series comes to a close and, surprise, they all love it.  Do you like Cypher spying on the man?  Emma being a badass?  Tensions between Xavier and Erik?  How about time traveling robots from future timelines?  Come on, you’re listening to an X-Men podcast, you know you do.  Well, Inferno has it all, plus a promise to burn it all down.  If you don’t want spoilers, probably skip over Quintin’s prediction because it’s too good not to be right.  As the podcast nears a close, Kelsey and Dane step into the Danger Room again.  But, will they be successful in the penultron episode?  Find out in this week’s episode!

Inferno #2

This week the guys discuss the No Way Home trailer, specifically the villains teased and who everyone wants to round out a presumed Sinister Six, Quintin’s love affair with the new Guardians of the Galaxy video game, why Adam Warlock is more than just that kid from We’re the Millers, and expectations of the new Lives and Deaths of Wolverine event.  Inferno keeps things blazing, this week focusing on the mystery of how Mystique got Destiny back, what Xavier and Magneto plan to do about this new betrayal, and the newest member of the council rounding them back out to 12.  Once all that’s done, things wrap up with some impromptu discussions of why solicits suck, how costume colors matter to show intentions, and maybe accidentally recorded a recruiting commercial for Orchis.  Enjoy!

This week, the guys discuss What If’s, What if Thor was a frat bro, the upcoming Venom movie and who is going to go see it, the next lawsuit in line for Marvel, who is going to pick up the Guardians of the Galaxy game, and the maybe reveal of Kieron Gillen joining the X-Team.  Inferno pulls out all the stops in an extra large issue.  What has Orchis been up to?  Will Mystique burn it all down?  How will the Council fill vacancies in War Captains and Council members?  Find out this and more in this week’s episode!

X-Corp #5, X-Men #3, Onslaught Revelation #1

This week, the guys discuss what’s missing from What If’s Killmonger episode (and somehow Hellions comes up) and put out some hopes and predictions for next week’s Inferno debut.  The first arc of X-Corp comes to a close with an action packed issue and more nazi hand holding powers.  The X-Men face off with the High Evolutionary and only make it out after making a deal that will obviously come back to bite them in the future.  Onslaught Revelation wraps up Way of X with some heavy, high concept...REVELATIONS!

Marauders #24, Trial of Magneto #2

This week, the guys discuss What If’s Marvel Zombies and where the show as a whole fits into the great MTVU, the new announcement of Insomniac’s Spider-Man and Wolverine video games, the newly released trailer for the Christmas spectacular Hawkeye series (warning: Dane’s excited), and the funeral pyre they are building with Hellion’s end in sight.  Marauders takes a new step for the book itself, but a familiar step for Star Wars fans.  Trial of Magneto continues to drop clues about what’s really going on.  But are these clues or editorial mistakes?  You’ll have to keep reading (and listening) to find out.  Don’t let your attention phase out before Kelsey and Dane take on their own trials in the Danger Room!

X-Force #23, Excalibur #23

This week, the guys discuss the box office smash of Shang-Chi and what it means for Marvel and Disney+ moving forward, the rumored $100M Scarlett Johansson requested to even out her contract, and Hickman staying on an X-Men project exclusive to Marvel Unlimited (and then a little more about our thoughts on Unlimited).  Mikhail moves his plans for a new Russia forward while Beast finds himself in another tiny problem in this week’s issue of X-Force.  Meanwhile, Excalibur escorts Doom through Otherworld as he searches for something he left with his ex, Morgan la Fey.  Finally, can Kelsey and Dane bear the obstacles of the Danger Room?  Find out in this week’s episode!

This is the one where we talk about the finer things:

New Mutants & Hellions

Midnight Suns

Shang Chi

What If 3 & 4

You know... the finer things.

Wolverine #15

This week, the guys discuss episode 2 of What-If as T’Challa takes over the mantle of Star Lord and Thanos is just misunderstood, their thoughts on the new No Way Home teaser trailer, and where they land on the hype meter for Midnight Suns.  Wolverine continues in top form as the hunt of Solem heats up and we learn a little more about the past of the adamantium skinned playboy.  It’s the 100th episode.  A milestone.  An achievement.  But all good things must come to an end as the guys discuss what the podcast has meant to them in the last two years and their plans to wrap things up in the coming months.  But they’ve still got time for the Danger Room.  Are Kelsey and Dane’s knowledge enough to overcome the Danger Room’s weapons?  Find out in this week’s episode!

This week, the guys discuss some alternate covers based on the early MCU movies and what those films mean to them, a potentially leaked first look at Moonknight and who is excited for that, a brief recap and discussion of episode one of Disney+’s ‘What If?’, and with a real burying of the lead, first take reactions to the news that Hickman will be leaving the X-Team.  In the comics, how does X-Corp handle its first PR disaster and then how did it get even worse?  Marauders uses a motley crew roster to handle some issues in the Krakoan pharmaceutical distribution (i.e. drug trade).  Way of X keeps pushing the limits of the philosophical and moral questions that build Krakoa but things are coming to an action packed head.  Finally, the new event Trial of Magneto kicks off with X-Factor’s initial investigation and the titular character suspect going rogue on the island nation.