The Death of Phoenix. Truly one of the milestone stories in modern superhero comics, and it still hits hard, even for the Milksops who are reading the full arc for the first time this year!

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The Milksops interview Chris Claremont, author of Marvel's X-Books for something like 17 years, and then some. We get into how he got hired by Stan Lee in the early 1970s, what Marvel was like at that time, the decision behind the Death of Phoenix, the challenges of writing comics these days, his priorities while writing comics, and more!

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Enter: The Hellfire Club. Also enter: "radiation" heroes as stand-ups, mutants as improvisers; the abundance of alleys in Marvel's NYC; the debut of Kitty Pryde; and one of the most famous Wolverine panels to have ever happened! Plus the mail: we pitch some "What Ifs?", Kevin has an idea for The Incredibles 3 and wondering how the mutants will fit into the MCU.

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Alex Segura, who's written and edited in various capacities for Archie, DC and many others (in addition to writing terrific crime novels) joins us to analyze Amazing Spider-Man #350, in which Erik Larsen draws an epic battle between Spidey and the very normally named Doctor Doom!

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The Milksops arrive at the Proteus saga, and notice that the already-great X-Men series is levelling up in quality. Multiple storylines intersect with a powerful villain to create tension, action and drama. Phoenix is powering up. The Hellfire Club arrives. Moira Mctaggert returns, as does her ex-husband. Colossus' inferiority complex goes away, and Wolverine remains his fun and brutal self. Our take: this comic is goddamn good. Plus the mail!

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A catch-up issue where everyone catches their breath, then Arcade throws everyone into a giant pinball machine, and then oh yeah some guy named Arkon from another dimension or something shows up and fights and then befriends the X-Men! Kevin compares these comics to old Kirby FFs. Will likes the Wild West and confirms the least surprising thing ever: he has a crush on Storm. Plus the mail!

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The X-Men go up against the most powerful enemy: the insanely well-funded secret Canadian super-hero program. Enter ALPHA FLIGHT!

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A big episode for a big event: the wrap-up of Superior Spider-Man. One of the all-time great Spidey comics comes to a thundering, epic, emotionally devastating close. The Milksops first wrap up the arcs that precede the finish: Spider-Man 2099, Stunner and Venom. But then they spend a full hour on the final two issues of the series. Dan Slott and company deliver the goods in Spidey-Otto's final hour.

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The X-Men (most of them) make it to the Savage Land. The Milksops talk about the trope of hidden lands with dinosaurs in them, people who look like they've read Lord of the Rings but haven't, and try to figure out what the deal was with The Petrified Man. Plus lots of email!

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Over these issues, Spidey-Otto evolved into full super villain mode. He gets a lair, henchmen and even a giant robot. The Milksops discuss this, as well as some MCU talk and Will's plan to play the Thing in an FF movie as an homage to Fat Bastard from Austin Powers.

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