The X-Men Files

Less preparation than usual, but no amount of preparation will help Inessa understand why we spend so much time with a character that we've not seen before in the pages of the X-Men. Is the issue any good? Well, it's certainly got a lot of interesting costume changes. We also talk about the complicated legacy of Pat Morita, the Karate Kid and what's up with the power dynamics in 80's movies.

Brian has a Spoonerism while reading his recap, and he follows it up with a bummer story about this childhood. Meanwhile, Inessa looks extra pretty, it's hot in the south and we all need to know more about female character actors. Also, we talk about the X-Men.

Slightly divergent views on this one. Inessa isn't wild about the action, but Brian thinks it's a proto Die Hard. Neither of us are fans of the dire wraiths or relentless cross promotion. We also spend more time than any person should thinking about the word "paramour".

Brian has grown up a lot since he first read this issue. We both love romance in our comics. The plot mechanics weren't perfect, but the X-Men is still better than Downton Abbey. Brian still won't shut up about The Last Jedi, but he's getting closer to processing all of his feelings about it. Or at least one can hope so.

Action packed! We have a terrific recap followed by musing about slackerdom and Generation X. Inessa is over it with the male gaze, while Ororo and Rogue have a fantastic heart to heart talk. In other news, Brian has had it with Disney and he's got the rants to prove it.

We meet the inventor genius Forge in this issue, and get our first look at his questionable fashion choices. He's not alone, though, as club owner Nick commits some sartorial crimes of his own. Brian talks about polar coordinates and thought leadership. Both of us talk about a letter writer who may become wiser, but we hope they don't lose their ideals. Love makes the world go round and we love the X-Men. So when the sun rises for you tomorrow morning: you're welcome!

We're back! We finally talk through the fallout of Peter's breakup with Kitty and we are ... underwhelmed. Beautiful art and a few nice moments, but we hit the patriarchal speedbump pretty hard. From there, we spend a bit of time talking through our reservations about the latest MCU movie: Black Widow. Spoilers abound there.

The 3rd biggest event in comics history! It's actually a bit more significant than that non-superlative would suggest. Inessa and Brian finally take on one of the most iconic storylines in comics ever and they conclude that it's about ... sex? Um, okay. We also learn that we'd love to see a dramatization of the Marvel bullpen from the early 80's. Get on it, Hollywood!

Brian and Inessa (re)visit the film X2. Brian finds it wasn't as good as he remembered. Inessa fell asleep while watching. We also talk about "God Loves, Man Kills", good casting and how the film would have been much, much better as a romantic comedy. It also features some of our raunchiest opening conversation ever.

Rogue isn't an action hero, she's tormented by the weight of her past choices, just like the rest of us. Is the universe a just place? Sometimes it is and sometimes it isn't. Claremont walks use through the weight of existence in a tremendous solo Rogue issue.