Talking about comic books, TV shows, movies, sports, and the numerous other pastimes that make us Gentlemen of Leisure.

Tuesday, December 28, 2021

X-amining X-Men: The Animated Series 3x06 - Patreon First!

"The Starjammers"

Original Airdate
September 8, 1994

Writer
Mark Edward Edens

Plot
In the wake of her encounter with Gladiator and the looming presence of Shi'ar Emperor D'Ken, Phoenix announces that the X-Men must fight to save the galaxy. She then transports the X-Men and Lilandra across the stars to Lilandra's spaceship. There, Lilandra explains how the M'Kraan Crystal her brother D'Ken covets and she's stolen has the power to destroy the galaxy, just as the pirate Starjammers attack, declaring their intent to kidnap Lilandra and steal the crystal for themselves. The X-Men intervene, but with Phoenix recovering from the effort of transporting the X-Men, they are overwhelmed, and the Starjammers make off with the crystal as well as a captive Cyclops, whom Phoenix realizes is the son of the Starjammer's leader, Corsair, something neither man realizes. Corsair proceeds to contact D'Ken, offering to sell him the crystal. However, Corsair intends to use Cyclops' optic blasts to kill D'Ken, while D'Ken orders his Imperial Guard to destroy the Starjammers after he gets the crystal. Just as Corsair proceeds to execute his plan, Phoenix transports the X-Men to D'Ken's ship, and a fight breaks out between the X-Men, Starjammers, and Imperial Guard. D'Ken manages to get ahold of the M'Kraan Crystal and uses an incantation to open it; Phoenix tries to stop him, but fails, and everyone is drawn inside the crystal. 

Want to read the rest before everyone else? Become a patron via Patreon! 

Tuesday, December 21, 2021

X-amining Classic X-Men #6 - Patreon First!

"A Love Story!"
February 1987

In a Nutshell
Jean Grey prepares for a date with Cyclops

Writer: Chris Claremont
Artist: John Bolton
Letters: Tom Orzechowski 
Colors: Glynis Oliver
Editor: Ann Nocenti
Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter

Plot
With her roommate Misty Knight away for the weekend, Jean Grey prepares for a holiday date with Cyclops. However, their evening is interrupted by an attack by the Sentinels, who blast off into the sky with their captive X-Men. 


Want to read the rest before everyone else? Become a patron via Patreon! 

Tuesday, December 14, 2021

X-amining X-Men: The Animated Series 3x05 - Patreon First!

"Cry of the Banshee"

Original Airdate
September 7th 1994

Writer: Michael Edens

Plot
Moira and Banshee are drawn to the commotion in Xaver's room, where he and Lilandra are battling Juggernaut. They gain the upper hand until Juggernaut's partner Black Tom enters the fray, saying they were hired to kidnap Lilandra. Xavier is thrown out the window as the pair make off with Lilandra, but Banshee uses his mutant sonic cry to rescue Xavier. Moira and Banshee remain dubious that Lilandra is real, but Xavier calls out to the X-Men, who reluctantly leave Jean's bedside for Muir Island. Meanwhile, Black Tom and Juggernaut meet with their client, Erik the Red, but Lilandra's psychic bond with Xavier allows the X-Men to learn where they are: Banshee's ancestral home. The X-Men travel to Cassidy Keep and battle Black Tom, Juggernaut, and Erik the Red, but their battle is disrupted by the arrival of the powerful Gladiator, leader of the Shi'ar Emperor D'Ken's Praetorian Guard. He easily tosses Juggernaut aside and claims Lilandra for his Emperor, but Phoenix awakens and quickly flies to Ireland, where she tosses Gladiator into space. Lilandra is saved, for now, but D'Ken himself has just arrived to the planet. 

Want to read the rest before everyone else? Become a patron via Patreon! 

Tuesday, December 7, 2021

X-amining Classic X-Men #5 - Patreon First!

"Prison of the Heart"
January 1987

In a Nutshell
Colossus falls in love with a Russian ballerina.

Writer: Chris Claremont
Artist: John Bolton
Letters: Tom Orzechowski
Colors: Glynis Oliver 
Editor: Ann Nocenti
Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter

Plot
Sketching at Brighton Beach, Colossus oversees a young woman being kidnapped. He intervenes, rescuing her, and learns she is Anya Markarova, a Russian prima ballerina who defected to the US. The two artists proceed to spend time together, discussing their shared experiences and falling in love. But when the Russian gangsters intent on bringing her back to Russia try to kidnap her again, Colossus exposes himself as a mutant in the process of saving her once more. Though he frightens off her would-be kidnappers, he scares Anya as well, who doesn't believe him to be human. He asks her to look into his heart, but she says that a man of steel has no heart, and leaves him. Night falls as Colossus sadly ponders the experience, before tearing up a drawing of Anya and quietly insisting she is wrong.  

Want to read the rest before everyone else? Become a patron via Patreon!