Maddy and Ryan do a miniature listener mail that is mostly just a return to The Mutant Ages: The Comic Book, because we didn't have that many emails to read this time around. We answer questions about how to fix The Gifted (the question everybody wants to know the answer to) and how we would go about writing Bobby's coming-out story on X-Men '97 if…

Maddy and Ryan finally reached the season 1 finale of The Gifted, titled "X-Roads," and it's not bad. Finally, there's a plot on this show! Lorna breaks with the rest of the Mutant Underground by deciding to resort to violence in respond to Dr. Krieger's evil plan, which then leads to a larger shake-up at the episode's conclusion. Andy and Lauren a…

The Gifted aired its finale in two parts, and this is the first half. Unfortunately it's also the more boring half; we'll get to the real action in the next episode. In "eXtraction," Thunderbird, Eclipse, Blink, Lorna and the Cuckoos work together to break into Humanity Today, an anti-mutant conference that Dr. Campbell (or as we always call him, D…

With a title like "3 X 1," you'd think this episode of The Gifted would be all about the Cuckoos, but mostly this episode is about the Struckers deciding to leave the Mutant Underground only to return once again by the time the episode ends. Why does Reed Strucker love to walk in circles? We do still get to see some fun moments with Esme and her si…

Maddy, Ryan, and Todd read the five-issue comic book series "X-Terminators" and loved it. We go over the major plot beats and outline all the reasons why it's great and everyone should read it. Namely that it's four women being hilarious hot messes who love each other and love ribbing on each other. They get into some hot water with Dazzler's shitt…

"eXploited" is by far the best episode of The Gifted yet, with Esme Cuckoo's machinations on full display and tons of other great scenes in the mix. Blink, Dreamer, and the Strucker kids are in captivity at Trask Laboratories, and the torture has begun. The Strucker parents track down Jace Turner and try to convince him he's doing the wrong thing, …

Maddy and Ryan watch one of the best episodes of The Gifted in a long time, in which Esme Cuckoo continues to keep the plot moving along and gets the Mutant Underground on board with breaking in to Dr. Campbell's lab to rescue her family members (the other Cuckoos, not that any of the characters on the show know that). We also talk about Deadpool &…

Finally, it's an episode of The Gifted that is pretty much okay. Not amazing, but okay! Esme Cuckoo is here at last for an anti-climactic entrance that does not foreshadow how significant her role is going to end up being, but Maddy and Ryan are very glad to see her nonetheless. Reed Strucker tracks down his estranged father and finds out some fami…

Maddy and Ryan watched an episode of The Gifted together live on the air and review it as they go, because that was a lot more fun than trying to do it any other way. In "eXtreme measures," Reed Strucker finds out that his daughter's new boyfriend Wes used to be a thief in order to survive on the streets, and that's a problem for some reason. Jace …

Maddy and Ryan invite Todd onto the show for a debrief about X-Men '97 and a massive mailbag from listeners with questions about X-Men '97. If we could rewrite the show, what would we have done? Why didn't Morph get a real arc? And where was Storm? All of this and more on a super-long listener mail episode that (sadly) doesn't even contain The Muta…

Maddy and Ryan settle in for the somewhat anticlimactic ending to X-Men '97, featuring a confusing death scene for Bastion and a lot of leftover questions about what exactly was going on. Magneto's earth-destroying plan from "Part 2" remains unexplained, although his storyline with Xavier is the strongest (and creepiest) part of this finale. The be…

Maddy and Ryan analyze "Tolerance Is Extinction Part 2," in which Magneto has some truly epic monologues, but a plan that makes no sense. What did Magneto do to planet Earth, exactly, in "Part 1" of this trilogy? Whatever it is, it's going to cause the world to end in 12 hours, unless Magneto reverses course. He's chosen to return to Asteroid M, bu…

The first episode in X-Men '97's three-part finale has its ups and downs. The ups: Bastion's Prime Sentinels are here and they're straight out of a horror movie, evocative and cool. Trish Tilby is one of them! Kurt Wagner is also here and he's got three swords (one for his tail). The downs: Storm still isn't back yet, Rogue is asleep (for some reas…

X-Men '97 gets back on track again with "Bright Eyes," an incredible episode about Rogue having a well-deserved mental breakdown in the wake of "Remember It." We get some actual closure in the form of Gambit's funeral and the various characters' reactions to it, then Rogue wrecking shop at a military base and then at Gyrich's mysterious holding fac…

Ryan and Maddy were expecting "Lifedeath Part 2" to fit what its title suggests, but instead, this isn't so much an episode about Storm and Forge as it is an episode about Lilandra and Xavier. Our least favorite Professor is considering whether he should return to Earth or erase all of his memories of it so he can get married to Lilandra, and we al…

Now more than ever, Ryan and Maddy are warning all of you about spoilers in this week's review of X-Men '97. You really need to see "Remember It" for yourself in order to understand why, but be warned that it's an absolutely devastating watch, especially when it comes to the queer metaphor in the mutants' story. This is an episode about Genosha, an…

Ryan and Maddy have hit the first episode of X-Men '97 that they don't completely adore, and it's got a lot to do with the representation of Mojo in this episode. But also, as the world's number one Jubilee fan, Ryan has a lot of thoughts on the writing of Jubilee in this episode and not all of them are positive. We're both not sure what to make of…

Madelyne Pryor has quite the complicated backstory in Marvel Comics, and it's fascinating to see how X-Men '97 chose to shorten and adapt her story. A lot of the changes really work, but the whole episode moves so damn fast that Maddy and Ryan can only conclude that this should have been a two-parter. The Goblin Queen deserved more time to cook!! P…

Maddy and Ryan convene for the double-header premiere episodes of X-Men '97, which just may be the best-ever X-Men adaptation in our lifetimes, as well as the emotional pinnacle of this podcast's run up to this point. We analyze every single frame and line of dialogue in both episodes, and perhaps the only problem with that is for some reason we ca…

Next week, the Mutant Ages will pivot to X-Men '97 and go back to weekly episodes, but until then, Ryan and Maddy have one more (terrible) episode of The Gifted to recap and review. Is this episode as bad as they say it is? Or are they just impatient to get to X-Men '97? Why not both! In this episode, Blink quits the team (good), Dreamer tries to s…

Ryan and Maddy return to The Gifted for an episode in which the characters literally walk in circles. To be fair to Reed Strucker, there is an actual plan involved in doing this, and it does work, but is it interesting to watch? Not really. There are some great moments in this episode, though, such as when Blink finally confronts Dreamer over the b…

Maddy, Ryan, Todd, Katie, and the other Ryan (Truman) convene to hyper-analyze the X-Men '97 trailer, shot by shot. Why is Magneto addressing the UN? Who is the bun in Jean's oven? Is that even really Jean Grey, or is it Madelyne Pryor? We have so many questions, and we can't wait for March 20th.Next episode: "boXed in," The Gifted, for real this t…

Maddy and Ryan respond to questions from listeners and get off-topic even more often than usual, with discussion ranging from their cosplay/convention memories to Ryan's fanfiction.net account and a very real-sounding list of episode synopses for X-Men '97. In the second half of the episode, The Mutant Ages: The Comic Book has become The Mutant Age…

Ryan and Maddy struggle through "eXit strategy," the fourth episode of The Gifted, which features a prison break that results in Lorna (and Reed) finally rejoining the Mutant Underground. You'd think that would make us happy, and Emma Dumont does get some incredible moments as Lorna, but other than that this episode is a total slog. Blink's charact…

Maddy, Ryan, and Todd convened in person (!!) to watch an episode of 1960s television that has lived in infamy for Chris Claremont and all X-Men fans. The show is called The Avengers (but not *those* Avengers), and the episode is called "A Touch of Brimstone" because it's about the Hellfire Club. We discuss the incomparable Emma Peel, the inspirati…

Maddy and Ryan are only on the third-ever episode of The Gifted, and already Maddy is worried that the show has run out of ideas. Not good! Polaris is still in prison; Caitlin is still a privileged white lady who doesn't understand bigotry against mutants (or anybody else, probably). Emma Dumont and Amy Acker are still putting in their best perform…

Maddy and Ryan find that the second episode of The Gifted is almost as good as the pilot, with the exception of some superfluous interrogation scenes between Jace Turner and Reed Strucker. This TV show remains a showcase of Amy Acker and Emma Dumont's acting prowess, and it's nice to see both of them getting their chances to shine. We know this sho…

After a little break to reset, Maddy and Ryan return to a biweekly release schedule and debut their review of The Gifted pilot episode, "eXposed." Emma Dumont and Amy Acker win one trillion acting awards from us for their performances here, but they're not alone -- this is a strong pilot episode! Ryan remembers The Gifted going off the rails at som…

Back in 1978, Magneto appeared in animated form on The New Fantastic Four, an animated series by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Maddy and Ryan brought Ryan Truman (a.k.a. Ry T) on the show to dissect the hilarious corniness of "The Menace of Magneto," in which one of our favorite mutants is depicted as a total buffoon. We also discuss the rights issues s…

Back in 2006, animation students at the DAVE School partnered with an X-Men line of toys called Minimates, and this 3D-animated film was the result. It's got the official Marvel Comics license, alongside the toys, so it's official enough to qualify for our purposes. Plus it's pretty fun! It's also only 8 minutes, but don't worry, Ryan and Maddy can…

Maddy, Ryan, and Todd watched the second half of Logan (2017). Maddy finally confronts her nemesis, X-24, while Ryan continues to question why this version of Logan doesn't match up with any other we've seen. Todd, meanwhile, regrets having watched this film. But we did it! We did it...Next week's episode: X-Men: Dark Tide (2006)E-mail us your feed…

Maddy, Ryan, and Todd struggle through the first half of Logan (2017). We might be the only Marvel-themed podcast hosts ever to dislike this movie? We do shout out a lot of things that we like, such as the performances (especially Dafne Keen), the fact that Logan and Caliban are definitely married, and the unsettling design of Xavier's psychic seiz…

Maddy and Ryan played through another "choose your own adventure" tape cassette for the 2-XL robot (start with last week's episode if you want to know what that is!) and, once again, we got very different storylines. This time, Maddy got a good story, and Ryan got a boring, nonsensical one. Maddy gets excited that "Ghosts That Haunt Us" includes My…

Maddy and Ryan play an official X-Men "choose your own adventure" style audiobook, originally released on a tape cassette for a robot toy called the 2-XL. The robot could skip to different parts of the story depending on inputs, although we played the web browser version on 2xlbot.com. "X-Men: Deadly Games" is a hell of a ride; somehow we both ende…

Maddy, Todd, Ry P and Ry T (the two Ryans!!) draft their ultimate X-Men teams in a competitive format, despite how nice all of them want to be towards one another's choices. Whose team will be strongest? And wait, why is Cloaky here?Next week's episode: The 2-XL X-Men adventure cassettesE-mail us your feedback at themutantages@gmail.com or follow u…

Maddy, Ryan, and Todd discuss the X-Men and Wolverine seasons of the Marvel anime series, with some brief discussion of Blade and Iron Man as well. We rank our favorite and least favorite characters, best and worst episodes, and what the future of Marvel anime could look like. What if the X-Men could be a magical girl show? We have a great pitch, a…

Turns out the Wolverine anime had a secret epilogue, and it's episode 7 of the Blade anime. Good news, the Blade anime is a lot better than the Wolverine anime, since it's an action-comedy with fun jokes and an actual plot (or so it seems from what little we've seen). Maddy and Ryan might actually watch the rest of the Blade anime, but we'd prefer …

The Mutant Ages hosts take a brief reprieve from the hustle and bustle of reviewing every adaptation of the X-Men to read RuPaul's memoir, specifically the list of drag name suggestions. Maddy has a lot of thoughts.Next week's episode: "Day Walker and Mutant (Claws and Blades)," Blade (Marvel anime)E-mail us your feedback at themutantages@gmail.com…

Todd joins Maddy and Ryan for the series finale of the Wolverine anime, which might be worse than any previous episode because it's so unfulfilling. Sure, all the plot points get wrapped up; Yukio even confesses to killing Asano. But the ending is no less frustrating, since it involves Hideki blowing up the entire Dragon Palace while it's full of h…

Maddy and Ryan reach the penultimate episode of the Wolverine anime, and they're very excited to reach the finale next week. So close! Luckily, this week's episode had some actual plot in it: Logan, Yukio, and Kikyo have finally climbed the steps to the Dragon Palace, with Yukio's grandfather Koh just ahead of them. Koh gets in a big swordfight wit…

Maddy and Ryan step away (once again) from the Wolverine anime to open up the listener mailbag, answering questions about obscure X-Men who deserve a storyline, Mystique as a trans allegory, the music scene on Krakoa, and more. In the second half of the episode, we've got a brand-new episode of The Mutant Ages: The Comic Book!Next week's episode: "…

Yukio and Logan still haven't made it inside the Dragon Palace, even though we're all the way up to episode 10 of the Wolverine anime. This episode is called "Shingen," even though it's not about Shingen, and he doesn't even appear in the episode. That makes no sense, but neither does the episode, which features a lengthy fight scene with Vadhaka a…

Every episode of the Wolverine anime has felt more like a video game level than a TV show, but none more so than "Hell Road." In this installment, Logan and Yukio evade a series of traps, all of which play out like quicktime events in a 90s-era action game made by Capcom. Also, Maddy and Ryan lose their minds over the reveal of Koh's "plan," which …

Connor Goldsmith of the Cerebro podcast comes on the show to analyze the motion comic adaptation of Astonishing X-Men: Gifted, written by Joss Whedon and illustrated by John Cassaday. This means we analyze all of Joss Whedon's work up to the source comic's original debut in 2004, meaning full spoilers for Buffy, Angel, and even a little bit of Doll…

The Wolverine anime didn't let us down this week, because this episode has plot points that all follow logically and make sense. We get some character development for Yukio, some goofy antics from Hideki's lackeys (all of whom are Wolverine fanboys, apparently), and an ominous description of what our heroes might face on Hell Road, the "shortcut" t…

You know times are tough when Maddy and Ryan start saying they miss when the Wolverine anime was about Omega Red. Hard to believe, right? That's the only conclusion to be had after watching "Vadhaka, a.k.a Statue," a bizarre boss battle between a magical statue and Wolverine, followed by a maze in the sewers that ends with Min introducing Logan to …

This episode of the Wolverine anime is slightly better than the norm ... but only slightly. After some hilarious flirting with Cyclops, Logan arrives at Madripoor with Yukio. Soon after that, Yukio abandons him and Logan gets a new female friend -- a teenage girl this time. Took him long enough!Next week's episode: "Vadhaka, a.k.a. Statue"E-mail us…

Dr. Christopher Michael Roman appears on the podcast with Maddy, Ryan, and Todd to discuss his book, Queering Wolverine in Comics and Fanfiction: A Fastball Special. We discuss the previous scholarship that analyzes Wolverine as the ultimate example of straight male (toxic) masculinity, and the analyses in Christopher's book, which push back agains…

In the "Asano" episode of the Wolverine anime, Logan insists that his fight with Omega Red was "not a complete waste of time." Maddy and Ryan beg to differ in their review. Also, as of this week, Kikyo returns to fight Logan again, but by this point, we're pretty sure they're friends? Or ... more than friends?Next week's episode: Interview with the…

Omega Red and Wolverine have a lot of unresolved sexual tension in this episode, which amounts to a series of fight scenes in which nothing ever gets resolved between them. Half of those fight scenes are in flashback with a voiceover from a nameless SHIELD agent identifying who Omega Red is, and what his powers are. See if you can guess whether Mad…