Cyclops: The Best X-Man
WARNING: Major SPOILERS for most, if not all, of X-Men lore!
The X-Men are bar none my favorite comic book superhero team. Their roster of characters go deep and could easily stand apart from the standard Marvel Universe with its exorbitant collection of complex heroes and memorable villains. The team of misfit mutants has grown from a small unit to an ever-expanding family of sorts, but no character has enticed me more than the X-Man known as Cyclops.
I never paid attention to Cyclops when I first started reading X-Men. To be honest, why would you when Wolverine was always standing right next to him? A 5’3” ball of angst and adamantium with a chip on his shoulder the size of Ontario. Like a naïve teenage girl, I fell for the rebel in Wolverine and dismissed the Boy Scout Cyclops without even blinking. As I continued to read the X-Men books into my adult years, I realized I couldn’t identify with Wolverine anymore. The character became softened, predictable… commercialized. He had become not only the face of the X-Men, but also Marvel Comics as a whole. He was over-saturating the market, shucking and jiving for Avengers and on his knees blowing the masses for attention. Because of this, his character was stifled and being pulled in so many different directions. Wolverine was a goner. Recognizing what was happening, forced me to take a harder look into the X-Men bullpen and I realize that Cyclops was slowly, but surely becoming one of the best characters on the X-Men.
Who is Cyclops?
Scott Summers aka Cyclops is a mutant. He’s one of a race of people discriminated against because they were born with strange and uncanny abilities. Cyclops’ uncanny ability is to shoot highly destructive blast from his eyes. These force blasts have no “off” switch and must be contained with special glasses or he runs the risk of destroying anything (or anyone) he’s looking at. He was orphaned when Charles Xavier’s chose him to be the first student at his school, the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters and lead the X-Men, a team of misfit mutant teenagers burden with the task of protecting a world that hates and fears them.
An orphaned child with an uncontrollable and dangerous ability given purpose, leading a superhero team of misfits sounds pretty goddam cool, right? How can they botch that? Well, they botched it. The X-Men comic book failed to elevate Cyclops, or any other character for that matter, as the principle character of the series. Needless to say, the book tanked and would not regain prominence until Chris Claremont began writing the book in 1975. From there the book blew up as the premier book of Marvel Comics. But still, the X-Men leader received none of the spotlight. Instead, that went to his girlfriend, Jean Grey and the new team bad boy, Wolverine.
Why is Cyclops the leader of the X-Men if he’s not popular? I asked myself this a lot. “Cyclops sucks,” I said as a kid watching X-Men the animated series in my Wolverine pajamas and no one in my company would disagree with me. There was never a solid reason given as to why Cyclops was chosen to be the leader of the X-Men, he always just was. To me, it seemed like the X-Men only followed Cyclops because Professor Xavier told them to. That’s where the issue lies. If he didn’t seem believable enough to lead the X-Men, why would any X-Men fan take him seriously?
Not without trying, writers have tried to make Cyclops an interesting character, but they made one crucial mistake. They attempted to make him compelling by means of others. For a while, no one could bring up Cyclops in conversation without talking about his wife, the most powerful mutant on earth and cosmic deity, Jean Grey or his rivalry with X-Men pop star and resident bad boy, Wolverine. The second of which was not so secretly is in love with Cyclops’ girl, the most powerful mutant on earth and cosmic deity, Jean Grey! You can’t shine when you’re overshadowed by comic book royalty, issue after issue. Whatever drama Jean found herself in always trickled down to Cyclops, never the other way around. Whenever the Phoenix Force came for Jean, Cyclops took not only a back seat, but they put his ass in the trunk. A character is not defined by who they are surrounded by, but by the actions they choose to take and the reasons behind them. In New X-Men Vol. 1, writer Grant Morrison raised Cyclops stock and gave him the positive character development he’s deserved with one move: An affair.
THE AFFAIR
Scott Summers’ affair with the reformed villain and telepathic bombshell Emma Frost was a necessary step for the character. He made a move in which Jean Grey had to react. His actions trickled down to her for once. This put him in the doghouse with comic book readers and Jean Grey fan boys, but when you’re already at the rock bottom of character development any move is a good move. The affair shouldn’t have come as a surprise to anyone especially Jean Grey, not because she’s can read minds, but because she strung Scott along by his blue balls for years while she tried to make up her mind between her husband and Wolverine. Cyclops’ love life was a joke. PERIOD. He pretty much had joint custody of his wife with Wolverine (and believe me Wolverine always got her on weekends). I just saw the affair as Scott making the decision for her. The willingness and patience he had staying with a woman that gave precedence to another man really bummed me the fuck out.
If you are going to give a character a love interest, they have to complement each other and the Cyclops/Emma Frost dynamic does not disappoint. Contrary to what I initially thought, there was no ulterior motive from the former villain. Emma Frost genuinely loves Cyclops. She’s a telepathic sexpot that isn’t afraid to use her abilities get what she wants. Be it lobotomizing villains that get to close to winning or disbursing a mob by making them cream their pants. (She’s literally done this) Bluntly put, Emma Frost is fun. She fancies making Cyclops’ wildest fantasies come true. She’s even used her abilities to changed her appearance into his ex-wife in bed to get a rise out of him. But don’t get it twisted. In my opinion, Emma Frost is possibly the strongest, most independent woman in the Marvel Universe. The former White Queen of the Hellfire club takes shit from no one (including Cyclops) and constantly challenges Scott to be a better Mutant.
While Jean and Emma have completely different personalities their goals are the same. They both are fighting for mutant civil rights, but the problem lies in how they go about achieving this goal. While Jean was obsessing over how best to make Xavier’s dream of mutant equality come true, her telepathic rival looked to Cyclops to bring about mutant liberation. I believe Emma’s known all along that behind that ruby quartz visor is a caged animal that could turn the world on its head. Who better to usher in a new era of mutant liberation than Charles Xavier’s first student and the all time leader of the X-Men? His paramour became the knife he needed sever his last ties of adolescence and propel him into maturity.
Astonishing Growth
With the death of Jean Grey, that phoenix shaped shadow cast over Cyclops had finally dissipated. Scott Summers was free to grow unchecked as a character. He reopened the Xavier School of Higher Learning, sharing the title of headmaster with Emma Frost in Professor Xavier’s absence. During Joss Whedon’s incredible run of Astonishing X-Men, he was fleshed out a lot more as his relationship with Emma Frost and the School grew. To my excitement the team was brought back to their superhero roots, colorful costumes and all. This was the X-Men I was used to, but unlike in previous issues, Cyclops stole the show. Throughout these adventures the team defeated an alien warlord attempting to “cure”, rescued a long thought dead teammate from said alien, fought a sentient danger room, and even kicked Professor Xavier out of his own school. Did I mention that Cyclops did most of this without his powers? The first and only leader of the X-Men had finally asserted himself as a force to be reckoned with.
No More Mutants
What’s a hero without struggle, right? And struggle was on the menu for the X-Men leader as M-Day decimated of world’s mutant population, leaving only a mere 198. Mutant’s lost their powers over night becoming easy targets for mutant hate groups and to exacerbate the situation, no more children carrying the mutant gene were being born. Cyclops was forced to shed his superhero facade and become not only the leader of the X-Men, but also the leader of mutantkind. Ushering in what I like to call the “Mutant Civil Rights Movement”. To ensure the survival of his species, he relocated the team from New York to San Francisco. With the help long time nemesis Magneto, he erected a mutant sanctuary off the coast of San Francisco. He dubbed the island ‘Utopia’ and welcomed all of mutants (depowered or not) to live without fear of persecution and drafted Magneto to the ranks of the X-Men.
Mutant Civil Rights Leader
What’s a hero without struggle? And struggle was on the menu for the X-Men leader as M-Day decimated of world’s mutant population, leaving only a mere 198 of his people. Mutant’s lost their powers overnight becoming easy targets for mutant hate groups and to exacerbate the situation, no more children carrying the mutant gene were being born. Cyclops, fed up with the treatment of mutantkind was forced to shed his superhero facade and become not only the leader of the X-Men, but also the leader of mutantkind. Ushering in what I like to call the “Mutant Civil Rights Movement”. To ensure the survival of his species, he moved the team from New York to San Francisco but where the X-Men go trouble is sure to follow.
Moving from New York was a big step for the X-Men as they have always been a staple to that environment. I know the team moved to Australia in the 80s, but Cyclops’ decision to move had meaning and their destination was symbolic as San Francisco is seen as a city of equality, being seen as one of the most welcoming cities of the LGBT community, who were at the time going through their own discrimination amidst California ballot proposition 8. There the X-Men became celebrities and symbols of equality under Cyclops. Being a mutant was cool.
Cyclops leadership and laurels were tested beyond his imagination and he adapted accordingly, taking a more militaristic approach to leading the team. Especially during the Messiah Complex storyline, when the first mutant child, Hope Summers, was born since M-Day. Enemies new and old reared their heads to get at the child and in the most gangster move Cyclops formed X-Force, a covert team of the X-Men’s deadliest members, led by none other than Wolverine. Cyclops has killed before, but forming a kill squad to preemptively “deal” with high-risk threats to his people takes his character to another level all together. This to me was a telltale sign that he had found the purpose in life he had always been lacking: Protect mutantkind at all cost.
When X-Man Nightcrawler died protecting Hope from anti-mutant extremist, Wolverine disbanded X-Force. The outing of Cyclops’ X-Force team saw dissention creep into the X-Men ranks and Cyclops’ callous tactics were called into question. The tension and animosity reached a fever pitch when our leader ordered youngest X-Men to kill for mutantkind. The X-Men suffered a moral schism. The team was split down the middle, half staying with Cyclops and the others joining Wolverine in rebuilding the school back in New York. A school named after Scott’s dead wife nonetheless… GIVE ME A FUCKING BREAK! I HATE WOLVERINE SO MUCH!
I believe people hate Cyclops because in the heat of the moment he can seem like a dick, but they forget is what his overall goal is. Readers lose site that he’s fighting for a race of people that are on the verge of extinction. Considering all he’s been through, whatever he does to achieve that goal is justified in my book. He’s no different than Malcolm X, fighting for civil rights in the 60s. Oppressive groups attempted to stop him at all cost, but Malcolm stuck to his goal to ensure African Americans in the United States were treated fairly. As a leader, Cyclops has to make the hard choices and deal with the consequences. Sending kids off to war is no different than what Xavier did with the initial creation of the X-Men. Xavier might not have intended the X-Men to kill for him, but students have died under his supervision. The difference between Xavier and Cyclops though is Cyclops leads from the frontlines where he has seen his friends die. His choices are a result of witnessing what lax and complacent leadership can do to the X-Men. I believe, by this point, Cyclops had already propelled himself further as leader than Charles Xavier could ever reach.
The Messiah Complex/Schism storylines not only defined the direction of the X-Men franchise for the next several years, but it stretched and morphed Cyclops into something new and wonderful. Through his struggles, Scott Summers became the leader the X-Men never wanted, but always needed. He was no longer a simple plot device as the “X-Man with a plan”. You could feel the stress of the character as he made the difficult choices. Decisions that put his friends and loved ones at odds with each other. Decisions that weigh heavy not only on the team, but on himself as well. Cyclops had successfully become an empathetic character. His popularity came at the cost of his Boy Scout image, but in my opinion the dirtier Cyclops’ hands got the more appealing he became.
Avengers Vs. X-Men
What’s to come is, in my opinion, the greatest superhero heel turn in comic book history. The Phoenix force was coming to earth to claim, mutant messiah, Hope Summers as its host. That brought the Avengers (with Wolverine) into conflict with the X-Men believing the Phoenix force a danger to earth. Needless to say, Cyclops disagreed believing the Phoenix’s arrival was a benevolent force to help mutantkind. So they did what superheroes do when they don’t agree with each other… the X-Men fought the Avengers. In a crazy mishap, Cyclops and four of his lieutenants including his paramour Emma Frost each became host of the Phoenix force and, for lack for a better term, became Gods.
THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT as Cyclops, a discriminated mutant, had the power to enslave the human race, but he didn’t. Instead, he looked to help the world. The Phoenix five terraformed underdeveloped nations and provided free energy, food, and water to the world. They also ended all armed global conflict. The more power you amass the more haters come out of the woodwork and not only did the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes vilify the Phoenix’s new hosts, but Professor X reared his head to stop his former pupil.
I don’t believe that Avengers vs. X-Men was done well, but I will say that it is the penultimate chapter in the life and leadership of Cyclops and a necessary read if you are a fan of the character. It marked the beginning of Cyclops’ beautiful heel turn and fall from pseudo-grace. Facing the Avengers, his team began to fall apart member by member. Threatened and desperate, Cyclops betrayed the last of the Phoenix Five, Emma Frost, absorbing her powers and in turn the entire phoenix force becoming near omnipotent. Professor X seeking to stop the madness challenged his former pupil’s new abilities and Cyclops responded by killing him.
I cannot stress the beauty in Professor X’s death. I believe it is one of the most well-done (and well deserved) character deaths in Marvel Comics. The history behind Scott and Xavier dated back nearly 50 years at this point and the slow burn of their relationship ultimately led to this moment. What better person to take out the all-powerful founder of the X-Men, than his first student Cyclops. I received the death with such rejoice, but our character on the other hand did not. Cyclops became engulfed by his new powers and descended into madness becoming the malevolent Dark Phoenix. The Avengers with the help of Hope and the Scarlet Witch eventually took down the Godlike Cyclops and stripped him of his powers. It’s rather poetic that Cyclops was defeated by the two people who inadvertently pushed him to this point in his life.
The (Marvel) universe was not done with Scott Summers. His actions pushed him into the forefront of almost every comic book. For lack of a proper comparison, he was the new Magneto. No one could ignore the fact that Cyclops took over the world for a time… He almost won. Nothing can hold a good character down as he eventually escaped custody and formed a team of fugitive X-Men in the opposition of Logan’s new school. He was the main topic in every X-Book to come. He became as infamous as Wolverine was in his prime and more powerful than Jean Grey ever was. His disappearance after Marvel’s Secret War event has yet to be addressed, but the upcoming Death of X storyline promises his return and with it more drama than this X-Men fan boy can stomach.
Who is Cyclops? (Retconned)
Scott Summer aka Cyclops grew up an orphaned mutant with a dangerous and uncontrollable ability given purpose, leading a superhero team of misfits tasked with protecting a world that hated and feared them. With no progress in the fight for mutant equality, the X-Men leader broke free from the constraints of his initial mission. Forging his own path to mutant equality, he unexpectedly became the greatest symbol of civil rights and freedom to mutantkind across the globe. Beaten, vilified, and betrayed time in and time out, Cyclops has achieved more for mutant equality than any of his predecessors, even dwarfing his mentor Professor X and mutant radical Magneto.
Scott Summers began as leader of the X-Men in name alone. Overshadowed and pushed to the side, he was soon seen as one of the lamest characters to dawn the uniform. Though a mainstay of the X-Men franchise over their 50-year history, only in the last 15 would this Cyclops grow to become the most complex and appealing members of the X-Men. Gaining notoriety in the fictional world as well as in reality, his growth from unequipped and ill-favored leader to no nonsense mutant revolutionary speaks volumes to what a seemingly dull character is capable of given a proper motivation and direction. Equally a hero and a villain, Cyclops has proven throughout the years that his is the quintessential X-Man. Fuck Charles Xavier, fuck Wolverine, fuck Jean Grey… Cyclops was right.
