Scott Summers: Cyclops Appreciation 2018

[Cyyyke]

I’ve been a lurker for a while now, and decided to post. I recently got back to reading and kinda blitzed through the last major arcs. Big fan of Cyke

I was just thinking that with both of them kinda “older and wiser” it would be quite cool to see Jean and Emma have a sit down with some wine and toast a glass to the love of their lives. It would make it a refreshing change to have both of them at peace with each other before Cyke came back to life, and how that peace would be affected by him coming back to life.

Welcome to the Cyke thread!

I’m all for Jean and Emma having an adult talk, but i doubt marvel would do that, they want drama more than everything. Jean’s busy in uxm Emma’s in the hellfire club and Cyke’s Coming back soon they don’t really have the time, either. Or the annual would surprise me.

Btw, I’m quite sure Emma would know the next day after Jean’s back, but we didn’t get her reaction to this.

[wano]

Yes, one thing I found him spectacularly charming is that he didn’t even know how charming he is. He basically had no idea how many and how cool things he had been doing which made the x-men how in awe of him. In his dictionary it was no big deal and he didn’t generate any happiness, self-esteem, or glory from it. I can totally imagine once upon a time in utopia he came up with an amazing solution to a great threat and x men were like “whoa you’re awesome you nailed it man” after the big fight then they found he was still emotionless like nothing mattered happened saying “okay that’s all for today mission completed” and left and that was when they couldn’t help but start to think “damn this annoying bastard”.

Can’t blame him, he’s born and more importantly made to be like this.

OK now that makes him sound like the guy that got straight As in the exams nobody pass and then say it's no big deal, what a jerk ¬¬... Not everyone can be geniuses tough

[Hizashi]

No, no, no. Scott made leadership awesomely UNCOOL. That's why he's the G.O.A.T.

You ever seen Rocky Balboa? At some point, Stallone goes "it ain’t about how hard you hit, it’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward."

If that doesn't sum up Cyclops' journey, I don't know what the hell does. Whenever other characters go through a rough patch, you just know there's a 99% chance they'll soon get cutesy empowering/heartwarming moments and ZOMG!NEW!FEATZ! But Cyclops? Oh no, not Cyclops. Whatever doesn't kill him weakens him at just about every turn and yet the stubborn, uptight jerk keeps moving forward. Hail.

Great point, I guess he made it cool to me and us Cyke fans.

[Kal-El Summers]

Can you imagine Alex bragging about his recent "hardships" and "sacrifices" to Scott, lol?

I'm sure Scott would tell Alex he's proud of him, but he'd totally be thinking "Good God, that's basically an alternate Thursday for me. SMH"

Scott let himself almost get murdered by Norman Osborn just because he bet that crazy bastard would stop when the TV cameras showed up. Alex ain't bout that life, hahahahaha.

[Cyyyke]

OK now that makes him sound like the guy that got straight As in the exams nobody pass and then say it's no big deal, what a jerk ¬¬... Not everyone can be geniuses tough

He would not say it out loud and he's not intentionally showing off or something, but due to his childhood trauma and the power he couldn't control he always found it hard to communicate with people comparing to others, especially when jean, the empathic one, was gone and since the utopia era he's been more serious than ever, so to an extent I can understand the other x-men felt so alienated. I mean if I were there I might feel he's a mood killer, too. But in another way, after all these years fighting side by side you guys still don't know who he is and what's really inside him??? That's the ridiculous and disappointing part where I can hardly appreciate.

[CuteClops]

I’ve been a lurker for a while now, and decided to post. I recently got back to reading and kinda blitzed through the last major arcs. Big fan of Cyke

I was just thinking that with both of them kinda “older and wiser” it would be quite cool to see Jean and Emma have a sit down with some wine and toast a glass to the love of their lives. It would make it a refreshing change to have both of them at peace with each other before Cyke came back to life, and how that peace would be affected by him coming back to life.

Re. Charectorization - it was really weird to see how much the tone of all of scott’s scenes changed from messiah complex/ second coming then to the more recent Rightclops era. He just seemed more comfortable and less agitated during the older arcs, despite similar levels of threats to mutantkind. I’m not sure if this is a writer thing or a more conscious decision. It does feel like the newer generation of Writers/comics in general can’t seem to be able to write him at relative peace with himself and his decisions. There is a lot of hysteria and hyperbole in general in the current generation, maybe a reflection of the general social and political scene? I’m not too sure.

[FluffyCyclopsRLZ]

OK now that makes him sound like the guy that got straight As in the exams nobody pass and then say it's no big deal, what a jerk ¬¬... Not everyone can be geniuses tough

Not quite. Cyke is the student who has to work his ass off to get A-minuses, but he most often than not gets higher grades than the A+ students whenever he's leading a team. Totally makes sense, when you think about it. Prodigals pretty much always favor tactics putting themselves and their friends at the center of everything.

*Insert New X-Men/Uncanny X-Men joke*

[Arthas]

Excellent post. I have to say I agree with nearly everything you've written here, especially on Scott's personality and Tyke.

As for your question on what the impact of Jean surviving Planet X might have been on Scott, I created a thread last year that dealt with basically that exact question. I think a number of the responses were excellent. If you want to check that out it's here.

I won't preempt that entire thread by providing a long winded answer. Suffice it to say the general consensus was Scott would have been less extreme and had more support both internally and externally. That said, let's not underestimate Jean's capability for extreme actions of her own. See her stand off with the U-Men in NXM. Even her meeting with Scott and Warren at Waldorf in X-Factor #1 is quite revealing I think.

Thanks, will read through it when I have time (at work now).

Regarding my own view :

Certain events would still have happened -

Bus blowing up (Kids killed).
House of M
Utopia would still have been founded.
Beast : - I am wondering how the Beast situation would have gone down. Ultimately it came down to saving a friend from torture for a time or saving your people from being captured (maybe forever). I suppose Jean could reassure Beast a little by highlighting the stakes (in all honesty Scott should have done this, pointing out what the consequences of rescuing Beast at that time would be and that X-men are supposed to risk themselves for mutant kind but since Scott is not the most emotionally open person it makes sense why he didn't)
I believe Jean would have been all for Scott's PR push for mutant kind and might have taken the lead on it.
I am not sure if X-Force would have occurred as is. Jean would have probably pushed for a more public (X-teams knowing about it) and little less extreme version of X-Force.

Schism, it's difficult for me as I don't really see Scott doing anything wrong. He was not sending Kids on missions, the Kids were just being attacked. I think Jean would have made clear that the situation was a temporary solution (as in She would have highlighted her & Scott's faith in Hope & Cable restoring mutantkind) and that they were doing the best they can while extinction loomed. I am unsure if that would have prevented Logan leaving or not. Jean does have influence with him but (I will be charitable here) was in a wierd place due to his kids dying.

AvX : Hmm... While I could see Logan & Beast saying Phoenix is a threat, they would also say Cap should go talk to Jean and Cap if he was not a fool would have talked to Jean first as he knows she was a Phoenix host. Although that is the same argument for going to talk to Rachel (and Marvel freaking side-lined her) so.... Depends on how many BIG IDIOT BALLS Marvel decides to hand to people.

It's harder than it sounds... There are a lot of intangibles to Jean's characterization that are hard to describe and really just come out in specific situations. Here's goes:

1. Jean's respect for others freedom of thought and freedom of privacy. Back in the old days it was common for Jean to explain how careful she was about both reading and influencing other. She has traditionally felt that was a misuse of her power, an attitude she likely learned from Charles, but one she embraced on her own terms in adulthood. The new Jean is flagrant in reading and influencing others, without a second thought. I suspect this is a bleed over from Jeen. This really bothers me though, not because her attitude has so clearly changed, but because there's no reason given for why it would. I consider this a fundamental element of her characterization.

2. Jean's temper. Jean has always had a serious temper to contend with. Perhaps I'm missing something, but I've seen next to no evidence the new Jean has it. She always seems a little too calm and collected, even in dire situations. I'm not suggesting she would freak out before (although honestly that did happen) but now she seems too level headed.

3. Jean's emotional state. You could always count on Jean to emotionally read her teammates and provide the right kind of support. It's really the idea of emotional labor. It was a very important and central element of her character and I've seen very little of this at all from her.

I'd say those are the biggest one. It's not a complete list, mostly because the rest are likely personal touchstones for me with the character that wouldn't mean much to others.

How is this relevant to the Cyclops thread you ask? Well, my personal theory is that Marvel has been modelling Jean after rightclops. He was and remains a popular character, with much of that due to his post Morrison characterization. Maybe Marvel thinks that they can duplicate their success with Scott, through Jean as a model of an effective leader.

Let's review. I'm seeing a Jean that is more about outcomes than individuals, one who is cool and controlled and one who is willing to cross lines she's wouldn't have dreamed of before. Sound like anyone we know?

Definitely Agreed with the above!

[Cyke is Slim]

[CuteClops]

[Abbz_A]

Hey yall!

I was reading a discussion in how Tom King handled Batman’s mental illness, and it provoked the question who’s fit/you prefer to explore cyclops mental issues?. I’d really love if Marvel took time and spend a good quality diving into Cyclops’ psychology and provide a meaningful story.

I know it’s tough to write a mental health related story but I would like to read it one day.

[AHRNIHAL]

Hey yall!

I was reading a discussion in how Tom King handled Batman’s mental illness, and it provoked the question who’s fit/you prefer to explore cyclops mental issues?. I’d really love if Marvel took time and spend a good quality diving into Cyclops’ psychology and provide a meaningful story.

I know it’s tough to write a mental health related story but I would like to read it one day.

As long as marvel don't tell him to make Scott look like hitler.

[PrezValentine]

Hey yall!

I was reading a discussion in how Tom King handled Batman’s mental illness, and it provoked the question who’s fit/you prefer to explore cyclops mental issues?. I’d really love if Marvel took time and spend a good quality diving into Cyclops’ psychology and provide a meaningful story.

I know it’s tough to write a mental health related story but I would like to read it one day.

I like King's approach to mental health and maybe he'd be good. But you want to know who would be the ideal man to write this?
I'm bracing myself for the possible replies, but there's only one answer to this at current Marvel, and it's Lemire.

I know he was part of the whole HitlerClops crap, but have you seen the man's take on Moon Knight? Lemire is someone with his own mental disorders and would make a stellar job with Scott as he did with Marc. He was really thoughtful of the whole thing and treated in a very serious and respectful manner.

[Rover]

This is too cute! Did you make it?

I like King's approach to mental health and maybe he'd be good. But you want to know who would be the ideal man to write this?
I'm bracing myself for the possible replies, but there's only one answer to this at current Marvel, and it's Lemire.

I know he was part of the whole HitlerClops crap, but have you seen the man's take on Moon Knight? Lemire is someone with his own mental disorders and would make a stellar job with Scott as he did with Marc. He was really thoughtful of the whole thing and treated in a very serious and respectful manner.

I think Lemire is someone who is capable of the best and worst at the same time. I haven't read his Moon Knight, but loved his work on Old Man Logan. He can definitely write characters who have depth.

I'm thinking back on how Lorna's mental health issues have been approached in the past and it's like the writers can't resist using that to create drama...I definitely don't want that for Cyke. But I would love to see Uncanny address this and create a parallel between Cyke rebuilding the X-Men and rebuilding himself.

[Abbz_A]

I like King's approach to mental health and maybe he'd be good. But you want to know who would be the ideal man to write this?
I'm bracing myself for the possible replies, but there's only one answer to this at current Marvel, and it's Lemire.

I know he was part of the whole HitlerClops crap, but have you seen the man's take on Moon Knight? Lemire is someone with his own mental disorders and would make a stellar job with Scott as he did with Marc. He was really thoughtful of the whole thing and treated in a very serious and respectful manner.

I mean I didnÂ’t even know Lemire was behind the HitlerClops ish ... I thought it was the editors decision.
I havenÂ’t read any of his work but I usually agree with ur posts so I trust ur say in it.

I honestly wish Neil Gaiman would come and give us a cyclops ongoing series even a miniseries.

Btw u r the first guy I heard that is liking how Kings is writing BatmanÂ’s mental health xD

I think Lemire is someone who is capable of the best and worst at the same time. I haven't read his Moon Knight, but loved his work on Old Man Logan. He can definitely write characters who have depth.

I'm thinking back on how Lorna's mental health issues have been approached in the past and it's like the writers can't resist using that to create drama...I definitely don't want that for Cyke. But I would love to see Uncanny address this and create a parallel between Cyke rebuilding the X-Men and rebuilding himself.

What did he touch on in OML?

I didnÂ’t even know Lorna bad mental issues, but itÂ’s true it very hard to see a well written mental health storyline
They all seem like drama than awareness.

If yÂ’all could diagnose Scott, what would u diagnose him?