I AM The X-Men - Cyclops Appreciation 2023

[Gray Lensman]

To be honest, I haven't read through that whole era and every single one of the time-displaced O5's appearances so I can't speak about his writing for a whole. I can just say that from what I did read of him, I enjoyed his characterization. I'm biased of course because for me this felt like the return of the true Cyclops after a long hiatus. You say you felt he was "less" than he originally was, and perhaps that's true if you're directly correlating him with the Silver Age Cyclops, but I was always comparing him with the present Cyclops, in which case for me, Tyke would be not less but much, much more.

And when comparing his treatment to the other time-displaced O5, I think that view would also differ especially if you ask fans of those characters. A lot of Jean fans don't have warm feelings for Jeen. I know a lot of Bobby fans who were not pleased with Teen Bobby and his sexuality altering the adult version.

Tyke, however, once Bendis left seemed like reaching the level of Cyclops from the First Class series was a pipe dream, and that he should aim for something realistic, like being able to just barely lose against Paste Pot Pete.

And while I don't expect him to be the guy Magneto worried about most (like in the Silver Age stories) I don't expect to see him so different that I can't connect the two either. Having him be at least similar to the Scott from First Class would have been a start, but where other characters progressed in the future, it seemed like each author regressed Scott further and further.

[whitecrown]

Tyke, however, once Bendis left seemed like reaching the level of Cyclops from the First Class series was a pipe dream, and that he should aim for something realistic, like being able to just barely lose against Paste Pot Pete.

And while I don't expect him to be the guy Magneto worried about most (like in the Silver Age stories) I don't expect to see him so different that I can't connect the two either. Having him be at least similar to the Scott from First Class would have been a start, but where other characters progressed in the future, it seemed like each author regressed Scott further and further.

I must have missed all that stuff and that's a fair argument then. In the O5 days, he did have the most power with his optic blast, so if he's being depicted as not being able to beat someone like Paste Pot Pete, then I agree that he's not being characterized correctly. The only thing that would make sense to me is that he's lost his confidence (since he possessed very little in the Silver Age days) upon seeing his future and what he becomes and this hampers his abilities and decision-making. A lot of his issues were always psychological, between feeling abandoned, his inability to control his powers, and not feeling that he fits in anywhere, so it could also be argued that the reason he seems so nerfed and incompetent is because psychologically he's underutilizing himself and making himself out to be less than he was because he's too afraid of the end result.

[Arthas]

I must have missed all that stuff and that's a fair argument then. In the O5 days, he did have the most power with his optic blast, so if he's being depicted as not being able to beat someone like Paste Pot Pete, then I agree that he's not being characterized correctly. The only thing that would make sense to me is that he's lost his confidence (since he possessed very little in the Silver Age days) upon seeing his future and what he becomes and this hampers his abilities and decision-making. A lot of his issues were always psychological, between feeling abandoned, his inability to control his powers, and not feeling that he fits in anywhere, so it could also be argued that the reason he seems so nerfed and incompetent is because psychologically he's underutilizing himself and making himself out to be less than he was because he's too afraid of the end result.

I do like that interpretation and that might become my head-canon.

I just wish I believed that it was done on purpose by the author(s).

In all honesty that is the one problem I have with Cyclops (or any character really) being brought down low. That it is done with the intent of building him (or them) back up again.

Cyclops going through hard times to pull through and show why he is in charge? Yeah that's great.

Cyclops going through hard times or cameos because the author either hates him or just picked his name as someone meaningful enough to have hard times done too while they are building other characters? Yeah that I have a problem with.

Which is partially what I fear has been happening to Cyke in the recent era.

[Kal-El Summers]

Tyke's lack of confidence pretty much stemmed from almost literally everyone disrespecting/hating him from the very second Beast brought them forward in time. What certainly didn't help during both All-New and Blue was the constant push-pull stuff with Jeen. Always personally felt that he should've left the O5 either while Bendis was doing the whole "Jeen draws a line in the sand and wants nothing to do with him" or when he joined the Champions. The solo was probably the only time he had any real positive character growth(X-books-wise) and all of that is thrown away after that stupid Black Vortex crossover ended and he rejoined the O5.

[Ra-El]

At the end of the day, it's about our favorite characters having fun, exciting and maybe meaningful stories, and it's basically what Cyclops have been lacking for quite some time, in my opinion.

During the current x-men era, Cyclops have not been a important player in Krakoa or in any book. Some characters have been front and center in everything happening, like Emma, Storm and Xavier, others while not central to Krakoa are getting a lot of spotlight and things to do, like Iceman, Betsy and Nightcrawler.

Cyclops is a supporting character so far, and if I had to bet, it's the best we can expect for the near future, maybe in a few years we'll get some writer who actually have a good story to tell about the character.

[AJpyro]

I didn't need Scott to be an important figure but he should have been doing more. he was Captain Commander for a year and the title amounted to nothing.

[Amacent]

At the end of the day, it's about our favorite characters having fun, exciting and maybe meaningful stories, and it's basically what Cyclops have been...

I doubt it's going to be meaningful but I'm really excited for his Contest of Chaos one-shot. Yeah, all the heroes are a little out of their minds but it's been a fun ride so far and everyone's been given time to shine.

[Neocide]

I didn't need Scott to be an important figure but he should have been doing more. he was Captain Commander for a year and the title amounted to nothing.

That's how I feel, but then none of the captain stuff amounted to anything. A lot of things I think he was going to do were coming from Hickman's direction, and maybe Scott was going to be bigger in his opposition to the qc along with Jean, but with them stretching krakoa out and probably changing directions, Scott wasn't as critical to the narrative going forward.

Which is probably why he was captured, and will probably (hopefully) make a triumph return for the climax of fall of x.

[R+R]

I didn't need Scott to be an important figure but he should have been doing more. he was Captain Commander for a year and the title amounted to nothing.

Exactly. Just as Jean can do more when he's not in Hickman's hands.

Cyclops has no development right now and the writers seem to ignore (or be unaware of) everything that came before him being resurrected in Uncanny.

[Ra-El]

It's just bad luck for us that none of the current writers have interest in using Cyclops beyond the supporting role he is getting.

If we get lucky, whenever some new talent comes to the x-office it will have someone who wants to specifically use Cyclops.

[R+R]

It's just bad luck for us that none of the current writers have interest in using Cyclops beyond the supporting role he is getting.

Gillen appears to be one of the few good writers for Scott, at least he didn't forget that Cyclops is competent and always has plans. If the rumors of Gillen writing the new X-Men team are true, Cyclops will at least be more interesting.

[Arthas]

Saw a reddit post of Cyke recently after Kid Cable returned him to life.

It inspired me to ask this question:-

If Cyclops had not been resurrected by Kid Cable, if he had only been brought back either right now or on some other planet/time/place etc far away...

Would anything have really changed in the current era?

Edit:
I mostly stopped reading X-men for a while after IvX so am a bit hazy on exactly what happened around this time.

[Sutekh]

If Cyclops had not been resurrected by Kid Cable, if he had only been brought back either right now or on some other planet/time/place etc far away...

Would anything have really changed in the current era?

If the X-strategists like Cyclops, Bishop and Cable had missed this entire Krakoa era, they'd all look far less incompetent, since the enemies like Orchis have been making all the pro-active strategic decisions to advance the story, while they have done exactly nothing to fight back or even repair the damage being done to Krakoa's nation-building, reputation, etc.

[Thirteen]

Bricks hate Scott Summers. #canon
Preview of X-MEN ANNUAL 2023 #1
Cyclops Bricks.jpg

[maxi_miceli]

Bricks hate Scott Summers. #canon
Preview of X-MEN ANNUAL 2023 #1
Cyclops Bricks.jpg

I guess this confirms that the annual happens before Fall of X, disappointing but not unexpected, tbh