Cyclops/Scott Summers Appreciation 2024

[whitecrown]

If you think he was a maniacal dictator I can only ask what comics you were reading because it doesn't seem like any of them were X-Men. When people wanted to leave Scott allowed them to go, and he even offered to hold a vote and step down if he lost. Those are not the actions of a dictator. Now if all you read was author interviews I can understand having that view, as post-Schism many of them used such language, even though no writer actually SHOWED it on panel outside of when he started to break down due to Flaming Cosmic Turkey Possession.

I've written practical essays on my problem with the dark age "Cyclops" in these threads over the last few years, some just a few months ago so they're all still available. I was thoroughly disgusted with not just him but the X-Men as a whole during those days. Much of the blame was the fact that the writers and editorial were vicariously living through Cyclops and making the entire franchise revolve around him. That never happened during the X-Men's peak years. Every other character became utterly irrelevant and just wallpaper. I can understand why Cyclops fans would be nostalgic for this era (even if I don't think it was an accurate portrayal of Cyclops so I wonder why anyone could like him when he was butchered the most) but these fans don't seem to understand that if you liked virtually any other character, they were basically dead weight used to prop up the leader. Any dissent and you were branded a traitor and ordered to be burnt at the stake.

[Gray Lensman]

I've written practical essays on my problem with the dark age "Cyclops" in these threads over the last few years, some just a few months ago so they're all still available. I was thoroughly disgusted with not just him but the X-Men as a whole during those days. Much of the blame was the fact that the writers and editorial were vicariously living through Cyclops and making the entire franchise revolve around him. That never happened during the X-Men's peak years. Every other character became utterly irrelevant and just wallpaper. I can understand why Cyclops fans would be nostalgic for this era (even if I don't think it was an accurate portrayal of Cyclops so I wonder why anyone could like him when he was butchered the most) but these fans don't seem to understand that if you liked virtually any other character, they were basically dead weight used to prop up the leader. Any dissent and you were branded a traitor and ordered to be burnt at the stake.

Try sticking to what actually happened. "Branded a traitor and burnt at the stake'? What kind of hatewank headcanon is that? Panels or you are a liar.

[NearlyEnough]

I've written practical essays on my problem with the dark age "Cyclops" in these threads over the last few years, some just a few months ago so they're all still available. I was thoroughly disgusted with not just him but the X-Men as a whole during those days. Much of the blame was the fact that the writers and editorial were vicariously living through Cyclops and making the entire franchise revolve around him. That never happened during the X-Men's peak years. Every other character became utterly irrelevant and just wallpaper. I can understand why Cyclops fans would be nostalgic for this era (even if I don't think it was an accurate portrayal of Cyclops so I wonder why anyone could like him when he was butchered the most) but these fans don't seem to understand that if you liked virtually any other character, they were basically dead weight used to prop up the leader. Any dissent and you were branded a traitor and ordered to be burnt at the stake.

Lol there's something called character development, Cyclops going from boy scout to mutantkind's leader and finally surpassing both Xavier and Magneto was a great character arc, you don't like it because you hate Cyclops, it's as simple as that, he wasn't butchered at all, he made some tough decisions but it's not like you're painting him, he was still a good guy. The current Cyclops is not even a shadow of his former self, Hickman made him an incompetent nonentity shitting on all his character development just because Krakoa wouldn't work if Scott was well-written, who else but the first X-Men and their greatest leader should be the main character of the franchise?

If you wanna talk about overexposed boring characters just look at Wolverine.

[AJpyro]

I just want to say that the way many Cyclops fans feel he was humiliated or sidelined for the last couple of years is how fans of most the other X-Men characters felt for the entire 2000s-2010s dark age. I think there was a karmic justice necessary to balance the scales because in the dark age, I couldn't think of any character more butchered and more overexposed than Cyclops. He needed a desperate reset and I'm glad he got that.

There is no such thing as Karmic justice. Only favoritism and super star writers given carte balance.

[Darth_Caedus]

X-Men_Vol_6_34.jpg
They were so cute together

[Refrax5]

I'm borrowing that name from other fans on here who first coined that term. Storm fans always come up with the best names. I came into X-Men during that era and hated it. Thank goodness the older comics were readily available from the 60s-90s. There is absolutely a reason why the X-Men were at their creative peak in the 80s and their commercial peak in the 90s but by the 2000s, they lost their A-List status to the Avengers. It wasn't the movies because in the early 2000s, the X-Men were the ones getting movies, not Captain America or Iron Man. But the comics were butchered by Morrison's run and all the damage he did to the X-Men (namely Scott), which is why the New Avengers became Marvel's flagship book and the films would follow in due time. So I can't think of a more apt term to describe the era where the X-Men lost their relevancy in the comics and how hard they fell.
I never considered him well-written unless Magneto 2.0 is your idea of Scott. His death was long overdue as a mercy killing. Thank goodness the real Cyclops is back now after basically two decades of being gone and replaced by that maniacal dictator.

He wasn't anything like Magneto OR a "maniacal dictator." That's such an absurd exaggeration. Scott wasn't trying to enslave or eradicate human beings and he only ever fought law enforcement when they were unjustly persecuting his people and he used restraint even then.

The development of the character from the aftermath of what Apocalypse did to him to becoming essentially a wartime general to outlaw revolutionary was probably one of the best and most organic long-term arcs a Marvel character ever had and what the Krakoa era did was an illogical, forced regression.

Comics in general were not as popular after the 80s and 90s. But Cyclops as a character got a big boost in popularity during those other years. Turning him back into Xavier's lapdog was terrible writing.

Somehow interpreting him as "maniacal" or characterizing the writers as having some weird fantasy they were living out is a complete and malicious misunderstanding of the character, the story and the people behind it.

"Burned at the stake?" Everything you say is so overdramatic and designed to demonize every opinion but yours.

[Darth_Caedus]

Hickman might not hate Cyclops but he couldn't care less about his character either, it would've been better for him to be dead the whole era and come back now after the whole Krakoa experiment failed, written by someone who actually wants to write him.

Seems like MacKay actually likes Cyclops and the way they describe him in the Marvel article is great and shows a better understanding of his character than both Duggan and Hickman ever could, so I'm actually excited to read Cyclops again and not whoever was pretending to be him the last 5 years.

Jed seems to like Scott and Jean and their relationship. I hope he'll be the one writing both of them after the Phoenix series is over

[NearlyEnough]

Has Jed talked about Scott and Jean's relationship? he's talking about Scott in that picture, calling him the best X-Man, not saying that he hates them together or anything but I haven't seen him comment on their relationship, in my opinion, for their relationship to work they have to acknowledge the whole Wolverine problem and have Jean get over him, apologize to Scott and make clear that he's the only one she loves and that she doesn't feel anything for Wolverine, unless they do that many fans won't like their relationship because they can write them being a good couple and then a Wolverine fanboy writes a Jogan scene.

Btw, this is the title from the Marvel article about the new X-Men run: In Jed Mackay and Ryan Stegman's 'X-Men,' Cyclops Reignites Mutant Revolution

I hope it means that he's gonna continue Scott's character arc from before Krakoa and Rosenberg. That article says all the right things about Scott and I'd like to think that Jed had an input on that so I'm actually excited for the new era, he's also a good writer, probably the best writer of the new x-office.

[Darth_Caedus]

IIRC Jed said that Scott and Jean are his favorite X-Men couple. He also used Jean in his doctor strange run, I could see her popping up in his X-Men communicating with Scott via the astral plane. Like that scene in Duggan's X-Men issue number 30.

[whitecrown]

He wasn't anything like Magneto OR a "maniacal dictator." That's such an absurd exaggeration. Scott wasn't trying to enslave or eradicate human beings and he only ever fought law enforcement when they were unjustly persecuting his people and he used restraint even then.

The development of the character from the aftermath of what Apocalypse did to him to becoming essentially a wartime general to outlaw revolutionary was probably one of the best and most organic long-term arcs a Marvel character ever had and what the Krakoa era did was an illogical, forced regression.

Comics in general were not as popular after the 80s and 90s. But Cyclops as a character got a big boost in popularity during those other years. Turning him back into Xavier's lapdog was terrible writing.

Somehow interpreting him as "maniacal" or characterizing the writers as having some weird fantasy they were living out is a complete and malicious misunderstanding of the character, the story and the people behind it.

"Burned at the stake?" Everything you say is so overdramatic and designed to demonize every opinion but yours.

He was a tyrant in how he dealt with his X-Men during Utopia where everyone had to do exactly what he claimed because he had hoodwinked the entire remaining mutant population into thinking that he was their only key to survival. The definition of a tyrant "asking" for emergency powers and then showing their true colors and losing all control. I'm sorry, I don't know how anyone can claim this was Scott Summers. What a stain on the character that has thankfully finally faded away. I despise the Krakoa era because I think it mischaracterizes the X-Men completely by turning them all into mutant supremacists with an emphasis on segregation and stealing children, but if there's one silver lining it's that it's restored Cyclops to what he really was.

I wouldn't say Cyclops got a big boost in popularity at all. In the 90s, kids used to pretend to be X-Men characters. There was always someone on the playground who was Cyclops and someone who was Wolverine. That faded by the 2000s as the Avengers characters took over and now kids were playing Captain America vs Iron Man. The X-Men as a whole lost their appeal and the fans who used to like Cyclops for being the traditional boy scout had to look elsewhere to find that role. I'm just grateful Marvel has never attempted to butcher Captain America's character the way they did Cyclops. Ironically enough, I've seen a lot of Cyclops fans who converted over into Wolverine fans precisely because of events like Schism so I don't see how that can be considered a win for him.

https://www.reddit.com/media?url=htt...17fbb9d60f37ae

[Darth_Caedus]

Cyclops and Magneto still sell more toys than any other X-Men other than Wolverine. Scott's power set is simple yet cool and iconic that's why kids like to collect his toys.

[whitecrown]

Cyclops and Magneto still sell more toys than any other X-Men other than Wolverine. Scott's power set is simple yet cool and iconic that's why kids like to collect his toys.

And those toys are generally 90s themed when the X-Men were at their peak commercial power. Look at the commercials for X-Men '97 toys tapping back into that nostalgia. On another Marvel forum, someone posted that they had all these 90s X-Men toys that nobody wanted to play with anymore because of how irrelevant the X-Men had become since then, but now their nieces and nephews were happily playing with all those action figures because of X-Men '97. It shocks me that just as the X-Men are returning to form that some want to retreat to the dark age.

[Darth_Caedus]

And those toys are generally 90s themed when the X-Men were at their peak commercial power. Look at the commercials for X-Men '97 toys tapping back into that nostalgia. On another Marvel forum, someone posted that they had all these 90s X-Men toys that nobody wanted to play with anymore because of how irrelevant the X-Men had become since then, but now their nieces and nephews were happily playing with all those action figures because of X-Men '97. It shocks me that just as the X-Men are returning to form that some want to retreat to the dark age.

It really was the dark age, genocide after genocide, mutant population reduced to only 198, Avengers treating them like crap etc. Cyclops had to be the militant guy he was in that era imo, it was such a heavy burden to lead an species on the verge of extinction. It all started with Morrison's depressing take on the X-Men, but those times are long gone and I prefer Cyke to be the cool superhero he used to be before he was possessed by Apocalypse.

[Refrax5]

He was a tyrant in how he dealt with his X-Men during Utopia where everyone had to do exactly what he claimed because he had hoodwinked the entire remaining mutant population into thinking that he was their only key to survival. The definition of a tyrant "asking" for emergency powers and then showing their true colors and losing all control. I'm sorry, I don't know how anyone can claim this was Scott Summers. What a stain on the character that has thankfully finally faded away. I despise the Krakoa era because I think it mischaracterizes the X-Men completely by turning them all into mutant supremacists with an emphasis on segregation and stealing children, but if there's one silver lining it's that it's restored Cyclops to what he really was.

I wouldn't say Cyclops got a big boost in popularity at all. In the 90s, kids used to pretend to be X-Men characters. There was always someone on the playground who was Cyclops and someone who was Wolverine. That faded by the 2000s as the Avengers characters took over and now kids were playing Captain America vs Iron Man. The X-Men as a whole lost their appeal and the fans who used to like Cyclops for being the traditional boy scout had to look elsewhere to find that role. I'm just grateful Marvel has never attempted to butcher Captain America's character the way they did Cyclops. Ironically enough, I've seen a lot of Cyclops fans who converted over into Wolverine fans precisely because of events like Schism so I don't see how that can be considered a win for him.

https://www.reddit.com/media?url=htt...17fbb9d60f37ae

He only lost control when he had the Phoenix put inside him against his will, something he didn't have the ability to wield. Even so, he used the Phoenix to help people and grow crops to end world hunger while the same force quickly corrupted the others. He was the last one of the Phoenix Five to lose control and misuse his powers and it was only when he was attacked and had his mind invaded by Xavier.

He never said he was their only hope that I recall. But there was a crisis and he was the one qualified to lead. And it's pretty obvious he DID save them from extinction.

The idea that Wolverine became the boy scout figure is laughable. He has a thousand times the body count Cyclops ever had. Cyclops only ever used lethal force in extreme circumstances. He wasn't a homicidal, raging murderer like Logan or Magneto. Logan was a horribly written hypocrite back then.

The X-Men being less popular after the 90s has nothing to do with Cyclops' characterization.

I'm fine with Scott's character arc because I followed it and understood it, just as I always understood that Scott was always a deeply traumatized, complicated person and the boy scout facade was a defense mechanism. Scott was a better leader than Xavier or Magneto and was protecting his people and human beings, like the X-Men always did. He just wasn't cowtowing to Steve Rogers or the authorities like Logan was. He wasn't a murderous dictator or anything remotely like what you're describing. During the Bendis era especially, he didn't do much of anything especially violent or bad. It's baffling to me that anyone could read that story and come away with such a bizarre interpretation.

Scott shouldn't be reduced to a one-note boy scout to appease people that don't like or understand the character. Him sticking it to the man was one of his most vital and interesting periods, not a "dark age."

But you obviously have a bias against the character and are upset about the spotlight he got back then, so this is a bad faith argument on your part.

[Darth_Caedus]

If anything, 2000s-2010s Logan was treated even worse. He was simply wrong in every aspect and acted like a total idiot most of the time. Bro betrayed his race