Cyclops is, without a doubt, my favorite member of the X-Men, and not because he has the coolest power. Well, maybe that plays a factor in it, but my appreciation for the character stems from the great work that has been done with the character in the past decade or so. Many great writers have realized the latent potential of a character that has been protecting his species since his teenage years, resulting in a surprisingly organic character development for a character in a long-running serial narrative that has had multiple different writers involved. With the upcoming X-Men: Schism, I feel that now (well, after the crossover) is as good a time as any for a miniseries devoted to the character and the changes he has gone through the years. Follow the cut for more.
I’m excited about Schism. Really, I am. By all signs, this is going to be as much a culmination of the past few years of character development as Second Coming was a culmination of plot threads throughout the X-Titles (mainly those of Kyle and Yost, but still). However, the hints that Professor X will be aligning with Scott during this little scuffle and Magneto with Wolverine has me a bit concerned. I’m definitely interested in seeing Xavier and Magneto’s reactions to Scott and Logan’s respective decisions, but Xavier aligning with Scott has a negative connotation for me. If worst comes to worst, Schism could end with Scott admitting that he went a bit too far, and that Xavier was right all along – which is something that I really don’t want to see happen. Were Xavier to admit that Scott made the best decisions that he could, I would be happy, but with what is most likely going to be the subject of this crossover – X-Force continuing after Scott disbanded them – I don’t see that being the case.
During Morrison’s run on New X-Men, Cyclops’ development took a massive step forward. The return of Jean Grey a couple of decades earlier was not only the instance in which the franchise’s revolving door policy towards death first took root, it also greatly stunted Scott’s growth as a character. Jean and Scott’s relationship was well done in Claremont’s original run, but bringing her back effectively undid all the development he had made following her death. Morrison realized this, and after (once again) having Jean die and removing Professor X from the scene, he allowed the character to truly blossom. I think Warren Ellis put it best:
Cyclops is the best superhero in the world. He is, as far as I’m concerned, the Batman. He’s been in intensive training since his early teenage years to lead the first-ever mutant rescue and security team. This is a guy who gets up every morning asking himself how he can be better.
By his training, his upbringing, and the experiences he has gone through, Cyclops embodies the future of mutantkind in the Marvel universe, and writers including (but not limited to) Ellis, Whedon, Morrison, and Fraction have realized this potential and actualized it in their works within the X-Universe. He’s a man trying to ensure the survival of his species, and all of his decisions, no matter how unseemly, have been for that purpose. For this reason, I’d love to see a miniseries – no more than four issues, most likely – dealing with Cyclops’ current position, giving a retrospective of that development, and in defense of the decisions that he’s made. And – more so than anyone else, in my opinion – Matt Fraction is the man to do it.
Now, I know Fraction’s recent run on Uncanny X-Men was not met with the greatest reviews. And, as much as I normally enjoy his writing, I agree that his stay on the title was a bit lackluster. Still, I think that it’s very much evident that Fraction loves Scott Summers, and knows exactly why he’s a great character. While arcs such as “Utopia” and “Nation X” weren’t critically-acclaimed for their stories, many people completely overlooked the fantastic way that Fraction handled Cyclops as a character, and how he made the character grow so much in such a short amount of time, without it seeming inorganic. Sure, I was a bit letdown by his run on Uncanny – his common themes of futurism and transhumanism made him seem like a perfect fit – but even so I would put my faith in a Cyclops-centric mini written by Fraction.
Now, I suppose I may be fretting a bit much. More or less everyone involved with the current franchise is great at what they do, and I doubt they would just wave away all the progress the iconic X-Man (piss off, Wolverine), but when it comes to my favorite character in the franchise – and considering the tendency to have inconsistent characterization in serialized mediums like this – I can’t help but be a bit worried. And when I worry, I (and most comic fans) like to reminisce about the days when the character was being handled by someone who really knew the character, even if it wasn’t so long ago.
