Cyclops Crash Course
“I am the X-Men.”
Leader. Revolutionary. Soldier. Womanizer. The First X-Man. Cyclops, a.k.a. Scott Summers, kind of has it all.
After experiencing a head injury as a boy which rendered him unable to use his powers properly, he was given glasses and later, a visor, with ruby quartz lenses that allowed him to control and exert his powers. Raised and taught by Charles Xavier, he was given the role of leader of the X-Men, a role he’s had a difficult relationship with over the years but slowly grew into fully.
Cyclops is a character who is misunderstood, in my eyes. Boy scout? Sure. But he has a real edge to him, whose actions have been justified at every turn (except the cheating, maybe, but we forgive him) as the world continues to go up against him and his kind. As far as the narrative is concerned, without him, there would be no more X-Men.
My list here takes you through a lot of phases in his life that not only gives you a better understanding of Scott Summers, but also a bunch of really great comics.
Start here
The Bread
This is the stuff that makes Cyclops who he is, the essential reads that shaped Scott Summers into the character we know today. Start here before venturing anywhere else.
The Origin
X-Men: Marvels Snapshots #1
Written by Jay Edidin · Art by Tom Reilly · Colors by Chris O’Halloran · Letters by Tom Orzechowski
Jay Edidin (host of popular X-Men podcast ‘X-Plain the X-Men’) teams up with Tom Reilly (G.I. Joe), Chris O’Halloran (Ice Cream Man) and Tom Orzechowski (Uncanny X-Men) to give us a Cyclops story far back in the past, where we get to see Scott’s days in the orphanage and the motivators that made him want to be a hero originally. It’s gorgeous to boot (that last panel of Scott in the jacket by Reilly and O’Halloran is one of my favourite Cyclops images), but also I really dig how Edidin places Scott’s drive for heroism in context with the Fantastic Four alongside balancing how alone he truly feels. It’s great.
Bonus Read
The Art of War
by Sun Tzu
A little corny, but back when I would get obsessed with a character and do character specific deep dives, this book did end up leading me to read The Art of War, and outside of life lessons or whatever, it did give me a deeper understanding of the character.
The Early Days
X-Men: First Class #1-8
Written by Jeff Parker · Art by Roger Cruz · Inks by Victor Olazaba · Colors by Val Staples · Letters by Nate Piekos
There’s an obvious avenue here, just go back and read the Lee and Kirby run. You could do this, but I think that book is maybe the weakest Kirby/Lee collaboration and generally a slog to go through. Rather, I recommend X-Men: First Class. This book focuses on the very early days of the Original Five, sending them on various adventures that were left unseen in the original run. It’s a lot of fun, and given how Scott’s career is so specific to the X-Men, lays a lot of the groundwork for relationships that get played with going forward.
The Foundation
Giant-Size X-Men #1 & Uncanny X-Men #94-138
Written by Len Wein & Chris Claremont · Art by Dave Cockrum & John Byrne · Colors by Glynis Oliver · Letters by John Costanza
This is the foundation. Doesn’t matter what you read, doesn’t matter if the character was conceptualized after his run, but Chris Claremont’s X-Men run is essentially the rosetta stone of X-Men runs. Everything starts here, the stories you love, the characters you love, the concepts that get played with later, if you want to really engage with them, you have to at least read the first stretch of his run on Uncanny X-Men with Dave Cockrum and John Byrne. It all starts with GIANT-SIZE X-MEN #1, where Professor X sends Cyclops with a new group of mutants to Krakoa to rescue the First Class. From there, we jump to X-Men #94 – the start of the run. For my money, I think it’s at least worth reading up to X-Men #138, the end of the Dark Phoenix Saga. It’s the most popular X-Men story for a reason, and it quite literally changes the game – the team isn’t the same anymore, Scott loses the love of his life and leaves the X-Men! Dramatic and important.
Bonus Read
“A Love Story!” – Classic X-Men #6
Written by Chris Claremont · Art by John Bolton
A beautiful silent issue where Jean’s getting ready for a date with Scott.
Go deeper
The Meat
Once you’ve got the essentials down, here’s where you dig deeper into who Scott really is, from the government-sponsored X-Factor years through the era that reinvented the whole franchise.
The Reunion
X-Factor #1-33 & Beyond
Written by Bob Layton & Louise Simonson · Art by Butch Guice
Following the disappearance of Charles Xavier and the resurrection of Jean Grey, the Original Five reunite in X-Factor (written by Bob Layton originally, but the good stuff kicks in when Louise Simonson takes over the writing duties with #6) with Butch Guice on art. For Cyclops, this run is defining as it really establishes the child soldier angle of the character, something that later runs build off of in big ways and thus creates the bridge from boy scout to revolutionary leader. The run itself is a little clunky, but the character dynamics specifically (especially between Jean and Scott) are so good and so foundational that it’s worth reading for them alone.
The Future
The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix #1-4
Written by Scott Lobdell · Art by Gene Ha · Inks by Al Vey · Colors by Kevin Somers · Letters by Richard Starkings
There’s a lot going on in the 90s, not all of it particularly good BUT if you’re going to read one of them, let it be The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix by Scott Lobdell and Gene Ha. I will preface this by saying that given Lobdell’s history of sexual misconduct, if you don’t want to engage with his work at all, that is perfectly understandable and you should skip ahead to the next part. The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix sends them to the future while Scott and Jean are on their honeymoon, where they have to raise a young Nathan Summers in a world ruled by APOCALYPSE. It was the premise of the very first episode of X-Men ’97 Season 2 and it’s such a gorgeous 4-issue romp with really great character work.
The Reinvention
New X-Men #114-116 & Beyond
Written by Grant Morrison · Art by Frank Quitely · Inks by Tim Townsend · Colors by Brian Haberlin · Letters by Comicraft
We jump ahead from there to Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely (and an assortment of various artists)’s era on New X-Men, which straight up reinvented the team for the 2000s (and really for all time) as the first major reinvention since Claremont et.al in the 70s. So much happens in this run, from Emma Frost’s “redemption” in full force, to Scott’s infidelity, to Jean saving the timeline, to Xorn. It turns the X-Men from being what it was in the 90s, a hardcore superhero book, to a book that attempts to expand being mutant beyond metaphor and make it its own identity, give it its own culture, really change what it could be. It’s big, it’s radical, maybe a little too radical, because the way they redefined the franchise wasn’t really utilized to full effect until almost two decades after the fact, but it still is simply the best.
Bonus Read
Cyclops (2001) #1-4
Written by Brian K Vaughan · Art by Mark Texeira · Inks by Jimmy Palmiotti · Letters by Chris Eliopoulos
A 4-issue miniseries where Cyclops is forced on sabbatical by Xavier and has to deal with a brand new enemy, all on his own. It’s awesome.
The Return to Form
Astonishing X-Men #1-6 & Beyond
Written by Joss Whedon · Art by John Cassaday · Colors by Laura Martin · Letters by Chris Eliopoulos
Following New X-Men, we get Joss Whedon (yes, that one) and John Cassaday’s Astonishing X-Men. As with the section in the 90s, given the allegations against Whedon, if you want to not engage with his work, perfectly understandable, skip ahead to the next part. Where New X-Men was a big revamp, Astonishing is a return to form, once again a superhero story concerned with the heroic adventures of the X-Men. Even so, it’s slick, it’s cool, it’s gorgeous. It’s one of those big books that also helped define the era of decompression widescreen comics, with 6 issue arcs written for the trade. Not all of it holds up for me the way it did the first time I read it, but if you’re getting to grips with who Cyclops is, you kind of have to read it to see how his relationship with Emma Frost grows, alongside taking the steps to be the face of mutantkind in Xavier’s stead.
The hidden gems
The Secret Sauce
Beyond the essentials, there’s a whole run of Cyclops eras worth exploring, from mutant nation-building to the Krakoan age that finally lets him be happy.
The Leader of Mutantkind
Uncanny X-Men #515-522
Written by Matt Fraction · Art by Greg Land & Terry Dodson
After Astonishing X-Men, the late 00s for X-Men are broadly focused around three events, titled together as the Messiah Trilogy. Alongside this, Matt Fraction (the current Batman writer) takes on the reins of Uncanny X-Men, along with Terry Dodson and Greg Land. It’s a big era, with the introduction of Hope Summers, and where X-Men comics (like the rest of the Marvel Universe in the 2000s) gets really dark. But, for Scott Summers, this is the era where the transition truly happens, from just “leader of the X-Men”, to “leader of Mutantkind”, especially as he establishes the mutant nation of Utopia off the bay of San Francisco and starts taking more drastic measures, most notably in the Nation X storyline.
The Underrated Era
Uncanny X-Men Vol. 2 #1-20 & AvX: Consequences #1-5
Written by Kieron Gillen · Art by Carlos Pacheco, Tom Raney, and more
After the end of Fraction’s run, Kieron Gillen (writer of The Wicked + The Divine) and Carlos Pacheco (Avengers Forever) team up to continue the tale of the X-Men, with Cyclops forming a team of some of the strongest mutants around. This book is so underrated in my eyes, it’s gone unsung a lot because it has to tie into the controversial Avengers vs. X-Men, but I really dug how Gillen tried to do interesting things with the X-Men as a superhero team. This is also the first time Gillen toys with Celestials, something he comes back to do almost a decade later with Eternals alongside Esad Ribic! After Avengers vs. X-Men (of which Gillen and a good assortment of artists do the best tie-ins for), Gillen and a range of artists make AvX: Consequences, which focuses on Cyclops in prison after the events of AvX. It’s brilliant, and like the tie-ins, will trick you into thinking the event is any good. It also sets the stage for the next big era.
The Face of Mutantkind
All-New X-Men #1-5 & Beyond / Uncanny X-Men Vol. 3 #1-3 & Beyond
Written by Brian Michael Bendis · Art by Stuart Immonen & Chris Bachalo · Inks by Wade Von Grawbadger & Tim Townsend · Colors by Marte Gracia · Letters by Cory Petit & Joe Caramagna
The Revolution era is not only what comes after AvX, it’s also what comes after Schism, the 2011 X-Men event by writer Jason Aaron and a series of artists that split the X-Men into two distinct groups – the Cyclops side and the Wolverine side. Post AvX, as Cyclops’ camp (consisting the likes of Emma Frost and Magik) get treated as criminals, Scott continues to take a stand as the face of Mutantkind by reminding the humans around him (especially the Avengers) that they aren’t just going to stand around and take what’s being given to them, and that they’ll fight for what’s theirs. This era is penned by Brian Michael Bendis (who needs no introduction), as he writes two books, Uncanny (with art by Chris Bachalo) and All-New X-Men (with art by Stuart Immonen). In All New X-Men too, we get the time displaced original five, brought to the present day, who see what their fates are, and there’s a lot of fun drama that comes from that. An all-time great era.
The Happy Ending
House of X #1-6 / Powers of X #1-6 & X-Men #1-21
Written by Jonathan Hickman · Art by Pepe Larraz, R.B. Silva, Leinil Francis Yu, and more · Colors by Marte Gracia · Letters by Clayton Cowles
You might be asking why I skipped over the rest of the 2010s, and to be honest, it’s because there’s a lot of nonsense not really worth reading. However, the real good shit™ starts when Jonathan Hickman, in 2019, like Morrison all the way back in 2001, teams up with Pepe Larraz, R.B. Silva, and Marte Gracia to change the game with House of X/Powers of X. Nothing is the same, the X-Men have fundamentally changed, it’s bold, it’s exciting, and for my money, HOXPOX specifically is one of the best books Marvel has ever published. The X-Men run that follows, written by Hickman and joined by a range of artists (my favourite being Leinil Francis Yu) is the Cyclops book, where we finally see how he fares once he’s given a chance to finally be happy. It’s a phenomenal book, and a phenomenal era. You have to read it.
Cyclops has decades of stories behind him, and it’s impossible to capture them all in one list. If there’s a Scott Summers story that means something to you that didn’t make the cut, let us know!
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