Marvel gave something for every Cyclops fan thanks to Brian Michael Bendis and Greg Rucka in 2014.
In Uncanny X-Men it’s the Scott Summers you love to hate or staunchly declare “Cyke is Right” as he leads the mutant revolution and confronts his father figure’s big secret in the Last Will and Testament of Charles Xavier.
In All-New X-Men we have the young Scott Summers who never lost Jean, Madelyne, Nathan or killed Professor X. After a cosmic crossover with Guardians of the Galaxy, young Cyclops really blasted off literally.
The younger and more innocent original Summers charted a new course for himself in Cyclops #1 by Greg Rucka. The young Scott learned his father was alive in The Trial of Jean Grey. Cyclops, Corsair and the Starjammers are having outer space adventures while catching up on long-lost father/son time.
The first volume of Rucka and Russell Dauterman’s sci-fi adventures are now collected in Cyclops: Starstruck.
It was revealed in All-New X-Men #23 that Christopher Summers (aka the space pirate known as Corsair) is alive. Summers was believed to be killed by his own son- Gabriel (aka Vulcan) in the X-Men: The Rise and Fall of the Shiar Empire.
The new book marked Rucka’s return to Marvel. The acclaimed writer with huge independent, creator-owned successes (Lazarus, Stumptown, Veil) told Comic Book Resources why he couldn’t turned down the leader of the X-Men.
“When I started reading “Uncanny” way back in the day — and I mean way back in the day — there were characters I loved, and there were characters that I was kind of “meh” about. I was “meh” about Scott at the start. I had been collecting for about a year and a half, and I came to a realization — “Why is it that I feel like I haven’t connected with this guy?” Then the penny dropped for me, which was, “Oh, because he and I are an awful lot alike.” [Laughs] We’re very serious people; we take our responsibilities very seriously, we expect others to do the same, and we’re often frustrated by their lack of doing so. And we internalize a lot. If I were an X-Man, I’d probably end up being Scott — but I’d be the Scott who never, ever, ever managed to make anything work with Jean. [Laughs] There’s something Gary Cooper about him that I really like. There’s something about this kid — and I’m looking at him very much as a kid; for our purposes he’s 16 — he’s really trying to figure out how to be a stand-up man. Right now, he’s got an example that he’s not in love with. The stand-up man version of himself is problematic! I really like the character. I’m not sure Scott will ever be “cool.” Logan’s always going to be cool. Scott’s the guy who gets stuff done,” Rucka told Comic Book Resources.
“One of the duties of the X-Men — we’ve talked about this for years and years — is the metaphor of being the outsider group. One of the things that Marvel has always done so well is talk about teenage trauma, and the difficulties of that. In so many ways, Scott is perfectly that. He is a young man trying to be a good man, and trying to stand for what he believes in, and trying to figure out how to love, and how to make new things work, and how to be responsible for other people — which is a huge thing. Scott’s always been a little too mature for his own good; certainly, young Scott. I find that incredibly appealing.”
If you read the Trial crossover with the Guardians of the Galaxy you know it captured the spirit of the classic Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum era with X-Men, Shi’ar and the space pirates known as the Starjammers. The space opera thrills and good old fashioned father and son bonding was a central part of young Cyclops – one of the best surprises of the year.
You can order Cyclops: Starstruck here.
John Layman is now writing the series. Rucka continues his creator owned series Lazarus with artist Michael Lark from Image. Russell Dauterman is now the artist on the new Thor series.
By Editor