Review: ‘Cyclops’ #1 Gets It Right

Scott Summers has been wrongfully branded the X-Men’s stick in the mud for at least the last thirty years. In Cyclops #1, we get to see why Scott is the greatest X-Man.

This new limited series comes from Alex Paknadel, Roge Antonio, Fer Sifuentes-Sujo and Joe Caramagna.

Scott Summers is returning home from personal business when his jet is shot down over the Canadian Wilderness. Injured and without his visor, Cyclops now has to fight to survive against his attackers, Donald Pierce’s Reavers… They don’t have a chance.

Paknadel could have approached this story very differently. He could have jumped straight into the Cyclops versus the Reavers. Instead, he takes the first half of the issue to get deep into Cyclops as a person and Scott Summers’ history. That shifts this story from a competence fable to an actual Cyclops story, centered in Scott and who he is. It will make the fight resonate significantly more than just a brawl.

Antonio’s style is an interesting mix of realism and energy. The opening fight with AIM was choreographed well, and Antonio made Scott’s optic blasts and power effects pop. I love artists playing with the geography of the optic blasts and he does that here. He’s also able to capture the quiet moments well though, and show the weight of the world on Scott’s shoulders, and then shift into the body horror of Pierce’s experiments on a dime.

Sifuentes-Sujo uses more earthy and muted colors throughout the story. That means when Scott’s trademark reds show up, they pop. Caramagna does his usual fantastic job as well, with his letters always supporting the story, then placing bubbles perfectly in the right moments for maximum impact (you’ll know which one I mean when you see it).

Cyclops #1 is available now from Marvel Comics.