Cyclops #1 – Review

By: Greg Rucka (story), Russel Dauterman (art), Chris Sotomayor (colors)

I have a real soft spot in my heart for Cyclops. Growing up and watching the X-Men cartoons on Fox Kids—is that even a thing anymore?—for some reason, I resonated with the visored hero more than any other mutant. Maybe because we were both four-eyes, I don’t know. As I got older and learned more of his complicated, often tragic history, I couldn’t help feeling that somewhere along the way, he became the X-Men’s official punching bag and sad sack, all in one.

Not being an avid X-Men follower, I have no idea how or why a teenaged Scott Summers got himself into the present, but I’m happy to see him nonetheless—happy and worried. Happy to see he still has the capacity to be happy, considering the dark, unstable crusader of a man he is now. Worried that seeing his unbelievably grim future (“…I grow up to be a maybe not very nice guy…Jean and I get married and then get miserable…”) will depress him before his time. So good on Rucka to have Scott keep his eye on the positive: “My dad is alive.”

And how great is it to have an ongoing father-son series? Parental relationships don’t get much exploration in comics, mainly because it’s all the rage to orphan protagonists these days, and also because family interactions take time away from the main business of superheroing. Christopher Summers is an ideal father figure in this regard; as the confident, adventurous Corsair and leader of the Starjammers, he’s pretty much a superhero himself, one with years of experience on his adolescent son. That gives him a rare opportunity here to mentor Scott in a way he never got to when his son was this age the first time around.

There’s something inherently, wishfully sweet about this idea, of an absent father getting a second chance to be there for his son during a critical age, and of a lonely son finding and spending time with his long-lost father. Clearly, this space road trip Chris and Scott are embarking on is going to be a wild, crazy ride: “I’m programming a random set of thrilling galactic destinations. Six wonders of the universe for us to behold. You pick.” But beneath the fun and games, there’s a certain poignancy in knowing this may all end up as nothing more than a cherished memory of a what-might-have-been.

C2E2 Report: Different Perspectives – An Interview with Russell Dauterman

Some of you may not have heard of Russell Dauterman yet, but that’s likely about to change. Dauterman was the artist on the excellent Supurbia, closed out the last two issues of Kyle Higgins’ Nightwing run with a bang, and is now going to be launching the new Cyclops title for Marvel.

Russell has a unique and beautiful style and such a wonderful love for the material that I knew I had to talk to him and, thankfully, he was gracious enough to give us a bit of his time this past weekend at C2E2. Join me as we discuss character, representation, and working in the industry.

Uncanny X-Men #499 – Capsule Review

Ed Brubaker, (Writer) Mike Choi, Ben Oliver, (Artists) Sonia Oback, and Jason Keith (Colorists)

While this arc has felt like every bit of the filler that it is, I’ll be the first to admit that it has been enjoyable. This issue brings some closure to the San Francisco mystery (expect some aspects of it to pop up again later) and allows Wolverine, Colossus, and Nightcrawler to team-up against Omega Red for one last battle in Russia.

As a whole this issue is really nothing special, but it’s still a decent read. Brubaker fits in some genuinely funny character moments and the art teams, different for each storyline, make this a nice looking book. As a whole, this issue’s the same solid we come to expect from the X-Titles, but also completely forgettable. (Grade: C)

-Kyle Posluszny

Uncanny X-Men #496 – Review

By Ed Brubaker (writer), Mike Choi (art), Sonia Oback (colors)

What is it with good writers failing on mutant books? Once again, Ed Brubaker delivers a below average story that’s nothing short of being a complete yawn fest. Picking up where last issue left off, we’re given a vague hint of what’s taking place in San Francisco – someone’s turning the city back in time. Emma and Cyclops arrive on the scene to investigate but we’re given nothing more than that. At least Hepzibah finally turns up.

Wolverine, Nightcrawler, and Colossus, now in Russia, go to visit the graves of Peter’s parents. Afterwards, they hit up a local bar and exchange useless dialog. The biggest offense to this conversation is that it gives a glaring spoiler as to what’s going to happen in the delayed Giant-Sized Astonishing X-Men #1 (who knows when that book’s due out). If you’re enjoying Joss Whedon’s run, you shouldn’t read this book until he wraps things up. I was already bored with this story as it was, but reading this spoiler completely ruined it for me. Throw in another obligatory and meaningless bar scene brawl and you can see that Brubaker is just going through the motions.

Mike Choi and Sonia Oback continue to dazzle my eyes with their art. But it’s not perfect: Logan looks too youthful and too much of a pretty boy, while the fight scene in the bar is completely uninspired from an action standpoint. The nod to Neil Gaiman’s Eternals mini-series was probably the only thing I really liked. (Grade: D)

– J. Montes