Active Topics | Member List | Search | Help | Register | Login
The John Byrne Forum MOBILE
Byrne Robotics | The John Byrne Forum Page of 7 Next >>
Topic: Salvaging Cyclops Post Reply | Post New Topic
Author
Message
Andrew Bitner
Byrne Robotics Member


Joined: 01 June 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 7467
Posted: 12 December 2018 at 1:10pm | IP Logged | 1 post reply

Our guy Scott has had a pretty bad run of it since... oh, probably around the time JB left UNCANNY X-MEN, if I'm being honest.

He's been dead a couple of years now, after:
- falling for a twin of Jean and marrying her somewhat impulsively (not a trait he's known for)
- dumping her for Jean
- committing adultery with Emma Frost behind Jean's back
- almost becoming the next host body for Apocalypse
- pushing a bunch of student trainees to become child soldiers (basically), which causes a *schism* with Wolverine and half the X-community
- picking a fight with the Avengers over the approaching Phoenix Entity rather than trying to figure out a better response than Iron Man's "let's blow it up!"
- succumbing to the Phoenix and then betraying his fellow power-holders AND killing Professor X on top of it
- turning into a rather explicit mutant terrorist and
- going to war with all Inhumans over the release of Terrigen into the atmosphere (which turns out to be toxic to mutants).

He's going to be back from the dead real soon.

How is this mess going to be rehabilitated?

I have an idea. Run back the clock to the death of Jean Grey. They share a psychic rapport at a very deep level. Scott *feels* her die. This is traumatic; even Professor X doesn't realize how deeply this has hurt his first student. Basically, Scott has a vicious and undiagnosed case of PTSD.

Move on from there to Apocalypse almost taking him over. Angel has had to deal with the aftereffects of being one of his Horsemen for years. Suppose Scott's buried trauma has become inflamed by exposure to Apocalypse, turning this psychic injury septic? And then this is aggravated further by the Phoenix Force, pushing him over his moral boundaries?

I think Scott has to come back to life admitting how badly messed up he had been for years, determined to fix his problems and face the consequences. To me, that would be the way to rehabilitate the guy. If they just chicken out and "oh hey, you're back" then... heck with it. My Cyclops died a long time ago.
Back to Top profile | search
 
Petter Myhr Ness
Byrne Robotics Member


Joined: 02 July 2009
Location: Norway
Posts: 3813
Posted: 12 December 2018 at 1:24pm | IP Logged | 2 post reply

Glad I stopped reading X-Men a long time ago.
Back to Top profile | search
 
Gundars Berzins
Byrne Robotics Member


Joined: 14 March 2012
Location: United States
Posts: 1559
Posted: 12 December 2018 at 1:43pm | IP Logged | 3 post reply

Thanks for the info Andrew. I too stoped long ago Petter. I couldn't take it anymore after #181.
Back to Top profile | search | www e-mail
 
Jason Larouse
Byrne Robotics Member


Joined: 10 May 2011
Posts: 515
Posted: 12 December 2018 at 2:00pm | IP Logged | 4 post reply

He doesn't really need to be "salvaged". Just write good cyclops stories and ignore all the bad stuff. Most major comic book characters have been put through so many stupid things since the 90s that if you lay it all out like that they all appear broken. Look at the list you could make for Spider-Man for instance. Adding retcons and time travel to try and fix it will only make it worse. The only thing you can do is focus on plot and not delve into their backstories too much. 

Edited by Jason Larouse on 12 December 2018 at 2:00pm
Back to Top profile | search
 
John Byrne

Grumpy Old Guy

Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 132135
Posted: 12 December 2018 at 2:01pm | IP Logged | 5 post reply

No character should be blamed for being badly written. And no character should be badly written just because s/he’s been badly written before.
Back to Top profile | search
 
Vinny Valenti
Byrne Robotics Member


Joined: 17 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 8009
Posted: 12 December 2018 at 2:18pm | IP Logged | 6 post reply

I remember glancing at a few of your STAR BRAND issues, and thinking that you wrote the main character as a bit of an asshole, and wondering if that was maybe a meta-commentary on Jim Shooter. But then I investigated further and found that Shooter actually wrote/created him as an asshole, too. So you were being faithful to the character all along!
Back to Top profile | search
 
Andrew Bitner
Byrne Robotics Member


Joined: 01 June 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 7467
Posted: 12 December 2018 at 2:34pm | IP Logged | 7 post reply

I guess this, for me, comes down to a hope that Cyclops will-- going forward-- be written better than he had been previously. It'd be great if the current X-Men writers decided they liked the guy.
Back to Top profile | search
 
Ronald Joseph
Byrne Robotics Member


Joined: 18 April 2011
Location: United States
Posts: 1784
Posted: 12 December 2018 at 5:17pm | IP Logged | 8 post reply

I was just discussing Cyclops and The Horrible Injustice(s) he's suffered for so long. My first "Cyclops is a dick" moment came when he flat-out abandoned Maddie and his son to rejoin his dead ex.

I always thought - and still think - of Cyclops as the Captain America of Mutants; you'd follow him through the Gates of Hell. Whatever character had been walking around the pages of the various X titles all these years is an imposter.

As is Wolverine. 


 
Back to Top profile | search | www e-mail
 
Rob Ocelot
Byrne Robotics Member


Joined: 07 December 2008
Location: Canada
Posts: 1231
Posted: 12 December 2018 at 7:14pm | IP Logged | 9 post reply

I'm sorry but you can't unshit a bed once shat in.   

However, you can ignore the pile for a while and hope no one notices the stench!
Back to Top profile | search
 
Brian Hague
Byrne Robotics Member


Joined: 14 November 2006
Posts: 8515
Posted: 12 December 2018 at 8:03pm | IP Logged | 10 post reply

Cyclops has been poorly written for so long that even if this return is just the most amazingest thing ever, the next guy or the next is going to come in and say, "That guy didn't understand the character of Cyclops at ALL. Cyclops is a dick. He always has been. Here, let me show you the Cyclops I knew and hated the entire time I was growing up..." 

I work with a man in his late twenties who has flat out said, "Cyclops is a dick. He's supposed to be one, isn't he? I thought that's what his character was. You mean he wasn't always like that?" Just the idea of a heroic Cyclops sounded off-kilter and boring to him. He finds dick Cyclops flawed, complex, and someone you can relate to even as you roll your eyes at his next hurtful, tone-deaf life choice. 

There are entire generations out there that think killing Professor X is just something Cyclops would do, given what a complete waste of space as a human being he is.

Back to Top profile | search e-mail
 
Michael Roberts
Byrne Robotics Member


Joined: 20 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 14812
Posted: 12 December 2018 at 8:20pm | IP Logged | 11 post reply

There are entire generations out there that think killing Professor X is just something Cyclops would do, given what a complete waste of space as a human being he is.

——

Oddly, in my experience, it’s the younger readers who tend to complain about the modern interpretation of Cyclops. They tend to prefer his characterization in the Fox cartoon, even among those who were born after it originally aired. Most of those defending the “Cyclops is a dick” cite their readership of X-Menwhen Scott left Maddie as proof that Cyclops was a dick all along.
Back to Top profile | search
 
Shawn Kincade
Byrne Robotics Member


Joined: 29 April 2004
Posts: 108
Posted: 12 December 2018 at 9:10pm | IP Logged | 12 post reply

I still think of the Cyclops I first "met" (and then saw in back issue after back issue):  stoic, driven by duty, and heroic.

This was also back when he was the soul of the X-Men, back when Wolverine, as capable as he was, often was much less effective because he was so hotheaded and prone to rushing into battle carelessly.  

Decades of issues sure flipped the script on the characters in many ways.    
Back to Top profile | search
 

Page of 7 Next >>
  Post Reply | Post New Topic |

Forum Jump

 Active Topics | Member List | Search | Help | Register | Login

You are currently viewing the MOBILE version of the site.
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE FULL SITE