Now, I know that the bulk of this was retrofitted onto his character as the series progressed, but the Korea bit alone puts him at 28-30 at least in X-Men #1

****

Yes, but in X-men #1, his mother was exposed by the first atomic bomb experiments, which started in 1942. Korea was not mentioned.

That makes Xavier 20ish in X-men #1.

That was hinted at in one panel in X-Men # 3, I don't believe it was ever touched on again.

***

Briefly touched on by Mark Waid when Xavier became Onslaught

Everyone loves Jean.  Which is something I get tired of.  I mean...even Wolverine was smitten by Ms Grey, which didn't seem to fit his character to me.  I don't remember when Logan started showing the hots for the redhead, though.

(Of course part of the charm in the early days was Jean turning down the rich and good looking Warren for the quiet, haunted Scott. Jean showing attraction for Wolverine...is jst weird to me.)

From Marvel Age # 109.

The image on the bottom represents, for me, when the rot began to set in for poor Cyclops, and when they started to treat/write him as no more than Xavier's flunky.

Guys, as if you need any more proof that "The House of Q" is out of control - Anyone aware of the latest desecration of Spidey? It remided me at first of David Bowie's Glass Spider Tour of many years ago...except this is far worse than that, even.

Cyclops was the real heart and soul of the X-Men to me, and I just think it's such a shame the way things have gone. Much as I loved Hank, Scott was the X-Man.

Third brother? What's next...a sister? Magneto was really the biological father of all the kids in the Summers family? Sheeeeeesh.

Any character who can shatter solid steel or level a mountain just by looking at it ranks as pretty damned cool to my inner child-clinging self.

This dude was a gifted pilot, an excellent combat tactician, a skilled hand-to-hand fighter, was courageous and fearless in the face of overwhelming adversity, had a brother who could also level moutains by pointing at them, and best of all had the hottest girl in school in love with him...and he's not "cool" or "hip?" 

The visor alone made Cyclops uber-cool.

Someone else may have said this first, but I think the problem with some writers is that they interface too much with characters and think too much from a "If it was me, this is what I'd do..." POV, rather than write stories in service to the characters' motivation regardless of the writer's own adolescent fantasies.

Somewhere along the line, it became OK in professional comics to write the kinds of stories that retarded, ignorant classmates used to make up in junior high school and that the real & mature fans would shoot down.  The concepts of selflessness, nobility and heroism gave way to an immaturity where the inmates have come to run the asylum, the children are allowed to lead the classroom.  One of the basic tenets of teaching (and parenting, even though I'm not one) is that you don't give a child everything that he asks for.  As the adult, or in this case the publisher, you have to set the example and the limits.  I think comics should be the same way. 

Heroism should be lauded and praised, not sneered at and mocked. 

A moment to remember when the New Avengers were still the Avengers and the X-Men were the X-Men. *sigh*

Problem was, Wolverine became the avatar of the fanboys, and it became necessary that that "loser" Cyclops get punted aside in favor of the "way kewl" Wolverine. And then the whole point of the "triangle" gets lost.

Later, this was forgotten when we were shown his experiences in the Korean War. Basically, everything after the first issue is jammed with retcons --- tho I like to think Stan still had in mind that Xavier was only a couple of years older than his students, when he tossed in that scene with Xavier pining for Jean!

Personally, and I say this whenever it is touched on, I think Scott became boring when Jean was reincarnated.  His greatest thing was his carrying on despite losing the love of his life.

I loved him most around X-Men 175, when Scott married Madelyne and visited Jeans grave.  I would have prefered if Scott had stayed with Maddy and brought up young Christopher(like Reed and Sue with franklin). I think the story potential here was great.  That's just my opinion.

Otherwise, I would have loved if Jean had never died, as in JBs and CCs original ending.  The coping of losing that power, of the guilt of all the deaths caused and how he would support Jean through this would have been a great role for Cyclops.  This period would have made them a really interesting couple.

it's pretty obvious that the first atomic bomb tests were conducted by Sinister in the 20s. Oppenhiemer was a tool of the mutantindustrial complex.

Or Stan just forgot what he had previously written.