Marvel teases return of Cyclops

Yep, after years of preposterous character assassination, Marvel finally offed Cyclops. By disease. Off panel.

Currently, I think he is the only dead X-Man, aside from Banshee (who's coming back) and Thunderbird I (who has been replaced by his amazingly similar brother). And, of course, there's teen Cyclops in current comics, so he's not completely gone.

As to who's reading X-books, I finally broke down and started reading a few X-books when "Legacy" launched. I've been reading X-Men Blue, X-Men Gold, X-Men Red and Astonishing X-Men.

I was going to drop Blue and Gold until I found out they were going to be canceled in five issues, so I'll read them to the end. (And as I posted in "Comics I Have Read Lately," both titles are on an upswing as they barrel to cancellation. "When a man knows he is to be hanged ... it focuses the mind wonderfully.")

I'm on the fence about X-Men: Red. I don't particularly enjoy it, but it seems to be connected to the upcoming Extermination, which I am interested in (to see what the new status quo will be). We'll see.

I dropped with Astonishing X-Men with issue #12. That storyline returned Prof. X to life ... sort of. (He's got a more aggressive personality.) That's why I read it. A new creative team came on board with issue #13, which made #12 a good jumping-off point.

I dropped Iceman before it was canceled (with issue #8), and have no plans to read the new series they've announced. I thought it was poorly written, but I'm not a gay Millennial, which is at whom it appears to be aimed.

I read the Jean Grey series (#1-11), because it led into the Phoenix: Resurrection miniseries (#1-5), which promised to be substantive. It was; it seemed to end the endless cycle of Phoenix stories, at least for now. Which is good.

I'm reading New Mutants: Dead Souls to prep for the movie, but am not enjoying it.

I'm buying Spider-Man/Deadpool, but am more than a dozen issues behind on it.

I started Cable with "Legacy," and would have dropped it until I found out it would end with issue #159 (this month).

I haven't touched Weapon X, Multiple Man, All-New Wolverine, Deadpool, X-Men: Grand Design, he Hunt for Wolverine books and Mr. and Mrs. X (and the preceding Rogue and Gambit mini). Am I missing any? I had to draw the line somewhere, and that's where I drew it.

I don't seem very enthusiastic,do I? I don't know what the consensus is, but I haven't enjoyed X-books for a long while. I think a lot of my ennui began when they killed off the most developed -- and interesting -- X-Men all at the same time. Without Professor X, Jean Grey, Cyclops and Wolverine, every X-team had to be led by a second banana. There didn't seem to be a "main" X-book, and the reverse was equally true: All X-books appeared to be secondary titles. In fact, the title Uncanny X-Men isn't even in use.

I like Kitty Pryde. But she's not an A-lister to me. She's got "supporting character" written all over her, yet she's the headmistress of the school and the leader of X-Men Gold. I like her, but I'm not interested in seeing her in those roles.

You know who should be doing all those things? Storm. She's an A-lister to me, but she's relegated to the background of the one book she's in.

Rogue, Colossus and Nightcrawler are supporting characters to me. Their presence in whatever book they're in is nice. But they don't sell the book to me. Ditto Armor (who I used to like) and other long-standing supporting characters.

The Beast has suffered Cyclops Syndrome -- making all kinds of out-of-character bad decisions and judgments, plus getting judge-y about everyone else, especially Cyclops -- and I no longer respect the character. He could die tomorrow and I would probably just be relieved.

The time-displaced teen X-Men have passed their sell-by date. Write them out.

I have never accepted Magneto as a white hat. It lessens my respect for the other characters when they do. He's essentially the star of X-Men Blue, along with the X-teens. Seriously?

I don't know what the heck Psylocke is. I know, I know, a Japanese assassin and Brian Braddock's sister were merged somehow. I still don't understand that. Worse, I never know what side she's on, because her backstory is so complicated. Ditto Archangel, whom she seems to date or not date depending on the writer. I don't understand these characters, I don't understand their appeal, so I don't like seeing them as major players. Supporting characters, sure, but Magneto and Psylocke were essentially the stars of the last iteration of Uncanny X-Men.

Of course, there are plenty of other X-Men. And I don't care about any of them. You could kill off Rachel Grey, Fantomex, vampire Storm, Jimmy Hudson, Gambit, the few students whose names I know, Emma Frost has become so compromised that I can't support her on an X-team.

Writing all this out, I think one of subconscious disappointments with X-Men is that A) the writers keep telling the same stories over and over (Phoenix jumps to mind) and B) the characters have gone through such wrenching changes over the years that I'm not sure who they are any more. Are Psylocke and Magneto good guys or bad guys? Mystique? Emma Frost? If I pick up an X-book, I don't know the immediate back story sufficiently to know who's playing for what team. And they could switch at any time. As we say so often here, if anything can happen, we don't care what eventually does.

That's in addition to all the stars of the X-universe being dead for the last few years. B-listers I only vaguely know about and don't care about are the leaders and major players.I thought the philosophical argument between Cyclops and Wolverine in "Schism" was preposterous and ginned up out of nothing, but at least I knew who those guys were, and I've been reading about them for a long time.

Fantomex leading Weapon X just makes me ask, "Who is he again?" Even if you tell me, I"m not likely to care.

Replies

Captain Comics July 14, 2018 at 3:15pm

Just a tease? Or something more?
Wandering Sensei: Moderator Man July 14, 2018 at 6:30pm

Does anybody here read the X-Men titles anymore? I'm genuinely curious. I haven't read them in a long time, and what I hear from most people isn't great.

I didn't realize Cyclops was gone.
Captain Comics July 15, 2018 at 5:51pm

Yep, after years of preposterous character assassination, Marvel finally offed Cyclops. By disease. Off panel.

Currently, I think he is the only dead X-Man, aside from Banshee (who's coming back) and Thunderbird I (who has been replaced by his amazingly similar brother). And, of course, there's teen Cyclops in current comics, so he's not completely gone.

As to who's reading X-books, I finally broke down and started reading a few X-books when "Legacy" launched. I've been reading X-Men Blue, X-Men Gold, X-Men Red and Astonishing X-Men.

I was going to drop Blue and Gold until I found out they were going to be canceled in five issues, so I'll read them to the end. (And as I posted in "Comics I Have Read Lately," both titles are on an upswing as they barrel to cancellation. "When a man knows he is to be hanged ... it focuses the mind wonderfully.")

I'm on the fence about X-Men: Red. I don't particularly enjoy it, but it seems to be connected to the upcoming Extermination, which I am interested in (to see what the new status quo will be). We'll see.

I dropped with Astonishing X-Men with issue #12. That storyline returned Prof. X to life ... sort of. (He's got a more aggressive personality.) That's why I read it. A new creative team came on board with issue #13, which made #12 a good jumping-off point.

I dropped Iceman before it was canceled (with issue #8), and have no plans to read the new series they've announced. I thought it was poorly written, but I'm not a gay Millennial, which is at whom it appears to be aimed.

I read the Jean Grey series (#1-11), because it led into the Phoenix: Resurrection miniseries (#1-5), which promised to be substantive. It was; it seemed to end the endless cycle of Phoenix stories, at least for now. Which is good.

I'm reading New Mutants: Dead Souls to prep for the movie, but am not enjoying it.

I'm buying Spider-Man/Deadpool, but am more than a dozen issues behind on it.

I started Cable with "Legacy," and would have dropped it until I found out it would end with issue #159 (this month).

I haven't touched Weapon X, Multiple Man, All-New Wolverine, Deadpool, X-Men: Grand Design, he Hunt for Wolverine books and Mr. and Mrs. X (and the preceding Rogue and Gambit mini). Am I missing any? I had to draw the line somewhere, and that's where I drew it.

I don't seem very enthusiastic,do I? I don't know what the consensus is, but I haven't enjoyed X-books for a long while. I think a lot of my ennui began when they killed off the most developed -- and interesting -- X-Men all at the same time. Without Professor X, Jean Grey, Cyclops and Wolverine, every X-team had to be led by a second banana. There didn't seem to be a "main" X-book, and the reverse was equally true: All X-books appeared to be secondary titles. In fact, the title Uncanny X-Men isn't even in use.

I like Kitty Pryde. But she's not an A-lister to me. She's got "supporting character" written all over her, yet she's the headmistress of the school and the leader of X-Men Gold. I like her, but I'm not interested in seeing her in those roles.

You know who should be doing all those things? Storm. She's an A-lister to me, but she's relegated to the background of the one book she's in.

Rogue, Colossus and Nightcrawler are supporting characters to me. Their presence in whatever book they're in is nice. But they don't sell the book to me. Ditto Armor (who I used to like) and other long-standing supporting characters.

The Beast has suffered Cyclops Syndrome -- making all kinds of out-of-character bad decisions and judgments, plus getting judge-y about everyone else, especially Cyclops -- and I no longer respect the character. He could die tomorrow and I would probably just be relieved.

The time-displaced teen X-Men have passed their sell-by date. Write them out.

I have never accepted Magneto as a white hat. It lessens my respect for the other characters when they do. He's essentially the star of X-Men Blue, along with the X-teens. Seriously?

I don't know what the heck Psylocke is. I know, I know, a Japanese assassin and Brian Braddock's sister were merged somehow. I still don't understand that. Worse, I never know what side she's on, because her backstory is so complicated. Ditto Archangel, whom she seems to date or not date depending on the writer. I don't understand these characters, I don't understand their appeal, so I don't like seeing them as major players. Supporting characters, sure, but Magneto and Psylocke were essentially the stars of the last iteration of Uncanny X-Men.

Of course, there are plenty of other X-Men. And I don't care about any of them. You could kill off Rachel Grey, Fantomex, vampire Storm, Jimmy Hudson, Gambit, the few students whose names I know, Emma Frost has become so compromised that I can't support her on an X-team.

Writing all this out, I think one of subconscious disappointments with X-Men is that A) the writers keep telling the same stories over and over (Phoenix jumps to mind) and B) the characters have gone through such wrenching changes over the years that I'm not sure who they are any more. Are Psylocke and Magneto good guys or bad guys? Mystique? Emma Frost? If I pick up an X-book, I don't know the immediate back story sufficiently to know who's playing for what team. And they could switch at any time. As we say so often here, if anything can happen, we don't care what eventually does.

That's in addition to all the stars of the X-universe being dead for the last few years. B-listers I only vaguely know about and don't care about are the leaders and major players.I thought the philosophical argument between Cyclops and Wolverine in "Schism" was preposterous and ginned up out of nothing, but at least I knew who those guys were, and I've been reading about them for a long time.

Fantomex leading Weapon X just makes me ask, "Who is he again?" Even if you tell me, I"m not likely to care.

This reply was deleted.