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Matt (angelophile) wrote in scans_daily,
@ 2009-08-13 16:49:00

Cyclops Badassery

Over on Livejournal I've been doing a Top Five meme thing (thanks for the suggestions, peeps!) and uncanny_rman requested my Top Five Most Badass Cyclops Moments which I figured I could share here.

In actual fact, I had great difficultly trimming it down to five and there's a few (Cyclops shooting a giant squid in the face, about a dozen times he flattened Logan) that didn't make the cut. But hopefully something for everyone here.

Counting down from 5...

5. Cyclops vs The Hellfire Club (Uncanny X-men #134)

With the X-men captured by the Hellfire Club, Jean under their control and Scott barely surviving an attack on the astral plain, bound and helpless, only Wolverine is still at large. So, of course, he single-handedly defeats the Hellfire Club and frees the X-men, right? Wrong. That'll be Scott.

4. Cyclops vs Black Tom and Juggernaut (Icons Cyclops #1)

From Brian K. Vaughan's miniseries, Scott seems positively chipper about kicking the butts of Black Tom Cassidy and the Unstoppable Juggernaut when attack him in Alaska. Poor old Cain really needs to find another adjective to describe himself, doesn't he?

3. Cyclops vs Ord (Astonishing X-men #23)

Perhaps the one thing I liked most about Joss Whedon's X-men - he didn't make Cyclops badass - he just understood that he was badass. As he proves against Ord as the supposedly powerless Scott reveals he's been conning the villain all along, blows a hole through a citadel and does it with enough accuracy to shoot off Wolverine's cuffs in the process. Bad. Ass.

2. Cylops vs Mr. Sinister (X-Factor #39)

Scott has lost his wife to the machinations of Mr. Sinister and the demon N'astirh. It is revealed that Sinister has been manipulating Scott his whole life and placed mental blocks on him accessing his full powers. After getting charged up by Havok, Scott sees Jean in Sinister's clutches and his response is an abject lesson in why you don't fuck with Scott Summers.

1. Cyclops vs … well, everyone (The oversized Uncanny X-men #175)

X-men come under attack from Mastermind who casts an illusion to make them believe that Dark Phoenix has returned and killed Scott. Scott pulls himself out of a coma and what follows is a lesson in epic badassery as Scott single-handedly takes on the entirety of the X-men team:

I disqualified this one because it wasn't 616, but for the record:

Cyclops vs Wolverine (Ultimate X-men #33)

Macho male posturing? Pass. Nuff said.

And, as a special bonus, Cyclops vs Batman:

(Post a new comment)

	yaseen101 2009-08-13 05:32 pm UTC (link)
	My favorites have to be #4 and #3. I never knew Cyclops was badass, I always took him as a weakling-sort-of type. Glad I was wrong. Also this reminds me of the time in X-Men Evolution where Cyclops hits the Juggernaut with the full force of his optic blasts, blasting away Cain's helmet in the process (if I'm remembering it right). (Reply to this)

	btravage.livejournal.com 2009-08-13 05:40 pm UTC (link)
	Nice Peggy Hill hair you've got there Jean Grey (Reply to this)

	drsevarius 2009-08-13 05:44 pm UTC (link)
	Jean's more responsible for the defeat of the Hellfire Club than Scott is; he wouldn't have done anything if she didn't unlock his mask. (Reply to this)

	punishermax 2009-08-13 05:45 pm UTC (link)
	God I love that Astonishing moment so much, Wolverine saying "Damn Summers" is so awesome because you can tell he's like "Hell Yeah, this rules, Cyclops rules, I rule" (Reply to this)

	crinosg 2009-08-13 05:58 pm UTC (link)
	You forgot "I want that thing off my lawn." (Reply to this) (Thread)

angelophile
2009-08-13 06:05 pm UTC (link)

I didn't forget it, I was just trying to mix things up a bit. Actually Whedon gave Scott a fair number of great moments ("X-men don't shoot people" being another one) but I wanted to mix up the time periods a bit. I left out the Cyclops vs Giant Squid simply because it was the issue after he trounced all the X-men too.

But, hey, if someone wants to do a follow on post with the many moments I left out, I'd love that. (I have others in mind myself. Maybe I'll do it, too.)

(Reply to this) (Parent)

	arilou_skiff 2009-08-13 06:16 pm UTC (link)
	"Sometimes I remember why you're in charge." I love Scott Summers, especially Evolution!Scott, but all of them to some degree. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	yaseen101 2009-08-13 08:50 pm UTC (link)
	My first exposure to the X-Men was the Evolution series. What's your general opinion on the show? I have been meaning ask someone that question. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	arilou_skiff 2009-08-13 08:51 pm UTC (link)
	It was my first exposure to the X-men too so... Err... I love it? I'm re-watching it right now actually, doing an ep-by-ep commentary on the tvtropes forum here: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=vgytc83uu35ftbat36arzsfs&page=2#30 (Reply to this) (Parent)

	timemonkey 2009-08-13 10:29 pm UTC (link)
	X-Men Evolution was awsome! Especially once they got past the first season. I liked season one but it became much better afterward. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	04nbod 2009-08-13 11:48 pm UTC (link)
	the finale is the most epic X Men related thing outside the comics I have ever read (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	04nbod 2009-08-13 11:49 pm UTC (link)
	*seen (Reply to this) (Parent)

	timemonkey 2009-08-14 12:21 am UTC (link)
	Oh yeah. It helped that Apocalypse actually picked actually powerful mutants as his Horsemen this time. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	arilou_skiff 2009-08-14 07:48 am UTC (link)
	Also the fact that he barely spoke. THe only time he said ANYTHING was in a short conversation with Charles. "SINCE WHEN HAS MANKIND EVER REALIZED WHAT IT NEEDS?" (Reply to this) (Parent)

	yaseen101 2009-08-14 09:07 am UTC (link)
	Hahaha, I remember jumping around, biting my nails and contemplating about whether or not to scream. I can't remember any other show that pumped out so much adrenaline in me. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	zordboy 2009-08-13 11:54 pm UTC (link)
	Honestly, yeah, I was just about to ask where that moment had gotten to, 'cause for me, that takes the cake. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	volksjager 2009-08-13 06:30 pm UTC (link)
	Yuck. What was Kitty's name when she was in the horrid get up ? (Reply to this) (Thread)

	thandrak 2009-08-13 06:46 pm UTC (link)
	Ariel. But I think she's Shadowcat by then. And don't forget, this is just one of several dozen horrible, horrible, awesomely princesstastic outfits. One of my favorite things about her. I could tell they were bad at the time, but, you know, she was my age, and I knew that if I got my hands on a costume machine... totally do the same thing. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	x5455 2009-08-13 06:52 pm UTC (link)
	Either Sprite or Ariel, can't remember which one though. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	darkknightjrk 2009-08-13 06:48 pm UTC (link)
	Yeah, the "To me, my X-Men"...so badass it was kinda sexy, actually. I'm also reading through The Dark Phoenix Saga for the first time, and Scott vs. the Hellfire Club was pretty cool, even if he was being assisted by Jean/Phoenix. (Reply to this)

	bj_l 2009-08-14 01:06 am UTC (link)
	I've always thought one of Cyclops best moments is in the first issue of Morrison's run where he puts the dying Australian mutant out of his misery. And he even had that surprisingly great issue in the 90's where he leads the Acolytes after crash landing with them and they all fall in line, because damn it, he's Scott Summers. He leads the X-Men. (Reply to this)

citygod
2009-08-14 02:39 am UTC (link)

I vote for # 3 - Whedon's entire run seemed to be leading up to that "To me, my X-Men" line. Which was fine by me - I may even have fist-pumped, when I first read it.
A few other nominations: in the Proteus story, when he picks a fight with Wolverine just to clear Logan's head (!); and I vaguely remember a scene in Morrison's run, drawn by one of the Quietly fill-ins, where Cyclops is rescuing a Chinese mutant from a space-station. The station is exploding, the rescue vessel is gone, and Cyclops has some slim-chance-but-just-may-work plan for escape. When the Chinese mutant (Xan?) ask, incredulously if he really thinks it will work, Cyclops has a very matter-of-fact "no doubt in my mind" response. Which was totally bad-ass. Does that ring a bell with anyone?
ps Paul Smith - damn. That panel where Cyclops zaps Storm is so dynamic.

(Reply to this)

(Anonymous)
2009-08-14 02:39 am UTC (link)

I always sort of liked Scott because he wasn't the typical comic hero. He seemed cerebral, honest, and a good leader in that he listened to other people. None of that makes him perfect and they can all lead to real ISSUES, but they're grown-up issues. Scott imprinted on me as an adult.

One of the reasons I hate Whedon's run on X-Men (no. 3 up there) is scenes like this. It's entitled, pretentious adolescent wish-fulfillment. Kill people, fuck girls with big tits, get in a one-liner. Ho hum; there are plenty of characters like that. Emma and Scott are monstrously entitled and borderline sociopaths here, which would be interesting, except that they're not written as sociopaths, they're written as . . . badass.

For women to be badass, they must be quippy, violent, and wear very tiny clothes. For men to be badass, they just have to be quippy and violent. I'd love to see a badass who's actually radically iconoclastic or confrontational.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

this

jazzypom
2009-08-14 10:09 am UTC (link)

(Reply to this) (Parent)

	ashtoreth 2009-08-14 03:45 am UTC (link)
	I think my favorite is some remark Cyke made once while crashing an airplane and being totally blase that he would survive it. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	stratosfyr 2009-08-15 05:57 pm UTC (link)
	"Relax. I've survived more jet aircraft crashes than any other mutant. Insurance takes care of everything." (Reply to this) (Parent)

lbd_nytetrayn
2009-08-14 07:01 am UTC (link)

Whole lot of cool moments... I've always liked Cyclops, even when others haven't. When X-Men: Children of the Atom was the big game in the arcades, he and Wolverine were my two guys; if I couldn't beat you with one, you'd fall to the other.

Do enjoy "to me, my X-Men."

Also, I really appreciate his stance on collateral damage. It's nice to see a hero take personal responsibility like that for such reasons.

--LBD "Nytetrayn"

(Reply to this)

	Ultimate X-men - that was a good moment jazzypom 2009-08-14 10:11 am UTC (link)
	wipes tear from eye That was a beauty. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	Re: Ultimate X-men - that was a good moment carolcarolcarol 2009-08-14 12:49 pm UTC (link)
	That was my favorite, too. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	secret wars aeopile 2009-08-14 08:46 pm UTC (link)
	Someone should post when spiderman took the xmen down (Reply to this) (Thread)

	Re: secret wars angelophile 2009-08-15 10:39 pm UTC (link)
	Pretty sure they already did a few days back. (Reply to this) (Parent)

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