I’m on hold with tech support. Recently I upgraded my TV to an HD and my DVD to a Blu Ray. After I upgraded my cable to HDTV, I realized that the problem this entire time was ME. I’m still watching TV with the same eyes.
I’d like to tell you had my eyes removed and replaced with new, high definition 3D eyes, but instead I had my eyes removed and replaced with two pieces of equipment which don’t seem to be installed right…hence the tech support.
This all makes me think of Cyclops.
ESSENTIAL UNCANNY X-MEN Vol. 1, Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Marvel
Meet Scott Summers, a troubled teen who grew up in an orphanage and, due to a genetic mutation coupled with a plane crash, cannot willingly control the destructive beams of red light that shine from his eyes. Only the ruby quarts lenses of his titular, monocular visor and the calm influence of his father figure, Professor X. keep him on the straight and narrow as the X-Man known as CYCLOPS!
Cyclops is a square peg trying to fit into the round hole of society, always playing the good boy and fighting for equal rights. He loves his teammate, Jean Grey, from afar. He’s a nice mutant boy in a world gone mad, but still believes in a brighter future.
He’s also boring as Hal Jordan, a cookie cutter “Good Guy” who only shines due to the briefly novel addition of teen angst.
X-MEN OMNIBUS VOL. 1 + 2, Chris Claremont, Jim Lee, Marvel
Meet Scott Summers, embittered war veteran of the never-ending fight for mutant survival. In these Claremont/Lee stories we see the emergence of the “Scott as General” Cyclops, the mutant who has fought every battle and is best prepared to lead the troops. Scott has grown increasingly quiet, isolated, and struggles to find peace even within his own adopted family.
Having fought every day of his young adult life we meet a Scott Summers who no longer can identify himself, his goals or his friends…just the fight. He has loved Jean, married Jean, lost Jean, loved clones of Jean and has fathered several children of alternate timelines with Jean.
This Scott is an unlikeable boy scout, always stuffy and square…but it’s not his fault. Wolverine is Marvel’s biggest bad boy, and Scott exists almost solely to contrast Wolvie’s lethal spirit.
CY TO THE CLIZZOPS
In Grant Morrison’s NEW X-MEN and Joss Wheedon’s Astonishing X-Men the plaster on Cyclops REALLY starts to chip. We learn that Cycs has been getting his mental swerve on with the White Queen through Psychic hook-ups behind Jean’s back. We see Cyclops place mutant survival as the surpassing priority. We see Cyclops begin to employ backroom tactics, while pushing Xavier away for employing the same.
By the time Cyclops decides on the necessity of X-Force, the clandestine group of X-Men charged with the assassination of top-level threats to mutant kind, the natural progression is complete. Cyclops adopts the perfect blending of Magneto’s violence and Xavier’s message in an effort to stop the mutant violence by whatever means he can.
This tired, amoral and sociopathic Scott is also the most likeable Cyclops in years!
In a world where most of your fiends have died and come back to life, where you discover your family members are all space pirates, ancient freaks or alternate timeline versions of yourself, and where, no matter how many times you PERSONALLY save the world you will still be hated and feared, Scott Summers is the believable result of one man fighting his entire life for an unobtainable goal.
I can’t wait to see what happens next…but I will have to wait. Stupid tech support. Stupid broken mechanical high definition eyes.
