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The Best of Cyclops Comics, Your Essential Scott Summers Reading Order

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He is an X-Men founding member. He stands out among many mutants due to his unique eyewear and deadly optic rays. Yes, we’re talking about Scott Summers, a.k.a. Cyclops.

Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in 1963, Cyclops is a polarising X-Man who is as much loved as he is hated, and who is frequently misunderstood. Scott Summers, who was first regarded as the archetypical hero, has never been without flaws or weaknesses. This resilient but very effective leader suffered from poor self-esteem and a tendency to dwell on his mistakes. He was also not the type of man to express his feelings and had difficulties verbalizing his problems. You guessed it, Cyclops has had to make some difficult decisions, make sacrifices, put his life in peril several times, and live in some crazy situations in the sixty years since his initial appearance!

His love life is also complicated, as he has been married to Jean Grey and her clone Madelyne Pryor, as well as being in a long-term committed relationship with our favorite White Queen, Emma Frost.

As the character celebrates the sixty anniversary of his first appearance, Scott Summers/Cyclops finds himself right now in the spotlight with this essential reading order, listing the best Cyclops comics to read to understand his character, motivations, and transformations. Beware! A Best/Essential Comic for a character can be a mediocre or okay story with great characterization or important for the character’s evolution.

Where to start with Cyclops? Introducing the world of Scott Summers and the X-Men

Scott Summers made his debut in The X-Men #1. There are 60 years of history to read. Let’s start at the beginning with some issues that can be read to become a little bit more familiar with the character and the team.

  • X-Men Origins: Cyclops (2010) – By Stuart Moore and Jesse Delperdang. A comic retracing the origin of the X-Men’s leader from his childhood through his joining of the X-Men.
  • X-Men First Class (2006-2007) – By Jeff Parker and Roger Cruz. An eight-issue limited series starring the original X-Men, taking you back to the sort of beginning to tell untold tales taking place to the 60s. The series was followed by a special issue a monthly series and has spawned multiple spin-offs.
  • X-Men Season One (2012) – by Dennis Hopeless and Jamie McKelvie. While First Class is more of a nostalgia book, Season One is more of an introduction book, telling the first year of the original Five.
  • Giant Size X-Men #1 (1975) – by Len Wein and Dave Cockrum. If you should read one issue listed in this section, this is this one. This special issue serves as a link between the original X-Men and a new team. Following the kidnapping of the X-Men during a mission, with the exception of Cyclops who had escaped, Professor X recruits a new team to rescue them. It introduced the X-Men and Cykes in a new era.

X-Men Hickman

Your Essential Cyclops (Scott Summers) Reading Order

Scott Summers aka Cyclops is one of the founding members of the X-Men and is a main character in the majority of the series. To discover the complete history of the X-Men and the many collected editions out there, check out our X-Men reading order (in several parts!) Following is a selection of the best of and recommended reading for Cyclops! Credits to the Cyclops subreddit, as some comments helped me build this list.

Cyclops in the Chris Claremont Era

When you think about the X-Men, this is the era you have in mind. Following the kidnapping of the original X-Men, Cyclops finds himself the leader of a new team of X-Men including Wolverine with whom he will famously clash. This is also during that particular period that he met Corsair, leader of the Starjammers (and his biological dad), and lives through the Phoenix Saga and its consequences. For the best of Scott Summers, we focus on Uncanny X-Men #94-138, collected in:

  • X-Men Epic Collection: Second Genesis
    Collects Giant Size X-Men #1; Uncanny X-Men #94-110; Iron Fist #14-15; Marvel Team-Up #53, #69-70, Annual #1; material from FOOM #10. 
  • X-Men Epic Collection: Proteus
    Collects Uncanny X-Men #111-128, Annual #3; Marvel Team-Up #89; Incredible Hulk Annual #7
  • X-Men Epic Collection: The Fate Of The Phoenix
    Collects Uncanny X-Men #129-143, Annual #4; Marvel Treasury Edition #26-27; Phoenix: The Untold Story (1984); material from Marvel Team-Up (1972) #100. You can stop after #138, as Cyclops leaves the group in this issue.

A little bit later, you can also check out X-Men: From the Ashes (Uncanny X-Men #168-176) where Scott Summers winds up facing the whole X-Men team by himself.

Cyclops in X-Factor

While the current X-Men team finds itself outlawed and with Magneto as the leader, the Original Five are reunited in X-Factor and set up a business advertised as mutant-hunters for hire. The mutants they captured are secretly trained and reintegrated into society.

To reunite the Original X-Men, some uninspired creative decisions have been made, especially when it came to Cyclops. In order to join the team, Cyclops walked out on his new wife Madelyne Pryor, an Alaskan pilot who bore a strange resemblance to Grey, and their infant son, Nathan Christopher. This is, still to this day, controversial among fans.

If the beginning of X-Factor is rocky, Louise Simonson quickly took over creative duties, introduced Apocalypse as the nemesis, and installed a darker tone where she also explores Cyclops’ state of mind and emotions.He’s a hot mess, but to be fair, he has good reasons!

Our selection focuses on the first 40 issues of the original X-Factor run, but you can go further! See our dedicated X-Factor reading order for more information.

During this period, you can also find Cyclops in (if you can find those issues/trade somewhere):

  • Marvel Comics Presents Cyclops: Retribution
    Collects Marvel Comics Presents #17-24

Cyclops in the ’90s in Adjectiveless X-Men

At the beginning of the nineties, the X-Men massive cast is split between two titles, with a Gold Team led by Storm in Uncanny X-Men while the Blue Team is featured in X-Men with Scott Summers as their leader (Jean Grey served on the Gold Team). This is during that time that, for whatever reason, Psylocke tried to seduce Scott without any success while the mysterious Cable took over the X-Factor team. He also must face Stryfe, Mr. Sinister and learns more about Cable (aka Nathan Summers)! Those tumultuous times for Scott Summers will, at least, conclude on a happy note as all of this led us to Scott and Jean’s Wedding. There’s a lot of X-Men crossover during that time so don’t hesitate to check out our 90s X-Men Reading Order for more details.

Following the wedding, you can jump into Adventures Of Cyclops And Phoenix, following Scott and Jean on their honeymoon when their minds are suddenly psychically pulled thousands of years into the post-apocalyptic future. Written by Scott Lobdell, this is one of those more divisive titles, so you have to read it to decide if you like it or not!

  • X-Men: Mutant Genesis
    Collects X-Men (vol. 2) #1-7.
  • X-Men: A Skinning of Souls 
    Collects X-Men (vol. 2) #17–24; X-Men: Survival Guide to the Mansion; material from Marvel Swimsuit Special #2 
  • X-Men Milestones: Fatal Attractions
    Collects Uncanny X-Men (1981) #298-300, 303-304, 315; X-Factor (1986) #92; X-Force (1991) #25; X-Men Unlimited (1993) #2; X-Men (vol. 2) #25; Wolverine (1988) #75; Excalibur (1988) #71.
  • Avengers/X-Men: Bloodties
    Collects Avengers #368-369, Avengers West Coast #101, X-Men (vol. 2) #26, Uncanny X-Men #307 and Black Knight: Exodus #1.
  • X-Men: The Wedding of Cyclops & Phoenix
    Collects X-Men (vol. 2) #27-35, Avengers #368-369, Avengers West Coast #101, Uncanny X-Men #307-310, Cable #6-8, X-Men Unlimited # 3, Uncanny X-Men Annual #18, X-Men: The Wedding Album, What If? #60, Adventures Of Cyclops And Phoenix #1-4, Material From Marvel Valentine Special.

Cyclops in the noughties (New X-Men, Astonishing, The Messiah Trilogy)

There are changes around the corner for the X-Men as Grant Morrison took over the title to give us one of the most celebrated and influential runs for the mutants, part of our 25 Best Marvel Comics to read! This is an important run for Scott Summers, as it contains many pivotal moments in the evolution of Cyclops’ character, forging him to become a more pragmatic (and badass) leader. This is also where the romantic status quo was shaken up as Cyclops came to question his relationship with Jean and becomes closer to Emma Frost — before simply starting a long-term relationship with the White Queen.

From then on, this is what can simply be considered the Golden Age of Scott Summers, where the character lived his ten best years. First, in Joss Whedon’s Astonishing X-Men where the character shines on several occasions:

Scott continues to act like a badass during the whole Messiah Trilogy and all the events around the Utopia Era, illustrating what he can do when he is pushed to do it, leading through terrible circumstances.

  • X-Men Milestones: Messiah Complex
    Collects X-Men: Messiah Complex One-Shot (2007), Uncanny X-Men #492-494, X-Men (vol. 2) 205-207, New X-Men (2004) 44-46, X-Factor (2005) 25-27
  • X-Men Milestones: Messiah War
    Collects X-Force/Cable: Messiah War (2009) #1, Cable (2008) #13-15, X-Force (2008) #14-16, X-Men: Future History – The Messiah War Sourcebook (2009) 1
  • Avengers/X-Men: Utopia
    Collects X-Men: Legacy #226-227, Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-Men: Utopia one-shot, Uncanny X-Men #513–514, Dark Avengers #7–8, Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-Men: Exodus one-shot, Dark X-Men: The Beginning #1–3, and Dark X-Men: The Confession one-shot.
  • Uncanny X-Men: Nation X
    Collects Uncanny X-Men #515–522; Dark Reign: The List – X-Men; Nation X #1–4.
  • X-Men Milestones: Second Coming
    Collects Second Coming: Prepare (2009), Second Coming (2010) 1-2, Uncanny X-Men (1981) 523-525, New Mutants (2009) 12-14, X-Men Legacy (2008) 235-237, X-Force (2008) 26-28

From Schism to Avengers vs. X-Men 

All good things come to an end, and the Great Scott Summers portrayal is concluded, though it doesn’t mean there is no important event affecting him or worthy story featuring him, including Kieron Gillen’s run on Uncanny X-Men. Though, it has to be explicitly said that Cyclops vs. other superheroes (Wolverine in Schism and The Avengers in AVX) doesn’t give us great stories as those are often more contrived than necessary. But it offers some important Cyclops material to read.

Cyclops in the Krakoa Era

With the Modern era, Cyclops became a more revolutionary and rebellious leader. After having gone through a lot of traumatic events, taking immense responsibilities, and mentored many new X-Men, Scott Summers takes a backseat under Jonathan Hickman to become a more relaxed but still outspoken person. Often, the best characters shines when they are miserable, but it’s also nice for them to be happy for a while!

  • House of X/Powers of X
    Collects House of X #1-6, Powers of X #1-6.
  • X-Men by Jonathan Hickman Omnibus
    Collects X-Men (2019) #1-11, 16-21; Giant-Size X-Men: Jean Grey And Emma Frost (2020) #1; Giant-Size X-Men: Nightcrawler (2020) #1; Giant-Size X-Men: Magneto (2020) #1; Giant-Size X-Men: Fantomex (2020) #1; Giant-Size X-Men: Storm (2020) #1; material from Incoming (2019) #1.

Did we forget an important issue for Cyclops? Did we make a mistake? Let us know in the comments!

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