Champions #12 review: See the fury of the teen called Cyclops
By Alex Widen
His nickname may be “Slim,” but it may as well be “stiff!” Yet can even Cyclops cut loose when forced in Champions #12?
Champions #12
Writer: Mark Waid
Artist: Humberto Ramos
Inker: Victor Olazaba
Colorist: Edgar Delgado
Twelfth issues are a good time to take stock of where a series is headed, or going. Over the past year, Champions has gone from being the flagship superhero team book of the “Marvel NOW!” editorial push to one which may be lost in crossovers. In less than a dozen issues, the series has spent several issues crossing over into Monsters Unleashed and Secret Empire. The few moments the series has to breathe, Mark Waid does his best to make these individual issues count.
Image by Marvel Comics
In particular, this is a focus issue on Cyclops. As with everything involving the X-Men, his short life has been very complicated. The version on the team is a teenage version who has time traveled from past continuity into the present years ago (alongside younger versions of the other founding X-Men). In the sporadic letter columns, editor Alanna Smith has insisted that Mark Waid “insisted” that Cyclops be on the team due to his own fondness for him. Here, that fondness is made clear!
Image by Marvel Comics
One of Them Is Not like the Others!
Like most superhero teams involving teenagers going back to the Legion of Super-Heroes circa 1958, the Champions are about hanging out and bonding almost as much as crime fighting. Hence, this issue begins with the team singing karaoke songs and having a ball. Ms. Marvel, Spider-Man, Nova, Hulk, and even Viv Vision tag in. The only member of the team who refuses is Cyclops, who sits and watches. His utter lack of a sense of humor exasperates the rest of them.
Image by Marvel Comics
Cyclops may technically have the most tactical team experience, yet he is also the most repressed. Considering Viv Vision was literally built by her dad and can barely figure out high school, this is fairly amazing. While Cyclops may have entered the team under some cloud of suspicion, by now he’s considered a founding member. And both Kamala Khan and Miles Morales consider finding a way to get Cyclops to loosen up to be as critical a mission as any duel with a super villain may be!
Image by Marvel Comics
Yet the Champions soon learn to be careful what they wish for. In no time flat, they’re locked in battle against the old Fantastic Four villain, Psycho-Man. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in 1967’s Fantastic Four Annual #5, Psycho-Man suddenly becomes the highest profile Marvel Universe villain the team have ever faced! His angle is manipulating the emotions of people via his “Control-Box,” and the Champions immediately intervene in his rampage in Boulder, Colorado.
Image by Marvel Comics
There’s More to Cyclops Than His Visor!
The battle seems like it is routine until Cyclops blasts Psycho-Man’s precious “Control-Box.” Suddenly, the X-Men founder who is always in control starts to lose it! Out of nowhere Scott is experimenting with his optic blasts, eager to fight people, and pilot their aircraft like a madman! Miles and Amadeus Cho immediately realize that Cyclops has been zapped by Psycho-Man’s trademark gimmick, and they’ll have to endure it until the effects of the Control-Box wear off.
Image by Marvel Comics
While the obvious effects of the Control-Box are to have Cyclops act wildly out of control, Mark Waid is wise enough to not leave it there. Cyclops doesn’t simply bottle his aggression or his sense of humor to focus on being a superhero. He also buries his self-doubt and sense of loss and despair in regards to his mutant powers. Scott has literally seen a version of himself who succumbed to his own flaws (or bad editorial choices) which has scared him even further!
Image by Marvel Comics
In an absolutely brilliant two page sequence, Waid and Humberto Ramos narrow down exactly why Cyclops is a compelling character and not the “boring jerk” he is often stereotyped as. His optic blasts are a power he cannot control without artificial assistance. And for all the power his optic blasts have, they prevent him from doing or seeing many of the things that people his age, or older, take for granted. All of this frustration and depression are also things that Cyclops buries.
Image by Marvel Comics
All of the Champions win in this issue!
Unfortunately, Psycho-Man doesn’t wait for the effects of his Control-Box to wear off. He launches another attack, this time at a lab in Atlanta, Georgia. There’s talk of a MacGuffin he’s after but in reality, it doesn’t really matter. Psycho-Man is merely an appropriate villain to push Cyclops into revealing many of his true feelings through an artificial device and make an adventure of it. He also learns that having an out-of-control Cyclops after him can be a terrible thing to face!
Image by Marvel Comics
In most superhero comics, “done-in-one” stories have become a lost art. It’s a shame, as the medium was at its peak when writers were adept at such a skill. Mark Waid is still enough of an experienced scribe that he knows how to make the most of twenty pages to focus on his cast. A fair criticism could be had that the plot, and its villain, were more convenient details than organic elements. However, the embellishment of the cast was well worth such efforts, and is more vital.
Image by Marvel Comics
While Cyclops may be the central focus, he isn’t the only one served by this issue. Waid not only explores Scott’s inner demons, but how the cast reacts to him. Their frustration at Scott’s refusal to partake in many of their activities nor be coaxed out of his stern habits is understandable. The Control-Box provides a necessary angle for Ms. Marvel to delve deeper into Scott’s emotions than he’d normally allow. Kamala saw her chance to make a deeper connection, and didn’t waste it.
Image by Marvel Comics
It’s Nice When Superheroes Aren’t Jerks!
Cyclops has formed a bond with all of the Champions, he may be closest with Kamala and Amadeus. The latter, as the Hulk, can understand having a dangerous power and a bad reputation to match. As for Kamala, the two have an almost unspoken bond about leadership. Despite his experience, Cyclops respects Kamala as the unofficial spiritual leader of the team. Yet during moments when she struggles, Cyclops is willing and able to fill the tactical gap for their sake.
Image by Marvel Comics
Another critical moment is how the Champions handle the aftermath of the adventure. Once the effects of the Control-Box end, Cyclops is left with no memory of his actions under its influence. He has no idea he just revealed his innermost secrets nor cut loose with his humor and aggression. The rest of the Champions — teenagers, all — could have had some fun at his expense, made a joke or a tease. Instead, they vow to keep it secret because they care about him.
Image by Marvel Comics
Considering how many superhero comics I have read where adult superheroes have made flippant, even cruel wisecracks about the foibles, traumas, or pasts of their peers, this is profound. I mean, just consider how often other Avengers have mocked Tony Stark’s struggle with addiction, for one example. Portraying superheroes as immature jerks in the name of “making up for the corny Silver Age” as a shorthand to mature storytelling is a trend I tire of. It was great seeing Waid ditch it here.
Image by Marvel Comics
An Excellent Example of This Series at Its Best!
In fact, the only quibble I would present was that Waid didn’t go far enough with Scott’s reasons for bottling himself. The biggest example is his “orientation” of being a mutant. Were Cyclops to act recklessly with himself or his powers, he would become the very stereotype of an “evil mutant” who is out of control. Fighting to rise above stereotypes to be judged by their true character is the heart of the X-Men’s mission, and it’s a premise which can often be forgotten.
Image by Marvel Comics
On art, Humberto Ramos has completed a full year of monthly issues without any major lateness. The only other artist I can think of who can pull that off these days is Mark Bagley. Olazaba and Delgado continue to flank him on inks and colors, and this issue looks as good as his previous ones. Ramos’ strength is not in anatomy, but in both extreme character designs and displaying emotion. Cyclops, Kamala, Hulk, Viv, and the rest all benefit from their skill in this issue.
Image by Marvel Comics
Must Read: 100 greatest superhero stories
The next issue begins a six issue crossover with Mark Waid’s Avengers series. It makes sense since the Champions formed when Kamala, Miles, and Nova left that team. However, to say that Waid’s Avengers is fundamentally less accomplished and consistently good as Champions is an understatement. While this feels like more of an organic mingling of teams rather than an editorial order, I hope it doesn’t bog things down. Issues like this showcase how the series truly shines.