Cyclops vol. 1: Starstruck

First off, apologies are in order.

When writer Greg Rucka left this series after five issues, I assumed the usual bit of behind-the-scenes drama that involved him having another falling out with Marvel.  It was surprising enough to see Rucka back at the company after he gave an interview detailing how bitter he was with the corporate situation there.  Seeing the writer leave after his initial arc led me to conclude that he suddenly realized why he stopped working with Marvel in the first place.

As it turns out, that wasn’t the case at all.  Rucka’s father passed away earlier this year.  Given that “Cyclops” is a story about a father and son reconciling and bonding with one another, the subject matter hit too close to home for him and he asked to leave.  My cynicism and snark were clearly way off base here and I apologize to Rucka and Marvel for it.  It’s also too bad that he has left this series because this first volume turned out quite well.

I haven’t read it yet, but this series spins out of the events of the “Guardians of the Galaxy”/”All-New X-Men” crossover “The Trial of Jean Grey.”  The good news is that the story being told here is pretty accessible even if you haven’t read that particular arc.  All you need to know is that after finding out that his dad is not only alive, but also a space pirate, the time-traveling teenage Cyclops has decided to stick around with his dad Chris (A.K.A. Corsair) and the rest of the Starjammers.  This leads to lots of fun involving hijacking a Badoon spaceship, exploring alien markets, and surviving on a rural planet while waiting to be rescued.

The fun comes from the fact that Chris is one of the more irresponsible parents in the Marvel Universe as he’s basically an arrested adolescent at heart who gets to live out the dream of being a space pirate on a daily basis.  Contrast this with his son who, even at sixteen, is still as straight-laced and reserved as we’re used to seeing from his older self.  Rucka gets some good material here mining the contrasts between their personalities and the fact that Young Cyclops represents an interesting shot at second chances for the both of them.  With him, Chris can try to be the father he was meant to be and Cyclops has a chance to avoid becoming the man he grows up to be.

All of this is pitched as a grand spacefaring adventure with Chris and Cyclops’ interactions keeping things grounded.  At it’s heart, this is a story about a father and son getting to know each other again.  What makes it stand out are all of the science fiction trappings surrounding it.  Rucka makes sure these elements complement each other as we see the two bonding as they blast their way into a Badoon spaceship, tangle with bounty hunters, and find out that some alien life really does taste like chicken.  We also see the writer tackle the big elephant in the room question for this series — Why didn’t Chris come back to Earth after he found out his kids were alive? — in a way that makes sense and even provides some insight into the present-day version of Cyclops and how he turned out.

Personally, any real issues I have with this volume come down to nitpicking more than anything else.  The bounty hunters who are after Chris here aren’t really developed all that well and are ultimately defeated by cultural values that are acknowledged by our protagonists as being silly.  Though a lot of good discussions are had on the alien planet, it would’ve been nice to see Chris and Scott having more adventures out in space and on other planets.  Also, if you demand that your Marvel comics have some deep connection to the wider universe, then you’re going to be out of luck here.  The story is also much more “sci-fi adventure” than “superhero action” if you care about distinctions like that.

Russell Dauterman provides the art, and he makes quite an impression for the first three issues.  We’re greeted by a full-page close-up of Cyclops’ visor, where the character’s previous exploits are reflected on it.  From there, the artist shows that he’s got a great sense of design and style when it comes to both the aliens and technology featured here, as well has how to lay out panels dynamically and still have the story be easy to follow.  It’s great work and it bodes well for his run on the relaunched “Thor.”  This would seem to be bad news for Carmen Carnero, who illustrates the last two issues collected here, but the artist does an excellent job maintaining stylistic consistency with Dauterman.  The characters may look a little different, but the same attention to detail is still present.

This first volume of “Cyclops” also shows that Rucka is really capable of good work when he steps outside of his comfort zone as a writer.  While he made his name on grounded crime and espionage stories like “Whiteout” and “Queen & Country,” as well as superhero titles that were in the same vein like “Punisher” and “Gotham Central,” this series along with “Lazarus” show that he’s got a good handle on sci-fi as well.  It’s all down to the fact that he knows how to develop interesting characters and relationships, as we see with Chris and Cyclops here.  Unfortunately, this is all we’ll be seeing from him on this title — “Chew’s” John Layman is taking over — and that’s a shame.  This volume is a very entertaining read that I’d recommend to fans of Marvel’s cosmic side, and even to people who can’t stand the title character.  The way he’s used here is so different and successful that you might wind up liking it anyway.