24 years ago today, Cyclops proved himself the greatest X-Men leader of all. There’s always been heated debate about who is the best X-Men leader – both in and out of universe. The time-traveling Bishop once claimed it was Cyclops, and was rather amused at Storm’s reaction.
Videos by ComicBook.com
What does it make to be a great leader? Inspirational speeches are only part of it when you’re dealing with adventures on an epic, potentially world-ending scale; you also need strategic insight and tactical skill. One of Cyclops’ greatest moments, the proof of just how good a leader he really is, came in Brian K. Vaughan and Mark Texeira’s Cyclops #4, published on this day in 2001. Remarkably, it came at the end of an adventure where Cyclops was working solo.
Cyclops Was Dealing With an Enemy Who Knew Just How To Deal With Him
The four-issue Cyclops miniseries saw Scott Summers take some unprecedented time off to recover from recent tragic events. His vacation was rudely interrupted by a military strategist named Ulysses who wanted revenge on the X-Men, who he blamed for the deaths of his agents. Ulysses had prepared for the encounter; he’d hired the unstoppable Juggernaut and Black Tom Cassidy to draw Scott into his net, and outfitted his troops with ruby quartz armor to deflect Cyclops’ optic blasts. Recognizing that effective use of Cyclops’ powers requires line of sight, Ulysses also had invisibility tech as a final edge.
The stakes were impossibly high. Ulysses wanted to take Cyclops out first, but he had plans for every member of the X-Men; Cyclops knew that all his friends and family would be in great danger if he didn’t defeat the tactician there and then. What followed was an epic game of cat-and-mouse that spanned the entire globe, taking Cyclops from Alaska to the Savage Land, and finally to a smuggler’s boomtown in Eastern Paraguay. Time and again, Cyclops accomplished the impossible.
Cyclops outsmarted Juggernaut, survived a plane crash, and freed an entire Savage Land tribe from a monster – while blindfolded because he’d lost his visor and cracked his glasses. Ulysses knew even that wouldn’t be enough to stop Cyclops, correctly guessing that the X-Men’s greatest leader would escape to take him down. He completely underestimated the speed with which he moved, though; Cyclops tracked down Ulysses’ base and eavesdropped on his plans.
How Cyclops Defeated Ulysses When His Enemy Had Every Advantage
In the end, Cyclops didn’t win because of any spectacular feat of power. He got some good shots in – using the ruby quartz armor to his advantage, reflecting his optic blasts. But his victory came because of the intel he’d gained from listening in on Ulysses and his agents, realizing not all of them were quite so fanatical. An innocent child got caught in the crossfire, and Cyclops demonstrated the X-Men’s true character when he insisted on protecting the boy against Ulysses.
Ruby quartz is fragile. Cyclops encouraged a fight between Ulysses and his agent, one in which the leader lost his armor. Ulysses made the mistake of thinking Cyclops only operated by sight, vanishing into invisibility once again, but making the mistake of giving a last taunt; Scott used the sound to help him target Ulysses, unleashing a single shot that took him down.
This, fundamentally, is why Cyclops is the X-Men’s greatest leader. He didn’t triumph because of his raw power, but rather because of his tactical skill and his ability to read others. A few inspiring words, and the decision to protect an innocent boy above all else, turned the tide of war against Ulysses. He faced an enemy who’d prepared for everything Cyclops could throw at him, but he turned all those tactics against them, even using the ruby quartz itself as a weapon.
What is truly remarkable, of course, is that Cyclops’ whole approach was based on knowledge of his own weaknesses. Ulysses thought he had an edge because he’d figured out how to work around Cyclops’ powers, but Scott Summers had spent his entire life doing the same thing. It was no wonder he failed to take down the X-Men’s greatest leader.
What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
Most Viewed
-
image courtesy of 20th Century Studios -
Image courtesy of Prokino Filmverleih
