So one day, Marvel decided to release a book about a young, time traveling Cyclops going into space with his space pirate father (who he thought was dead) to reconnect. I thought it was a rather goofy premise, and that it wouldn’t be for me, but I would still have appreciated the fact that Marvel was publishing it for varieties sake. Then I learned that it would be written by Greg Rucka. I bought the first issue the day it came out. For five issues, Greg Rucka took Cyclops and his father on a kind of space road trip so the two could have some personal time with one another. Things of course went bad for them, but they persevered, and overall Greg Rucka’s run was a very enjoyable and satisfying read. Now John Layman (of Chew fame) takes the rains. So, how does this first issue stack up to what’s come before?
We start off with the father/son team returning to the Starjammer after their adventure to a big celebration. While Cyclops loves the fact he’s still with his dad, he doesn’t feel like he fits in with the rest of the crew, or the world his dad lives in in general. The mood of this issue is already pretty grim, especially when the opening page is a two page spread with Corsair punching Cyclops in the face and calling him worthless, but Cyclop’s awkwardness and honest mistakes throughout the issue just make things worse and worse.
John Layman does a great job picking up where Greg Rucka left off. He also captures the voices and relationship between Cyclops and his father, making this a very good continuation if you were at all invested in their relationship. He especially captures what’s going on in Cyclops’s head, basically the same emotions going through your head when you’re at a party and you only know one person there. His interactions with the rest of the crew are fun, awkward, and show that the crew are trying to help Cyclops integrate with the rest of the crew (even though they don’t turn out well for Scott).
Cyclops #6 also marks Javier Garron’s first appearance on this title as well. Unfortunately, he doesn’t exactly blow you away with this first outing. It’s not that his work is bad or anything, it’s just that some of the faces are pretty stretched, and he could have added a little more detail to avoid confusion in some of the panels. Although he did draw a very convincing image of a very drunk Cyclops who appears to have been uncontrollably vomiting in the toilet for a while.
Cyclops #6 is a good first issue overall. While the artwork could be improved upon, it is serviceable with some memorable moments here and there. The writing is very good, and a great continuation of what Rucka set up. What is rather impressive is that this is a good jumping on point if you haven’t been reading this title. Thankfully one advantage this title (along with the rest of Marvel’s cosmic line) over DC’s Green Lantern titles is that this book doesn’t get tied up in massive crossovers with the rest of the cosmic books. Granted there is a cosmic event coming up, but for right now this is a fun standalone book about space pirates and a father trying to make amends for missing out the first time on his son’s life.
CBH Score: 3.5 out of 5
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