A chance at clearing the air.
Creative Staff:
Story: Greg Rucka
Art: Russell Dauterman
What They Say:
Trouble aboard a stolen Badoon ship! Corsair and Cyclops experience engine trouble, shipwreck, and have the nice father-son chat they’ve both been avoiding.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Getting to see the galaxy is the kind of thrill that is very easy to connect with when watching this sixteen year old Scott Summers spend time with his father, since there’s so much to see and such an experienced old hand at getting around in it. But we’ve also seen through the first couple of issues that because of his reputation and issues, it’s not exactly easy to get around unnoticed when there are significant bounties on your head. Through Scott’s eyes, we’ve gotten a decent look at how he views his newly found father and the way he’s trying to keep it all together on top of what he’s learned about his other self, but there’s almost a kind of comfort in just being able to take in the galaxy in front of him and the endless wonder of it all. But Scott being Scott means he needs something more from his father, and unlike his older self, seems more interested in actually getting answers.
While the pair have been hounded out of the last place they were at, they’re certainly not footloose and fancy free now either as they’re still being chased, thanks to a quantum tracker on them. The only reason they discover the tracker is because the ship, some lovely Badoon technology to be sure, has essentially blown itself up, causing the pair to crash land on some weirdly uninhabited planet where they have to spend their time waiting for a rescue of some sort, which they hope will come before any bounty hunters come after them. There’s a lot of fun in watching the crash sequence since the straight faced humor coming out of Scott still feels kind of off-putting, though it works, and Corsair has his own kind of defensive humor combined with some parental issues that makes the banter between them almost feel really awkward, but as a way that they’re getting past each of each other’s defenses.
The real fun in here though is what happens after they get settled. Since they have time, and Corsair seems to be willing to answer almost anything, Scott questions him a lot and Corsair doesn’t really hedge. He makes it clear why he didn’t come back after he escaped Shi’ar imprisonment, which makes sense, and it ties into what he thought of his unknown son of Gabriel, who had similar rage issues that nearly destroyed the galaxy. Vulcan isn’t a character I’m familiar with, but it’s laid out well here to recap and fill in while also being used as the springboard to show that Corsair has understood where he went wrong, and why he’s trying to fix it now. We also get Scott getting really aggressive about what Corsair is taking, thinking that it’s been drug deals, which to someone like him is hugely offensive. When I saw it in the previous issue, I thought medication right away, and that’s what Corsair affirms that it is, again providing for a place to fill Scott and the unfamiliar readers in on his own near-death and why he’s doing that to survive. It’s a lot of exposition and dialogue throughout, but it all works to put the two on the same page, and to eliminate the feeling that they may never ask these questions – or that it would come up in the heat of battle.
In Summary:
With little in the way of action or actual plot progress here, Cyclops would seem to be an issue that would just kind of be empty in a way. But instead, we get what really draws me to comics when they do this as it’s all about characters sitting around talking to each other, learning and growing. There’s a lot of static material in the shared comics universes for obvious reasons, but getting a chance to get material like this, well written with the right bit of humor along the way, helps to provide both recap and insight into the characters and alter the dynamic of their relationships. All without it being done in the heat of battle with quips and plans to expand on it later. It’s a solid read and one that sets the relationship between father and son in the right place to start moving forward.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Marvel Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: July 30th, 2014
MSRP: $3.99
