How My Black Ass Fell In Love With The X-Men’s Most Underrated W.A.S.P: An Ode to Cyclops

X-Men Origin Story Most of my fellow 20- and 30-something year old nerds should be able to relate to the beginning of my love for comic books. It didn’t start with the oversized guns and muscles of the 90’s comic books but with the litany of superhero cartoons. I was born predisposed to loving superheroes. My dad collected comics in the 70’s and amassed a massive collection of Bronze Age Marvel books. Your boy did not have the attention span or appreciation for art to give these books due justice. I was enticed by Tony Stark slamming a hammer on a forge to the beat, “I. AM. IROOON MAAAN!”. The raging guitar solo while Peter Parker dodges Lizard’s tail. The silhouette of the God Damn Batman dropping down on criminals. And of course, I lived for sitting in my underwear engorging myself on bowl after bowl of Lucky Charms watching Rogue punch the absolute crap out of a Sentinel.

X-Men: The Animated Series planted the seeds of my undying love for the team of oppressed mutants. There are certain truths that were understood about the characters in this show.

Wolverine and Gambit were cool. Cyclops and Jubilee were not. At 10 years old, who was I going to gravitate towards? The badass rebel and the suave ladies’ man or the teacher’s pet and the chick with the fireworks? (By the way, it would be an interesting exercise unpacking the ingrained toxic masculinity that underlines a lot of our idolizing Gambit and Wolverine.) Cyclops was almost designed to be hated by us. I heard a hilar…