Cyclops #6

By John Layman, Javier Garron and Chris Sotomayor

This is a big issue for Cyclops as a series because John Layman takes over as writer. Greg Rucka set the bar extremely high and really made this an enjoyable book to read for his brief stint. As we get our first issue with a new writer and a new arc, we can hope the quality doesn’t dip.

One of the things this issue lacks is the heaviness that Greg Rucka brought to the book. John Layman’s first issue has no emotion to it, which was one of the best things about Rucka’s issues. This issue of Cyclops feels like another generic superhero title. Layman has a decent internal monologue for Scott in this issue, but the plot feels very light, and it comes off feeling very Wolverine and the X-Men like. Layman is clearly taking a different route with this book, which is a shame because it had a great formula with Rucka. The bond between father and son was a huge theme last arc, and this issue it is missing. Maybe John Layman just needs to get more comfortable with the characters, which is a possibility, but this initial issue was a disappointment.

The art is handled by Javier Garron with colors by Chris Sotomayor. This was not a great issue for the pencils either, as character looked disproportioned and had extremely long necks. Scott’s look and age changed several times and it just didn’t look great. You may also want to take a good look at Korvus, because he looks very similar to Wolverine. Ultimately, the art looks very cartoony, which doesn’t work for this book. The colors provided by Chris Sotomayor are excellent, as usual, but it’s not enough to save the art in this issue. As the issue progress maybe Garron will perfect his craft and draw characters more consistently, but until then, this book will suffer.

This was not a great issue of Cyclops in any way. The heartfelt writing that Greg Rucka built the series on is gone and we are left with an unrecognizable book. There is still some hope though because John Layman is a good writer, he just needs to find his footing. The art also needs to improve as well because it has the ability to set the tone as well. This wasn’t a great issue, but it can absolutely get better in the coming months if the story and art pick up.