Uncanny X-Men Annual #1

By Ed Brisson, Carlos Gomez and Guru-eFX

We’re finally here! Cyclops is back and with the Uncanny X-Men Annual #1 we finally see how it happened. Similar to Wolverine, Cyclops has had a couple of cameos in issues like Extermination #5 and Uncanny X-Men #10. With the Annual, we get the story of how he came back and what it might mean for the X-Men moving forward.

Ed Brisson has written the X-Men for a while now, between Extermination and Old Man Logan alone, he’s solidified that he can write many of the characters in the X-Men corral. This issue takes us back in time though. Everything starts with Scott when he was a younger character in a flashback. Brisson does this to show us who Scott used to be. We get to see Scott before he became the cut throat military general he was before his death. The flashback plays a significant part in the story, but Brisson fills in the holes of how things happened recently as well. We see how the events of Inhumans Vs X-Men, Phoenix: Resurrection and Extermination played out with Scott making small appearances in the latter two. Brisson brings Scott back in a clever way, of course with the help of his time traveling son, Cable. What works in this story us that Brisson writes self aware characters. There is a moment between Scott and Cable after his resurrection where Scott brings up ethics. Cable acknowledges that he bent some rules, but that they needed to be broken. Where we go from here is anyone’s guess, but the groundwork Brisson laid down with the resurrection is interesting, and it ties Scott to the phoenix even more.

The pencils this issue are handled by Carlos Gomez with colors by Guru-eFX. Gomez draws an amazing issue for us. The first page of the establishing shot of the grave and the scenery behind it look amazing. The image of Scott blasting himself out of his own grave is perfect. If we’re being honest, everyone should have envisioned this before in their own mind. Gomez shines in the flashback sequences too. The page has an old school texture to it that transports you back to the 60’s. As the issue progresses, Gomez continues to get better and better. He recreates certain parts from older stories perfectly, as seen in the Phoenix: Resurrection panels. The colors by GURU-eFX are integral to the issue too. His colors, even for a dark issue, leap off the page. As Cyclops blasts himself out of his own grave, the red illuminates the page and keeps drawing your eye to it. While reds dominate the issue, there are some nice blue’s in Scott’s uniform as he switches to an older look.

Coming back from the dead is nothing new in comics, but I have to hand it to Ed Brisson, this was a creative way to bring Cyclops back. The impact it will have on his character will also be interesting to see too. The art in this issue was spectacular. Gomez and GURU-eFX did a great job of making this a memorable resurrection. Cyclops is back and Ed Brisson is setting him up to be better than ever!