Bam! How about those reviews? We've been telling you "Messiah Complex" is pretty damn cool, and we think our reviews for the first chapter reflect that. For any of you saying, "Yeah, but it's only in the 8s!"... we have three things to say: First, an 8 is a fantastic score on IGN's scale. Second, it's the first chapter and there weren't many surprises since it lays out the basic premise, which we already knew. Third, you haven't seen anything yet. We can't say much beyond that but... yeah. Don't believe us? Go look at some of the preview art that we've shown and tell us nothing happens. Heck, we gave you an outline for the first three chapters!
Like "Messiah Complex," we're just getting warmed up. Today's update breaks from the villains to hit up a character that really surprised us in the series - Cyclops. To be perfectly honest, we don't feel many writers understand the character. They sure as hell didn't in X3, which is why they killed him off randomly like they did. To us that was a clear sign the writers had no idea what they were doing... which pretty much continued throughout the rest of the film. What a disaster.
Sorry, tangent. While it's true that Cyclops is a stoic, introverted person, his leadership characteristics give him added personality that most writers completely miss. This is a man who carries the weight of Xavier's dream on his shoulders. "Messiah Complex" plays this out incredibly well. So here's to you, Cyke, the only X-Man to get a spotlight in our feature. (Incidentally, of the two images we have for you, only one features Cyke. The other was just some cool interior art we happened to have, so we thought you'd like to see it.)
Day Nine
Cyclops's Command
If you don't entirely believe Cyclops is going to be a believable, interesting character in the crossover, maybe Nick Lowe can change your mind. The enthusiastic editor returned to us with some comments about Scott Summers. We asked Lowe three key questions: 1) What makes Cyclops such an integral part of the X-Men? 2) Is there any weight to fans' opinions that Cyclops is a generic, bland leader figure? 3) What makes Cyclops an interesting character and what stories prove that? Take it away, Nick!
Nick Lowe: "Those people aren't wrong. For a lot of time he became a milk-soppy kind of guy. We saw that too and wanted to change it. There are two big things that have been holding Cyclops back, the way I see it: 1) We've been playing up the "I don't know if I'm worthy to lead the X-Men thing" for way too long and 2) Professor X always takes over (which inevitably makes Cyclops look like second fiddle).
"So in Messiah CompleX we wanted to combat that. So 1) This is it. He's confident. He's been doing this long enough to have faith in himself and 2) Well
we'll have to see about this. There is certainly conflict here. But they can't rule together, I'll tell you that much. It's Cyclops alone, Xavier alone, or none of the above, alone, atop the X-Men hierarchy."
We had one other burning question for Lowe that just had to be asked. We were actually joking a bit, but the answer we received was... not entirely what we were expecting. The question? "It is a common theory that a subtitle for Messiah Complex might as well be 'The Return of Jean Grey'. Any comments for fans expecting to see the Phoenix rise yet again?" Here is Nick's response, along with a quick reaction from a guest editor:
Lowe: "That's a really interesting question. There are certainly some similarities to historical or religious messiahs and the Phoenix, with rising from the dead, etc
And there are also some metaphorical similarities to mutant-kind's plight. Their hope for the future
has burned to ashes. If I say any more I might get fired.
Axel Alonso: "Nick, you're already fired."
Wait, what? What does
that mean? Phoenix is returning? Or should we just take this as a metaphor and let it be... hmmm. Damn. Now we have more questions than we did when we started this thing! Guess we'll all have to read the series together to find out just what lays in the ashes of the mutant race.
Tomorrow we're going to do something really cool. Today we focused on one of the big leaders of the X-Men, and tomorrow we do the exact opposite - hit the big villain. Since "Messiah Complex" was announced, fans have been thrilled at the prospect of one particular character making his triumphant return to the pages of "big-concept storytelling." The character has been around plenty, but his machinations rarely saw the light of day during the many events. Perhaps that's a good thing, as his name isn't linked to some of the sludge of the '90s.
Of course, we're talking about Sinister. Or Mr. Sinister, if you'd like... and we have some
wicked art in store for you.
Stay tuned for Day 10 of IGN's "Messiah Complex" coverage! The wait is nearly over! October 31st will start the X-Men down a very different path.
t:
