X-Men: Evolution Comic Book Issue 02 ‘Seeing Clearly’ was simply phenomenal. If you haven’t read it yet, please do. I have seen the whole X-Men: Evolution series twice and still enjoyed this 21-page issue. This issue is a good lesson in kindness, indiscrimination, and compassion.
Let’s get started.
Comic Book Issue 02 picks up right where Issue 01 ended. A teenage Cyclops blasts a hole in the ceiling of the hospital he was taken to. Professor X pays for the damages to the hospital ensuring that he gets easy access to Cyclops without involving the authorities. But it was a little confusing as to whom Professor X gave the cheque to, the hospital administrator or the Orphanage administrator. Anyway, Professor X learns about Cyclops’ childhood tragedy and his life as an orphan since he was 8 years old. Professor X has a word with Cyclops and invites him to his school for the gifted and gives him hope for a better future. Professor X was shown quite wise in this issue and I also liked how naïve Cyclops is shown as well. Teen Cyclops seems even more immature than he is in the animated series like he is 2 years younger.
In this issue, we learn that Cerebro gives Professor X the idea to make Cyclops’ special visors. Although I did not like this idea. Usually, there is always an innovator or a brilliant mind behind coming up with solutions to intricate problems like these, like Forge or Beast would, but these characters are introduced later in the series. So, I’m guessing the writers just made something up here. I would have preferred if Professor X would have gotten this information from a special connection or an old genetic expert/friend, but for now, it is what it is.
I liked that the comic book showed the doctors and nurses in the hospital were mean to Cyclops just because he’s a mutant. And the fact that Professor X is worried this rude behavior might leave Cyclops embittered, just like his friend Magneto, who has also seen the worst of mankind at a young age for which he is hellbent on destroying the human race. Professor X uses his telepathy to make the nurses and doctors behave kindly with Cyclops so he doesn’t foster hatred against humans. This issue also touched on Cyclops’ fear of planes as he did lose his parents and brother to a plane crash.
Finally, Professor X gives Cyclops his uniform and informs him that protecting his identity is important since the world is still not ready to accept mutantkind. But, most of the X-Men uniforms were not designed with masks, except for Wolverine. And yes, Cyclops’ visors do hide most of his face, so that is acceptable. But the masks part was not executed well in the Evolution Universe, whoever designed the characters and their costumes. I liked that Cyclops acts like a naïve annoying teenager, and Wolverine is the same Grumpy Old Adult he is in the animated series. Wolverine shows Cyclops around town, helps him get settled, and doesn’t hide how boring the task is for him or how annoyed he is. Wolverine is his brutally honest self and quite rude and blunt to Cyclops as well, but that is how Wolverine’s character usually is, so it’s just perfect. And I liked the part where Wolverine and Cyclops accidentally witness a bank robbery.
Now Wolverine jumps into action, and Cyclops eagerly follows, but Cyclops takes a minute to get his clothes off, which is hilarious. Now Wolverine and Cyclops stop the robbery and even save a child from being taken hostage. For Cyclops’ first superhero incident, he does really well. But the locals don’t appreciate him for it, instead, they blame him and treat him as the culprit. And one of the guards even hits Cyclops for no reason. Either a total misunderstanding or completely biased behavior. Now Cyclops feels terrible about this turn of events. How would you feel if you just saved someone and you weren’t thanked for your good deed? Instead, you were treated like a criminal. However, Cyclops bounces right back up, he lets it go, and he isn’t bitter or upset. He feels it was just a misunderstanding. Naïve and shocked, I guess.
Later in the day, Wolverine appreciates Cyclops’ kind nature to Professor X. For just a teen, Cyclops behaved extremely superhero-ish. So much so that he received Wolverine’s appreciation and sympathy. That is a huge compliment. Very few people receive kind words and appreciation from Wolverine. So I’m glad Wolverine approved of Cyclops for his kind heart. And Cyclops confronts Professor X about the nurse’s manipulation at the hospital. Cyclops tells Professor X that it wasn’t necessary. And this is the part I like about Professor X. Professor X apologizes for his mistake. He admits he never should have manipulated the staff members. And that’s where this Comic Book Issue ends. Before we close this issue, we do see a glimpse of Jean Grey’s powers going out of control. So, the next issue would be about how Jean’s recruitment took place.
You see, wasn’t this issue just filled with complex human and mutant interactions? I loved this issue. Especially diving into a teenage Cyclops, a grumpy Wolverine, a kind Professor X, and how mean the world can be to you just because you are a bit different. X-Men was first created in 1963 to address the difficult issue of Racism. The mutants in the X-Men represented the Afro-American community back in America. And today, the X-Men represent any minority community that feels shunned and treated differently just because they look different. So, I loved that X-Men: Evolution Comic Book Issue 02 touched on a lot of important topics, was filled with complex interactions, had a bit of action, a little drama, and was a blast of a comic.
