Adventures Of Cyclops And Phoenix
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''The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix'' is a four-issue
comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...
mini-series In the United States, a miniseries or mini-series is a television show or series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. Many miniseries can also be referred to, and shown, as a television film. " Limited series" is ...
written by
Scott Lobdell Scott Lobdell (; born 1960) is an American comic book writer and screenwriter known for his work on numerous X-Men series for Marvel Comics in the 1990s, various work for DC Comics in the 2010s, namely '' Red Hood and the Outlaws, Teen Titans,'' ...
, drawn by
Gene Ha Gene Ha is an Americans, American comics artist and writer best known for his work on books such as ''Top 10 (comics), Top 10'' and ''Top 10: The Forty-Niners'', with Alan Moore and Zander Cannon, for America's Best Comics, the Batman graphic nove ...
, and published by American company
Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...
in 1994. It revealed much of the back story for the character
Cable Cable may refer to: Mechanical * Nautical cable, an assembly of three or more ropes woven against the weave of the ropes, rendering it virtually waterproof * Wire rope, a type of rope that consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a hel ...
, much of which had been implied before, but was still shrouded in mystery and uncertainty. The series' title characters are two of the founding members of the
X-Men The X-Men are a superhero team in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer/editor Stan Lee and artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby, the team first appeared in Uncanny X-Men, ''The X-Men'' #1 (September 1963). Although initial ...
, a group of superpowered mutants dedicated to confronting the bigotry that afflicts their people, and stopping mutants with evil motives. They have regular adventures which fall into almost every subgenre of
science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...
imaginable, including frequent encounters with
time travel Time travel is the hypothetical activity of traveling into the past or future. Time travel is a concept in philosophy and fiction, particularly science fiction. In fiction, time travel is typically achieved through the use of a device known a ...
.
Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...
's name was mentioned by Apocalypse in issue #4, a year before the character made its first actual appearance (first referred in Stryfe's Strike Files) in the "
Age of Apocalypse "Age of Apocalypse" is a 1995 comic book crossover storyline mostly published in the X-Men franchise of books by Marvel Comics. The ''Age of Apocalypse'' briefly replaced the universe of Earth-616 and had ramifications in the main Marvel Comic ...
" story arc.


Back story

Shortly after
Jean Grey Jean Elaine Grey-Summers is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby, the character First appearance, first appeared in ''Uncanny X-Men, The X-Men'' #1 ...
(Phoenix) was believed dead,
Cyclops In Greek mythology and later Roman mythology, the Cyclopes ( ; , ''Kýklōpes'', "Circle-eyes" or "Round-eyes"; singular Cyclops ; , ''Kýklōps'') are giant one-eyed creatures. Three groups of Cyclopes can be distinguished. In Hesiod's ''Th ...
(her longtime love interest, real name Scott Summers) met a woman who was almost her exact duplicate named
Madelyne Pryor Madelyne Jennifer Pryor is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Chris Claremont and artist Paul Smith (comics), Paul Smith, the character first appeared in ''Uncanny X-Men'' #168 (April 19 ...
. Unbeknownst to either of them at the time, Madelyne Pryor was a clone of Jean Grey, created by
Mister Sinister Mister Sinister (Dr. Nathaniel Essex) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Chris Claremont and artist Marc Silvestri, the character was first mentioned as the employer behind the team ...
. Sinister was given vast powers by the virtually immortal mutant
Apocalypse Apocalypse () is a literary genre originating in Judaism in the centuries following the Babylonian exile (597–587 BCE) but persisting in Christianity and Islam. In apocalypse, a supernatural being reveals cosmic mysteries or the future to a ...
, but he feared Apocalypse's power and began to investigate a means to defeat him. He discovered that the combination of Summers and Grey's
DNA Deoxyribonucleic acid (; DNA) is a polymer composed of two polynucleotide chains that coil around each other to form a double helix. The polymer carries genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth and reproduction of al ...
would produce a mutant of sufficient power to do this. With Jean Grey apparently dead, and Sinister for some reason unable to combine their DNA artificially, he created Madelyne Pryor and positioned her to make contact with Cyclops. His plan worked: the two married and had a child, whom they named Nathan Christopher Summers. Some time later, Jean Grey was revealed to be alive, and her reappearance led to a series of events that caused Madelyne Pryor to become insane and eventually kill herself (as told in the Inferno
crossover Crossover may refer to: Entertainment Music Albums * ''Cross Over'' (album), a 1987 album by Dan Peek, or the title song * ''Crossover'' (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles album), 1987 * ''Crossover'', an album by Intrigue * ''Crossover'', an album by ...
). The baby was left in the care of Cyclops and Jean, who were now part of the group
X-Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for '' Pop Idol'' (2001–200 ...
. Shortly after, X-Factor had an encounter with Apocalypse in ''X-Factor'' #68, and the villain infected the young baby with a Techno-Organic virus. The virus was rapidly converting his body into a machine, and had already consumed one of his arms. Unsure of what to do, at that moment a mysterious woman calling herself
Askani Rachel Anne Summers is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Chris Claremont and artist/co-plotter John Byrne. In her first appearance, the character's surname was ...
appeared in front of them. She revealed that she was from the distant future, and had the means to save the child, but it would mean that they would likely never see him again. In reality, the child grew up to be the mutant
Cable Cable may refer to: Mechanical * Nautical cable, an assembly of three or more ropes woven against the weave of the ropes, rendering it virtually waterproof * Wire rope, a type of rope that consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a hel ...
who had journeyed back into the past and who had appeared a few months before this event in ''
New Mutants The New Mutants are a group of fictional mutant superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, generally in association with the X-Men. Originally depicted as the teenaged junior class at the Xavier Institute, sub ...
'' #87.


Plot

The series takes place shortly after the wedding of
Cyclops In Greek mythology and later Roman mythology, the Cyclopes ( ; , ''Kýklōpes'', "Circle-eyes" or "Round-eyes"; singular Cyclops ; , ''Kýklōps'') are giant one-eyed creatures. Three groups of Cyclopes can be distinguished. In Hesiod's ''Th ...
and
Jean Grey Jean Elaine Grey-Summers is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby, the character First appearance, first appeared in ''Uncanny X-Men, The X-Men'' #1 ...
in ''X-Men'' #30, some time after the events of ''X-Factor'' #68 (approximately 3 years in real time, but perhaps only a year or less in the timeline of the comic books). During their
honeymoon A honeymoon is a vacation taken by newlyweds after their wedding to celebrate their marriage. Today, honeymoons are often celebrated in destinations considered exotic or romantic. In a similar context, it may also refer to the phase in a couple ...
, their time-lost alternate daughter, Rachel Summers who is then the Mother Askani, brought them into the future. Their physical bodies were left behind, but their minds were brought into two bodies waiting for them in the future. These bodies, very similar to the ones they had left behind, had weaker versions of their original powers. They were reunited with their son, and were given the opportunity to raise him in this bleak future that was ruled by Apocalypse. Prior to their arrival, the Mother Askani and the Askani clan attempted to save the baby Nathan from the TO virus. They first cloned the baby, fearing that they would fail in their efforts to save the original. They succeeded, however, and were left with two babies. The healthy clone baby was kidnapped by Apocalypse's forces to be raised by the villain, and was named
Stryfe Stryfe is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, most commonly in conflict with the superhero team X-Force. He is a clone (genetics), clone of Cable (comics), Cable from Cable's alternate future timeline. Pu ...
. Apocalypse thought the baby was the original, and had somehow survived the TO virus. Seeing this as a sign of strength (and his own body deteriorating), Apocalypse planned to transfer his essence into the young Stryfe once he reached maturity. The original baby was left behind, and was raised by Cyclops and Phoenix. As he began to grow, they protected him, and began to train him in the use of his vast, burgeoning
telepathic Telepathy () is the purported vicarious transmission of information from one person's mind to another's without using any known human sensory channels or physical interaction. The term was first coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Frederic ...
powers, particularly how to use his
telekenesis Telekinesis () (alternatively called psychokinesis) is a purported psychic ability allowing an individual to influence a physical system without physical interaction. Experiments to prove the existence of telekinesis have historically been cri ...
to keep the still present TO virus at bay. Their identity as his true parents (at least, genetically in Jean Grey's case) was kept a secret, and they instead went by the names Slym and Redd (these refer to Slim, a nickname Cyclops had picked up his younger years due to his slender frame, and Red, a common nickname for people with red hair, which Jean has sometimes been referred to over years, usually by
Wolverine The wolverine ( , ; ''Gulo gulo''), also called the carcajou or quickhatch (from East Cree, ''kwiihkwahaacheew''), is the largest land-dwelling species, member of the family Mustelidae. It is a muscular carnivore and a solitary animal. The w ...
). All together, they spent 12 years raising Nathan Summers, who never knew they were his true parents. When the Mother Askani eventually died, their minds were brought back to their physical bodies, just after a combined effort of Slym, Redd and Nate finally defeating Apocalypse.


Sequels

''The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix'' was followed up by two other mini-series, '' Askani'son'' and ''
The Further Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix ''Further Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix'' is a four-issue comic book Limited series (comics), mini-series published in 1996 in comics, 1996 by Marvel Comics. Publication history The series is a sequel to the ''Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix ...
''. ''Askani'son'' chronicled Cable's teenage years after Redd and Slym left, and his further struggles to become a man. ''The Further Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix'' sees the two once again misplaced in time, this time back to the turn of the century, to be witness to the origin of
Mister Sinister Mister Sinister (Dr. Nathaniel Essex) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Chris Claremont and artist Marc Silvestri, the character was first mentioned as the employer behind the team ...
.


Collected editions

A trade paperback was produced some time after the mini-series finished publication collecting it into one volume (). However, it was produced during a period of economic decline for Marvel, and before trades had reached the popularity they would a few years later, and has thus been left out of print. In 2014, the miniseries was collected along with two other miniseries that continue the young Cable side of the story '' Askani'son'' and ''X-Men: Phoenix''. In 2018, the miniseries was collected into a single paperback along with ''
The Further Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix ''Further Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix'' is a four-issue comic book Limited series (comics), mini-series published in 1996 in comics, 1996 by Marvel Comics. Publication history The series is a sequel to the ''Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix ...
''.


''Cyclops & Phoenix'' series


In other media

''The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix'' was referenced in the final episode of the first season of ''
X-Men '97 ''X-Men '97'' is an American animated television series created by Beau DeMayo for the streaming service Disney+, based on the Marvel Comics superhero team the X-Men. It is a revival of '' X-Men: The Animated Series'' (1992–1997) produced b ...
'', "Tolerance is Extinction – Part 3", and it will play a major role in the second season.


Notes


References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix, The Comics about time travel