UNCANNY X-MEN #201: Duel

It's winner take all as Storm battles Cyclops for leadership of the X-Men!

Originally Published January 1986

So what's new?

That's right, while the X-Men were in Paris watching the trial of the century unfold, Madelyne was here in Westchester, giving birth on a damn kitchen floor, all by herself, without her husband or even any alien robot superdoctor to help her through it. Just the pure grit and determination that helped her walk away from a plane crash unscathed. And she just might need that grit and determination going forward, judging by the downright inconvenienced look on Scott's face at the birth of his first son. 

The X-Men all share their thoughts on the miracle of birth, with Kurt claiming the baby could do worse than taking him for a role model - and some role model he'd be, letting himself getting goaded into a tickle fight with Rachel when she tips the couch over on him.

Kurt, you're still technically her supervisor! That's harassment!

Passing the rather TV-sized Newborn (as in, it looks several months old) off to Kitty to hold, Madelyne finds a private spot to confide to Storm that no, she is not okay with the fact that Scott ran off to Asgard, rematerialized in France, did not call and let her give birth alone, scared, on a kitchen floor.

Elsewhere, Kitty passes the baby over to Rachel who is moved to tears at the fact that she is holding her baby brother, one she never had in her previous timeline. It really helps underline her resolve that there is hope for the world.

But outside, Scott can't stop thinking of Xavier: wondering where he could be, who he is with, what is he thinking, is he thinking of Scott, and whether he'll return someday.

Oh yeah, I guess I have a baby.

For the answer to that, we go to a distant galaxy, where the Starjammer is on the run, having barely survived an attack by the Shi'ar fleet while they worked to fix Xavier's liver, nerves and blood. 

This has put them in quite a pickle - the 'Jammer's Ultra-lightspeed drive is totalled, a regular warp journey back to Earth would take centuries and every known Stargate will be heavily guarded - not to mention they are still being hounded by the Shi'ar themselves, putting them in a constant fight for their lives. It looks like they will not be able to take Xavier home.

The next day, the X-Men indulge in a little softball.

But inside, things aren't quite so carefree as Cyclops and Madelyne use Storm's loft to try to hash things out.

As Madelyne pleads that Cyclops put his superheroic ways behind him and settle down with the family he has already started, Scott insists that that's just not feasible - the X-Men need him as leader now more than ever, with Storm depowered, and the evil Magneto somehow having conned his way into being Headmaster and leader of the New Mutants, possibly even having murdered Xavier himself. 

I'd chide Scott for believing the worst in people here, but Magneto did once chain him to a chair and forcibly reduce his mental faculties to those of a toddler, so... I can't say I blame him for not instantly doing a 180 on the guy. 

Madelyne, for her part, completely sees through Scott, putting it all on something we've known about him for years and he's never quite moved past: There is no Scott Summers without the X-Men. He needs to lead this team for himself, and no wife and no baby can ever fill that void inside of him the way that commanding this team can.

It's all too real of a problem, and one that I think we'd all hoped was in the past as of that big matrimonial finale in Uncanny X-Men #175.

Storm arrives and determines a decision must be made. One of them is going to lead the X-Men. Storm feels she is still capable. Cyclops believes it is his duty. And literally nobody thinks Nightcrawler should be doing it. They agree to a duel in the Danger Room, shooing the New Mutants out from their training session along with their new mentor and guardian, possible Xavier-murderer Magneto.

"I should warn you Scott, I'm undefeated in duels."

The match is scheduled for one fall with no time limit. Scott promises to keep his optic blasts on ultra-low, but one has to think that if he tags her, she's out. The rest of the X-Men and New Mutants watch from the control room, where Wolverine places his bet on Storm.

Ororo evades the opening ZARK, using her agility, stealth and the environment to her advantage. The two appear evenly matched, but when Scott gets in his feelings about how Xavier was like a father to him and how it would be right to follow in his footsteps, Storm gets the drop on him and snatches his specially-designed ruby-quartz visor.

Knowing that without it, he cannot open his eyes without unleashing the full fury of his uncontrollable optic blasts, Scott yields, and the duel is over. They shake hands, and Scott walks away humbled, wondering if Madelyne will even welcome him back.

In an epilogue, Rachel pays a visit to her grandparents' house to repair the destroyed Holempathic Crystal, placing a shard of her own self in there too. Her grandparents may not know who she is, but at least some of her essence will be with them, which will be comforting because she may not exist soon. She's decided to go after... the Beyonder!

Oh brother, not that guy!

Further Thoughts:

*deep cleansing breath*

Over the last several issues, we have seen Scott Summer trying - and utterly failing - to balance what he perceives as his duty to the X-Men (to come when Professor X was ill, and to stay when suspicious of Magneto) with his hone life. It would be one thing if the story were just that: Scott, having long identified himself solely as leader of the X-Men, gets a little caught up in his old habits, but is corrected by Madelyne and realizes he's been neglectful. That's not quite this.

For whatever reason, Scott's actions are being depicted with fair bit more extreme flavour than a simple "getting carried away." Scott was not always tactful but he wasn't this bad. It was one thing to go to Asgard, it was another to be in France and not call his pregnant wife the entire time (when some of the other X-Men were specifically described as doing so!!) This is coupled with a concerted effort to make Scott's deeds worse by having Madelyne give birth alone on a kitchen floor (!!) and Scott looking absolutely lachrymose at the idea of being a father instead of leader of the X-Men. Instead he jumps at the opportunity to resume that position.

Also, at no point does anyone bring up the abandonment issues Scott feels from his father being in space his whole life, which seems pertinent.

There would be a way to do some of this, depicting Scott's struggle with his diverging paths, his love of Madelyne and the X-Men's need of leadership, while still keeping the character of Scott intact. This is not that. Instead every opportunity is taken to depict Scott as just a complete asshole. And these things don't just happen. They did this.

To quote Ann Nocenti, the editor of this very comic, "There are some things that you do not do to heroes, if they are to remain heroes."

Chris Claremont is certainly a mindful enough writer. Ot wasn't that long ago that he penned Avengers Annual #10 specifically to undo the disturbing implications of Carol Danvers' fate in Avengers #200. He knows what he is doing. Through Madelyne's words, he knows how the readers will inevitably - and are likely meant to - interpret Cyclops' character here. To suggest otherwise is fairly absurd. Is this how he waa given marching orders to have Cyclops behave? Or is it a private revolt for story developments he does not agree with? I cannot say.

This is not my favourite issue to have read or discuss, and no matter what the mandate was - to put Cyclops in a certain place and reinstate Storm as leader of the X-Men - it was not an enjoyable read, completely separate from that. Not that long ago, Cyclops combatted the entire team of X-Men in the Danger Room with just his guile and physical ability. A short while before that, Storm was fighting for her life in a one-on-one duel of her own. The content of this issue seems to consciously evoke both of those moments - at least to me, your seasoned X-Men reader - and falls far, far short. It's meant to be a battle of wits as much as of raw abilities, but the duel between Cyclops and Storm is rote, uninspired and falls flat; there is no joy to be had in reading it. The conclusion, with Storm snagging Cyclops' visor, seems on paper like a fair resolution to a friendly competition, but it really just makes Scott seem incompetent for not being able to prevent it, not Storm particularly clever or capable (which I believe she is) for pulling it off. But it's a means to an end, in a crass way these X-Men comics rarely deal in, to put this question to bed as quickly and quietly as possible. The deal is done and we all just need to move forward.

On top of everything else, this guy appears.