This is both the final issue of Cyclops’s solo series and the 10th chapter of the Black Vortex crossover. After being imprisoned by Mr. Knife’s forces, Cyclops, Iceman and Groot are stuck in a prison cell while the others fight on Spartax. The first few pages are Cyclops imagining his father coming to their rescue, but since he’s among those frozen in amber by Thane’s upgraded power, that rescue doesn’t happen.
This issue is mostly about the three of them breaking out of the prison, thanks to Cyclops utilizing some of the skills he picked up during his space adventures. It’s a good way to sum up the series in a way while exploring Cyclops’s thoughts on the Black Vortex itself. There’s really not much else to this comic. The action is good and the dialogue works, but it’s not all that special. It showcases how young Cyclops is purely a hero, and none of the darkness within Adult Cyclops has manifested in him yet. In that sense it works as a final issue; it’s just too bad that his father couldn’t directly be a part of it.
The art by Javier Garron is good. Every panel is bright and colourful, and at times it’s well detailed. There’s a wide variety of aliens in Knife’s fortress and both cosmically enhanced Cyclops and Groot look impressive. That said, Iceman’s transformation into an elf-like creature is kind of weird.
It feels like writer John Layman drew the short end of the stick somewhere. The first five issues of Cyclops, by Greg Rucka, were fantastic comics that gave Cyclops and his father plenty of time to bond and explore space. John Layman’s issues are different in structure, but a bit too similar in other ways. Both arcs have very little time for the rest of the Starjammers and it’s a shame they didn’t play into the second act more. As an entry into the Black Vortex event this carries some important moments and delves into several characters’ opinions on the artifact of power. If you read the rest of Cyclops’s series, this is at least worth a read, and same goes for those reading the Black Vortex.
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This is a weak issue. It’s one of the weakest parts of Black Vortex so far, and probably the weakest issue of Cyclops. And as a series finale, it’s just terrible.
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I don’t think I disliked this issue as much as you, but I would agree that it’s the weakest issue for both Cyclops and Black Vortex. Next week’s BV issue is Captain Marvel though, so it should at least be entertaining.
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