A while back I thought that whoever was running Marvel these days was obsessed with Twilight’s marketing. How else could I explain the constant breaking up of the heroes I have known and loved almost all my life into pointless teams. I first noticed it with the X-men’s Schism, where suddenly we had “Team Wolverine” and “Team Cyclops”, which I had seen with “Team Vampire and Team Werewolf” (note: I honestly haven’t read nor seen the movies, but I think I get the gist). Then we had “Team Avengers” and “Team X-men”.  Every time it’s happened I’m told that I’ll care and pick a side, which really hasn’t happened. I think the only side I’ve really chosen is the one where I start dropping books from my list. Bendis was right, Prof X was just hanging around doing nothing. They couldn’t sell a “Team Xavier” vs “Team whoever” because they’re obsessed with cramming Wolverine into every role possible. There just wasn’t room for Xavier when Wolverine was running the school for him.

X-Men 201 was the jumping off point for me. As I recall, I bought the next two issues out of habit or momentum, but I stopped at 204 and only looked in occasionally over the years afterwards.

I hope those reading my screed on the preceding page realize that it was sarcastic in intent. Cyclops was one of my favorite characters when I was a kid, and in memory, he remains a favorite. He had the element of tragedy that I liked, the need for intense self-control and emotional detachment. He wore a cool, rather specifically non-flashy costume and carried himself capably and with dignity. One of the first Marvel comics I bought was a reprint of his battle against Quicksilver wherein it was demonstrated that Cyclops was an excellent solo hero, and yet still a leader who put the welfare of his team ahead of himself.

Seeing the systematic destruction of Scott over the years has been one of the more depressing elements of my long-term fandom.

I like Brian's point about Marvel's recent marketing campaigns focusing upon that "pick a side" element. Civil War. The recent X-Men Schism. A vs. X. Now that the trend has been pointed out, I'm little surprised we weren't invited to maybe root for the Skrulls during Secret Invasion.

X-Men 201 was the jumping off point for me. As I recall, I bought the next two issues out of habit or momentum, but I stopped at 204 and only looked in occasionally over the years afterwards.

***

201 was my first issue of X-Men. At the time, I liked it. But, having read most of what came before now, I agree that X-Men really went off track at that point and I have no desire to reread anything post-201. The only bright spots in the X-books after that point, in my opinion, are much of Excalibur, some of X-Factor (after they dropped the silly "mutant hunters" idea and before Peter David took over with a stupid new line-up), and of course Hidden Years.

Thinking more about that silly X-Men 201 story and how it was obviously written with the intention of getting Cyclops off the team to make X-Factor possible, thus beginning the jerkification of Scott Summers. Now I'm thinking how it could have been done in a much more positive way that would have left Cyclops' heroic character intact and avoided a lot of illogical crap.

What happened: The X-Men have joined forces with Magneto after the disappearance of Professor Xavier. Cyclops and Storm have a silly duel to see who will lead the X-Men, Cyclops loses and quits the team to go live in Alaska with his wife and son, Jean Grey turns out to be alive, Scott reunites with Jean, Hank, Warren and Bobby who become fake mutant hunters and abandon Madelyn and the baby. The X-Men, meanwhile, get their asses handed to them during the Mutant Massacre despite having Magneto supposedly on their side and gradually fall apart to the point of almost disbanding and end up living in Australia.

What should have happened: Cyclops loses in the duel with Storm and leaves but suspects that the odds were somehow adjusted against him since everyone is acting a bit strangely (trusting Magneto, etc.). He goes off not to leave the X-Men but to enlist the help of Beast, Iceman and Angel. The four original X-Men go back and, with the eventual help of Storm, Wolverine, etc, uncover Magneto's real intentions and realize that Magneto and Mastermind (or maybe Emma Frost) have been manipulating the whole series of events. During the ensuing battle, Madelyn Pryor is killed. When Magneto is beaten and tossed out of the mansion, Cyclops and Storm agree that either of them is capable  of leading the X-Men, so why not have two teams operating simultaneously from different locations. Storm remains to lead one team in New York while Cyclops and the other originals set up shop out of Warren Worthington's property in Colorado. At this time, it's discovered that Jean Grey is alive and she joins this team of "West Coast X-Men."

There. The original X-Men are reunited as a seperate team from the others, Storm and Cyclops both get to be leaders, Scott doesn't have to be a quitter who abandons his wife to get back together with Jean, and Magneto remains a villain.

I always wondered why they just didn't kill off Madelyn Pryor. That would have kept Cyclops safe from decades worth of character assassination and gotten rid of a mistake (Maddy) all in one fell swoop.

She was nothing more than a supporting character who seemed to take everything over in both Uncanny X-Men and X-Factor.