The first X-Man and Marvel's mutant prodigal son Cyclops will turn 60 next year, inviting fans to consider just how much he's developed over the decades. Scott Summers has been a central figure in Marvel Comics since his debut, and has inarguably undergone one of the most dramatic change arcs in the publisher's entire roster of characters.

Cyclops first appeared in The X-Men #1 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, alongside Beast, Iceman, Angel, and Jean Grey. All of them were young, but Scott had a certain maturity and assurance that made him an obvious fit for the leadership role. He maintained this position for years even as the rest of the team shifted around him. And because he seemed so resolute, so enduring, most of the people around him didn’t perceive the psychological storm brewing within.

Related: Even As A Teenager, Cyclops Was Stronger Than All of the Avengers

Scott is only 16 years old when his optic blasts trigger for the first time, and the resulting ostracization leads him right to Professor Charles Xavier. Having lost his own parents and bounced around in the foster system, Scott is in need of a parental figure. Xavier provides that and much more. He gives Scott his iconic ruby quartz glasses to contain his mutation while housing and educating him. Then the professor introduces Scott to the idea that even though they may be persecuted by the world, mutants are among the most capable of defending it. Scott's glasses become a battle visor as Xavier instructs his pupil how to turn his mutation into a power, and he takes the name Cyclops: stalwart captain of the X-Men, who fight for Xavier's dream of a world united.

Child Soldier, Wounded Man

Screen Shot 2022-10-24 at 11.46.23 AM

Cyclops is a good leader to the X-Men, but experiences no shortage of trauma, heartbreak, and betrayal over the years, like the deaths and resurrections of his first love, Jean Grey, or the dissolution of his marriage to Madelyne Pryor. Much of this comes to a head during the Avengers vs. X-Men era—a super story crafted by a team of comic giants including Brian Bendis, Matt Fraction, Olivier Coipel, Ed Brubaker, and more. The series is heavily informed by the events of Wanda Maximoff's psychotic break just a few years prior, when she, with three infamous words, erased the mutant gene from existence. Scott is the reluctant governor of the mutant Utopia, and learning of the Phoenix Force's return to Earth inspires him to take a more active role in mutantkind's regeneration. It leads him to make a lot of regrettable decisions, like killing Professor Xavier, which unleashes a more extreme side of his character and leads to several years of him living as a militant outlaw. But it's also pivotal in his reorientation as a leader, which he has maintained even well after Xavier's revival.

The Krakoan era seems to show Scott at his most fulfilled. He is a figure of influence to mutantkind but no longer their sole source of confidence; he continues to captain the X-Men and safeguard the island from all threats. He's put the more aggressive aspects of his militancy behind without losing the grit he needs in order to draw the line of demarcation against the rest of the world. And he's even been able to find broader sources of emotional and romantic satisfaction in his all-but-confirmed polycule with Jean Grey, Emma Frost, and Logan. Summers' journey from emotionally-stunted infantryman to wizened, confident lieutenant remains one of Marvel's most impressive character arcs, and Cyclops remains one of their most underrated superheroes.

Next: Deadpool Just Became the Biggest Threat to the X-Men's New Nation