They Call Me Slim Summers

For the better part of my life, I've been a fan of superheroes. While I'm not a religious fan (I own two comic books), I do consider myself a follower of a few of them. I've always wanted to be like Bruce Wayne (Batman), but I've recently rediscovered Scott Summers (Cyclops of the X-Men).

When I was little, I felt like I had to relate to Cyclops by default. I mean, we shared a name. However, this is what kept me from liking the character. I'm not the type of person who will get in a certain lane because it's designated for me. I thought: "Screw that. Who else can I be like?" Enter, Bruce Wayne. However, I was doing some of my "daily research" and learned a few interesting facts about Mr. Summers.

Cyclops is an old school character in the sense that he's not a hero with a twisted sense of right & wrong. He acts because he feels a certain way about a given situation. His childhood wasn't all that (who's is) but he is chosen to be one of the first of the X-Men as Professor Xavier sees him as a gifted student. The lady in his life, Jean Grey, doesn't know how he feels about her because he basically has the social skills of a rock. By the time they get it their situation straight, there isn't much time before the Phoenix Force enters the picture & Cyclops loses Jean. While Jean does manage to come back, Cyclops loses her to death again. As good as dude tires to be, life isn't easy for him. Cyclops has taken breaks from the X-Men & even needed to have memories erased in order to cope with all he's seen. However, he marches on. He knows what has to be done & he acts.

Of course , I'm only focusing on certain character traits here but I do see a bit of myself in Cyclops. Life is hard, but you persevere no matter what. You can go through your hard times, but you can't be afraid to keep going down the path. That's something that you can learn from all great heroes; not just the ones in the comics. Now if I could just get my Jean by my side & the whole optic blasts thing down, we'd be cooking.