Scott "Slim" Summers isn't the coolest X-Man. Or at least that's the prevailing wisdom, and one that Marvel themselves tapped into by making him a constant punching bag for jokes from every other member of the team (even his erstwhile girlfriend Emma Frost got a few decent jabs in before their relationship recently got a heck of a lot more complicated), having him act like a totally personality-deficient boy scout, and even killing him off for a good portion of the early noughties. It's only recently that they've attempted to make Cyclops "cool" by turning him into a conflicted revolutionary who accidentally killed his mentor, Professor X, during the whole Avengers vs X-Men thing. Thing is, Cyclops has always been kinda cool, you just weren't allowed to see it. There were times when this awesome, alternate depiction of Scott emerged from the shadows - most notably in Joss Whedon and John Cassaday's Astonishing X-Men run, which saw him taking down a Sentinel and then a space station single-handedly (or single-eyedly) - but it's always been there. He's not a wise-cracking badass like Wolverine; he isn't a super-genius like Beast; he doesn't even have the best superpower. But he's solid, dependable, with a thoroughly good heart and possesses a stubborn pursuit to make the world a better place. Like all the best superheroes should.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
