pushed Scott and his brother, Alex, out the door with the only available parachute. With Christopher and Katherine presumed dead, the authorities separated the two boys. Alex was adopted, but Scott remained comatose in a hospital for a year. On recovering, he was placed in an orphanage in Omaha, Nebraska. Years later, as a teenager, Scott began to suffer from severe headaches and eyestrain. He was sent to a specialist, who discovered that lenses made of ruby quartz corrected the problem.
While Scott was visiting a large city, his mutant power finally erupted -- bursting forth in an uncontrollable blast of optic force that demolished a crane, causing it to drop its payload toward a terrified crowd. Scott saved the onlookers' lives by obliterating the object with another blast. But the bystanders rallied into an angry mob, believing that he had tried to kill them. Scott fled, escaping on a freight train. The telepathic, telekinetic Professor Charles Xavier rescued the youngster from an abusive foster parent and enlisted him as the first member of the X-Men, a team of young mutants he planned to train to use their powers -- and in time, stand in defense of a world on the brink of genetic war.
As Cyclops, Scott became deputy leader of the X-Men. While he was a natural field general, his social skills were somewhat lacking. Scott had fallen in love with teammate Jean Grey, born with the powers of telepathy and telekinesis, but his reserved demeanor prevented him for years from expressing his feelings. But he overcame that and finally asked Jean out. They eventually became engaged but have yet to set the wedding date. |
