THE FANTASTIC POUR
Brett welcomes The Rick of Jeff and Rick Presents: Unpacking the Power of Power Pack: Rick Heinichen to the Fantasti-Lounge to talk Cyclops! We enjoy a Blueberry Mojito and read The Uncanny X-Men #176. Join us in the Fantasti-Lounge as we discuss if Cyclops is better off without Jean Grey, Rick’s all-time X-Men team, the best Marvel pilots, not messing with hippos, and much, much more!
Secret Pour-igins: The Mojito
Cocktail: Blue Summers
Ingredients (per drink):
- 2oz White Rum
- 75oz Fresh Lime Juice
- 5oz Blueberry Simple Syrup
- 8–12 Fresh Mint Leaves
- Club Soda
Instructions
- In a large glass or mason jar, add 2 scoops vanilla ice cream.
- Add a shot of Irish cream
- Add some chocolate syrup
- Slowly pour in Guinness
- Top with whipped cream
- Dash of nutmeg and/or chocolate shavings
- Stir it up and enjoy
Garnish
- Mint Sprig
- 3 blueberries
Glassware
- Collins or basically any type of glassware
Blueberry Simple Syrup Recipe
- 1 cup blueberries
- 1 cup lemon juice
- 1 cup warm water
- 1 cup white granulated sugar
- Mix blueberries, water, and sugar together using a whisk in a small saucepan over low heat until sugar is dissolved, about 5 minutes. Increase heat to medium and bring a gentle boil, stirring often, until syrup is thickened, about 15 minutes.
- Whisk lemon juice into syrup; serve immediately or cool.
Instructions
- Add the mint, lime juice and simple syrup to a glass and gently muddle.
- Add the rum and fill the glass with ice.
- Top with club soda and give an easy stir
- Garnish with a big mint sprig and blueberries
Non-Alcoholic version of Blue Summers
- Follow all other instructions above, just replace White Rum with additional Club Soda.
Comic: The Uncanny X-Men #176, Marvel Comics, 1983
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While not. A x-men expert I have done a cyclops cosplay and even worn the costume in a couple of my videos. I put it in the post on my YouTube channel. If anyone wants to see me in Cyclops costume at least if you don’t count the shorts..
Here’s my secret question:
First a little set up every one now’s about Planet X Star Trek next generation and x-men crossover novel. Now my question if marvel had done novels where different versions of the Star Trek met other marvel heroes what cross over novels would you have like to see ?
Maybe NFL super pro meets voyeur?
Or the fantastic four meets Star Trek deep space nine. Or Star Trek TOS meets the Defenders.
Just some random ideas that poped in my head .
Also you talked about T-shirts with the new fantastic 4 movie there are lot of cool shirts with them on it if you want to ad some fantastic four to your collection of shirts . Also I’ve seen some neat might Thor T-shirts as well done in retro style .
How about these for closing lines
1 till next you don’t have go home but you can’t stay here .
2. Thanks for coming where every nerd knows your name till next stay fantastic!!
Thanks, Bucky
Great discussion gents. I have always liked Cyclops, and as a passing X-fan, based on what’s been done with his character in comics, animation and movies, I’m not sure why, honestly! I think it’s the visual. I just thought he looked cool! So much that I borrowed The Comet figure from Remco’s line of Archie Mighty Crusaders figures to be my Cyclops during the heday of Secret Wars/Super Powers play.
I did jump in on X-Factor with issue #1, and even at age 11 realized what a d-bag Scott was for leaving Maddie AND their son! After reading along with you guys on this one, I feel even stronger about it. The X-Men ’97 series did a good job of making it seem a bit more plausible and less irredeemable for Scott to be confused by his feelings.
I liked JR JR on Amazing Spider-Man around this same time, but as his style has evolved over the years, I haven’t cared for it as much. This is good stuff here. Agreed on the excellent cover.
Fun show! As for a closer, why not stick with “Get the Eff out! And don’t forget, the “Eff” stands for Fantastic!”
I just might try that one, Chris
Cyclops was always one of my favorite X-Men, if not THE favorite. Not only did he look cool and have a bad-ass power, but he was the stable, calm center to all the craziness around him (a role I fulfill here on the network). As you guys touched upon, he really got shafted in the movies, even with the charismatic James Marsden playing him!
While I read X-MEN for many years, I was never that huge a fan, so I don’t have a lot of emotional attachment to the characters. Plus, I haven’t read an X-Men comic in 30 years, so my dream team list is culled from the early years:
Cyclops
Angel
Havok
Polaris
Wolverine
Nightcrawler
Kitty Pryde
Fun show as always, Brett!
Question does kitty have her dragon or does Kurt have the bamfs in this version of the team and had you asked your self who would be the non active leader of the school. Magneto , professor x or wolverine?
And would you allow the baby x-men in as side kicks ? Just some food for thought
30 years? Get this man an X-Men comic… STAT!
The answer to the question “Who is the best and also greatest X-man?” is, of course, Cyclops. So I quite appreciated your conversation – it’s refreshing to hear some folks who ‘get it.
Some of the other tenets of my X-head canon (or less charitably, my old-man-yelling-at-cloud opinions): a) the ‘love triangle’ between Scott, Jean and Logan is pretty much all in Logan’s head; b) Emma Frost was, is and always will be a villain, and c) Jean Grey was also Phoenix and died on the Moon.
X-men #176 is a good one to go with (although I agree with you, Brett, about what an awesome showcase for Cyclops the preceding issue is); however, some time ago, when I looked back on my days as a young X-fan, I realized that this is the last issue of that book I truly enjoyed. It’s a nice story and sort of a perfect ‘ride/fly off into the sunset’ moment for Scott. Yes, as problematic as Madelyne being a dead ringer for Jean was, they were a good couple at that moment (on that topic, though, I always thought Claremont made a mistake in introducing her instead of having Scott settle down with that fishing boat skipper, Lee Forrester).
As for the way Cyclops was (criminally poorly) portrayed in the movies, don’t get me started; I will say that in terms of casting, Hugh Jackman would have been a better cast as Scott rather than Logan (for one thing, Wolverine isn’t supposed to be that tall).
And finally, in 1979 and 1980, the early issues of X-men were reprinted in the revived Amazing Adventures.
In conclusion, great show, gentlemen.
Thanks, Edo. I agree Emma Frost should be a villain. I wanted her to be Scott’s bad girl. His Catwoman, as you would.
Great show! I gave up on the X-Men in the early 90s but drop in from time to time. I also prefer Cyclops to Wolverine. Agree they messed him up in the movies (and for X-Factor).
The JRJR art in this issue is fantastic! His Iron Man, X-Men and early Spidey back in the day were fantastic. Much prefer his earlier work than more recent stuff.
Closer? How about “The Fantasti-Lounge is always open but I’ve got a life – see you next month” – geez that sounded better in my head. Don’t listen to me.
Thanks, Paul. However, that closer needs some work. Get this man a rum punch!
Great show, as always! Rick is an outstanding guest–and I should know–who always brings the knowledge and the enthusiasm wrapped up in a hilarious package.
I think I first discovered Mojitos after college, circa 2005. And the very next year, mojitos got plugged in the movie version of MIAMI VICE and it seemed like the drink was everywhere for a year. Since I dabble in hipsterism, I’m obliged to say I liked mojitos before they were cool.
As for the X-Men, I didn’t discover them until 1991 when I got the first wave of ToyBiz X-Men action figures, and my first X-Men comic, UNCANNY X-MEN #284. The comic left me deeply confused, partly because it only included half of the six X-Men in that wave of toys. I liked them enough to come back for more, though, and by then Claremont and Lee’s X-MEN #1 was out (and readily available). Right around this time, the animated series dropped and the X-Men supplanted Batman and G.I.Joe as my primary fandom and biggest comic collection. I collected most of the mutant books between 1991 and 1996. That was *my* X-Men era…
And yet, I have no love for it anymore. Not even nostalgia. Years later, I went back and read the whole run of the book via the black and white Essential volumes that Marvel published. And the era that I came to adore, my *preferred* X-Men era is from GIANT-SIZE X-MEN #1 until the “Mutant Massacre” storyline in the early 200s. In particular I like the Paul Smith to JRJR period when Rogue joins up. Basically, once Kitty and Kurt left the book to do Excalibur, I felt like the heart and soul of the team were removed. I never cared for the Australian Outback years. Even though I cut my teeth as a reader on Jim Lee and Marc Silvestri, I came to really dislike their art as I’ve gotten older.
As for Cyclops in particular, I always liked him because I thought his power was cool, but I must admit it was hard for a while. The prominence of the animated series didn’t do Cyclops any favors. He was set-up to fail in the cartoon and eventually the movies because we as the audience were supposed to root for Wolverine, the cool, anti-authority rebel bad boy. Cyclops was the by-the-book, buttoned up teacher’s pet nerd who stood in Logan’s way. He was the wet blanket and the shows set us up to want Jean Grey to choose Logan over Scott. There’s a meme I created in my mind aping the familiar style: Growing up is realizing Leonardo is the cool one, not Raphael. I’ve always felt that way about Cyclops and Wolverine too.
Rick’s assessment of Scott’s meticulous need for control stemming from his inability to control his destructive power is spot-on, but I think there’s another layer to it as well. That’s also why he comes off as so repressed he can be seen as boring or lacking personality. I don’t think his obsession with control is just about his powers and his leadership, however; I think it stems from a deep rooted fear of abandonment. Scott lost his family and grew up in an orphanage and never got adopted. Now he must be the perfect son to Xavier, the perfect student, the perfect husband, the perfect leader because if he’s not perfect, they’ll leave him.
This is also why his love life is so full of telepaths. Jean Grey, Emma Frost, and yes, Psylocke for a very brief minute; he had a “psychic affair” with her around the time of the X-Cutioner’s Song storyline. Telepaths can see the man inside Scott that he walls off from the rest of the world to protect himself. He can express himself to Jean and to Emma in ways emotionally that he can’t verbally. Anyone who thinks Cyclops is boring or lame ought to scratch a little deeper than the surface.
Whoo boy, if you’re still reading this, my seven-member X-Men team would be:
1. Cyclops
2. Rogue
3. Nightcrawler
4. Colossus
5. Dani Moonstar
6. Northstar
7. Dust
The X-Men has always been about diversity. This group includes members of different ethnicities, genders, sexual orientations, and eras from the mutants’ history.
Guess a lot people don’t like Jamie Madrox aka multiple
Also seems nobody thought about putting morph or warpath on the team either and I guess no thought about like rouge and xbabies rouge so she could have little sister to interact with .
It would never, ever occur to me to put any of the X-Babies on the team.
TLDR
Fun show, guys! My personal favorite X-Men related book isn’t X-Men at all: the first 54 issues of New Mutants (the ones written by Claremont). I read the book faithfully from the late 70s until 2001 or so w/ a brief break in the early 90s. I’ve only dipped my toe back into the mutant titles in the last few months w/ Gail Simone’s run on Uncanny X-Men. So my seven person X-Men would be pretty much the classic team from the early days of that era:
1. Cyclops
2. Storm
3. Wolverine
4. Nightcrawler
5. Colossus
6. Shadowcat
7. And Psylocke to give the team a telepath
Scott was kind of the Velma of the X-Men, always losing his glasses. He was a favorite in the early days of my X-reading. I will never forget a high school classmate who explained how stupid the name Cyclops was “because he had two eyes!” unlike the creatures of Greek myth. I can only imagine his disappointment when he discovered Batman wasn’t actually a bat, Robn wasn’t actually a bird, and Doctor Fate didn’t have a medical degree.
I agree wholeheartedly w/ Edo Bosnar’s head-canon mentioned above, especially a) and b). I miss the “good old days” when Emma Frost was a villain and Moira MacTaggert was a staunch ally of the team.
Dr fate isn’t real doctor?! I did not no that I thought Kent Nelson had a doctor in Egyptian history or something. The weird thing is Gene gray’s child hood room for favorite doll was a plush cyclops so I can’t help wondering about that .
Thanks, Super Captain, nice classic roster. And I’ll try anything Gail Simone writes.
Great episode!
I have never been the biggest Marvel or X-Men fan (looking at my collection the only ‘run’ I have is Morrison’s New X-Men). But in college, my buddies were HUGE X-Men fans and I basically read their books (and they read my Legions). So I remember this issue.
I am a sucker for red-heads in comics so I always liked the ‘sex-forward’ breezier relationship Scott had early on with Madeline over the brooding one he has had with Jean. Again, I was in college when I read this and this relationship seemed like what I would be looking for. Like our intrepid host, I definitely would have opened by eyes and blasted everything in sight.
Despite my lack of longstanding collected series, it is hard not to run into the X-Men. I always liked Cyclops as the standard upright ‘I am a guy trying to do the right thing’ leader, a true hero. I feel, at least in my passing by and in looking on-line, that somewhere Scott became an asshole. Is that true? Aren’t there ‘Cyclops was right’ t-shirts in the comic, equating him to Magneto? That makes me sad.
Thanks again for the show!
Don’t know about the comics but those T-shirts exist in real life. It seems to me that somewhere along the way the X-Men went from protecting a world that hates and fears them to not giving a flip about the rest of the world. From what I’ve seen, Scott’s characterization has been emblematic of that transition. He has been shown telling that Reed and Sue Richards that Franklin has “family” on Krakoa “when he’s ready”. He also has been depicted telling Reed and Sue that Franklin has a place on Krakoa and their daughter Valeria would not be welcome since she is not a mutant. The idea of the X-Men that attracted me was the struggle to show that mutants are people too and it loses me when it becomes showing that mutants are better than other people.
Thanks, Anj. Yeah, Scott became more militant for a while – basically taking the Magneto position – but he got better. It’s not like he took a class pretending to be Emma Frost or anything.
Great episode, guys!
I love this era of X-Men and this issue in particular. Romiita Jr. was the penciller when I started collecting the book, so his X-men run is definitive for me.
Secret Question – Whose depictions of children are more terrifying, Romita Jr. or Byrne’s?
My seven member X-Men team?
1. Kitty Pryde
2. Rogue
3. Emma Frost
4. Mirage
5. Magik
6. Colossus
7. Havok
Great question, Sean. I would say Byrne’s kids look like small adults with baggy pants, while Romita’s kids look like they’re in a funhouse mirror.