Uncanny X-Men Backup Story #38-42: Origin of Cyclops

The first backup story arc has finished! From issue 38 to 42 we got to see the origins of Cyclops joining the team. The story starts with a news story on tv about some stuff falling off a construction crane due to a bolt of energy, then before it could hit the ground, another bolt came in to destroy it, and on the film, was caught a young teenager emitting the second blast from his eyes.

The government decides to start a special FBI task force for mutants, and Xavier, who had been a recluse until now decides to walk right up to it and say "Look, let me deal with it". They agree (and that is how Xavier gets his government ties as well).

The teenager, obviously Scott Summers, is now on the run due to the news having seen him, and encounters a man with mental powers and diamond hands named Jack Winters. He wanted to use Scott to help him break into the place that the accident that gave him diamond hands happened so he could be diamond all over. Scott doesn't want to but can't cleanly get away.

Xavier intervenes, there are several fights, and then Jack succeeds and turns himself entirely into diamond. BUT he is dangerously unstable (not just mentally, like his physical body). While fighting, Xavier instructs Scott on using a machine that should have helped him, but Jack refused to accept that he was in danger and instead was shattered into a million pieces. Scott feels remorse for the death, Xavier tells him it was self defense, and invites him to the school.

X-tra Notes: This is actually a pretty fun story when read from start to finish at once. It feels to drag when you are only reading like 1/5th of it at a time. There is some details about how he was getting terrible strain in his eyes before his powers came online, and that the eye doctor had found that the only thing that he could get to work was ruby quartz lenses. Why he tried this... who knows. But that at least explains how he had the glasses and wasn't just blasting everything in all directions until Xavier found him. (though those who have more knowledge of future comics know there are more explanations to this in the future that make more sense).