2026 is shaping up to be the year of Scott Summers. From the latest Avengers: Doomsday trailer, which features him unleashing the mother of optic blasts, to an upcoming Cyclops solo series launching next month, the leader of the X-Men is set to play a major role in Marvel Comics’ landscape. One could argue that this push started in 2024 with the launch of Jed MacKay’s X-Men and the success of X-Men ’97, but X-Men #23 shows that MacKay truly understands what makes Scott tick.
Picking up immediately where X-Men #22 left off, Cyclops is about to welcome Doug Ramsey, aka Revelation, to his team of X-Men. However, he mentally switches places with his older self from the Age of Revelation timeline… and since that Cyclops is a man who’s lived in a decade when Revelation became a godlike dictator, he figures the only way to prevent this dark future is to end Doug’s life. First, he has to go through the X-Men.
It’s in the opening sequence that MacKay showcases just how deadly Cyclops can be, no matter the version. He takes out Doug with an optic blast, blasts Kid Omega to prevent him from psionically locking his mind, evades Psylocke and Juggernaut, then knocks out Magik and takes her Soulsword with the intent of cutting off Doug’s head. This all happens within the space of two pages, reminding fans of how Scott’s greatest power isn’t his optic blasts but his mind. He knows the X-Men in and out, and therefore knows how to take them down.
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The action in X-Men #23 looks insanely gorgeous thanks to Tony Daniel, who makes a grand return to superhero comics. Daniel has a gift for drawing the most immaculate splash pages, and that continues throughout this issue; one page features Cyclops holding the Soulsword above Doug’s head as the X-Men close in on him, while another features Psylocke crouched behind him, psychic blades at the ready. Other panels zoom in on facial features, showcasing Beast’s rage as he rails at future Cyclops and Doug sharing an intimate conversation with his wife Bei. Add in strong inks from Mark Morales and a mix of vibrant and dark colors from Fer Sifuentes-Sijo, and it makes for some striking imagery.
Though X-Men #23 is marked as an “epilogue” to Age of Revelation, the real ending took place last week with the Age of Revelation Finale. This issue is more of a character-based coda, as it shows Doug grappling with the fact that becoming the heir to Apocalypse has painted targets on his back from both mutants and humans, and with the question of whether Future Scott will remain permanently in his present self’s body. These are questions that are sadly cut short by an abrupt ending, but they hint that future issues will continue to explore the fallout of the Age of Revelation.
X-Men #23 serves as both a coda to the Age of Revelation and a reminder that Scott Summers is one of the most dangerous mutants on the planet. It’s also a fine start to the “Shadows of Tomorrow” era, which kicks off in full this year.
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