Cyclops #3: Seeing Red

Alex Paknadel doesn’t waste any page space with overwritten explanations. Instead, each scene in Cyclops #3 is written smoothly and transitions into the next narrative beat without wasting the reader’s time. Even the bits of ambient dialogue, such as how Krakoan resurrection works, are kept concise and easily readable.

Cyclops is portrayed very accurately in this issue, as he has been in the previous two issues so far. Rather than being reliant on a team, Cyclops has been focused on the next clear goal ever since the Quinjet went down back at the end of issue #1. There’s not really any “superhero-ing” going on; instead, Cyclops is simply trying to survive and to keep the innocent mutant Mei alive along with him.

“But people like you keep reminding me I’m a soldier.” Is a perfect line to contextualize Cyclops’ character in his wider role across comics. He’s tried to be a hero, and he’s tried to be a civilian, neither one ever stuck. As he’s repeatedly faced with enemies who want to take him on for their own gain or simply for who he is, Cyclops’ back is constantly against a wall, and the only way out is through.

Mei continues to be characterized sharply. Even in a quiet scene, there is tension because of how her abilities function which is based on her emotions. During a close battle, her resolve lets her land a blow, but the immediate effect of that blow sends her emotions reeling again as she starts to question herself. This works as an excellent push-pull system for the character that prevents the story from being finished in just a handful of pages.

Mei is able to take control of her emotions, or rather put them aside temporarily, with a visualization trick that Cyclops teaches her within a few panels, conserving both art space and storytelling economy in the issue. This is also especially fitting for Cyclops, who’s dated more than his fair share of prominent mutant telepaths in the past.

Rogê Antônio’s artwork in issue #3 has a sense of condensed but noticeable space between the characters. This gives a lot of room for Joe Caramagna’s letters to do their thing, causing each conversation to feel like a bouncing back and forth between two characters. The stream of events on each page is also very crisp, even as one panel jumps forward a bit more in time than your average transition normally would. It ends up being quite good for the issue’s pacing, as a single page is able to capture quite a lot with just a few panels before the next plot beat resets the pacing back to where it needs to be.

Fer Sifuentes-Sujo’s colors are very subtle in the issue. There is a lot of shading with very little blend, which keeps a consistent palette across each of the issue’s 20+ pages. The unknown mineral the Reavers have been forcing their mutant prisoners to dig for has a glow that radiates across the panel without overtaking the scene, and the daylight hits the characters and the area around them in different ways. Any color bleed, such as Cyclops’ red eyes protruding from under his blindfold, is intentional and builds into the scene.