Rather interestingly, Paul Jenkins’ “Prelude to Schism” – as the name suggests – is an interesting case in which a prelude far more outshines an event than the event itself. I would daresay even it has very little to do with this selfsame event book.
Taking place just before an unspecified siege upon the island home of the X-Men – prior to their recent move to Krakoa – it presents us the many facets of the character of Cyclops as seen through the eyes of the main patriarchs of the X-Men’s pantheon – Professor X, Magneto, Wolverine, and Cyclops himself. Aside from spotlighting the X-Men’s history – to which Scott Summers’ is irrevocably tied – it presents the many faces of the leader who is usually presented as two-dimensional in mainstream media – the revolutionary, the rival, the upstart, the rebellious son who has grown into his own…simply put, it makes for a unique character study through the filter of character studies. Definitely something to read.
