Why so many people feel the need to crap on Scott Summers is not beyond me, but it is frustrating. I'll admit that he has been discarded and mishandled by one too many a writer since the early days (let's be serious, since the Dark Phoenix Saga, almost). But today I'm going to point out some of the reasons you might be in the wrong for hating him.
First up, we have the personality argument. Yes, he's the leader. That means, agreed, sometimes he has to be the stick-in-the-mud. To keep the team in order (and from a writer's view, to let the rest of the ensemble have personality) he has to be the father figure, the one who pulls everyone else back into line. He spends his entire life trying to suppress not only the deadly beams but also his self-control.
After growing up alongside the woman of his dreams, and learning to love her while her telepathy allows them to grow even closer, they get married. She is possessed by an alien force and eventually goes mad with power. She dies in his fucking arms. So now he's got to suppress that anger, and grief. She comes back to life--apparently not dead; a little confusing because this turns out to be a clone of her. More confusing when the REAL Jean comes back to life and finds him with...her...sort of. Not to mention getting possessed, Jean dying (again), his romance with Emma Frost, who started out as a villain, and then finding out that mutants were an endangered species (see: House of M)...it's safe to say that the dude has a lot of responsibility and tough decisions weighing him down. Then the baby Hope is born-the first mutant in 4 years. But the X-Men lose Charles Xavier in the fight to protect the child.
This brings us to 2008. Scott is a little jaded. And so he gets his team to raise one of Magneto's old asteroid bases out of the ocean, and he makes a refuge for his people. He goes on national television and says that they're declaring themselves a sovereign nation, where any mutant seeking sanctuary will not be persecuted.
As these events surge onward, things continue to get rougher for the X-men, still attacked by mankind in general for being different. the Hellfire Club forces some of the youngest mutants to kill in order to defend themselves, and Wolverine has a huge falling out with Cyclops. Scott doesn't believe the kid was in the wrong---defend our people, no matter what. But Logan's grown soft and refuses to let these kids grow up as jaded as he and Scott had. So, Wolverine and a large number of mutants abandon Utopia, leaving to form their own school where the young ones can be given an education.
Then the Phoenix force returns, and takes possession of Scott and four other high-profile X-Men, they are deluded with power and begin trying to right the world's wrongs. They eliminate fear, bigotry, and create small pockets of a perfect society. And the AVENGERS come down hard on them for the damage they do and fear they instill---you can't make a utopian world through sheer force (and some cosmic magic).
In the end it takes some creative Avengers work to show the Phoenix Five they've been corrupted. And when Charles Xavier comes around to talk sense into him, the twisted Scott brings him to his knees. The avengers kick the Phoenix' ass and they lock Scott up. He doesn't put up a fight because even if he was corrupted, he's in control of his mind now. The common man, who doesn't necessarily understand why the X-Men were eliminating war and poverty but creating a totalitatian society, only see the violence of their row with the Avengers, and cry for blood. Others, who have been saved by heroes in the past, attempt to rally for peace.
While in jail, he discovers that the Phoenix' defeat has apparently dispersed the mutant energy across the globe-----mutants are being born, teens developing powers just like the old days. Some of the other x-men still supporting his side break him out. Additionally, the aftereffects of the Phoenix Force leave Scott and most of his closest team members, the ones directly affected, with broken powers! (see the picture at the top of the page). So now they must retrain themselves as if never wielding them before. Yet, hated and feared by many, he is still choosing to step up and protect these new mutants- kids who have no idea how to control their powers, alone and scared and scattered across the Earth. To teach them as he was taught- "to protect those who hate you, and to harness your abilities".
So clearly, if you're willing to give him a little time and forgive certain story arcs (poor writing really), you've got a good character who has grown in the last 50 years.
But then there's his skill set.
First off, sheer force. The optic blasts may look dinky but I would like to remind you this guy has been suppressing since his power, which can only be controlled by ruby-quartz, came out of his eyes; here's an example of what his powers can do (the red is literally blinding energy, and the smoldering remains used to be a skyscraper-tall Sentinel robot. I think Wolverine himself sums it up nicely, as Joss Whedon pens the dialogue here:
"Every now and then, Summers...I remember why you're still in charge."
But that's not to rule out his tactician's skills either. He is a proven military leader, and while comics often put him in the back lines, commanding, we have to recall that he's trained in hand-to-hand combat, and he's quite skilled with the beams. They can level a city but they can also be controlled in thickness and power, depending on how far along he is in training.
This provides some small insights into the true strength this guy is capable of.
But more impressively, in the hands of good writers, he can be even more devastating. I refer once more to the Holy Book of Whedon. In his Astonishing X-Men run, the genius takes his usual trope (make things really hard for our heroes) and takes it a step further; Why not take away Scott Summers' power? Will Cyclops be any good without his optic blasts? Well, he manages to outsmart an evil psychic by SHOOTING HER IN THE FACE. Everyone else has their pants at their ankles and for an issue or two they're at the mercy of this villain. But with nothing other than his training and skilled brain, Scott Summers can outdo them all. And manages to get in a quip about wolverine as the gun barrel smokes.
"Well what do you know. You can be taken down....and I don't have any claws"
In summation. The guy has it pretty rough emotionally. But at least he's capable. Now, let's have Bendis and any subsequent writer keep him worthwhile for the next decade, rather than once-per-decade, and we'll be all set.
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