Cyclops’ Daughter Finally Has The Awesome New Costume She Deserves
The X-Men’s Rachel Summers hasn’t always had the best luck at costume design – but that all changes in Knights of X when she heads to Otherworld
the x-menis Rachel Summers, daughter of Cyclops and Phoenix from an alternate timeline, finally has the awesome costume she deserves. Cyclops’ family tree is one of the craziest in comics. He has a forgotten half-brother, a son older than his father due to time travel, and a daughter from an averted dystopian timeline. The last of them, Rachel Summers, is a longtime X-Man in her own right.
Unfortunately, poor Rachel has never had much luck when it comes to costumes. For years, she dressed in an S&M-style outfit that was a tribute to her history as “Dog,“a mutant who was enslaved and forced to hunt others of her kind. When Rachel went under the alias Marvel Girl, she adopted a rather impractical miniskirt – all the more embarrassing because she tends to spend a lot of time levitating. But now, at last, she’s been given the costume she deserves.
Tini Howard and Bob Quinn Knights of X gave the X-Men a medieval makeover, stranding a group of them in the mystical realm of Otherworld and giving several of them striking new costumes. Rachel now dons cool armor, complete with a long scarlet robe designed to look spectacular while levitating. Most striking of all, however, Otherworld amplified the fire effect that usually accompanies Rachel’s power, a nod to her years as Phoenix’s host and her time as member of the first Excalibur team. Fire shoots from her hair and hands, sweeping behind her like the tail of a comet as she launches into the air.
Rachel Summers’ new look is awe-inspiring, featuring her as a combination of knight and mage – an approach that seems entirely appropriate for mutant power, which is much tougher than it looks and which fought on the front lines of intergalactic wars once. The stakes are high in Otherworld, of course; any mutant who dies in this mystical realm will be changed forever when resurrected on Krakoa. So Rachel might have reason to be happy about the armor.
The current line of X-Men books hasn’t always been kind to Rachel. She was technically the X-Men’s first Omega mutant, and yet the relaunch weakened her. Rachel spent some time in her father’s shadow, before finally landing an interesting role in the X factor book, and now she’s entered Otherworld for a completely different adventure. There have been hints of possible relationships between Rachel and some of her fellow X-Men, including Betsy Braddock (formerly Psylocke, now Captain Britain); these were not developed, however, leading to accusations of queerbaiting. With a bit of luck, Knights of X will be officially Cyclops’ daughter Rachel Summers and Betsy an item, given that they work together in the X-Men The team from the other world.
Knights of X #1 is available now from Marvel Comics!
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