They're FORCE beams! Or, how to screw up Cyclops

I've been cruising my way through Essential Captain America volume 4 and I finally reached the climax of the "Secret Empire" storyline. But boy -- did Cap #173 ever screw up! First, check out the cover:

Look at Cyclops there over on the left. First, why is he seemingly lifting his visor up to fire his optic beams? Second, why is his beam melting that SHIELD agent's gun? Gil Kane -- I'm calling you OUT!! ;-)


But that's not the end of it. Inside the issue, we see Cyke do this:

Starting a forest fire -- by shooting his eye beams!! COME ON!! Looks like a few folks (um, Steve Englehart and Sal Buscema) forgot this little nugget from X-Men #43, a small special segment dealing with the X-Men's powers and origins:

This issue was from 1968, so there's no excuse for the creators of Cap #173, which was published in 1974, not to know this important info about the X-Men's field leader!

Possibly the LAMEST origin ever!

Don't get me wrong -- I love me some Steve Englehart. The guy is one of the greatest writers in the history of the biz, no doubt. But he also came up with one of the LAMEST super-villain origins of all-time. Journey with me back in time to 1973 and Captain America #160. The newly super-strong Cap (thanks to a chemical reaction to villain Viper's anti-venom a few issues prior) battles a sun-powered dude name Solarr! How did he get his powers? Check it (I hadda skip a few panels due to the smearing from scanning an Essential volume, natch):

That's it! There you have it! Just get lost in the desert, manage to survive the heat and thirst, and violá! INSTANT SUPER-VILLAIN!!