Madelyne Pryor

Madelyne Pryor
The return of Madelyne Pryor, from X-Men #11 (February 2014). Art by Terry Dodson.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Uncanny X-Men #168 (April 1983)
Created by	Chris Claremont Paul Smith
In-story information
Alter ego	Madelyne "Maddie" Jennifer Pryor-Summers
Species	Human mutant (latent), clone
Team affiliations	X-Men Hellfire Club Hellfire Cult Sisterhood of Mutants
Notable aliases	Anodyne, Goblin Queen, Black Rook, Red Queen
Abilities	Telepathy Telekinesis Teleportation Psionic energy channeling Magic abilities

Madelyne "Maddie" Jennifer Pryor-Summers is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, primarily featured off-and-on as an antagonist of the X-Men. Originally the love interest and first wife of X-Men leader Cyclops (Scott Summers), she became a long-standing member of the X-Men supporting cast, until a series of traumas—being abandoned by her husband, losing her infant son, and discovering that she was a clone of Jean Grey—eventually led to her being manipulated into becoming a supervillain. She and Cyclops are the parents of Nathan Summers (Cable).

Her biography has been rendered particularly complicated because of the many retcons involved in the publication history of both her character and that of Jean Grey.

Madelyne Pryor was introduced during the acclaimed 1983 Uncanny X-Men run that saw long-time writer Chris Claremont pair with artist Paul Smith for a series of issues that would see the Jean Grey look-alike marry the retired X-Men leader Scott Summers (Cyclops).

Madelyne's hairstyle design was modeled off the book's editor at the time, Louise Jones (later Louise Simonson)—a design retained on the character until 1988. Claremont named the character after Steeleye Span singer Maddy Prior. Claremont had already created a character named "Maddy Pryor", a little girl that appeared very briefly in Avengers Annual #10 (1981), and has no in-story connections to the X-Men character. Claremont, nonetheless, years later used the opportunity to indulge in an in-joke: in Uncanny X-Men #238 (1988), a similar child would appear as Madelyne's mental image of herself, wearing the same clothes as the little girl from Avengers Annual #10, repeating the girl's same line of dialogue, but also singing "Gone to America," one of Steeleye Span's biggest hits.