X-MEN (Vol 1) #29: Shinobi called a weakling

[starwolf_oakley]

TVTropes.org's YMMV entry on the X-Men inspired this posting. The villain is Shinobi Shaw, one of the early 1990s X-Men villains who rarely fought the X-Men.



Shinobi first showed up in a backup X-FACTOR story, apparently killing his father, Sebastian Shaw. Shaw caused an explosion that Shinobi survived due to his powers. Shaw survived as well, as we learned some years later.

Shinobi appeared a few times during Whilce Portacio's run on UNCANNY X-MEN, but never fought the X-Men. He was one of the Upstarts, a group of mutants who got points by killing other mutants in a contest of some kind. It was strongly implied by his harem of women and men that Shinobi was bisexual, but not directly stated.

In this story, Betsy Braddock and Warren Worthington III are invited to a part at the Hellfire Club by Shinobi. They meet Tessa at the party, Shaw's assistant. She turned out to be a spy for Charles Xavier (revealed years later in Chris Claremont's X-TREME X-MEN) because comics.

As happens whenever someone attends a party at the Hellfire Club, Warren and Betsy are zapped and taken to a secret part of the club.



In an interesting reference to X-Men history, they are in the basement of the Hellfire Club first seen in UNCANNY X-MEN #129 when the tap Sebastian Shaw had placed on Cerebro was revealed.





Shinobi's powers aren't just phasing like Kitty Pryde. He can also become super dense.





Given the Upstarts got points by killing various established mutants and other dastardly deeds, measuring the people defeated seems to be the whole point.








Here's the TVTropes entry that inspired this post.

Run-ins with The '90s Black King, Shinobi Shaw, tended to lean in this direction to Unfortunate Implications levels. Like many 90s villains, Shinobi had a giant Freudian Excuse in being abused in his childhood by his father, Sebastian, and as an adult compensated for his hollow interpersonal life by being a Depraved Bisexual. On at least three separate occasions the heroes tear Shinobi apart verbally, not for being a villain, but for being effeminate and weak. Flash-forward twenty years and it's really hard not to side-eye the writers of those stories.

Both this and X-MEN ANNUAL #3 have various X-Men calling Shinobi a weakling. They don't say "effeminate" but he is called a "boy playing a man's game." Shinobi is one of the X-Men villains from the 1990s that didn't quite "catch on" for various reasons.

Comments

[crinos]

See, if I were to bring this character back, I would rename him :Shinobu Shaw, since Shinobu is actually a real name.

Seriously, did they just go through a list of Japanese words and picked one at random for his name?

[lilacsigil]

It was so close and yet so far!

How do you know...

[afghanant]

his dad wasn't a HUGE fan of the games?

[icon_uk]

He wasn't a member of the Upstarts, he was a member of the Up$tart$, because the 90's.

IIRC Shaw Jr dropped very heavy hints that he wasn't really Sebastian's son, and that his powers of molecular density control suggested that he had a LOT more in common with "Uncle Harry". Harry Leleand being the Inner Circle member who could make objects superdense and super heavy.

So there would also be an added element of "You're not my REAL dad"

As happens whenever someone attends a party at the Hellfire Club, Warren and Betsy are zapped and taken to a secret part of the club.

Now, now, let's not generalise... sometimes they just get minors involved in high stakes poker games, encourage them to get spectacularly drunk and end up in a bedroom with some fishnet clad Hellfire Club employees.

[jekylls_salvation]

And now I love the Hellfire Club, thanks.

[shadur]

None of the images load for me.

[ebailey140]

Ah, the Upstarts, how the future Image guys though they'd leave their marks on the X-books by killing off the main Hellfire Club folks (Magneto, Sebastian, Emma, the Hellions), and replacing them with "kewler" new villains. All of them were crap, and none of them lasted.

[starwolf_oakley]

Magneto isn't associated with the Hellfire Club in the 1991 three part story where he "dies," but I understand your meaning. In fact, I don't think Fabian Cortez was established as part of the Upstarts and their "kill mutants for points" game until UNCANNY X-MEN #299.

[ebailey140]

Didn't Cortez refer to the Upstarts while he was gloating, making his escape, at the end of that three parter?

[starwolf_oakley]

No. Cortez was just gloating (over the Asteroid M intercom, I guess) that the Space Plasma Cannon was going to blast the X-Men, Magneto and the Acolytes (who included Cortez's own sister) into dust. He says some stuff about Magneto's death inspiring mutants.

But we don't get the idea Cortez is a selfish brat trying to win a game until UNCANNY X-MEN 299 and 300, I believe.

[icon_uk]

Gosh, how can you suggest such a thing when they gave us such memorable characters as Shinobi... and umm... Fitzroy and umm... apparently a crowd of Up$tart$ in Shinobi's first appearance who were so memorable they were never given names and were never seen again.

[balbanes]

I completely forgot about the Upstarts. Only good thing they did was start Emma's Heel-Face Turn.

[zechs80]

I kind of liked Shinobi. Though isn't he and Leland back amongst the living after Necrosha? Weren't they one of the few unaccounted for?