90’s Villains Come and Go in Uncanny X-Men #20

Writer: Matthew Rosenberg / Artist: Salvador Larroca / Marvel

“I don’t know If I can make myself stupid enough for you all to understand” – Dark Beast While Rob Liefeld retroactively injects new mutants into the timestream over in the Surge-fueled Major X mini-series, Matthew Rosenberg’s Uncanny X-Men continues to purge some of the X-Men’s biggest threats. Previously, Emma Frost emerged as the mastermind behind the X-Men’s orchestrated targeting of their villains. The revelation was Frost herself is merely a puppet of the O.N.E. forces working to annihilate any and all living mutants. Issue #20 of the so-called “Last X-Men” story signals the return of a whole crew of recognizable, but forgotten foes: The Upstarts, Nasty Boys, and one-time Acolyte Fabian Cortez.

Earlier in Uncanny X-Men, Wolverine and Kwannon discovered Emma Frost and her new Hellfire Club. Mystique disguised herself as Captain America in order to gather him for their side after attempting to free Mr. Sinister. This issue rewinds two days before that moment before dropping back into the present. Here, Emma makes a huge decision that may signal the tipping point of the mutant’s last stand.  While on the hunt for the Nasty Boys in Manhattan’s Cloisters, the X-Men arrive to find Sinister’s old henchmen already dead. Rather than trying to hide, the perpetrators are just waiting.  The Upstarts — Trevor Fitzroy, Shinobi Shaw, Seline Blaze, and Fabian Cortez — were once a loose team of assassins used by one-time …