 | X-Men: Greatest Hits part three |
"And Hellfire is Their Name"
Published Apr-July 1980
Head writer of a critically acclaimed and fan favorite monthly book, Claremont was in full steam when he penned this one with John Byrne. Hardly a team as powerful as the Avengers or as finely tuned as the Fantastic Four, the X-Men are at their best when all the chips are down and their backs are against the wall. For me, this issue meets that recipe perfectly. Suspicious of the goings on in the Hellfire Club's Inner Circle, the X-Men arrange for an all out assault on the building, despite the misgivings of Professor X (no doubt disappointed at his protege Scott's mishandling of the team and Warren Worthington (AKA the Angel), who also happens to be a member of the exclusive Hellfire Club. For months Jean Grey has been changing, growing more distant from her teammates as she becomes enthralled by a romantic daydream involving Jason Wyngarde (modeled by Byrne after actor Peter Wyngarde, alias Jason King). By the time the attack is underway it is a doomed affair.
The Inner Circle are mutants led by Sebastian Shaw, the Black King. Acting with no for-knowledge, the X-Men are easily defeated by the powerful foes with even the headstrong Wolverine thrust into the sewers by the gravity-controlling mutant Harry Leland. The team defeated, a swarthy shirtless Shaw celebrates his victory over these upstarts.
Part of a much larger story going back to issue 101 in which Jean Grey resurfaced from a crashed space shuttle as the Phoenix, this single issue remains one of my all time favorites. It shows the team as a not the brightest bunch on the block and hardly the most powerful. Yet despite these setbacks they are tenacious and indefatigable.
Additionally, this issue introduced the menace of the Hellfire Club. Previously the threats that the X-Men had faced were set at eliminating the mutants from the face of the planet, but Sebastian Shaw saw himself as king over all, mutant and human alike. Uninterested in mutant superiority like the terrorist Magneto, Shaw was just after power. The fact that Shaw was chosen as a key element in the prequel X-Men: First Class speaks to the brilliance of the character.
Of course the moment that this issue is most well remembered for is the final panel that still sparks a response from readers.
The concluding panel of Uncanny X-Men 132
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