The X-Men have fought their fair share of supervillains over the course of their illustrious tenure as Marvel's flagship mutant team. As the Marvel Universe braces itself for the Hellfire Gala, it is worth revisiting a forgotten group of foes presence was short-lived, yet very menacing.
The Upstarts originated as a mutant-killing competition organized by Selene, the Black Queen of the Hellfire Club. Selene hoped to use up-and-coming young mutants to kill her competitors and rivals in the inner circle of the Hellfire Club. She gave the appropriately named Gamesmaster the task of managing the competition. Despite her clear motivation for forming the Upstarts, the actual rules and goals of the competition remained fairly ambiguous. In fact, neither Selene nor the Gamesmaster ever explained what the winner of the competition could expect for a prize.
Shinobi Shaw, who can change the density of his body at will, and Trevor Fitzroy, an energy-absorbing time-traveler, were the central members of the Upstarts. The two rivals competed for the reputation of the most villainous young mutant. Shaw killed his own father, Sebastian Shaw. Not to be outdone, Fitzroy killed Donald Pierce and the Reavers before sending an army of sentinels against Emma Frost and the Hellions. Shaw and Fitzroy were later joined by Fabian Cortez, Fenris, and Graydon Creed.
Fabian Cortez claimed to have killed Magneto and several of his followers. These high-profile murders helped him move up the ranks of the Upstarts quite quickly. Fenris, the blood-thirsty twins, tried to resurrect Omega Red and wreak havoc. They failed but were still allowed near the fringes of the competition. Equally unsuccessful was Graydon Creed who tried to enter the competition by killing his parents, Sabretooth and Mystique.
Cortez, Fenris, and Creed each serve as examples of the limitations of the Upstarts concept. The characters were attempting to kill off major figures in the X-men universe, but Marvel was understandably reluctant to make such hefty long-term decisions, so the requirements for joining the Upstarts became more fluid and vague. The more powerful Siena Blaze also joined, but she too failed to kill any mutants to meet the initial prerequisite for participating in the competition. Eventually, the Gamesmaster changed the whole goal of the Upstarts from killing famous mutants to hunting and capturing members of the New Mutants. Soon after this transition, the group went their separate ways.
Years later, they resurfaced, killed a few of the Nasty Boys, fought the X-Men, and disappeared again. Shinobi Shaw killed himself at the end of this encounter for fear of being captured and controlled by either the Hellfire Club or the team of mutants. Shaw's suicide reads as arbitrary and confounding in the same way that the re-formation of the Upstarts does.
Although the upstarts haven't resurfaced as a team since their fateful showdown with the X-men, many members continue to play a role in the world of the mutants. Shinobi Shaw was resurrected by The Five on Krakoa during Dawn of X, and has been a thorn in the side of Kate Pride and Emma Frost ever since. While Shaw has been entangled in the drama of the Hellfire Club, Fabian Cortez has been seeking the favor of Magneto, although the Master of Magnetism recently took great pleasure in humiliating him. Fenris has also been seen on Krakoa waiting eagerly to cause trouble.
The Upstarts were conceptually an exciting team of villains who never had the impact expected from a group whose only goal was to kill notable characters. Still, the individual members have managed to stick around the Marvel universe, undeterred even by death, particularly in the wake of the X-Men's current resurrection protocols. Perhaps the real impact of the Upstarts still remains to be seen.
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