Issue(s): X-Men #29
Cover Date: Feb 94
Title: "Return to Hellfire!"
Credits:
Fabian Nicieza - Writer
Andy Kubert - Penciler
Matthew Ryan - Inker
Lisa Patrick - Assistant Editor
Bob Harras - Editor

Review/plot:
This issue begins with more of the bizarre "treatment" that Sabretooth is receiving from the X-Men. He's bound with a muzzle, gloves, and chains, and beaten up by Psylocke in the Danger Room.

Watching Psylocke - including what he considers to be a flirtation with Sabretooth at the end of the fight - Angel comments to Beast that she can make a guy "get mighty lonely". Later, Angel receives an invitation to the Hellfire Club's annual gala.

Psylocke learns about it. She's a member of the London branch of the club (the membership was transferred from her father), and she encourages him to attend.

Andy Kubert definitely knows what sells his art.

Angel says that the members of the original Inner Circle of the Hellfire Club were "mysteriously picked off one by one".

I would think only Sebastian Shaw's death was mysterious to the X-Men. Harry Leland died fighting Nimrod alongside the X-Men. Donald Pierce was killed by a Sentinel right in front of the X-Men (and Emma Frost was put in a coma in the same attack and is being held by the X-Men). Mastermind died of the Legacy Virus right in front of the X-Men. Maybe Selene (last seen a captive of the Upstarts) is thought dead, but she's not pictured. The other person in that picture is Jean Grey.

Anyway, Archangel and Psylocke go to the Hellfire Club to investigate the Upstarts.

Also at the party are Dwayne Taylor, aka Night Thrasher, and Ronald Parvenue (a minor Wolverine "villain").

Angel and Psylocke meet Tessa (formerly Sebastian Shaw's assistant). She offers to lead them to Shinobi, but she knocks them out with some kind of (telepathic?) blast.

They wake up dressed in old timey costumes, in the presence of Shinobi. It turns out that Angel and Shinobi know each other from their childhoods.

Shinobi tries to convince Angel to join the Inner Circle as the White King. Angel refuses, noting that the Inner Circle has always stood for things that he rejects. They get into a sort-of fight that really feels more like a continuation of the debate.

The fight ends with Psylocke hitting Shinobit with her psychic knife, revealing all the pain that Shinobi has from his daddy issues.

Angel and Psylocke then just depart, leaving Shinobi with his sorrow.

This issue feels typical of the era, with a fight that tries to work as a substitute for character development and fails to work well as either (same thing with the Sabretooth fight in the beginning). And that's beyond the fact that no one really cares about Shinobi Shaw's character. Then we get an inconclusive ending. If Angel and Psylocke came here to investigate the Upstarts, they've learned nothing and are doing nothing productive. The fact that Shinobi is simultaneously appearing in the Child's Play crossover (hence the Night Thrasher cameo) regardless of his "defeat" here makes this issue seem extra pointless.

Statement of Ownership Total Paid Circulation: Average of Past 12 months = 672,175. Single issue closest to filing date = 579,300.

Quality Rating: D

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: The party at the Hellfire Club is also depicted in X-Force #32 (which is part of the Child's Play crossover with New Warriors). So these issues are taking place concurrently. In the X-Force issue, we see that Justice is also at the party, so i've listed him as a Character Appearing here.

Today is Thursday and Cyclops and Jean Grey's wedding, which will be shown next issue, is coming up on Saturday. Uncanny X-Men #309 says that the wedding will happen "two Saturdays from now", which means it takes place before this issue. Uncanny X-Men #310 features the bachelor party and should probably take place between this issue and next.

References:

• Angel is still grieving over the (re-)death of Candy Southern from Uncanny X-Men #306.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

Well, at least Psylocke didn't end up in a "Black Queen"-type outfit, like the one from the Avengers TV show, during this visit.

Odd wording from Warren. He seems to have forgotten his own membership in the Hellfire Club, which was a plot point fourteen years prior in Uncanny X-Men #132.

Warren claims that he's at a romantic standstill with Officer Jones. Since when? They seemed pretty happy in their New Warriors appearance and in X-Men 299. This is just an excuse to clear the way for a Warren-Betsy relationship.
BTW, shouldn't the Historical Significance Rating be raised to a 2 since this is the start of the Warren-Betsy relationship?
Note that Warren is surprised that Betsy's a member of the Hellfire Club- this contradicts Remender's retcon in Uncanny X-Force that Warren and Betsy first met in the Hellfire Club.
Nicieza is horrible with keeping the Original 5's ages consistent- a few issues ago he had Hank turn 30, now he's establishing that Warren is the same age as Shinobi, who's in his early 20s. No way is Hank 7 years older than Warren.
Shinobi talks about how he used to want to explore the Hellfire Club as a kid- this is odd since his father was still a probationary member of the Club circa X-Men 100. (Later on, Mackie gives us a flashback of Shaw as a member when Warren was a kid.)

I thought Sebastian was a probationary member of the Ned Buckman Council of the Chosen, rather than the Club itself, of which he was already a member. That same distinction applies to Warren: he’s a club member, or at least eligible by heredity, but has never accepted an offer to join the Inner Circle. I’m too lazy to look up the actual lines about this, though!

In Classic X-Men 7, page 9, Ned Buckman says- "You Sebastian are a probationary member- of both Council and Club."

Re: Teresa's attack. Should telepathy have sound effects? Visual effects? I know as Sage she has TP, but I wouldn't think this was a use of it.

So it's Night Trasher!!! You know, I've spent years thinking that this Taylor guy was supposed to be some sort of new villain that would join the Hellfire Club, but his storyline got axed...

Thanks, Michael: I remember dialogue from Claremont issues where Shaw takes pride in having built up his fortune from nothing, but I’d forgotten that line of Buckman’s about Shaw being new to the club. I haven’t followed all the subsequent retains, but I know that in addition to Shaw being a more longtime member, as he is here, his family is supposed to have been part of the club for generations. I like Claremont’s backstory for Shaw much better.

(Subsequent retcons, that is.)