The Marauders have already done enormous damage before Mister Sinister steps properly into view. By the time he appears in Uncanny X-Men #221, his employees have made a much str…

The Marauders have already done enormous damage before Mister Sinister steps properly into view. By the time he appears in Uncanny X-Men #221, his employees have made a much stronger introduction for him than a threatening speech could have managed. He is the man behind the operation, not another attacker who happened to be in the tunnels. That distance is part of what makes him unpleasant. Other people carry out the violence while he concerns himself with the result and whether his orders have been followed. The attack on Madelyne Pryor gives the team a specific target beyond the original slaughter. To the X-Men, protecting her is personal. To the man sending the Marauders, she is something to be dealt with. He doesn't have to share a battlefield with someone to reach into her life. His appearance is theatrical: pale face, dark costume, the red diamond and that shredded-looking cape. His treatment of the people working for him is much less decorative. They are dangerous enough to tear through a community, but that doesn't make them equals when they stand in front of him. That is an important difference from a villain group held together by friendship or a shared political cause. The Marauders can enjoy the assignment, resent each other or indulge their own cruelty. Sinister still supplies the direction. His delayed appearance leaves the X-Men reacting to a plan before they can even put a face to the person behind it. First comes the terrible thing that happened. Then come the questions about who wanted it done. The answer is a man who has been able to keep his hands out of sight while everyone else deals with the bodies.