Independence Day Part I—The Island Nation of Genosha

It’s that wonderful time of year again where we here in the United States celebrate our nation’s birth with more food than we should reasonably eat and deafening displays of fireworks—except  in New York City I guess, where fireworks are still illegal unless you’re Macy’s and all the fun foods are systematically being targeted by RoboBloomberg.

But, still, I remember when I was growing up it seemed like it took forever for the Fourth of July to come, but it was always worth the wait, a sign even surer than Memorial Day that summer was upon us.

And, after 1996, we’d add to the festivities by giving thanks to Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum for saving our world from the alien menace as someone invariably gave “the speech.”

You know the one I’m talking about.

If your 4th of the July party doesn’t involve someone’s drunken rambling ending with, “Today we celebrate OUR Independence Day,” and a standing ovation, you’re doing it wrong.

So in honor of our great nation, let’s take a look at some of the independent nations we’ve seen in X-Men history, beginning with one of the most complex, important, and controversial ones of all—Genosha.


First appearing in Uncanny X-Men #235, Genosha seemed innocuous enough, a small island with a stable economy just off the coast of mainland Africa.

It enjoyed positive world relations, solid trade, and a good reputation throughout the world.

So what’s the catch?

This.  This was the catch.

Slavery.

The dark secret of Genosha’s prosperity was that it was owed entirely to the use of slaves, in this case mutants who were stripped of all identity, brainwashed and converted into mutates, genetically modified mutants that served the state’s needs and given nothing more than numbers for names.

As was common with the X-Men books, Genosha was more than just a fictional place but rather a statement about goings on in the world, both past and present, from the shame and tragedy of our own nation’s past with slavery to the horrors of the Holocaust to the South African apartheid that was still occurring at the time of Genosha’s creation.

No one who lived on the island was ever allowed to leave and those who tried were summarily tracked down and brought back, lest they reveal the truth.

And then came the X-Men.

And they were naked.  VERY naked.

Having kidnapped Rogue, Wolverine and Madelyne Pryor, the Genoshan Magistrates quickly learned that the X-Men would not submit as easily as the indigenous population and, worse yet, they possessed the power to potentially topple their rule.

Years after their first encounter, the Genoshan government became bold and ordered an attack on American soil, kidnapping several members of the X-Men and New Mutants and telling the world that their act was predicating on an unwarranted attack on their way of life. 

And, yeah, you guessed it, they were totally lying.  But people are dumb, and believe what they want to believe.

Exhibit A

During the event that became known as the X-Tinction Agenda, the New Mutants, X-Men, and X-Factor successfully took down Genosha’s ruling government and exposed the truth about the island nation.

Though under new leadership, old prejudices died hard and for years afterwards, mutates lived as second class citizens despite having overwhelming numbers.

However, that changed in the aftermath of the Magneto War, where the world finally had enough and the United Nations offered Magneto rule over Genosha in exchange for a cessation of hostilities.

An exile no longer, Magneto accepted and became a world leader, the ruler of the largest concentration of mutants in the world.

Setting the island up as a sanctuary for all mutants, he quickly abolished all vestiges of human rule and amassed an army that he very nearly unleashed upon the world during Eve of Destruction.

The X-Men were able to stop his attack and Wolverine, not one to take chances with that sort of thing, stabbed Magneto, gravely injuring him and leaving him wheelchair bound.

Normally, attempted murder on a head of state brings SOME sort of penalty, doesn’t it..?

Not long after, Cassandra Nova sent her new breed of Sentinels and all but wiped out the population of Genosha in Grant Morrison’s first storyline, E is For Extinction, which sounds like a really jacked up Sesame Street skit.

With the nation in ruins, it subsequently temporarily housed Xavier’s new Excalibur team, but has mostly been used as a battleground and the staging ground for Selene’s bid for world conquest in Necrosha a few years back.

Genosha no longer remains a player on the world stage, but with Avengers Vs. X-Men shaping up like it has been, don’t be surprised to see it come back in a big way soon enough.

But this time, hopefully, slavery free, as every nation should forever be.

Damn right.