UNCANNY X-MEN #236: Busting Loose!

Tonight there's gonna be a jailbreak somewhere in Genosha!

Originally Published October 1989

We begin with hot nudes!

Rogue and Wolverine have been FTP'd to Genosha -- which of course necessitates they arrive stark naked, that cheeky Claremont -- and they are not happy about it. The Genoshan Magistrates on the other side are alarmed by the fact that the sedative subroutine Pipeline was supposed to program into them didn't take, and now they have this mess to worry about.

They take a breath after locking Wolverine and Rogue behind and indestructible door... 

After some of the Magistrates discover firsthand why Rogue is a nevernude, they finally hit a wall when they run afoul of the Genoshan Magistrate known as Wipeout, who has the ability to strip people of their superpowers.

Hahahahahaha.... Wipeout.

Elsewhere on the island, we meet the elusive Genegineer -- functionally the guy who runs the show on Genosha -- and his son Phillip. Gene Jr. is awakened by a phone call for dear ole dad -- seems there's an emergency at the Citadel that he must fly off and address right away, interrupting Senior's garden time. He flies off in a jet that leaves scorch marks in the grass, but here in Genosha we have a fix for that.

That's right gang, fully lobotomized mutant landscape slaves, made to order! Phil even makes a point of calling this slave "boy" in case we were not fully capable of connecting it with the history of slavery on this continent.

On his way to Hammer Bay, Genosha's capital and one of the most technologically advanced cities on Earth, Genegineer chats with one of the Magistrate Chiefs about this situation where they invaded a foreign country to abduct a woman and a baby and ended up also getting tangled up with a pair of super-types. Genie is alarmed at the incompetence, but the Chief assures him that these muties are in custody.

Genegineer -- real name Dr. Moreau (GEDDIT??!) asks to have a look at the surveillance footage of these capturees, but he can't -- much like early R.E.M., they don't appear on video. What's more, they can't find any system that can identify them, and any reference to them in the system is immediately erased as if by some kind of virus, signalling a level of infiltration that is very troubling for a nation with as many dark secrets as Genosha.

There's also a moment where they mention that some of the Genoshan officers got a little... handsy with Rogue during her processing, because this story needed an undertone of casual sexual assault. Yeesh.

Regardless, these mystery mutants are under veritable lock and key, although the Magistrates do expect their cohorts to come looking for them. 

That's true, and we see the rest of the X-Men back in Australia mind-probing the Press Gang (as they mount their own escape from Australian Prison where they have been unfairly detained after doing their completely legal and acceptible mission on Australian soil.)

Through a probe of Hawkshaw, Psylocke learns of Genosha, the Magistrates, the Genegineer and the mutant slaves he creates. She's shocked at the human cruelty on display, but collects herself and the group goes, via Gateway Portal, on their way.

Back at the X-Shanty, one of S'ym's demons, N'astirh, rings for a follow-up call with Madelyne, but finds nobody home.

Back on Genosha, young Phillip Moreau is shocked to get home from his jog to find his neighbors -- the Ransome Family -- being rounded up like common criminals, despite Mr. Ransome's status as a government minister; seems nobody is above the law in Genosha. One of the Magistrates intends to show young Phil what mutie-loving little punks get for asking too many questions, when when one of his colleagues stops him. Bro, that's the Genegineer's son.

Oh, now we're cool?

Meanwhile, inside Rogue, the trauma of her recent assault has caused Rogue to retreat into her psyche, where she finds the shadow remnants of all the people she has absorbed over the years, from Nightcrawler to Loki to Spiral to a Dire Wraith. And they're not happy to see her, threatening to tear her to pieces.

But one figure is clearer and more present, far more than a shadow.

That's right, her absorption of Ms. Marvel just hit differently. For all intents and purposes the real Carol Danvers is inside of her, now and forever, living as a separate being.

Carol and Rogue have a mutual interest in surviving this situation, especially given her loyalty to Logan. Plus, a jailbeak is exactly Carol's kind of thing, so she offers to take the driver's seat in Rogue's psyche for a while. Rogue is a little skeptical -- what's to stop Carol from staying in charge? But Carol says she'll just have to trust.

And so, when the two Magistrates who mishandled Rogue arrive for a second round...

They find the former Ms. Marvel and her supercharged Claremontian Badass-Normal fighting Prowess waiting for them.

Before long, Carol has liberated Logan as well, but stripped of his healing factor the ole Canucklehead is not looking too hot these days.

Away they go, but unfortunately, they're too late. when they get to Jenny and Madelyne's cells, they're not there.

Elsewhere on Genosha, Phillip has decided to do some prying into the family business.

Seems Jenny -- Phil's girlfriend, we now know -- tested positive for the X-Gene and her father used his clout to switch the files and get some other poor girl inducted into the mutant slave lifestyle (it didn't take and now she's dead, which is how they found out the fix was in.) Genoshan law states that all mutants must be pressed into service of the state, no exceptions. And it's Dr. Moreau's job to make them their best mutant selves: powers custom designed for whatever industry needs them best, and brains modified and stripped of all free will.

Phil is alarmed that this is all scheduled to happen to the girl he basically was going to marry.

Back at the Citadel, Jenny and Madelyne are on the operating table. I'm not entirely sure what they plan to do with godfearing nonmutant Madelyne, but it doesn't matter. N'astirh calls again to ask about her extended warranty, and given she is presently indisposed, he does her a solid by causing an explosion that upsets the whole process.

This has the side-benefit of causing a blackout that allows Carogue and Wolverine to escape after a brief scuffle with some of the local gendarmes. 

Having commandeered a jet, Carol and Wolverine make like a tree and get out of there, vowing to regroup and wreak havoc on their captors -- next issue!

Further Thoughts:

Here we have the middle act of a story that promises to really kick into high gear next month. For now, it's very light on X-Men, with the heroes of the story primarily represented by Wolverine and Rogue Carol, and even their part is largely just glimpsed until they can make their getaway.

It's been a few minutes since we got a lot of insight into Rogue's tortured psyche though, and we've not seen it dramatized in quite this way, let alone let it play such a rich part in the story, since the "Madness" issue in 1984. Giving Carol the spotlight is a great way to add a new dynamic to this story.

Beyond that this is our walking tour of Genosha. What had been alluded to in the previous issue -- that this is an unsavory place built on oppression and control and especially unfriendly to mutants -- is confirmed in great, vivid detail. The whole issue is then about setting the stage and exploring what goes on in Genosha and what a small collection of related characters -- Moreau, Phillip, and the Magistrates -- do here.

Genosha, as I've pointed out, is the mutant South Africa, a rich storytelling idea and clear, even over-the-top analogue for apartheid as well as American slavery. If it seems a bit obvious, then I think the book sometimes needs a bit of obviousness to let its readers chew on an uncomplicated, yet resonant, example of how oppression works. It's true that mingling the mutant metaphor with real-world issues doesn't always create a smooth cocktail, but here it's worked into an effective action-adventure story with a conscience, much like Neill Blomkamp's District 9.

If we don't get quite the X-content we might hope for in our only-twice-per-moth visitation with the mutant A-team here in 1988, I can't really complain. There's a real story to be told and spending time laying the groudwork for that is key. Phillip is our "in" to Genoshan life and society, and is likely going to be the figure around which the rest of the story pivots. My usual complaint about the X-Men being guest stars in their own book doesn't really apply, because the concept of X-Men, the concept of mutants, the heart and soul of the book, is very much at the forefront, just in an unconventional, conceptual way. Not a great single issue, but a very useful and gratifying piece of the whole.

Yes... later.