430 MUTANTS
Despite repeated hunts for and attempted elimination of mutants, there have been
several places that mutants have congregated in large numbers over the years. Some of
these places were refuges; other places served as exile. Th e most obvious has been the
X-Mansion, the property of Professor Xavier in Westchester County, New York. In the
post-House of M world, the X-Mansion becomes a sanctuary for mutants. Eventually,
the mansion comes to be protected by the Sentinel Squad O*N*E, an elite group of
Sentinels with human operators mandated to protect the surviving mutants. Th is dubi-
ous relationship is understandably questioned by many of the older mutants who have
been subjected time and again to Sentinel attacks. Th e sewer tunnels of New York City
serve as home to the Morlocks ( Uncanny X-Men #169, 1983), a collection of mutants
whose physical mutations prevent them from properly integrating into common society.
Over the years, the Morlocks have faced repeated resistance, infi ltration, and attacks
from mutants and humans who seek to either control them or eradicate them. Th ough
they are essentially disbanded after the eff ects of the Decimation, there is still some
indication that they will regroup in the near future. For a brief time, Magneto estab-
lishes his Asteroid M, an asteroid in Earth’s orbit converted into a space station that
serves as a mutant paradise for mutants wishing to escape the persecution and violence
of human life. However, Magneto’s benevolence is limited to mutants whom he deems
genetically redeemable. Mutant town, or District X, serves as essentially a ghetto for
mutants for much of the 2000s before Decimation, after which less than a handful of
the hundreds of residents still have any power. Th ough Muir Island has never quite
been a refuge for the general mutant population, it has served as the base of operations
for Excalibur as well as a major research facility for Moira MacTaggert, Professor X,
and other people for the purpose of studying and containing mutants.
Th e fi ctional island country of Genosha has served many purposes for the mutant
population over the years. Initially, the island was a fully functioning and advanced
civilization built upon the backs of mutant slaves. Appearing in Uncanny X-Men #235
(1988), the island served to represent real world issues as an African country (Genosha
is located north of Madagascar) with a government-ordained apartheid easily invoked
images of South Africa during this time. Th e X-Men, along with X-Factor and the
New Mutants, undermine the government and its leaders. In the aftermath, Genosha
attempts a more egalitarian government but is often subjected to attacks from mutants
seeking revenge for past wrongdoings. Eventually, Genosha is given over to Magneto
as a nation for mutants. However, the refuge that Genosha represents comes to an end
in New X-Men #115 (2001) when the villain Cassandra Nova kills the vast majority
of Genoshan citizens. Th e island had been used several times since this event but has
been considered a deserted and desolate place.
By the 2000s, the proliferation of X-Men properties in comics, televisions series,
fi lms, video games, and books provided many avenues for consumers to understand
mutants as the ultimate “others” who are simultaneously ostracized and fetishized
by popular culture, similar to contemporary renderings of queer and non-Western
identities. Th e evident duality of a subculture being both potentially benefi cial and
