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An Examination of the Mutant Registration Act of 1980
By Gabrielle Boyer
This article examines the fictitious Mutant Registration Act plot in Marvel’s Uncanny X-Men #181 by Chris Claremont and John Romita Jr. In the spring of 1980, Senator Robert Kelly introduced the Mutant Registration Act (MRA) which requires the registration of metahumans and their respective powers and home address. According to the official Senate report, the purpose of the act was to allow the government to monitor the use of metahuman abilities. The provisions of the act are as follows:
“It [the act] enables the government to monitor all powered individuals and is drafted to facilitate the government's licensing and/or employment of individuals who are actively using their powers. The powered individual must fulfill some requirements or meet some criteria before they are allowed to fully use their abilities and gain legal authorization to continue to use their abilities to fight crime. Government employment is not mandatory, though it is available to those who wish to take it. Punishment for non-compliance is imprisonment in the negative zone.”
181 U.XM 7 (1980).
The XMen and everything else mentioned in this article are the proprety of Marvel Comcis.