Lorna Dane: Polaris Appreciation 2018

[WallStreeter]

I said last year that Polaris ignoring Alex's problem would be OOC. Regardless of how I feel about them, Lorna outright ignoring cosmic ring's inversion when she's present in the same book as him, wouldn't make sense for the character. The problem with Blue was that it ended up being the sole reason she was there. Had we gotten more of her training the O5, and had her relationship with Magneto developed in more significant way, it wouldn't have been such a problem for me, but its the story Bunn wanted to tell.

With Uncanny, to have Lorna just standing around not trying to intervene, or at least worried, doesn't ring true to me. Lorna and her Dad spent a significant chunk of time working together, and this situation is similar to Blue. Magneto isn't in his right mind, and although she has no means to break through the possession herself, she could still be drawn as looking worried, or given a line or two similar to Jubilee. I liked getting to see Lorna's short temper at play here, and enjoyed what we got with #5, but them not doing more with the two of them is a missed opportunity. Maybe we'll get some kind of dialogue down the line with Lorna being concerned about her dad, but I don't think we will.

Magneto has survived a lot worse than Archangel. There's no way Angel could kill him, so there's no reason for Lorna to show concern there. The only concern for her to show is that X-Man is controlling Magneto and the others, but the whole team is looking for X-Man, including Polaris.

[Soulsword323]

Magneto has survived a lot worse than Archangel. There's no way Angel could kill him, so there's no reason for Lorna to show concern there. The only concern for her to show is that X-Man is controlling Magneto and the others, but the whole team is looking for X-Man, including Polaris.

Jubilee still showed concerned. I mean we all know Warren isn't going to do much with those metal wings of his going against Magneto, but the writers still thought of having someone being worried, and that really should have been Lorna. I know Jubilee deserves some shine too, but it seems like a flub to have her be the one to do so. Thus far, there connection seems very superficial in Uncanny, and the relationship between Polaris and her father is more complex than that. I mean, they just got done working together in Blue, and Magneto's being used right now by X-Man. He isn't in his right mindset, and I still think it'd be nice to see Lorna speak on that. Getting to X-Man should be important to Lorna, but this book thus far has been lacking in personal/emotional moments, and this could have been an opportunity to change that.

[Magnetic]

If Joseph replaced Polaris, he would get better dialogue and moments overall.

[jmc247]

Magneto has survived a lot worse than Archangel. There's no way Angel could kill him, so there's no reason for Lorna to show concern there.

Does she know that really when he is that messed up? Archangel after all did manage to strike him here and he is quite out of his mind which is the sort of thing that allowed him to injure Lorna severely years ago.

[Snoop Dogg]

We, as the readers, know Angel's not going to slice Magneto's head off. They, as the characters, should not know what's going to happen when a mad Archangel and a new version of Magneto face off. The fight isn't long, but it's their job to sell to the readers that we should care that there even is a fight. Magneto can't sell it emotionally because we know he's not in his right mind and Angel probably won't do it for veteran readers because we've seen this before.

The fight is short, the X-Men don't have to intervene. But they were given a panel to react and question if they should intervene because Max is the enemy. Which is good. What is also good is that (I actually highly doubt it was intentional because it's from Cullen Bunn stuff) Betsy is the one to suggest that they should let him get thrashed because she has a personal reason to dislike him recently while favoring Warren. What is not good is that, while it's okay that Jubes poses the question, Lorna has no say. There should have been more panels dedicated to that, and having her and Betsy's emotions shine through. They could have done this if they cut down on the fight with less artificial Magneto pleading. Or if there wasn't a panel blown on Angel prepping his wings. His dramatic "The answer is no" line would work way better it was paired with that awesome shot where she shoots the blades.

So for the thousandth time, the biggest problem with these issues is that the X-Men aren't very interested in anything that's going on, even if they have family at stake, so it's hard for us to be.

[salarta]

We, as the readers, know Angel's not going to slice Magneto's head off. They, as the characters, should not know what's going to happen when a mad Archangel and a new version of Magneto face off. The fight isn't long, but it's their job to sell to the readers that we should care that there even is a fight. Magneto can't sell it emotionally because we know he's not in his right mind and Angel probably won't do it for veteran readers because we've seen this before.

Two additional elements to consider in this are 1) casual readers that don't know how powerful Archangel is or what Marvel's future plans are, and 2) what future readers may or may not know when they go back to read these issues. Writing needs to be prepared for the possibility that the work may be read without certain contextual details.

[WallStreeter]

Does she know that really when he is that messed up? Archangel after all did manage to strike him here and he is quite out of his mind which is the sort of thing that allowed him to injure Lorna severely years ago.

Out of his mind does not mean he forgot how to use his powers. He quite clearly took care of himself pretty well. Polaris and Storm had just finished fighting him, and there was nothing wrong with his combat capabilities.

[WallStreeter]

Or you could say that she's only in Uncanny because Magneto is one of the horsemen...nah Magneto just completely ignored her for decades...it'd make sense that Lorna would try to reach out to Alex back in Blue, just like Jean would to Scott, Rogue would to Gambit and such...no shock or anything like that...

I think she's in Uncanny because Emma Dumount's portrayal of her in Gifted is becoming very popular. The storyline in the tv show shows how Lorna Dane truly becomes Polaris and embraces her father's legacy. Now that there's no Disney/Fox feud as Disney is buying Fox, it becomes easier to use Magneto's children and in other media Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch are still marketed as his children. The retcon will soon be undone.

[MichelleDiMera]

Jubilee still showed concerned. I mean we all know Warren isn't going to do much with those metal wings of his going against Magneto, but the writers still thought of having someone being worried, and that really should have been Lorna. I know Jubilee deserves some shine too, but it seems like a flub to have her be the one to do so. Thus far, there connection seems very superficial in Uncanny, and the relationship between Polaris and her father is more complex than that. I mean, they just got done working together in Blue, and Magneto's being used right now by X-Man. He isn't in his right mindset, and I still think it'd be nice to see Lorna speak on that. Getting to X-Man should be important to Lorna, but this book thus far has been lacking in personal/emotional moments, and this could have been an opportunity to change that.

In that scene..yes Jubilee being concerned works but Lorna and Storm should of cared too. Elizabeth is still angry about his manipulations in the last Uncanny run.so it rings true she would cheer Archangel in a suicide mission against Magneto.

The writers definitely botched it up with Lorna..but most have since Carey brought her back. David did pretty well in All New X factor snd Bunn had her edge missing more it needed to be to interact with Havok again.

Kelly Thompson and her lot dropped the ball..simple as that. Focus on the details, Kelly.

[Soulsword323]

In that scene..yes Jubilee being concerned works but Lorna and Storm should of cared too. Elizabeth is still angry about his manipulations in the last Uncanny run.so it rings true she would cheer Archangel in a suicide mission against Magneto.

The writers definitely botched it up with Lorna..but most have since Carey brought her back. David did pretty well in All New X factor snd Bunn had her edge missing more it needed to be to interact with Havok again.

Kelly Thompson and her lot dropped the ball..simple as that. Focus on the details, Kelly.

I agree with that. Polaris often came across as one note in Blue, towards the end especially.

[jmc247]

The writers definitely botched it up with Lorna..but most have since Carey brought her back.

By in large I would agree.

Divorcing her from group politics (aka things like Utopia) post her return was one of those major screw ups. They missed a whole bunch of beats that made early to mid 2000s era Lorna work. There is a reason why I brought up Genosha a fair bit for what it represents is important for how Lorna works in the long run as a character.

Mutant politics worked for the character when used in the comics. It’s worked for her live action as well.

David did pretty well in All New X factor snd Bunn had her edge missing more it needed to be to interact with Havok again.

Yes, her edge was gone under Bunn’s pen, she came off too much emotionally needy conventional hero 90s Lorna and her interaction with Havok came off overly emotionally needy in a 90s sort of way because of it.

I also lessened her interaction with Magneto as the lack of edge meant she couldn’t and didn’t have deep discussions with him the way Magneto had with Xorn in Bunncanny or he had with Briar time and again.

Kelly Thompson and her lot dropped the ball..simple as that. Focus on the details, Kelly.

There hasn’t been balance to show she actually gives a damn if possessed Magneto lives or dies before, during or after her sticking it too him which robbed the series of a spoon fed to them emotional beat, and certainly won’t age well.

Even for those who only want to look at it only from a Lorna prospective it looks bad based on both her historical relationship to him as well as her history with possession.

Lorna even when she wanted to tear out Havok’s heart or something below his heart after her failed wedding still had moments to show she cared about him. I understand Uncanny is cramped, but they had space for one or two lines to fix the rather large problem. They still can do some repairing, but I have my doubts it will happen and also know issue 10 went to the printers this week.

[MichelleDiMera]

By in large I would agree.

Divorcing her from group politics (aka things like Utopia) post her return was one of those major screw ups. They missed a whole bunch of beats that made early to mid 2000s era Lorna work. There is a reason why I brought up Genosha a fair bit for what it represents is important for how Lorna works in the long run as a character.



Yes, her edge was gone under Bunn’s pen, she came off too much emotionally needy conventional hero 90s Lorna and her interaction with Havok came off overly emotionally needy because of it.

I also lessened her interaction with Magneto as the lack of edge meant she couldn’t have deep discussions with him the way Magneto had with Xorn in Bunncanny or he had with Briar time and again.



The real negative and it is pretty unforgivable to me was there has been zero balance to show she actually gives a damn about him and if possessed Magneto lives or dies which robbed the series of a spoon fed to them emotional beat and certainly won’t age well without some work later in the series I don’t believe is forthcoming.

When Mike Carey brought her back 7 years ago now..Summers didnt trust Magneto. Nor did Rachel. Lorna didnt want anything to do with that attitude and resistance though. That's the real Lorna. That's the consistency of her since 2003. Even in X Factor after that, she was weighing heavily on having to confront Magneto after her origin story came to light. That's Lorna...like when they had Lorna and Wanda finally reunite, she wasnt gonna try to kill Wanda over the Decimation. Her anger at Wanda wasnt gonna reach that level even though she went through alot without her powers. The Apocalypse stuff being very prevalent. She got on Wanda's case but she didnt harp on it.

[jmc247]

When Mike Carey brought her back 7 years ago now..Summers didnt trust Magneto. Nor did Rachel. Lorna didnt want anything to do with that attitude and resistance though.

It was a time where morally ambiguous mutant politics was tolerated on the x-line which it hasn’t been for several years and won’t be for quite a few years going forward. The Gifted is the only place to get it right now while Lorna missed the opportunity for an era where she could be more then the green haired reserve version of Jean a role she typically falls into when she lacks an edge and has no political goals.

There was a ton of things she could have done in the Utopia era and after to help mutants that didn’t require her to be on Utopia to help the cause of mutants. Lorna from 1991 to 2005 was focused on helping mutants one way or the other and hasn’t been since.

Lorna I do think if she returned in 2009 was going to return to X-Force and if that happened it would have done a lot of good for the character with the return of Lorna vs Purifers type action and dealing with the Apocalypse fallout. Too much time had passed with her space arc and it felt like Marvel publishing forgot too many hard learned lessons about Lorna and how she can function as a character in a self sustainable way.

ANXF could have been such a title as well given the narrow intersection of business, the media and politics though it was not to be. Comic Lorna since her return from space hasn’t really worked so well you are correct there. In some areas things have worked none more then the family stuff, but overall they didn’t find a workable formula for the character.

And, yes Lorna even with her rage at Wanda and Pietro was not going to hold a grudge in the end because family matters so much to her.

[Soulsword323]

RB Silva did a commission not too long ago, of the 90s X-Men squads and Excalibur. Now he's moved on to the other satellite titles, Generation X, New Mutants, and X-Factor. With Polaris front and center of X-Factor's section.

[Jumpyshark]

RB Silva did a commission not too long ago, of the 90s X-Men squads and Excalibur. Now he's moved on to the other satellite titles, Generation X, New Mutants, and X-Factor. With Polaris front and center of X-Factor's section.

Wow, that's awesome, I'd love to see the finished article because it's spectacular. I really enjoyed that era of Polaris, and she served some looks in the 90s!