Lorna Dane: Polaris Appreciation 2018

[jmc247]

The art was strong for Uncanny #5. There were good things to be had in the issue. However for Magneto the Horseman of Peace I was waiting for even one comment from Lorna to him along the lines of... you call no man your master.

Lorna getting pissed off she wasn't getting through to him was fine, but the seeming lack of recognition that the guy with an eight foot beard calling X-Man his his master has been mind controlled/brainwashed didn't seem to be there. We had about a half dozen comments from the team to Warren he is not himself in contrast.

[kcekada]

I'm a bit confused on this one. If this is tied into ancestry being considered matrilineal, we don't actually know her mother's last name. We know the last name she had after being taken in by her foster parents, but that name could come from the foster father (Marvel wikia claims Mrs. Dane is Arnold's sister).

That backstory is such a mess. I thought her mother's last name was Dane, but after doing a quick online check -- I see that Susanna Dane was from a alternate history. Ugh!

The part about her being more easily mind-controlled due to religious ambivalence was not something I took much stock in. I was only pointing out that the site reached the conclusion that she was Catholic based on what has been shown to readers. It's very likely that she doesn't associate herself with any one religion. I haven't read much about Magneto in recent years -- is he a practicing Jew?

[jmc247]

[Soulsword323]

It would have been nice to see Polaris question why Magneto was enthralled by X-Man, but I loved what we got. It was nice that it wasn't sappy, and that she did something to piss him off, and got to fighting him.

[jmc247]

It would have been nice to see Polaris question why Magneto was enthralled by X-Man, but I loved what we got. It was nice that it wasn't sappy, and that she did something to piss him off, and got to fighting him.

They all assume Horseman Angel is possessed and work together in the issue to break the possession, but not even Lorna assumes the same of Horseman Magneto? There was a real double standard there. Lorna also makes no emotional appeal towards him that she made towards others she cared about who start acting highly bizarre as well and we know the names.

The rest for Lorna was good and I said Lorna being pissed off was justified, but by the same token they would never have her start a fight any other x-character she cares about who is mind controlled/brainwashed (and we have seen quite a few of them) without an emotional appeal first.

[Soulsword323]

Lorna's gone through something similar, when she tried to get through to Alex in Blue, and I thought she came off as foolish. She just gave up, and didn't try to do anything else but try to break through the mind control. I think that's why I enjoyed this scene better. I agree the scene did need more emotional resonance, but I thought her reaction was better than what we've gotten before, but that's just me.

[jmc247]

Last page I criticized that scene with Havok in Blue 27 just for that being too emotional and weak willed.

There is a balance to be had when fighting someone possessed you are supposed to care about and an earlier confrontation with possessed Havok in X-Men Blue 9 thread the needle where she stopped him and kicked his ass while also making clear to the audience she cares about him on some level.

If X-Men Blue 27 errored way too hard on the side of being overly emotional and sappy, Uncanny #5 verred too much on the side of being all business. Uncanny #6 might or might not change that as the battle continues we will see.

[Soulsword323]

Last page I criticized that scene with Havok in Blue 27 just for that being too emotional and weak willed.

There is a balance to be had when fighting someone you are supposed to care about and an earlier confrontation with possessed Havok in X-Men Blue 9 thread the needle where she stopped him and kicked his ass while also making clear to the audience she cares about him.

If X-Men Blue 27 errored too hard on the side of being sappy, Uncanny #5 verred too much on the side of being all business. Uncanny #6 might or might not change that as the battle continues we will see.

That's a good point. Unfortunately with Uncanny, there is so many characters and plots, that we don't get to dig as deep as I think we would all like them too. Maybe we can a small bit of that in the next issue like you said.

[juan678]

Lorna Cameo with Jean in Rogue House Mr and Mrs X 6 preview

[Soulsword323]

Polaris destroying the statue. This was my favorite moment. RB continues to do a wonderful job with the art.

[Havok83]

I still cant believe Lorna has a role on the main roster of THE flagship title. She's never been given that opportunity in her decades long history

[salarta]

Hi. I just finished reading Uncanny X-Men #5. First, I'm going to write what my thoughts are independent of what others have said. After, I'm going to read through and see what everyone else said.

I like styling of the sound effect words for Psylocke's psi blade. That's a really cool touch that shows the unique value of the comic book medium. I don't think it would've worked as well in a cartoon, live action, etc.

White's letter at the end states that this issue was the last one sent to print before #1 hit stands. That provides a good metric for lag time between Marvel getting feedback from consumers, and how soon they can make very minimal adjustments based on that feedback (e.g. change text). I haven't decided if I'm going to write in. Depends on if I feel it's worth the time and will amount to anything. If I do, it'll be with the E-mail account I use for this handle, which is disconnected from my actual offline identity and will be changing soon when I move off Yahoo (because of the Tumblr adult content ban).

I liked the Lorna and Storm double team on Magneto. Granted, I think a more realistic plan between the two of them would've been for both of them to try something unexpected. Like Storm using non-lightning powers, and Lorna using her powers in a way Magneto wouldn't expect from her, perhaps in a way Magneto himself never once used to date. This could've been an opportunity to show Lorna and Magneto taking different angles with their powers. But overall it was still good to see.

I also liked the scene where Lorna questions her dad and destroys the X-Man statue, but it generated some thoughts on how I would've felt and reacted if the situation was different. Here, we know Magneto's actions aren't really his own - that he's been changed to act as a servant to X-Man's interests and will. We know who Magneto is, it's been so thoroughly established across decades that we don't need any disclaimers like "Dad, this isn't like you" to get it across to even the newest of newcomers.

I wouldn't be able to say any of this if the situation were flipped. If it was Lorna who had been changed, Lorna making a statue in tribute to X-Man, Lorna making the arguments Magneto makes here, I think I would've complained a lot if there wasn't some very explicit textual or contextual disclaimers to make it absolutely clear this was not normal Lorna. Without such a disclaimer, I think a lot of readers would've perceived a Lorna that acts this way as "in character" and willing even though that really wouldn't be the case.

I also think there could've been a risk of Lorna written as if she holds extreme deference to her father. Lorna destroying the statue did a great job of avoiding such a risk. So a note of good there too.

And now to read what everyone else has said.

It would have been nice to see Polaris question why Magneto was enthralled by X-Man, but I loved what we got. It was nice that it wasn't sappy, and that she did something to piss him off, and got to fighting him.

Maybe I'm missing something of this storyline since I've skipped issues irrelevant to Lorna, but I don't think there was much reason for Lorna to question. For one, I think it comes off that these characters aren't in control of themselves. For another, in-character, I think Lorna (and probably most in-universe characters too) knows Magneto well enough to know he wouldn't act the way he's been acting. Especially Magneto making an X-Man statue. I think Lorna knows Magneto in his right mind would be mad as hell about being made to do something like that.

Lorna's gone through something similar, when she tried to get through to Alex in Blue, and I thought she came off as foolish. She just gave up, and didn't try to do anything else but try to break through the mind control. I think that's why I enjoyed this scene better. I agree the scene did need more emotional resonance, but I thought her reaction was better than what we've gotten before, but that's just me.

And that's pretty much a small taste of the issues I had with the way she was treated on Blue. Those actions weren't really Lorna as her own character, they were Lorna written as a plot device to tell Havok's story - and perhaps to try to lay groundwork for bringing them back as a couple (for Havok's benefit) again. Here, she actually got to be herself.

I still cant believe Lorna has a role on the main roster of THE flagship title. She's never been given that opportunity in her decades long history

I may be mistaken, but wasn't Uncanny X-Men the flagship title when Chuck Austen was writing it?

Regardless, Lorna getting use to this level is either a rarity or never happened in 50 years. Which says a lot when considering other characters that get to have main roles at almost all times.

[Havok83]

I may be mistaken, but wasn't Uncanny X-Men the flagship title when Chuck Austen was writing it?

Regardless, Lorna getting use to this level is either a rarity or never happened in 50 years. Which says a lot when considering other characters that get to have main roles at almost all times.

No. Grant Morrison's New X-men with Jean, Wolverine, Cyclops, Emma and Beast was without a doubt, the flagship of that era. Claremont's X-treme was second billing and Austen's Uncanny was the bottom of the pack

[Snoop Dogg]

If Lorna felt like an accessory to the Havok beat in Blue, it was probably because it was actually supposed to be Scott's beat between him and his brother. Before editorial space shenanigans.

[Havok83]

If Lorna felt like an accessory to the Havok beat in Blue, it was probably because it was actually supposed to be Scott's beat between him and his brother. Before editorial space shenanigans.

Not really. The Havok/Lorna stuff was set up in her first appearance in the book, months before Venomized or Mothervine. Bunn had Lorna interacting with Alex in those issues trying to reach out to him, not teen Scott. Lorna was the one set up from the start to save Alex. It was her only role in Blue