Polaris: Lorna Dane Appreciation 2019

[jmc247]

OMG, I would love it if Lorna and Emma were all, we are so done with Summers men, lets have a baby together!

LOL, if it were to happen that way it would be preferable to a painful convoluted I thought I was having a Summers baby, but I was violated by Sinister bad soap opera angst.

Its bringing back some memories.

[Soulsword323]

Hopefully we'll get to see more of Hickman's Lorna at some point. He did a wonderful job highlighting how well she and her father could work together, and how their persona's differ. Lorna says she's trying to find her way in a new land, so perhaps that's a hint of things to come.

[salarta]

Now that I think I've seen all relevant Lorna pages (between four different posts)...

spoilers:

Let's just go stream of consciousness on this, as per usual. The different outfits could be originally drawn as a Cuckoo. That wouldn't surprise me. If Hickman/Marvel/artists wanted, though, they could make slight alterations to Lorna's costume from panel to panel and explain it at some point as Lorna using her powers to change her look whenever she wishes. One of my headcanons is Lorna using her powers to create her costumes, and I've commissioned fanart in this vein before. Lorna and Storm using their powers in ways unique to each of them was good. It avoids cases of fans complaining that one is doing something the other could've done. I got a sense in the Lorna and Magneto scene of Magneto acting very autocratic militarist. It does stand out to me that they used their codenames in-mission then switched to personal names outside it. "When the past is the past and I'm not still finding my way in a new land" is, honestly, a good line for Lorna IMO. I think it hits on the need to not force her into her past role of Havok's girlfriend for nostalgia sake, and simultaneously that she badly needs more exploration and "soul-searching" of who she is - both in-canon and in a meta sense. "Do you really believe that" is also a good one-line way of suggesting Lorna is actually thinking about what's happening and questioning it, not just blindly buying into it. Which fits her history, the things she's been through. Hopefully this is the last time in a long time that Lorna's history with Havok comes up, and much more happens with her as her own character before it does. I do appreciate that there were no scenes of her interacting with him. I didn't get a sense of Lorna and Cyclops in a relationship out of this. They just read to me like people who know each other well talking about personal matters. Lorna's final line implies they could come to blows some day, and if they do, I'm glad it's with Cyclops and not Havok. Even setting aside my past complaints re:Havok, I think it would be far more compelling for the "heirs" of Xavier and Magneto to fight than for two ex-lovers to do so. All of this said, I don't think it offsets how Lorna's history with Genosha/Krakoa has been completely ignored, how she's been on no covers (not even the X-women one), etc. Although Lorna's appearance here opens a couple new doors for potential future use (missions with Storm, discussion/fighting with Cyclops), her two main story beats do boil down to "she's Magneto's daughter and Havok's ex." I would've much rather seen Lorna add to Cyclops' talk about his son with a line about how she lived those horrors he was afraid to raise his son in. And this was a scene where acknowledging Lorna's history could've paid off with her saying something like "I know those horrors. I still remember the screams on Genosha." As it is, it feels like Hickman only knows Lorna needs some work, but either doesn't know or doesn't care about her history aside from avoiding the bad spots. Some people think the above is irrelevant, but it's really not. Characters are a product of their development over time. If one writer does something important, followed by all future writers completely ignoring it, then the character is going nowhere. Or to put it another way: why should Hickman write her? It's not like anything he writes of her is going to be used or acknowledged by future writers when he's gone. Feeding the pattern today keeps it going tomorrow. Today she talks with Cyclops about his son, and 10 years from now she doesn't even know Cyclops had a son.

end of spoilers

In short, it was okay. Not the best or the worst of how Lorna's been written over time. The blurb from two days ago ultimately turned out to be pretty accurate, even if a couple new doors were opened. Not as bad as I thought, but still accurate.

[gifted]

If the rumor of the X-Corps book is true, I would absolutely love it to be written by Vita Ayala.

The premise should be about expansion. Erik should task Lorna to use Krakoa's resources and rebuild Genosha into a third island of Krakoa.

[powerpax]

You don't need to spoiler-tag your comments.

[Electricmastro]

I always adored how Larry Stroman drew Polaris's hair.
SO unique.
I always get a little bit bummed out when the gals with unique texture are later drawn with long straight manes.
Like Kitty's former bushy locks being flat ironed and pony'd.




Yes. This. Precisely.

I particularly liked how Terry Shoemaker drew Polaris with curvy and fluffy hair in X-Factor #93 (August, 1993).

[salarta]

I might be running too much into it.

I am getting the vibe that maybe Lorna might have a baby. All that talk about having children. The fake out could be we will think it's Alex and the "father" will be Emma Frost or something ala North.

I didn't get that vibe. But to speak on it, Lorna needs a lot more work focused on her first before having a baby. Who she is and what she offers need to be better understood at Marvel. Marvel's already not acknowledging key parts of her history. Adding "Mother of <baby>" to her list of titles doesn't help.

On Gifted, having the reveal of Lorna as pregnant right from episode 1 was my biggest issue with the show in season 1 prior to Dreamer's death. I was worried it would completely sideline what's possible with her. And if I heard correctly, season 2 proved those worries to be well-founded (along with things I said about character death).

The premise should be about expansion. Erik should task Lorna to use Krakoa's resources and rebuild Genosha into a third island of Krakoa.

This would be a good approach to acknowledging Lorna's Genosha history, and give fair reason for not bringing it up anywhere else. If there's gonna be a whole book specially dedicated to it, then it would make sense not to mention it in HoX/PoX. Let whoever's writing that book cover it. But this is all conjecture, so I have to assume it's not happening that way unless Marvel puts out something to suggest otherwise.

You don't need to spoiler-tag your comments.

I felt I needed to in this instance, given the book just came out and it delves into spoilery things.

[jmc247]

If the rumor of the X-Corps book is true, I would absolutely love it to be written by Vita Ayala.

The premise should be about expansion. Erik should task Lorna to use Krakoa's resources and rebuild Genosha into a third island of Krakoa.

Using a company to help rebuild Genosha is not a bad plan. I do think Genosha still stands as the pivot point between two decades of Lorna as mainly a love interest character who was the generic voice of reason for any team she was on and the potential for something new for her. It would be a laudable and worthwhile goal to try to rebuild it and it would give the character her own story and agenda.

Her chat with Scott in X-Men #1 can be read a lot of ways obviously and we have seen them come up heavily defined by how she is seen; a love interest character, the voice of reason. I am not sure I like either concept much as it reeks too heavily of the old conception Lorna and her role. Not that she shouldn't look for things that are off, but I would rather the talk be between the two inheritors of Xavier and Magneto's legacy feeling each other out and their respective places.

[JB]

Hopefully we'll get to see more of Hickman's Lorna at some point. He did a wonderful job highlighting how well she and her father could work together, and how their persona's differ. Lorna says she's trying to find her way in a new land, so perhaps that's a hint of things to come.

Agreed. I think this has opened up some story possibilities for Lorna and I like it.

I also saw her and Scott bonding as friends/family. It was really sweet.

[Angleman70]

Agreed. I think this has opened up some story possibilities for Lorna and I like it.

I also saw her and Scott bonding as friends/family. It was really sweet.

Agreed, there has been very little interaction with Scott and Lorna over the years. Most of it was spent with Lorna trying to uplift Alex’s ego by dissing Scott due to Scott’s leadership qualities. It will be interesting to see where their friendship/past familial bond goes from here. It was so nice to see. I would also gather that she wants to keep her distance from Alex for awhile.

[Soulsword323]

If the rumor of the X-Corps book is true, I would absolutely love it to be written by Vita Ayala.

The premise should be about expansion. Erik should task Lorna to use Krakoa's resources and rebuild Genosha into a third island of Krakoa.

Vita writing Polaris again would be great. Thought they did a wonderful job in Prisoner X, and that would be a great premise. If we could get former Acolytes on Lorna's team (*cough*Amelia Voght*cough*), then I'd be over the moon.

Agreed. I think this has opened up some story possibilities for Lorna and I like it.

I also saw her and Scott bonding as friends/family. It was really sweet.

I'm hoping so!

Same here. Those two really need friends who aren't significant others. I hope we get to see more of their camaraderie.

[Havok83]

I actually liked Lorna and Storm interacting as this has been so rare over the decades

[gambitxremy]

https://www.newsarama.com/47432-x-men-1-spoilers.html

Newsarama is really pushing for the romantic angle

[Havok83]

https://www.newsarama.com/47432-x-men-1-spoilers.html

Newsarama is really pushing for the romantic angle

yeah dont see it

[jmc247]

https://www.newsarama.com/47432-x-men-1-spoilers.html

Newsarama is really pushing for the romantic angle

Well the online opinions range a great deal from they are about to have sex, to she doesn’t believe in Krakoa and thinks it’s a facade and Scott is brainwashed, to she is questioning if Scott really does see her and Magneto as family as he said.

I prefer the last idea of the three along with the second generation of mutant leaders connecting concept. I don’t know what is in Hickman’s head of course.