Polaris: Lorna Dane Appreciation 2019

[MichelleDiMera]

Absolutely disagree

Magneto was king of Genosha. Everyone thought he died. This is when Lorna was revealed as his daughter and how she was OFFICIALLY Princess of Genosha...not to mention she was Princess of the House of M when they ruled the world 14 yrs ago.

[MichelleDiMera]

Magneto is no different than if someone from Europe conquered Cuba and declared themselves king before being defeated and Cuba no longer existing, no mutant has to call Magneto King anything...Magneto's father was not a king nor his mother a queen so no he's not royalty, Storm is closer to royalty than Magneto...

Not quite..Storm was worshipped for her powers. Magneto was worshipped for saving mutantkind and providing a haven on Avalon and Asteroid M..that's why Uniscione loves him so much. Doom took over Latveria by force and made himself a royal. Magneto was king in Genosha and it was officially recognized by the United Nations. That means Lorna and Wanda are still the Princesses of M.

[jmc247]

Polaris is a queen, though a queen without followers is a bit like a queen without a crown. It simply doesn't work, but with the Acolytes returning hopefully she carves out a power base again.

The over ten years after Decimation I feel like were mostly an attempt by Marvel to look to the past with her and it was quite harmful as they were looking at the wrong past. Regurgitating mainly the 90s and a bit of the 80s for what to do with Lorna was a disaster. First the idea of being separate from the center of what is going on so she can strike out on her own doesn't work and its toxic for the character and her visibility. Lorna needs an agenda and a power base. Lorna needs to be involved in mutant politics again that much is without question.

I feel like in the start of the new era its quite early, but there seems to be a better understanding of at least some of that that and with the right pieces of the puzzle in place things could really start clicking for the character, but we will see how it goes.

[salarta]

I’m of the view that Lorna is a queen with followers who isn’t aware she has them.

This is a woman who mutants were bowing down to in Genosha’s ruins, followed later in the decade by getting hunted by an anti-Apocalypse cult. Plus via ANXF she was visible in press conferences.

Marvel likes to pretend she’s a nobody, but she’s really not, both in meta and in universe. It’s impossible that she’s somehow gone from “Lorna is my queen” and “We’re gonna make a dedicated effort to kill her because she was Pestilence” to nobody knowing who she is. If this were the real world, she’d probably have paparazzi on her constantly. Not even “cause she’s Magneto’s daughter.” Because she’s an attractive woman who’s been publicly visible on multiple occasions. That alone would do it, not even considering her powers or her history.

[jmc247]

Based on the response of House of X the mutant society that Hickman is building is here to stay for quite awhile. This isn't going to be a year or two and x-titles reboot like we have seen. Mutants have cut their ties to human society and built there own outside of a few exceptions like Emma Frost who seemingly will have a support base on the Island and off the island.

Lorna has given two damn good public speeches on mutant issues in her life. One in JM's run and the other in Austen's run. But, that really wasn't my point. Krakoa is developing something akin to a mutant HoM or GoT type set up with powerful houses of mutants likely in cooperation and conflict.

Some of the Acolytes should be behind Lorna on the island, because she was there fighting in the trenches with them on Genosha and was the power behind the throne when Magneto was out of commission. They had no idea of her parentage at the time. She should have her own credibility with them. Lorna needs her own power base on the island that crosses other power bases to get things done that means people behind her as in actually directly loyal to her. None of the mutant nations so far including Utopia have been democracies, this one looks more mutant autocracy then mutant kingdom.

Lorna works well in GoT type political intrigue as War of Kings demonstrated. But, case in point Emma Frost right now has both followers on Krakoa, allies on Krakoa and an organization behind her (The Hellfire Club) among the humans. If Lorna is going to stand with the big dogs she needs to build an actual support base.

[salarta]

If Hickman wants to prove me wrong (not just about Lorna in this, but everything), then great. I've been wrong before.

It's been 10 years for me. What I learned is that Marvel hates real change, even when it's good. Their treatment of Lorna is in itself a vivid example of this. Presented with a golden opportunity, they shun and dismiss her immediately. They would have to commit to change that actually means something, which they really don't want to do.

I have more reason to believe Marvel would like to undermine her than to believe they might want to do right by her any time soon. If they're not willing to make up for misusing her to promote Havok these past couple years, then they're definitely not willing to give her a real, fair shot for once. Marvel doesn't deserve the character if all they're going to do is act like she's worthless outside of boosting the reputation of men and launching those men into opportunities that Marvel absolutely refuses to give her for no real reason other than fanboy bias.

Looking just at the current event, Lorna's on no variant covers (not even the X-women cover), and her only appearance so far has been for Magneto to talk to her. Why does her time on (and surviving!) Genosha, or having flung Krakoa into space, or anything else mean nothing? What can you expect in treatment of her (or most characters in a similar situation to her, frankly) when editors and writers completely ignore that history? It doesn't matter how elaborate the house of cards looks if it has all the same flaws as always. I see no new era. Only a different coat of paint.

I don't see Marvel giving Lorna anything. The deck is stacked against her at Marvel right now. As such, I'm betting on her fanbase to make things happen where it counts, reaching people Marvel considers worthless by how Marvel considers Lorna and what she offers to those people to be worthless.

[salarta]

Time for a new post.



Lorna's the metal in this sketch by Lillithsama.



Cosplay I think by Mutant Musings Podcast. It's at least implied by the tweet.

And finally,




I've already shared my views on the current event and where things are headed, and Lorna within that. Aside from this showing others' views, I think this shows the level of interest Lorna really has and how absurd and biased Marvel is in doing nothing with her, or using her only to promote men, never herself. World's asking for more Lorna, and Marvel thinks we're living in 1992.

[salarta]

I'm tired. Because I'm tired, you get this. Stuff I've had saved and didn't post cause I didn't feel up for it at the time I found it.



Accurate statement is accurate. And she's been on the receiving end of getting screwed over for it too often.



Another demonstration of how important the family is, paired with how closely connected many feel Lorna and Jean are in spite of Marvel.



Lorna resonates with many people as a character. Marvel thinks of her only as a prop or tool for advancing other characters (mostly men), but the reality is that she has a lot of value Marvel isn't willing to even attempt to tap into.

This is why fandom is what really matters. The fandom sees, discusses and explores her while Marvel won't. If we went by what Marvel wants people to see, the only Lorna we'd ever get is Havok's blindly obedient girlfriend who gets beaten down and damseled all the time. If used at all.

There was a meme on Tumblr I saw about a month ago. It used Always Sunny, with Dennis saying how canon's going to disappoint you, and when it does, fanfic's going to be there to pick up the pieces. I think about it regularly, because it is 100% accurate with Marvel's attitude toward Lorna. Between Marvel and fandom, fandom is who actually understands Lorna and cares about her. Marvel just sees a piece of property.

[Soulsword323]

I'm ready for this Polaris drought to be over.

[salarta]

While other people feel differently, as far as I personally see things, the drought has been ongoing since 2015.

She was in limbo for two years. Then she returned only to promote Havok and Magneto in Blue. Then she was in limbo for most of a year. Then she was in Prisoner X, which I've heard (and from what I saw) wrote her well but still couched her role in a way where Lorna (and Gifted aesthetics) at least had the appearance of going toward Bishop as the primary focus.

And now she's more or less in limbo again because Marvel thinks Prisoner X was "good enough" for her. And judging by the recent pattern, she'll be in limbo again after whatever Hickman does with her in X-Men #1.

Last time Marvel truly did anything with and for her in my eyes was the combo of All-New X-Factor (once problems were cleared up starting ANXF #7 on after) and Secret Wars: House of M.

I've noticed Marvel also tries to look like they use her more often by giving her tiny fleeting appearances instead of longer meaningful ones, e.g. the recent event issue where she was near Magneto. She technically appeared, with lines anyone could've said, and they have their quota met.

[jmc247]

NYCC is this weekend.

At this point I don't see any obvious open doors for Lorna's character though it doesn't mean they don't exist. Seemingly no political involvement in Krakoa unlike Genosha where she was part of the cabinet. Not part of the ongoing secret ops team to protect the island, not part of the backroom politics book to protect the island. She is likely to be included as part of the muscle to protect the island at times, but if she isn't advancing her defunct or non-existent relationships with the characters who matter on the island and that includes Emma and Exodus its not moving the ball forward and its just treading water until they shuffle her off to some satellite title.

My opinion remains the same the character needs to build connections to characters who matter and to be included in the overall Krakoa political/military/diplo framework. Shifting her off to a C list title or mini not connected to core events on the island would be repeating the mistakes of the past with her so that she has no functional relationships when its time to join the main X-Men happening again... and writers end up not sure what to do with her.

[powerpax]

She's back in two weeks, lol

And judging by the recent pattern, she'll be in limbo again after whatever Hickman does with her in X-Men #1..

Preemptive goalpost shifting, I like it

[Punch Dimension.]

7 likes is many people....?

Anyway, i think we should be Happy Hickman is giving her some sort of attention given that he hasn't included much more popular characters like Kitty, Havok, Iceman, Gambit, Rogue, Psylocke, Colossus etc in HOX.

Not to mention many people will be reading X-Men #1. This is probably the biggest exposure the character is about to receive since Giant Sized.

[powerpax]

My opinion remains the same the character needs to build connections to characters who matter

Like Magneto, co-founder of Krakoa?

There are plenty of open doors for Lorna, same as every major character not on the Council or immediately on a set team. It's up to the creative teams to use them or not, same as always, but I have a lot more hope for the character going fwd based on her recent and upcoming usage than I have in a long time. I don't know what the purpose is of handicapping that hope. Because if Polaris is taken out of this new launch, she's not going anywhere else.

[jmc247]

Like Magneto, co-founder of Krakoa?

There are plenty of open doors for Lorna, same as every major character not on the Council or immediately on a set team. It's up to the creative teams to use them or not, same as always, but I have a lot more hope for the character going fwd based on her recent and upcoming usage than I have in a long time. I don't know what the purpose is of handicapping that hope. Because if Polaris is taken out of this new launch, she's not going anywhere else.

I have a great deal of hope for this era, I think it has some really good ideas to start out with.

So far Hickman has avoided the easy to fall into trap of Lorna as foil or the generic voice of reason in talking to her father. I also certainly appreciated there was some philosophy to their conversation. Though I have the nagging worry about her being compartmentalized. We will only know if that happens after a few months. Right now it really doesn't feel like Magneto needs a right hand or go between for him and the X-Men or the Acolytes.

I left open that they might have something great in mind. If the story evolves into factions as in 2 or 3 then her possible roles would be self evident. At least right now that isn't the situation so we will have to wait and see hence my NYCC comment.