Lorna Dane: Polaris Appreciation 2020

[jmc247]

The variant covers are well done. One is clearly nostalgia for the early 90s down to the same artist who worked his magic in 1992. For the other I would say they are crossing the space era iconography including the half helmet of the Emperor Vulcan mini with a early 00s Lorna feel so its a mix and match.

Thanks to Luckystar for posting.

[houndsofluv]

I'm honestly in love with these covers. The first one really captures her raw elegance and power, with a devilish grin like the cherry on top. Almost godly...iconography isn't a new look for her and is honestly a huge part of what fascinates me about her character; the intersection between the powerful, the godlike and the flawed, the persecuted, the victimized.

I don't personally get Malice vibes from it. In my mind it echoes the way Baldeon rendered her on his cover, with the chilly grin and the pulsating energy....I think they're hinting that we're going to see a Lorna with a bit more edge, lines blurred, no holds barred. Here for it.

And the second cover oh man I don't even have the words. Love the callback, love the subdued extravagance of touches like Lorna's flowing pastel hair, her kind eyes, Rahne's ferocity.....yes. If this is the work they're delivering im more than pleased to be pandered to lol

[anyajenkins]

Is it just me or does that feel like a Malice cover? I kind of didn't like it because I felt like they were revisiting Malice in the picture and making it look like Lorna is going to become Malice again and threaten Krakoa!

I hate the Malice story so much, if it had been a few issues I would have been ok, but they let the damn Malice story go for a long time and I hated that Lorna was trapped as a victim under mind control for so long. This is one of the reasons Rachel and Lorna are so similar because idiot writers keep trying to put them under mind control again.

I swear the moment that X-Factor makes Rachel a hound, or makes Malice take over Lorna, I am immediately dropping the book, those two things are the end of the line for me if this happens again in comics! Let Malice control someone else for once, hell let her control Havok, and if Ahab wants to make someone into a hound, let him target someone else for once and leave Rachel alone!

She does have kind of an ‘evil look’, though even if it is, it’s a variant and won’t matter.

[salarta]

[jmc247]

Its a legitimately good cover even if the space costume isn't the glory of her classic wear. The eyes go along with the dark goddess lifting up Krakoa imagery which can be seen as a callback to Giant Sized #1. She even has a star of sorts in the center of her chest a call back to her code name.

Variant covers mean nothing to what is in the issue though as others have mentioned. It doesn't mean there will be early 90s Lorna or a dark goddess Lorna. It only means that Marvel thinks those covers will sell.

As for iconography its a reminder Lorna unlike Jean doesn't actually have a popular recognized dark goddess costume different then her typical attire. That has meant much like Magneto her dark and light imagery are heavily a fixture of facial expressions not different outfits. I have no problem with that and also know it won't change unless she has her own DPS or Fatal Attractions type comic crossover that has her as a focal point.



When going for a drunk on godlike power look.... go all out.

[salarta]

Okay, I'll bite on this "dark Lorna" talk on account of discussions I've seen people engage in. Wargaming a scenario I know Marvel's never going to do, but which demonstrates a way Marvel could have very easily turned things around if they cared.

For the record, if I had the slightest bit of faith in this company, I don't think I'd make this post so as not to limit their narrative options. As it is, no sense worrying.


Lorna launched Krakoa into space. She survived Genosha. HoX/PoX/DoX/SoX/XBoX melds those two elements of her character history into one product - which for Lorna, has a certain roughness.

Let's say you're Krakoa. From your POV as Krakoa, what is your mental image of Polaris? I'd wager it's the same as that X-Factor cover - evil, powerful, larger than life, fully capable of destroying you and everything you've grown. Some people who highly value Krakoa as their home might even look upon how Lorna once threw it into space and hate her for it, or not trust her. That could be the impetus behind Lorna being forced "on the outside" of Krakoa matters - which could take many forms. It could be Krakoa subtly influencing the minds of those on it. It could be pure public image, with Magneto and the rest not wanting to risk citizens feeling uneasy about Lorna's presence or her having much power in the society. This would explain why she's been given no major roles, why her history went ignored from the start, etc. Lorna is, in essence, "the traitor" who threw away their salvation.

... But wait. Krakoa is de facto Genosha. Lorna was all aboard for Genosha, and mutants considered her their Queen of Mutants once again afterward (until she got forced into space and Marvel promptly forgot she was anywhere near Genosha). That's the roughness. Krakoa is the new embodiment of what she fought and suffered for, yet Krakoa (or its society) ostracizes her. And, perhaps Lorna doesn't trust it right back. Perhaps she fears Krakoa is going to one day rise up and kill everyone, repeating the horror of what happened on Genosha on a grander scale.

So what's a Genosha surviving former Queen of Mutants to do? Should she just accept being on the outside of an idea that she poured so much of herself into? Would she see Krakoa as a perversion of and threat to the ideal of a mutant nation, and try to forge her own path, or plan contingencies should Krakoa act against mutants?

All of that could feed into a "second act" with Lorna as the primary instigator. What role she plays in that second act would depend entirely on direction. Is she a hero who plays a vital role in stopping Krakoa (or some dark part of it) in the nick of time? Is she an insurrectionist who, though well-intentioned, is ultimately wrong about Krakoa? Whatever the case, her history could flood back into the setting and play a meaningful role in questioning the nature of Krakoa and this new society. Suddenly, Marvel ignoring Lorna's essential history goes from "we don't like and respect her enough to use her like we should" to "we were just setting the stage for the second act, but obviously we couldn't tell you that."


In the end, none of the above is going to happen. But sometimes, just sometimes, I find it worthwhile to emphasize what could be, so that it can be compared to what actually ends up happening.

[jmc247]

Design renderings for a custom Polaris sculpture. It will be interesting to see how it comes out.

[salarta]

Cross-post.

Pietro's absence from the "throwback" cover in and of itself demonstrates that these covers are (and always have been) actual statements of intent and opinion at Marvel.

If Marvel was simply paying homage to the past, Pietro would be there. But he isn't. Ergo, there is a reason for his absence - and the likely safe bet is that Marvel doesn't want to put forth imagery of Pietro as a part of the X-Men franchise.

By extension, this means the decision to depict Lorna with Havok in it wasn't simply about paying homage to nostalgia. It's about trying to visually present and reinforce Lorna as his girlfriend. Even in the hypothetical view that the cover would have to have both of them, it could have very easily placed Lorna and Havok in separate spots. It didn't need to place them side by side as a couple.

All in all, yet another of many, many signs of how badly Marvel wants to force a relationship they know full well needs to be sidelined to focus on actually doing things with and for Lorna.

[jmc247]

Its an open question how much undoing the retcon is timing or still part of an x-books and Avengers line issues. Outside the comics (merchandise and games) they are hard promoting Wanda and Pietro as Magneto's children and only them. Its hard to say how much of that is due to them handing gaming companies licenses and letting them do what they will and by in large they are going with the early 90s version of the Magnus family.

[Siena Blaze]

Cross-post.

I'm ashamed to admit Pietro's absence escaped me upon first glance. I was just a tad annoyed of the Lorna imagery lol no surprise there! I don't think creators think of Lorna beyond that. I like to be optimistic and say it's changing with time, but with everyone pushing no Magneto as well, Lorna falls back on her iconic role.

[Havok83]

other variant n 1

Not enough Pietro

I'm ashamed to admit Pietro's absence escaped me upon first glance. I was just a tad annoyed of the Lorna imagery lol no surprise there! I don't think creators think of Lorna beyond that. I like to be optimistic and say it's changing with time, but with everyone pushing no Magneto as well, Lorna falls back on her iconic role.

ETA: I was thinking the same thing until I read it was an homage and he was not included back then

[jmc247]

I'm ashamed to admit Pietro's absence escaped me upon first glance. I was just a tad annoyed of the Lorna imagery lol no surprise there! I don't think creators think of Lorna beyond that. I like to be optimistic and say it's changing with time, but with everyone pushing no Magneto as well, Lorna falls back on her iconic role.

In games its simply lack of respect as she isn't being included in any of them period. With merch its clear they put out Havolaris early 90s merch last year as part of a sales synergy plan with TAS on Disney plus. That doesn't justify keeping her out of the Magnus family action figure set, but it explains some of the decisions.

The real question will come for Lorna regarding her role in the developing animated series. If its the Summers brothers girlfriend who maybe or maybe not rages about bad dad then expect the reversion to continue no matter what happens in the comics. If she has a similar role to WATXM (only say more adult) on an Acolytes like team then it will shift back. I think Lorna fans need to focus on raising her profile and what they want promoted in regards to the character and I know some are, but its an important moment as plans are finalized for the animated series and for the next few years in regards to other media.

[salarta]

Also cross-posting this post I made in another thread, considering time taken to write it and all.

This is where most would expect this to end. "He didn't know about something only hardcore old time fans would know, therefore somehow every single thing he's ever said and will ever say for all eternity is wrong."

Not this time. First and simplest, the decision not to make changes - such as "look, they caught Pietro on camera this time" - says something of its own. About where Marvel's at.

Second, that's not the only corner cover art this X-Factor team had in the 90s. This one appears to have been most common, but second most common was floating heads.



But okay. Let's say for argument sake that Marvel felt the floating heads was just too abstract and full bodies was more appropriate. Why, then, didn't they do a variant for this corner art too or instead?



Marvel's doing this as an homage to X-Factor, right? Why stop at the 90s? Why show the one that has Lorna with Havok, but not the one of Jean with Cyclops?

And this doesn't even delve into the question of if there are iconic past X-Factor covers that would've made more sense to recreate instead of turning old corner art into a cover. Including perhaps an old cover that has Lorna as the focus, considering she's been thrown into this X-Factor and all.

But that's not even the final piece to this matter. There's a simpler point to make. Why, after hijacking Lorna's return on X-Men Blue to promote Havok in advance of him leading his own team book, after putting out a Havok and Polaris figure pack while excluding her from the Magnus family pack, after repeated attempts to shoehorn reminders of their relationship into things like Prisoner X or a Cable birth retelling (while at the same time Marvel ignores far more important things about Lorna like her time on Genosha), after putting out a great cover of Lorna that looks good for her only for that cover to be used on Marvel Tales where Havok's introductory story is the only one that has her in it... did Marvel decide it's a good idea to put out a variant cover that once again pushes the visual of her as Havok's girlfriend? They could have just as easily not made the variant at all.

If you're running an apartment complex that's had repeated and recent problems with cockroaches, is it really a good idea to put out an ad with a Joe's Apartment theme?

This variant cover is just one incident in a string of incidents. Isolating it makes it seem benign and perhaps well-intentioned, but looking at it in its actual broader context of how Marvel's been treating Lorna tells a whole other story.

This matter doesn't end at "Marvel made an homage to some obscure thing from the 90s." It comes loaded with what they could've done but didn't, why they chose to do what they did, the context they're doing it in, and so many other variables. And no, "they just wanted to do a fan thing" doesn't cut it. Because then why aren't they doing other fan things like Genosha for Lorna? Deliberate or not, the result is still the same.

And that's a wrap on this post.

[jmc247]

A custom Polaris action figure and art.



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[jmc247]

The custom Polaris sculptures have up a black and white set up models before the paining gets done.

In terms of what I think about the scluptures let me call them several shades of Lorna from nice and happy all the way to I am going to cave your head and eat your soul. I will start with the happy.