I too think 2020 was a good start to bringing Lorna back to the prominence she deserves. Here's to a good 2021 for Lorna.
A little lorna fanart to end the year. by me.
polaris.jpg
Don't let anyone else hold the candle that lights the way to your future because only you can sustain the flame.
Number of People on my ignore list: 0
#conceptualthinking ^_^
#ByeMarvEN
Into the breach.
https://www.instagram.com/jartist27/
I'm not keen on Lorna adopting aesthetics from Magneto, at least right now. Lorna has a lot of mistreatment in the form of being defined exclusively by how she can benefit men around her. We saw with X-Men Blue (especially the cover for X-Men Blue #28) how that same mistreatment can happen to Lorna even with Magneto. Fortunately, their relationship doesn't have the toxicity that Lorna's history with Havok does, and missteps can be more easily corrected. But those decades of poor treatment still negatively influence how people at Marvel think Lorna should be treated around men. There's a reason Marvel has Northstar leading X-Factor, but thinks Lorna isn't good enough to do anything other than be a supporting character for him and his team. It all comes back to their not having respect for her as her own character, and I think Lorna taking on more of Magneto's look at this time only encourages further disrespect.
I'd be more comfortable with it if Lorna was leading her own solo book, or the twins were part of the family again and also had elements of Magneto's costume.
I agree the costume should be updated though. I still think Kris Anka's concept, minus the Magneto chest bubbles, is a great modernization. It better fits her personality, experiences, and powers. All truly great costumes are extensions of the character.
I've said before, Lorna is an A-lister that Marvel constantly treats like she's a D-lister or lower. A character with her origins, history and connections should be a major player in the comics in the same vein as Jean, Storm, Emma, Rogue and all the others. Not buried in a minor supporting role on a fringe second wave title nearly a year later, her history always ignored in favor of misrepresenting her to fit whatever random role needs filling.
My main interest in the pairing is it going back to their being the first two women on the team. jmc's also pointed out their philosophical "heir" natures (Jean is Xavier's heir, Lorna is Magneto's) could lead to rivalry, but it could also mean fiction-healthy friction over the best path in various situations. If we were talking Cyclops instead of Jean then I'd be concerned given above mentioned mistreatment of Lorna around men, but right now I think it's doable with Jean.
Marvel's so obsessed with exploiting Lorna for Havok that they couldn't even let her do her own thing on ANXF, they had to have him show up questioning her ability to lead and think for herself. Marvel's insistence on forcing him on Lorna so hard without doing any of the long overdue work Lorna needs is what's really soured me to him. I'm playing Marvel Puzzle Quest, I've said before if I ever pull him in the game I'm immediately selling him, and I mean it.
Lorna breaking out on Gifted proved she can draw a massive and new audience if treated right. It's just people at Marvel who insist in their deluded nostalgia-riddled ways that Lorna somehow isn't viable. It's the exact same mindset that had execs at WB insisting Wonder Woman couldn't sell a live action film but Green Lantern could. They'd rather remain ignorant than think critically and give Lorna a real look for once.
I'm thinking of one person at Marvel especially right now who once said Lorna couldn't be a major character and hadn't even read her introductory issues until this year. They're very quick to act dismissive of the potential in characters they know absolutely nothing about.
This is why I took it as a huge red flag when interviews for X-Factor on announcement showed no awareness of who she is at all beyond "she's Havok's ex and Magneto's kid." Other fans wanted to give it a chance first and not judge too quickly, which is a nice sentiment, but nobody involved in the book managing to say a word of anything about Lorna as a "person" (especially while managing to acknowledge that other characters have experienced trauma) is always a bad sign.
It would look pretty terrible if a manager at a company hired someone, and when asked about the new guy's qualifications could only say "Oh, this is Steve's brother."
Lorna should've been in Empyre. She should not have been in X of Swords. That's my take.
The best bet for Lorna is really just her fandom doing its own thing. Marvel's given up all semblance of validity on this one. They've kept her out of major events she objectively should've been in, have other characters saying and doing things she should be saying and doing, and buried her on X-Factor just to be an OOC supporting character who's only there to sell more copies of a book that doesn't need her or do her any justice. Whatever fans do with her is more accurate than anything published by Marvel these days.
But, that's not to say I'm fine with Marvel doing whatever. Poor treatment of her by Marvel still negatively impacts perception of her generally. A combination of it not getting as bad as it could've been, people overall acknowledging the worst stuff as bad, and of course the horrors of COVID, kept me from publicly saying the most damning things I could have said. Hopefully next year doesn't give me cause to say them.
I can also be reached on BlueSky and Tumblr. Avatar by kahlart.
Ghosts of Genosha minicomic focused on Polaris, written by me and drawn by Fin_NoMore.
Polaris 50th anniversary minicomic written by me and drawn by Mlad!
Gallery of Polaris commissions (without NSFW or minicomics)
This is long overdue.
Polaris mistreatment bingo card for X of Swords.
I made a post on my WP with greater detail. Here, I'll cut it shorter and leave out the stuff I think most people already know, only explaining what may need explaining, and what I almost included but decided against.
Trait given to another character: For Emma Frost being written more in the way Lorna would have behaved if written properly. I am NOT saying Emma would have behaved differently, with or without Lorna present. But Lorna's misrepresentation as compared to Emma's treatment had a big enough gap that I felt this one was appropriate.
Misused to make threat look more threatening: Obviously true for Rockslide's death, but this post is about Lorna, and Lorna's depiction is an extension of that. Her acting traumatized by his death is meant to get readers invested in the gravity of death - which is undermined by how OOC Lorna's depicted in the attempt.
Bait and switch promo: We went from a variant cover making it look like Lorna's gonna lead a war or something, to Lorna in a nervous breakdown over Rockslide's death (yet somehow never in 15 years caring about the millions of people who died on Genosha begging for her specifically to save them). Closest she came to the cover was "leading" that little speech at the end, which is a far cry from Lorna holding a sword in the air in front of a crowd ready and eager for a fight.
QUESTION: Brainwashed or mind-controlled for others' stories: The fan speculation about the prophecies in her head altering her mental state, leading to her behavior. We have no evidence that was the intent. But if it was, then she was behaving that way specifically to advance the story of X of Swords. Also generally up for debate if altering mental state but not directly and deliberately controlling it counts or doesn't as mind control.
NOT USED: History gets retconned: While Lorna's depiction ignored her Genosha experience, it didn't outright retcon that experience. It's entirely possible to reconcile X of Swords and what happened to her on Genosha at a later date.
There were obviously some things that didn't fit this card. The card was made a year ago, shortly after HoX/PoX. The card may need a revision to fit things that have happened but aren't represented on it.
Last edited by salarta; 12-29-2020 at 06:39 PM.
I can also be reached on BlueSky and Tumblr. Avatar by kahlart.
Ghosts of Genosha minicomic focused on Polaris, written by me and drawn by Fin_NoMore.
Polaris 50th anniversary minicomic written by me and drawn by Mlad!
Gallery of Polaris commissions (without NSFW or minicomics)
Agreed.
Her gaming appearances for the year, however, deserve a level of kudos.Now next year.
Will she get a seat on The Quiet Council? Nope.
Will she be made leader of X-Factor? Probably Not.
Will she leave X-Factor and do something more important? This is probably the least likeliest thing to happen IMHO.
If what Al Ewing says about moments dealing with the whole Magneto/Hulkling/Wiccan/Wanda thing will be explored in SWORD as it continues is true...will Polaris have a central role? Nope.
Will she even have a small role or cameo despite it having so much to do with her?!? Probably not!
Will they even mention her name? Maybe.
Is that good enough? No.
Will Marvel keeping shuffling her in the background and not even keeping her in character. Probably.
Anyways guys, here’s to hoping 2021 will be a better year. I don’t have much faith it will be, but hey we can hope, right?! And remeber we can’t let 2020 win or else 2021. Get it?��
Don't know if this has been discussed here (I don't check the thread regularly), but Lorna is in Alex Ross's Marvel #2. This is the issue with Silver Age Black Widow on the cover: https://www.marvel.com/comics/issue/80470/marvel_2020_2
She appears in a story that is set in between Giant-Sized X-Men #1 and Uncanny X-Men 94. Art and story is by Dan Brereton. Lorna doesn't have a substantial part in the story, but she does get a few panels. The story is basically showing how Wolverine is a jerk, but has potential as a team-player. Lorna gives him a slight assist in the Danger Room.
X-Factor #6 is coming out next week, right ? I would very much like Lorna and Terry's friendship to be remembered but I try not to have too much hope
That's the one with a page of Lorna standing next to Havok on some stairs, so I completely skipped it. Not keen on Marvel's attempts to force the visual, especially when they can't be bothered to acknowledge her non-Havok history or do better with her than they have these past 5 years. I know it's a "looking at the past" case, doesn't change my views. If they refuse to acknowledge that far more important things than dating Havok happened to her, then they shouldn't acknowledge Havok either.
As a more positive thing to add opposite my complaints, especially as we're entering a new year, here's another recent piece of the sisters made by onehitjimmy (posted by someone else).
I can also be reached on BlueSky and Tumblr. Avatar by kahlart.
Ghosts of Genosha minicomic focused on Polaris, written by me and drawn by Fin_NoMore.
Polaris 50th anniversary minicomic written by me and drawn by Mlad!
Gallery of Polaris commissions (without NSFW or minicomics)