Lorna Dane: Polaris Appreciation 2020

[rhaenylis]

I was quite pessimistic, but in the end I liked the way Leah portrayed Lorna

For once we have an author who remembers that Lorna can manipulate minerals and earth
And seeing her hook up with Krakoa, it seemed almost unexpected
And she finally takes her independence from Magneto by going to create her own home (well, it's in fact the headquarters of the X-Factor, but it's already a good start)
And it's very cool to see her be the first to join Northstar in his quest

Afterwards, I was disappointed not to see her leading the team but it's cool to see that the QQ + Northstar naturally expected her to take the lead


Well, we are still not safe from a disastrous issue #2 but it's a good start that sets up characters too often put aside

[Lucyinthesky]

I am very happy for Lorna, it looks like Leah is doing all she can to give her powers a characteristic of her own different from her father, a team she has a long story with and friends to make her way in Krakoa on her own.

Loved when Magneto expected her to lead and quickly understood why she didn´t want to lead, she wants to find herself before leading, her bonding with Krakoa was a great way to make new readers curious about her story with the island.

[Strong Girl Daken]

Wow Lorna was fantastic in this. I was wondering if she would have a good character moment while reading and the issue really paid off near the end. Homework was definitely done.

[salarta]

Anyway.



More cool art by teal-bandit.

[AbnormallyNormal]

I love that salarta. I also love your current avatar!

For me, the issue had a surprisingly large amount of Lorna in it. And it touched on things about her like others said, but without really delving (which I understand, it isn't a solo or anything and there's only so much space they can dedicate to one character).

It felt slightly awkward to me, how Mags was assuming Lorna would be leader and felt disappointed.. and then to me it was a 4th wall break almost like Leah giving voice to her own perspective when Lorna asks Magneto how he would describe her and he can't, then she says "exactly" and flies off.

The stuff with her bonding with Krakoa was nice enough

My big thing is still: what's her motivation, who is she, how does being in this XFactor iteration advance her or grow her.

[RachelGrey]

I was quite pessimistic, but in the end I liked the way Leah portrayed Lorna

For once we have an author who remembers that Lorna can manipulate minerals and earth
And seeing her hook up with Krakoa, it seemed almost unexpected
And she finally takes her independence from Magneto by going to create her own home (well, it's in fact the headquarters of the X-Factor, but it's already a good start)
And it's very cool to see her be the first to join Northstar in his quest

Afterwards, I was disappointed not to see her leading the team but it's cool to see that the QQ + Northstar naturally expected her to take the lead


Well, we are still not safe from a disastrous issue #2 but it's a good start that sets up characters too often put aside

I reread the issue last night before bed and I realize that Lorna is incredibly connected to Krakoa, Black Tom is connected to the plant life of Krakoa, Lorna is connected to land and earth of Krakoa! Krakoa responds to her, in such a way that it feels that connection too! When she was exhausted after building the Boneyard she ended up sleeping on a bed of minerals, because Lorna wanted to feel connected to Krakoa when she fell asleep, and she felt protected by Krakoa!

I think this is going to mean something later, and this may be why that upcoming cover shows her raising her sword to a bunch of followers! I think Lorna is Krakoa's swordswoman!

[misty101]

There are rumours that Polaris is the next 5* character in Marvel Puzzle Quest.

[Soulsword323]

I reread the issue last night before bed and I realize that Lorna is incredibly connected to Krakoa, Black Tom is connected to the plant life of Krakoa, Lorna is connected to land and earth of Krakoa! Krakoa responds to her, in such a way that it feels that connection too! When she was exhausted after building the Boneyard she ended up sleeping on a bed of minerals, because Lorna wanted to feel connected to Krakoa when she fell asleep, and she felt protected by Krakoa!

I think this is going to mean something later, and this may be why that upcoming cover shows her raising her sword to a bunch of followers! I think Lorna is Krakoa's swordswoman!

The connection between Lorna and Krakoa was a great touch, and I hope that it will continue to be developed in future issues. It'd be awesome if she was Krakoa's swordsman, and I hope that is something that comes to fruition. All of this speculation is getting me excited for the event.

[jmc247]

I love that salarta. I also love your current avatar!

For me, the issue had a surprisingly large amount of Lorna in it. And it touched on things about her like others said, but without really delving (which I understand, it isn't a solo or anything and there's only so much space they can dedicate to one character).

It felt slightly awkward to me, how Mags was assuming Lorna would be leader and felt disappointed.. and then to me it was a 4th wall break almost like Leah giving voice to her own perspective when Lorna asks Magneto how he would describe her and he can't, then she says "exactly" and flies off.

Correction she says "I wouldn't know how to answer that either". And, yes it was a fairly solid 4th wall break meta moment of the kind I am not exactly fond of outside of Mojo issues (which will come next issue).

I also read that as the writer effectively saying Lorna’s whole past amounted to not having a personality in the comics which is incorrect and denigrates a number of runs that did a lot for her including giving her a personality. If I had to zero in on the biggest issue I had Lorna related in the comic that conversation was it.

Some eras in her past certainly deserve to be ignored or mocked, but not all of them.

[xhx23x]

Correction she says "I wouldn't know how to answer that either". And, yes it was a fairly solid 4th wall break meta moment of the kind I am not exactly fond of outside of Mojo issues (which will come next issue).

I also read that as the writer effectively saying Lorna’s whole past amounted to not having a personality in the comics which is incorrect and denigrates a number of runs that did a lot for her including giving her a personality. If I had to zero in on the biggest issue I had Lorna related in the comic that conversation was it.

Some eras in her past certainly deserve to be ignored or mocked, but not all of them.

I don't think that Leah meant that there's no personality in Lorna, but rather that it is very inconsistant from writer to writer or run to run. In universe I like to think that is Lorna talking about her past issues with mind control and always following some cause after another. Now, in a real mutant Utopia, with not as much danger of being manipulated by other people, she gets to actually explore who she is. And she wants the freedom to do so.

[jmc247]

I don't think that Leah meant that there's no personality in Lorna, but rather that it is very inconsistant from writer to writer or run to run. In universe I like to think that is Lorna talking about her past issues with mind control and always following some cause after another. Now, in a real mutant Utopia, with not as much danger of being manipulated by other people, she gets to actually explore who she is. And she wants the freedom to do so.

That is a better take that is plausible. Yes, her personality has been inconsistent, less due to mind control then to certain runs writing her as generic female voice of reason with no deeper motivation then the characters around her.

Leah did better then many of her past writers already by respecting some of her history with the Krakoa comments. She deserves respect for building on what came before there, but that also gets to my point that Lorna’s history is a patch work of good and bad depictions and history.

[xhx23x]

That is a better take that is plausible. Yes, her personality has been inconsistent, less due to mind control then to certain runs writing her as generic female voice of reason with no deeper motivation then the characters around her.

Leah did better then many of her past writers already by respecting some of her history with the Krakoa comments. She deserves respect for building on what came before there, but that also gets to my point that Lorna’s history is a patch work of good and bad history.

I'm hopeful that her touching on it does mean that Leah intends to explore Lorna's past depictions and integrate them into a solid base that future writers can take cues from. I mean, it is a big cast, so it probably won't happen fast, but all it takes is one writer that cares enough to leave a mark.

[salarta]

I love that salarta. I also love your current avatar!

Thanks! It took me a little time looking at what I have saved on my computer before I chose this. Also found a few I'll likely end up using later.

There are rumours that Polaris is the next 5* character in Marvel Puzzle Quest.

This would probably get me to actually play it, assuming there isn't something bad or insulting that gets worked into her arrival. Though I feel it kinda says something that Puzzle Quest launched in 2013 and it's taken this long, if she does get added.



On the most recent discussion, I feel comfortable in noting that Leah never really highlighted anything about Lorna's history or how it affected her in interviews besides the two (2) men Marvel's been most willing to acknowledge her knowing. The script of X-Factor #1 implies knowledge of certain things, but knowing certain facts is different from knowing the person. So, at present, I see one possible reading of the fourth wall break as Leah admitting she personally doesn't know who Lorna is and believes she will find out in the act of writing. Though, to have those words coming from Lorna's mouth does come loaded with the issue of implying Lorna herself doesn't know how things like surviving the Genoshan genocide have affected her. Future issues would need to account for such things. I know major things I've gone through retain core feelings and philosophies regardless of some changes over time.

There is also a trend of Marvel comics where Lorna gets sent places to "find herself," typically somewhere out of the way of major events where she does not have any kind of notable role or position in anything (civilian life, outer space, etc).

[RachelGrey]

I don't think that Leah meant that there's no personality in Lorna, but rather that it is very inconsistant from writer to writer or run to run. In universe I like to think that is Lorna talking about her past issues with mind control and always following some cause after another. Now, in a real mutant Utopia, with not as much danger of being manipulated by other people, she gets to actually explore who she is. And she wants the freedom to do so.

This was actually shade pointed at previous writers and the mind control stories! Leah was literally saying no one had ever given Lorna a consistent personality! So the whole idea of Lorna wanting to "find herself" is Lorna taking charge of her life and trying to figure out who she is and who she wants to be going forward! I liked the kind of wistful touch at the end where you could tell Magneto was worried that this new direction wasn't going to include him in Lorna's life, "we are still going to have tea at the House of M right?" Magneto needed to let Lorna know he wants to be part of her life no matter what she chooses to do!

I think the connection with Krakoa, the embracement of her love of geophysics, this was Leah and David showing that Lorna's powers can evolve to connect her to the Earth itself! Magneto is connected to magnetic field of the planet, but Lorna seems to be connected to the magnetic field in matter itself, which allows her to connect with the composition of molecules in minerals! This could be an element of personality, but they were definitely trying to show us that Lorna has been feeling deeply connected to Krakoa since she started living there, she can sense and feel that Krakoa is a living being, and she feels welcome on Krakoa differently then other people do!

I think it was very telling that Krakoa made her a bed of minerals to rest on when she was finished, I think Krakoa appreciates this connection too! That is why I am starting to wonder if Lorna is on her way to becoming a kind of elemental avatar that is connected to Krakoa! A living Island would be a complex ecosystem of electromagnetic impulses in the ground and the planets, and Lorna must feel that life when she walks on the island! That attunement to Krakoa is going to be important later for sure!

[salarta]

So. Two tweets.



This tweet highlights one case of many cases in Lorna's history wherein Marvel drags their feet on things that should happen for Lorna. It took decades for Marvel to restore something that was part of her introduction. Just as Marvel has not acknowledged her role on Genosha, surviving the genocide, and just how important that is for her personally and within the franchise since the mid-00s.



And this one notes the common problem Lorna has of being exploited for male characters.

You would expect, with such a history, that Marvel would want to make up for that treatment of Lorna by highly acknowledging key character moments, giving her vital roles in the franchise and events (especially where her history is relevant), and doing things for her that are long overdue. Instead, we tend to see her history glossed over if not outright ignored, and especially lately, she's treated more like she doesn't deserve to have a prominent place in the franchise or to do much with her peers (Jean, Wolverine, etc). I'm still of the firm belief that she needs and deserves a solo, mini, oneshot or to lead a team book, and to be given a fair shot in such. She's spent decades treated like an object to bolster the profiles of men. She needs at least the same level of usage, acknowledgment and respect that those men have received - if not more - to balance things out.

She's had too many incidents where Marvel either tries to reinforce poor treatment of her in subtle ways, or does fleeting things that look nice in hopes they can go back to treating her poorly with minimal criticism shortly after. Clearest recent sign of this was a great presence in Secret Wars in 2015, only to throw her into limbo for 2 years and bring her back to promote Havok and Magneto. She needs a true spotlight.