Lorna Dane: Polaris Appreciation 2020

[Havok83]

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MCU Lorna by Lukas Werneck.

those should be her comic looks

[jwatson]

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

[salarta]

How Lorna appears in her costume now...(not the X-Factor one)

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How I wish she would appear as a new costume, and her having actual meaningful place in stories these days...but hey...that’s Marvel for you.

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This is Magneto’s heir...on par with Jean Grey, Wolverine, Cyclops, Iceaman, Storm, and others. And yet we all see the way Marvel treats her...

Edit: (The Last two photos were made by me)

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.

Marvel, honestly, will need to establish Polaris as being an A-lister...or at least a B-lister that is majority important before giving her a romance person.

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.

The only reason I don’t really want her with Jean is just because of the fact that Jean is such a...a do-gooder and obviously Lorna isn’t evil but she just isnt really on the green for pure goodness category like Jean is. And I feel Marvel might do her wrong and make her this way if they put her with Jean. OR it could go a better way where because they have some differences they clash and fight, but in a healthy way, and both characters are pushed to new heights and have difficult choices to make. It would certainly make for one heck of a relationship.(or Emma and Jean can leave Scott and get together, and Polaris can have both Storm and Exodus)

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.

No, but if I wrote X of Swords Creation and Polaris was chilling out and then Havok just popped up I wouldn’t even have had her glanced back. Just would have had her roll her eyes because she could sense his magnetic signature and think ‘why does he keep popping up? Doesn’t he know we’re done. Forever’ and then I would have had Havok say something like ‘You look great’ and have Lorna say ‘You don’t Scott 2.0’ and then walk away. Man...I really dislike Havok. I think it is possible for her and Havok to work, but they need to do to work on Lorna alone before getting them together...but I personally jus5 don’t want it. I got off the Havok train and then I crushed said train.

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.

IDK, Polaris just has so much potential and Marvel could do so many things with her...imagine if they wished to use her meaningfully...within a few years casual comic fans would know who she was the second she showed up on a panel and she’s be many more people’s favorite character, and I’m sure she’s skyrocket in traditional popular people like Jean Grey, Cyclops, Wolverine, Storm...you know, the usual bunch.

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.

For goodness sakes Polaris witnessed and survived a genocide? Remeber Marvel? And yet she’s breaking down when one person, who’s like a teenager or a young adult...not even like a child...who she wasn’t particularly close to, did? Are you kidding me?

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."

I was calm...but I just...uh-uh...X-Factor #4 and how they used(or didn’t would be a better word)use her in Empyre is what’s making me upset. I felt that her role in X of SWORDS was fine, pretty good actually. I didn’t need her to be a swordbearer...there could only be 10 and in terms of who had the most to offer with the Otherworldly...Arakko...Amenth situation as well as the most popular X-Men well I see why they didn’t place here there even though it breaks my heart and she should be as popular as some of those others.

Lorna should've been in Empyre. She should not have been in X of Swords. That's my take.

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?

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.

[salarta]

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.

[jmc247]

I mean...in the context of just everything Marvel has done with Polaris. Has there been better years for her? Heck yes! Have there been worse years for her. Also heck yes! But I think this year was still in the negative...at least for me. IDK, Polaris just has so much potential and Marvel could do so many things with her...imagine if they wished to use her meaningfully...within a few years casual comic fans would know who she was the second she showed up on a panel and she’s be many more people’s favorite character, and I’m sure she’s skyrocket in traditional popular people like Jean Grey, Cyclops, Wolverine, Storm...you know, the usual bunch.

I think the reason why this year was pretty bad wasn’t even because of how Marvel could have used her in more ways than they did, though that is certainly part of it, it was because when they did use her she was either very generic and bland and anyone could have done it...or because she was just out of character. For goodness sakes Polaris witnessed and survived a genocide? Remeber Marvel? And yet she’s breaking down when one person, who’s like a teenager or a young adult...not even like a child...who she wasn’t particularly close to, did? Are you kidding me?

One yell from Magneto just like sends her over the edge? Are you kidding me?

Agreed.

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?��

Her gaming appearances for the year, however, deserve a level of kudos.

[kcekada]

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.

[rhaenylis]

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

[salarta]

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.

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).

[Havok83]

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

Leah is good with continuity and deep cuts so I expect it to be brought up

[Krakoa]

Leah is good with continuity and deep cuts so I expect it to be brought up

Especially with the Morrigan being addressed, I feel like it has to. Siryn became the Morrigan basically to help Lorna's mental health. Considering how much Leah's been exploring that aspect of Lorna, I feel like there's got to be a tie-in here.