Lorna Dane: Polaris Appreciation 2020

[gifted]

In all of the fan fictions I plotted, I always had Charles and Erik dead. With Jean being the "daughter" of Charles and Lorna being the daughter of Erik. They are the more liberal, "modern generation" views of their predecessors.

I always wanted Jean to take control of the "X-Men" label and launch them into one of the world's greatest superhero teams, much like what Uncanny Avengers volume 3 was. Whereas I wanted Lorna to take control of the "mutant" label and rebuild Genosha as the Princess of Genosha, then act as a global politician to fight for mutant rights.

[jmc247]

I always wanted Jean to take control of the "X-Men" label and launch them into one of the world's greatest superhero teams, much like what Uncanny Avengers volume 3 was. Whereas I wanted Lorna to take control of the "mutant" label and rebuild Genosha as the Princess of Genosha, then act as a global politician to fight for mutant rights.

Lorna does benefit moderately when there are two clear factions and she is allowed to be a major member of the 'mutant' faction as you put it. That only happens when Magneto is leading one of the factions. The last time that happened in the comics was twenty years ago. The problem is Magneto vs the X-Men is redundant storytelling. Krakoa is something new, but so far Lorna isn't part of the politics on the island in any way.

I would agree with you Lorna leading her own faction of mutants and I am not talking a generic super hero team is something that long term the character needs for an iconic storyline and to rebuild her non-existent relationships with the X-Men. I mean I sympathize with the writers who don't know what to do between Lorna and the core X-Men so they avoid doing anything as there is nothing there and they would be building it from scratch.

A great many Polaris fans justifiably don't like when she is written as the 'the girlfriend of' or 'the daughter of', but that is what writers are stuck falling back on unless they give Lorna a counterpoint story arc and some major conflicted history between herself as the core X-Men. Writers salivate at the idea of writing Emma with any of the X-Men the same for Magneto and any of the other characters who have a conflicted history with the X-Men they can mine. Fans salivate at the idea of reading it too.

Lorna has had brief periods were she was on the other side of the X-Men when not a puppet, but no real iconic storylines that pit her against her contemporaries that one can say she owned and without that I don't think there will ever be a real demand from fans and creative staff to want to build interesting relationships between Lorna and the mainstay X-Men.

Your fanfic where Lorna owns her own revolution some time in the future is the only way to really break the conundrum Lorna has in terms of having something real to say writing her with the other X-Men. And, to make it clear she would really have to own her revolution otherwise it would become another case of Lorna helping her father which has been done and while it creates some drama between Lorna and the X-Men it tends to die quick and/or get blamed on Magneto.

[MechaJeanix]

In all of the fan fictions I plotted, I always had Charles and Erik dead. With Jean being the "daughter" of Charles and Lorna being the daughter of Erik. They are the more liberal, "modern generation" views of their predecessors.

I always wanted Jean to take control of the "X-Men" label and launch them into one of the world's greatest superhero teams, much like what Uncanny Avengers volume 3 was. Whereas I wanted Lorna to take control of the "mutant" label and rebuild Genosha as the Princess of Genosha, then act as a global politician to fight for mutant rights.

I love this and I've had similar ideas. I would loved to have seen Jean and Polaris - at least temporarily at odds with each other as the heirs to Xavier and Magneto. In the comics, often times the heir to Xavier is portrayed more as Cyclops than Jean Grey though. It could be interesting to see them work together (but addressing issues in different ways or as I said to see them in conflict with each other - kind of going into the old roles of their mentors).

It is too bad that we didn't see Jean taking on the role of Xavier, and Polaris didn't get enough focus when she was consistently with Magneto in Genosha (especially during the times his powers were weakened).

[jmc247]

I love this and I've had similar ideas. I would loved to have seen Jean and Polaris - at least temporarily at odds with each other as the heirs to Xavier and Magneto. In the comics, often times the heir to Xavier is portrayed more as Cyclops than Jean Grey though. It could be interesting to see them work together (but addressing issues in different ways or as I said to see them in conflict with each other - kind of going into the old roles of their mentors).

It is too bad that we didn't see Jean taking on the role of Xavier, and Polaris didn't get enough focus when she was consistently with Magneto in Genosha (especially during the times his powers were weakened).

Its never too late to fill in backstory and rebuild and reset ideas, especially when you have a mini set on Genosha coming up. That could at least open doors that have been slammed shut between Lorna and the core X-Men ever since they fell back on nostalgia for eras in Lorna’s past where she was written around relationships not ideas.

[salarta]

The only romantic/sexual pairing I'm interested in is Lorna with Jean. Maybe Emma, depending on setup.

There's a lot of options with Lorna and Jean. You could use their history in the beginning and suggest they had flirting and a hidden fling back then. You could explain Lorna's complete lack of presence at Jean and Cyclops' wedding as Jean not being comfortable with Lorna there given their past relationship, or Lorna refusing to attend because she didn't feel she could watch Jean take the vow. In terms of clashes, their common base of joining the X-Men and being on the team could lead to some good philosophical stories between the two. Jean could be more trusting of humans, Lorna can be more distrusting, Jean wondering how Lorna could be given their background on the X-Men and Lorna wondering how Jean could think she couldn't be after what happened on Genosha.

[AbnormallyNormal]

Your guys notions about "next gen" stuff is great but there's a reason it's not being done - the comics won't let the iconic first gen ever go away

That really is the problem. Lorna began being fleshed out and explored under Austen when Mags was considered deceased. This crucially opened up creative space for her character.

I totally agree one can easily view either Jean Grey OR Scott Summers as the proper inheritor of the Xavier ideology. Although i still think Scott leaving the team and becoming a civilian or part-time hero is better for him, and Jean well... staying dead.. is better for her. But both those notions have long since been overturned. (another strong candidate for this role would've been Kitty Pryde until her recent rebellious turn on Marauders)

I don't think Polaris can ever truly just shrug off her history of mental possession and all that, but it does introduce at least the fundamental concept within her (as does her earlier introduction) of being on the opposing side of the main X-Men. As does her bonding with her dad and her coming to appreciate/love Genosha, and be there when it was savagely destroyed.

I don't want her to be written as "pure evil" but I do want her moral greys explored, in fact I almost demand this happen or I feel it "isn't truly Polaris" to begin with, it's the thing jmc always speaks about, the "Jean with green hair who can move metal" which Lorna was in the 90s on XFactor largely (and which many many many fans still ID her as)

That's why "The Gifted" was so groundbreaking for her as a character even though sadly the comics have totally failed to carry on its ideas. I worry greatly that the MCU will put her into a much tamer and more boring role.

We need fans to become open-minded about characters they like and accept that a character can be fun, exciting, interesting WITHOUT needing to be morally flawless. Lorna is mucccccccccchhhhhhhhhhhh better off in a more conflicted role where she can expose many root tensions in the background lore about mutants/humans and all of that stuff. The hardest thing is how to 1) Have her do this while Magneto is alive/around instead of him doing it 2) Her coming to this seeming natural 3) Making it not completely simplistic or cartoonish, but instead layered with sympathy involved as well as feelings of revulsion and questioning by the audience

Like that's the part I wrestle with in my head - should Lorna's experiences and all that let her somehow surprisingly become MORE militant while Magneto becomes LESS over time? I sort of like that. Or if not that simple-minded an approach, then there must be some kind of "twist" or whatnot to get her differentiated from her father but not in a way that she has been where she is the Good Girl to his Bad Daddy. That's... not great for her character

[Will Evans]

The only romantic/sexual pairing I'm interested in is Lorna with Jean. Maybe Emma, depending on setup.

There's a lot of options with Lorna and Jean. You could use their history in the beginning and suggest they had flirting and a hidden fling back then. You could explain Lorna's complete lack of presence at Jean and Cyclops' wedding as Jean not being comfortable with Lorna there given their past relationship, or Lorna refusing to attend because she didn't feel she could watch Jean take the vow. In terms of clashes, their common base of joining the X-Men and being on the team could lead to some good philosophical stories between the two. Jean could be more trusting of humans, Lorna can be more distrusting, Jean wondering how Lorna could be given their background on the X-Men and Lorna wondering how Jean could think she couldn't be after what happened on Genosha.

Lorna did attend Scott and Jean’s wedding. It’s just that she isn’t close to Jean and wasn’t in the wedding party. Storm was maid of honor, not Lorna. Rachel was also in the wedding party. And Alex was Scott’s best man.

It just goes to show you that while Lorna may think of Jean as her best female friend, Jean doesn’t see Lorna that way.

[jmc247]

Your guys notions about "next gen" stuff is great but there's a reason it's not being done - the comics won't let the iconic first gen ever go away

That really is the problem. Lorna began being fleshed out and explored under Austen when Mags was considered deceased. This crucially opened up creative space for her character...

Like that's the part I wrestle with in my head - should Lorna's experiences and all that let her somehow surprisingly become MORE militant while Magneto becomes LESS over time? I sort of like that. Or if not that simple-minded an approach, then there must be some kind of "twist" or whatnot to get her differentiated from her father but not in a way that she has been where she is the Good Girl to his Bad Daddy. That's... not great for her character

For a huge iconic storyline down the road of the next generation steps up as leaders and have to deal with the problems and pitfalls of the previous one then benching them someway is needed, but that is an issue way down the road and it doesn't need to happen for Lorna to have a distinct interesting relationship with the core cast. If you develop Lorna's world view and make it clear enough that other writers pick up on it then you are getting somewhere.

[spirit2011]

Its never too late to fill in backstory and rebuild and reset ideas, especially when you have a mini set on Genosha coming up. That could at least open doors that have been slammed shut between Lorna and the core X-Men ever since they fell back on nostalgia for eras in Lorna’s past where she was written around relationships not ideas.

Hickman has a story for Lorna, so this might be part of it

[danielsan52]

Lorna should go back to her violet Shi’ar costume and become an Imperial Guardsman.

[jmc247]

ukosmith:Like daughter, like father.


Lorna's classic costume... as in the real classic costume.

Also, a fans idea for a new design.



Link

[salarta]

Lorna's classic costume... as in the real classic costume.

I feel this is an important distinction. People have a tendency to refer to anything old and memorable as "classic" when in reality, what's memorable and what's truly "classic" can be very different.

It's why I refer to the commonly known costume for Lorna as "iconic" instead of "classic." It's what people know for her look, but it's not the look she started with. A real classic costume would be the skull, the gold headdress and apparel, etc.



It's also as I look at this picture this time that I really notice the metallic sheen on the bottom half. Lorna's costumes have lost the metallic look, and this is a solid case for bringing that back as a visual facet of her character.


And now that I'm posting, time to share a couple more pieces of fanart. Both done for the six character fanart challenge.

This first awesome piece is by awesome Reddove18, who is awesome.



This second piece is by ViiMorteArt.




I love the costume choice, eyebrows and power signature of red's, and the roses from ViiMorte. Very romantic feel to the second bringing out a mental image of her I haven't had before.

[Soulsword323]

Lorna's classic costume... as in the real classic costume.

Also, a fans idea for a new design.



Link

Whew, this is amazing! This aesthetic is perfect for Lorna.

[houndsofluv]

ukosmith:Like daughter, like father.


Lorna's classic costume... as in the real classic costume.

I love the sort of electric design to her hair. and just overall how moody this is. I dig a darker Lorna

Also, a fans idea for a new design.



Link

Totally with Soulsword on this one. I have to say this is one of my favourite takes on her, done officially or by a fan. The shading on her hair is impeccable, her power signature looks dope I cant honestly think of a better word, headpiece is on point, the costume oh mannn .... I could go on and on for days. I love to see her darker shades, aesthetically and otherwise. the devilish gleam in her eyes is just fantastic

I feel this is an important distinction. People have a tendency to refer to anything old and memorable as "classic" when in reality, what's memorable and what's truly "classic" can be very different.

It's why I refer to the commonly known costume for Lorna as "iconic" instead of "classic." It's what people know for her look, but it's not the look she started with. A real classic costume would be the skull, the gold headdress and apparel, etc.



It's also as I look at this picture this time that I really notice the metallic sheen on the bottom half. Lorna's costumes have lost the metallic look, and this is a solid case for bringing that back as a visual facet of her character.

yes! never forget where we came from. I love the sword-and-sorcery vibe this has, a truly regal witchy queen moment! the lil skull and the ballet shoes ugh yes. the seafoam colouring to her hair is a major serve with the look, compliments everything very well and that headpiece is on a whole other level....wow I could really just gush about costumes for post after post lolll but honestly! I have to give credit where its due

[Thirteen]

Lorna began being fleshed out and explored under Austen when Mags was considered deceased. This crucially opened up creative space for her character.

Very little, if anything, of Lorna’s “development” during Austen”s run was a service to the character.