Lorna Dane: Polaris Appreciation 2020

[jmc247]

I just picked up Topps 2020 Polaris card.

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

Austen's response.

Question: Hi Chuck, I really liked your work on Uncanny X-Men, especially with what you did with Polaris. You turned her from a character that was always in the background who I hardly ever noticed into one of my favorite characters and you managed to give her character a nice edge. One thing I was wondering is how the decision to make Polaris Magneto’s daughter again came down? Was that Morrison or your idea?

Austen: I believe it was Grant’s. But the roots went much further back, though others can tell you specifically when and where, what issues, what the circumstances were, which page, what panels, what characters, the costumes they were wearing, who lettered it, and possibly even the type of printer it was printed on.

There was a storyline done years ago where she was ‘revealed’ to be Magneto’s daughter, but then it was undone, or proven not to be true, or only happened in one of Scarlet Witch’s continuity-scrubbing bubbles, or something. Maybe in the Neal Adams Roy Thomas run. I researched it at the time, but I’ve since forgotten. I needed to memorize someone’s phone number, and that’s the only brain space I had available.

Apparently Grant made a decision to go back to it, but I’m not sure whose actual idea it was: his, Marvel’s, or God’s acting through them both as a conduit—I assume his, because he was Grant Morrison, and he had the power, the power of Hoodoo—all I can tell you is that the germ of the idea wasn’t mine.

I had intended to use Polaris in my run from the beginning, keep her much as she’d been when I’d read about her in X-Factor and other places, then eventually marry her off to Alex, happily ever after—at least until some other writer came along and made them related to Satan. It was a surprise to me when she appeared in Grant’s X-Men—crazy, muttering to herself, and wandering in the radioactive mud. We’d just had coffee the previous day, and she seemed fine. Just shows how you can miss the little signs.

Once she’d appeared as Nutso Profundo I had to rewrite some of my scripts, and went with Lorna the edgier, more volatile and unpredictable Looney Tunes with a heart of gold. It made a certain amount of sense, and I agree with you, she became more interesting than she had been. CURSE YOU GRANT MORRISON AND YOUR GENIUS! He was always making me look bad for my lack of imagination. I think he did it on purpose.

If Lorna had been on Genosha when it was destroyed, that kind of devastation likley would have changed her, deeply, although I’m sure she still could have had kids, a marriage, and sold Tupperware in her spare time if only I had let her. I decided not to, because I’m a dick, that way.

So it wasn’t planned, it wasn’t actually my idea, but I ran with it and thought it was a good direction and an interesting one. And, tellingly, people both credit, and blame me for the change.

If you liked it, I did it. If not, it’s Grant’s fault.

See how easy that is?

The only Morrison commentary on his Genosha storyline below.

NRAMA: Speaking of one of those villains of the X-Men’s “family,” is the “ultimate Magneto” storyline still in the works? If so, how? From all appearances, it looks like Magneto was killed in the early moments of the attack on Genosha.

GM: “Yes. Magneto was killed in Genosha but that doesn't mean his influence can't be felt. Che Guevara was killed in Bolivia in 1967 but he still sells T-shirts.

“Much of the second year of New X-Men is looking at what happens to superheroes when there are no more villains left to fight and where struggles become more ambiguous and deadly; in the aftermath of Magneto's death and the destruction of Genosha, the mutant race is thrown into confusion and self-doubt. Old boundaries crumble, new alliances are forged and it becomes harder to tell the good guys from the bad.

“What happens when there's a moral vacuum left to be filled? When there's no more Magneto left to oppose Xavier's dream, where will the inevitable opposition come from? And could it be that Xavier's 'dream' is in dire need of someone to oppose it? “Getting rid of Magneto was necessary to clear the decks for new possibilities and more frightening threats.”

NRAMA: Will Havok and Polaris return?

GM: “Havok appears in Chuck's book and Polaris turns up in New X-Men #132, the Genosha story.

https://sites.google.com/site/deepsp...on-talks-filth

Not bad that each writer had one of their comics merged (Morrison's New X-Men 132 and Austen's Uncanny X-Men 443) into a popular animated TV episode 'The Badlands'. Uncanny X-Men 443 is being reprinted in trade next month for those interested. I plan on having a retro review.

[AbnormallyNormal]

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

I did like that costume but idk about her being an Imperial Guards(wo)man... tend to think being in outer space is like "out of sight, out of mind" for a character generally

ukosmith:Like daughter, like father.


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

Also, a fans idea for a new design.



Link

I like both of those *A LOT*.

Probably the top image a little more, she looks more noble. Bottom image her expression is a bit too sinister or diabolical. Which can work but in general for a single "portrait" of her I like something more earnest, serious, hopeful yet determined. Stuff like that

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

Can't be serious... this redefined her as a character. *Her entire being the daughter of Magneto was revealed here*

The flashbacks of her in Genosha was revealed here

It's the most prominent she's ever been in terms of a mainstream team

It showed her struggles with her inner darkness which her traumatic experiences have helped to birth

It was great, the problem is what came afterwards (and which I think largely has to do with Magneto's return as well as general disinterest by other authors in Lorna, or just not knowing how to properly handle her i.e. she has to either be Pure Good Heroine or Crazy Psycho)

[salarta]

Can't be serious... this redefined her as a character. *Her entire being the daughter of Magneto was revealed here*

The flashbacks of her in Genosha was revealed here

It's the most prominent she's ever been in terms of a mainstream team

It showed her struggles with her inner darkness which her traumatic experiences have helped to birth

It was great, the problem is what came afterwards (and which I think largely has to do with Magneto's return as well as general disinterest by other authors in Lorna, or just not knowing how to properly handle her i.e. she has to either be Pure Good Heroine or Crazy Psycho)

I think a lot of people who are moreso fans of X-Men as a whole, or other X-Men characters, don't realize that even with some problems in Austen's run (e.g. blaming and trying to kill Nurse Annie for Havok deciding to leave her at the altar), it's still the best Lorna's been written across multiple story arcs in the 616. All other writers have been bogged down with nostalgia, or with how she could be exploited to promote and support Havok, Magneto, and other characters that aren't her.

Which I think says a lot. If Austen is considered the "worst" X-Men writer, and we take that view without question, then what does it say about how bad Marvel is and has been toward Lorna that the "worst" writer managed to do so much better with and for her than anyone else in over 50 years?

[Havok83]

Austen did what most writers since have failed to do and thats give Lorna an actual personality. Lets be real, she tends to be rather meh most of the time. She really stood out in Austen's run despite its flaws

[Will Evans]

Not counting Alex or even Bobby, who would be the best love interest for Lorna? (Who isn’t already taken)

[Havok83]

Not counting Alex or even Bobby, who would be the best love interest for Lorna? (Who isn’t already taken)

I'll keep saying Warren

[Soulsword323]

Neal Shaara.



Not so much dating, but as friends with benefits. Neal is hot, not particularly popular, and as an added bonus, was there to rescue Lorna from Genosha! Honestly, I struggle to come up with someone I think works well for Polaris. It largely depends on the writer and how they portray them.

[jmc247]

Austen did what most writers since have failed to do and thats give Lorna an actual personality. Lets be real, she tends to be rather meh most of the time. She really stood out in Austen's run despite its flaws

That really is a great way to put it. Lorna's personality just reeked generic female character and still does in many runs that try to harken back to nostalgia for eras that didn't do much for her.

Austen also gave her a personality and semblance of a motivational core life event to guide understanding her. Mind you the motivational core event wasn't his idea. His idea was to write her like a generic female character, marry her to Havok and dump her in limbo and that was it. Morrison upended that; but most writers in Austen's shoes would have ignored the genocide and gone on with their plans.

I just wish more writers could separate what they feel about a overall writers contribution to the X-Men franchise with if their depiction of Lorna is useful or worth anything and not lean so hard on eras when she had no personality or outward motivation bigger then her love life as their source material for her.

Some writers have followed the model Austen set down for her personality the last decade or so. Most have not.





I really think many more writers would be interested in writing Lorna with Emma, Jean, and the other core characters if they didn't write her as a bland mother hen character by including her impish and more political personality. If a writer could get her solidly out of her bland mother hen personality and it was high enough profile run (and critically acclaimed) so that other writers too cues from it I think the character could be a mainstay.

There is a tendency of many writers to look back on the 80s and early 90s at the high point of the X-Men's popularity for the definitive takes on female X-Men. But, Lorna was a personality-less shell who alternated between girlfriend character, generic hero, and plot device in that era so they are doing the character a disservice looking back on an era where there wasn't much there.

[juan678]

https://twitter.com/TyRomsaArt/statu...44688679698437

[jmc247]

Nice art and a certain someone liked it as well. One can like or hate Emma Dumont, but she is one of the few actresses that is a legitimate fan of their character as shown by her interest in her when she isn't making money from her.

[JasmineW]

Austen sounds kinda bitchy in that interview.

I really loved Uncanny 425-426, I think it's a lot of fun.

[jmc247]

Austen sounds kinda bitchy in that interview.

I really loved Uncanny 425-426, I think it's a lot of fun.

It was a fan question and answer on his old website about a decade ago. He was still getting a lot of hate mail at that point in time and would occasionally share some.

He wasn’t good at emotionally detaching from some fans very vocal statements along the lines of he raped their childhood by making Juggernaut an anti-hero, breaking up their childhood ship, etc. He eventually stopped answering fan questions all together. More then a few comic fans are fairly conservative when it comes to wanting the characters and relationships as they read them when they were kids.

But, yes I would agree the thing that can can be said about UXM 425-426 Lorna and her interactions with Jean and others was it was actually a lot of fun which was something the character very much can use as every time writers fall back on bland, generic and entirely replaceable depictions of the character it isn’t long before the character is limboed.

[MechaJeanix]

At the time I was not a fan of Chuck's run because I was comparing it to Grant Morrison's New X-men run and I still feel it had a lot of problems but when I recently re-read it I think it was probably better than Rosenberg's recent Uncanny run. Now CA's Polaris was controversial at the time, and I wasn't happy to see her unhinged and sort of crazy (especially at the wedding where she had the Magneto helmet).

I prefer Polaris to be strong, confident and in control (same as how I prefer Jean). My favorite Polaris is from the Peter David's X-factor run (that of course was when I was first introduced to her). I was very happy anytime she was a main character in the main X-men books.

[Havok83]

At the time I was not a fan of Chuck's run because I was comparing it to Grant Morrison's New X-men run and I still feel it had a lot of problems but when I recently re-read it I think it was probably better than Rosenberg's recent Uncanny run. Now CA's Polaris was controversial at the time, and I wasn't happy to see her unhinged and sort of crazy (especially at the wedding where she had the Magneto helmet).

I prefer Polaris to be strong, confident and in control (same as how I prefer Jean). My favorite Polaris is from the Peter David's X-factor run (that of course was when I was first introduced to her). I was very happy anytime she was a main character in the main X-men books.

At least his crazy Lorna had some actual fire and agency to her. This was MUCH better than what Davis gave us where he had her pathetic, weak and locked in her apartment hugging Alex's costume


This was cringeworthy. Austen may have broke her down but he built her back up. She was much stronger and confident later in his run bc he dealt with her issues and didnt simply have her be some raging psycho



Too bad Milligan would come after this and regress her

[jmc247]

At the time I was not a fan of Chuck's run because I was comparing it to Grant Morrison's New X-men run and I still feel it had a lot of problems but when I recently re-read it I think it was probably better than Rosenberg's recent Uncanny run. Now CA's Polaris was controversial at the time, and I wasn't happy to see her unhinged and sort of crazy (especially at the wedding where she had the Magneto helmet).

I prefer Polaris to be strong, confident and in control (same as how I prefer Jean). My favorite Polaris is from the Peter David's X-factor run (that of course was when I was first introduced to her). I was very happy anytime she was a main character in the main X-men books.

Nostalgia its a hell of a drug. I will only say there were more then one distinct versions of Lorna in Austen's run. The version barely holding it together immediately after the Genoshan genocide alternate between PTSD fueled aggressive behavior and trying to act normal was the first version.



Then all hell broke lose at her wedding when her finance stomps her heart after she lost everything a few months before. Love it or hate it... it got people talking about her and that in the end is one of Lorna's biggest problems outside of not having a consistent personality and goal is hardly anyone talks about her outside her fans.

The second version was the 'healing version' after her session with Xavier, where she was highly competent, brilliant, but still wounded and as we saw in UXM 443 still potentially triggered by the death and destruction wrought on Genosha.




The last of Austen's version was the fully healed version in the last two five issue arcs of X-Men Reload. She was powerful, smart, but also became passive again when interacting with other X-Men.. too passive I would say to the level people stopped paying attention and talking about her and have basically forgotten about this era in his run. I remember and it seems Havok83 remembers it, but that version of Lorna tends to be pretty much forgotten about.

The sweet spot for the character is the healing but not healed late 2003 to mid 2004 version. Even PAD himself realized by the end of his first run he had to shake things up with Lorna. His second and third runs though they had overall worse scripts then his first run had a more interesting Lorna. But, he overplayed the incompetent card akin to a mistake Milligan made and he made the mistake divorcing her from mutant activism and her Genosha pathos.

Milligan decided to make her very unstable post Austen due to 'what she saw in space' or whatever and made her very incompetent too. Hickman's Lorna in House of X felt like a continuation of Lorna from 2004 of sane, but emotionally damaged by the destruction of Genosha. Her story got way off track as in miles off track, but hopefully it gets back on track.