Lorna Dane: Polaris Appreciation 2020

[houndsofluv]

colour me VERY intrigued by the hanged man team..
now that we have a good idea of who the sword holders are and its a lil snoozy I think im more interested in seeing whats in store for these guys

[Soulsword323]

I'm really exited to read the interactions between Lorna, the other former Horsemen, and Apocalypse in particular. I hope that weird history and connection is brought up. Could lead to some very interesting exchanges.

[salarta]

Time for more fan work.



By LadyOfMetal666.



by sandyjarrell.



Polaris Brickheadz MOC (My Own Creation) by legobaldon.

[jmc247]

Lorna and Apocalypse could very well be an interesting set of interactions. It wasn't really a possession in the Claremont sense with Lorna. Milligan was pretty clear in their only previous interaction that both considered it as a barter the return of her powers in exchange for serving him as a Horseman.

Obviously, Leah could ignore that and present a blog standard for Lorna heroine once enslaved by bad guy and needs to overcome it story. Though making their relationship more complicated and unique rather then redundant with tons of other characters like Angel would be interesting.

Her hating him is fine, but it would be much more interesting presented within a framework of a political character interesting with a rival faction head instead of Poccy interacts with a hero who was once used as a Horseman version 9.0.

The early 2000s was ground zero for how ideas on how a Lorna who thinks and acts differently in terms of the world of X-Men antagonists and protagonists was a winner. Making it just about Magneto not mutant issues or anything else though was a significant mistake of the past decade as it made the character pretty genetic.

That reminds me.



By Olivia

[salarta]

Since we're talking about Lorna's interactions with Apocalypse, I think it's worthwhile to share relevant pages.





These pages are from when Lorna became Pestilence.

Also worth noting how in these pages, the content actually takes what Lorna has been through into account, compared to how current Marvel ignores her experiences completely.

Also also, it's ironic how Apocalypse in these pages explicitly says Lorna is "ripe for change," given how little change has happened for Lorna since.

I can imagine some people thinking I shouldn't say the above because we don't know what's to come with the content involving Apocalypse. From my view? The above accurately describes the past 5 years. The past year in particular has seen her ignored in terms of Genosha, Krakoa, and being considered a meaningful X-woman in any sense. When they've done enough work where they've properly taken her experiences into account (not just that they happened, but their importance too) and moved toward positive change is when I'll stop expecting the worst from Marvel.

[Marveld2]

Hopefully Polaris does something because I don't know the last time she did anything worth while. Because I want my green haired goddess back like she was in the 90'st

[salarta]

Lorna's position and treatment should be greatly evolved from the 90s, so it's pretty bad that the current approach is "90s but even worse off."

[juan678]

from Xfactor 4

Thanks MAR420X

[Soulsword323]

Lorna's cape looks amazing! Kinda wish he was the artist for X-Factor full time.

[jmc247]

Lorna's cape looks amazing! Kinda wish he was the artist for X-Factor full time.

The part of the outfit that covers her front looks like a much better design then the oversized green smock they often use for her space outfit.

As for the 1990s Lorna question put up by a fan above I will just say this. My view on Bunn's run was that its cardinal sin was Lorna was written too much in regurgitated 90s character dynamics. She cared about Alex and a little bit Magneto and nothing else. Mutant rights, the trauma of surviving a genocide, or really what she felt about Magneto doing things like offing the future Brotherhood we weren't let in on. I will give Bunn some credit for a few moments where it felt like 2000s era Lorna, but that was two scenes in his entire three years with her. Bunn's Lorna needs to be given its due that it was by in large a stronger portrayal then any depiction of 90s Lorna save two issues under JM.

Prisoner of X Lorna was a much better depiction then X-Men Blue really right off the bat. It wasn't perfect, but it hit a sweat spot with a Lorna who is a reluctant ally to Bishop and company after fighting them in that universe and it was a Lorna who felt like Lorna in battle. I do think PoX worked on a framework that can work well for Lorna in the regular universe comics of current ally and former foe. It has the benefit of being true and it would do much better to create drama with Lorna and other characters then Lorna as everyone's friend.

[salarta]

The artist is good, especially the costume being shiny metal, evocative of her powers.

How she's treated (not just by the writer, but by editorial mandate and Marvel as a whole) is going to matter more though. I'll have more to say on this after tomorrow.

[AbnormallyNormal]

Her image in that new event looks regressive to me, anytime I see her just flying around near the background (especially when Havok is present) and she's in her all greens... very bad signs

That said, I hope for the best

How's everyone handling the ongoing global pandemic? It's been hard for me, since with the lockdown and all one of my usual sources of escapism which I could use more than ever is gone... oh well.

Curious about XFactor still much more looking forward to that book than Lorna in X of Swords event related issues. She shares XFactor with other characters but I feel like the author has at least gone out of their way to comment about Lorna and seems to have an eagerness to please the fans of her. And is open to not knowing all there is about her, so maybe she can adjust things or evolve things even if the original few issues are not as great. Also just the nature of an "ongoing" with a relatively limited cast gives Lorna surely a much greater focus.

[juan678]

https://www.cbr.com/times-polaris-pr...mber-x-factor/

[salarta]

I was able to shrug off Lorna in the background of that piece on account of how she's near Angel and Banshee, the flying helps her to stand out a bit more since not many others are doing it, she's in her iconic costume for easier identification, and she's not some obscure blip in a huge splash page. An improvement from the Uncanny X-Men teaser image.

I'm more concerned with Havok being in it. As far as I'm concerned, Lorna would be better off not with that group at all if she has to be around and interact in any way with Havok to be part of it. But it also doesn't surprise me. Marvel's already demonstrated how little they think of Lorna and how badly they want to put her under Havok again. This is just their next step toward another round of obliterating more of her development and history in service to some other character they're fans of.

Historically, Marvel writing Lorna for Havok the first time killed her being recognized as the second woman to join the X-Men, and any dynamics she could have with Jean and Iceman. Marvel doing it the second time, when they threw Lorna into space, killed the following:

• any semblance of respect for her surviving the Genoshan genocide
• ditto of above regarding related mental health issues
• the "queen of mutants" eagerness to fight for mutants, and philosophical complexity we saw during Austen's run
• innovative uses of her powers

All we have left to see is what Marvel kills about Lorna the third time they misuse her to promote Havok. Will it be her origin story this time? Will it be that she has any leadership experience? Will she lose her powers, or her hair color, or will it be something else entirely? We're already seeing that she's not allowed to lead a team of her own in this supposed "new era," so she's already down that path. Whatever they strip from Lorna this time, it'll be one or more things that help her to stand out as her own woman. Whenever Marvel writes Lorna to be Havok's prop, it comes loaded with wanting to ensure Lorna doesn't have anything about her that might threaten Havok's total dominance over her identity and perceived value.

I'd say Marvel's several steps behind my expectations if not for how this is where they would've been earlier this year if COVID hadn't happened. Something happening slowly doesn't mean it's not happening, and often times slowness is a deliberate gambit to try to make something bad seem normal and palatable.

How's everyone handling the ongoing global pandemic? It's been hard for me, since with the lockdown and all one of my usual sources of escapism which I could use more than ever is gone... oh well.

I'm doing okay right now. I'm fortunate that up until now I've been in a situation where I've been able to minimize risk. That said, I'm assuming that I'll die if I get COVID, which I'm handling better right now than I was in the beginning.

https://www.cbr.com/times-polaris-pr...mber-x-factor/

Thanks juan. It's ironic that one article from CBR shows more awareness of her history and value than anything Marvel's done this whole time.

Unlike the article, I wouldn't call what Zaladane did to Lorna a "secondary mutation," as 1) it was before the concept of secondary mutations came about, and 2) the powers were pretty much tailor-made for emotionally and psychologically hurting her. I take the approach that they're powers Zaladane forced on Lorna for that purpose, considering Zaladane seemed to really love inflicting that kind of pain on her.

[Devaishwarya]

Lorna's cape looks amazing! Kinda wish he was the artist for X-Factor full time.

Me, too...tree and fore.