Lorna Dane: Polaris Appreciation 2020

[Soulsword323]

Leah replied to a fan on Twitter, and said she plans on addressing Lorna's previous anger issues/outbursts. I'm excited to see that, and how Leah plans on unpacking that.

[salarta]

Brunette Lorna Appreciation...
(Ive never seen these pages before!)



(except for the X-Factor origin flashback...which I hate)

I liked the X-Factor origin story. It was much better than I expected it to be at the time. It also further reinforced Magneto being Lorna’s father, something that was still at risk of getting re-retconned.

My biggest problem with it afterward was how Marvel did nothing to promote it. This was Lorna finally having her origin story told after not having it told for over 40 years. It should’ve merited some kind of promotion.

Of course, as far as important life experiences go, Genosha is the top for Lorna. So while Marvel doing more from her origin story would be good, it is in no way a substitute for Genosha.

Also not a Marvel thing but a Fox thing, it wasn’t lost on me that Dark Phoenix ripped off Lorna’s origin story to give it to Jean with only a car crash instead of a plane crash as difference.

[jmc247]

Leah replied to a fan on Twitter, and said she plans on addressing Lorna's previous anger issues/outbursts. I'm excited to see that, and how Leah plans on unpacking that.

When I saw Baldeon's interview at the start of the week, heard Leah's interview where she basically says Krakoa fixes things and provides things for people and saw Daken holding Northstar's hand for emotional support I already assumed at least for Daken the island is curing his typical sociopathy given the basis of the character written before wouldn't feel empathy for him. For Lorna she has long had PTSD from trauma on top of power and mood dysregulation. I don't like the term bipolar it because real life bipolar doesn't cover it. It is of course an important part of her character which helps to build her duality.

[Phoenixx9]

I love seeing the original appearance (of brown hair) Lorna! It has been a long time.

But I really love the cover to #50--Lorna Supreme! That cover is so spectacular, especially for the time which it debuted! You can feel her power.

[juan678]

in cbr

https://www.cbr.com/x-factor-leah-wi...laris-magneto/

[salarta]

I love seeing the original appearance (of brown hair) Lorna! It has been a long time.

But I really love the cover to #50--Lorna Supreme! That cover is so spectacular, especially for the time which it debuted! You can feel her power.

Agreed, that cover is very powerful and memorable. Steranko's previously said it's one of his favorite covers (and also said he didn't like the direction Marvel intended to take things after the issues he was part of).

[Phoenixx9]

Agreed, that cover is very powerful and memorable. Steranko's previously said it's one of his favorite covers (and also said he didn't like the direction Marvel intended to take things after the issues he was part of).

Thanks for posting it, salarta! I always love it--one of my favorites!

[jwatson]

I was honestly going to do the whole team in honor of xfactor but for me the new costumes are just not fun from an artistic point of view. Lorna was going to be front and center so I just finished sketching her.

IMG_20200802_160324.jpg

[jwatson]

Could not find xfactor appreciation thread so since Lorna is front and center. I may scan it and clean up digitally.

IMG_20200802_201744~2.jpg

[Soulsword323]

I was honestly going to do the whole team in honor of xfactor but for me the new costumes are just not fun from an artistic point of view. Lorna was going to be front and center so I just finished sketching her.

IMG_20200802_160324.jpg

Could not find xfactor appreciation thread so since Lorna is front and center. I may scan it and clean up digitally.

IMG_20200802_201744~2.jpg

Both are really well done. You did a good job with Lorna's new look.

[jwatson]

Both are really well done. You did a good job with Lorna's new look.

Thanks, really appreciate it.

[AbnormallyNormal]

Yes, Lorna's mutation origin story as told in XFactor was indeed horrifying and traumatic. I mean, she literally killed both of her parents. As a child. That's a lot...

As far as the stuff about Leah "addressing" Lorna's temper or anger or whatever... oh boy. It just makes me worry so much she's going to remove all the complexity from this character and "develop" her into something much more mundane. (Much as has been done with Laura Kinney). I hope I'm wrong but the way Daken is being handled is not the way to go IMO. Just ignoring/whitewashing past parts of characters isn't good, you want to gradually change them while deeply acknowledging their past. it's a process and it shouldn't be undergone with any guarantee of an end result either.

Regarding her origin cover placement in XMen#50, yeah for sure! Not only is that cover special because it was the first appearance of the very long-running and iconic logo of the team name, but it's incredible this brand-new character is in the center of the whole team radiating out energy, while also seeming enigmatic. Just so special really. I mean you COULD say, well it makes her look like another ad hoc Villain and the team is just reacting. To a degree yes. But there is more going on, since as noted before Lorna/Jean were sort of embodying some feminist traits during this time period, and Lorna introduced as a powerful mistress of magnetism and daughter of the XMen's most feared enemy was pretty powerful stuff. The way Scarlet Witch got horribly treated in the book prior doesn't really let her count in the same way... Wanda was hardly written as anything close to "empowered".

[jwatson]

Yes, Lorna's mutation origin story as told in XFactor was indeed horrifying and traumatic. I mean, she literally killed both of her parents. As a child. That's a lot...

As far as the stuff about Leah "addressing" Lorna's temper or anger or whatever... oh boy. It just makes me worry so much she's going to remove all the complexity from this character and "develop" her into something much more mundane. (Much as has been done with Laura Kinney). I hope I'm wrong but the way Daken is being handled is not the way to go IMO. Just ignoring/whitewashing past parts of characters isn't good, you want to gradually change them while deeply acknowledging their past. it's a process and it shouldn't be undergone with any guarantee of an end result either.

Regarding her origin cover placement in XMen#50, yeah for sure! Not only is that cover special because it was the first appearance of the very long-running and iconic logo of the team name, but it's incredible this brand-new character is in the center of the whole team radiating out energy, while also seeming enigmatic. Just so special really. I mean you COULD say, well it makes her look like another ad hoc Villain and the team is just reacting. To a degree yes. But there is more going on, since as noted before Lorna/Jean were sort of embodying some feminist traits during this time period, and Lorna introduced as a powerful mistress of magnetism and daughter of the XMen's most feared enemy was pretty powerful stuff. The way Scarlet Witch got horribly treated in the book prior doesn't really let her count in the same way... Wanda was hardly written as anything close to "empowered".

I think the best way to address Lorna's bouts with anger is to do what Leah did with krakoa. Krakoa makes Lorna feel safe and calm because she is connected to it. Perhaps harsher environment s or harsher tainted minerals and metal make her more aggressive

[Soulsword323]

I don't know why people think Leah plans on removing aspects of Lorna's character. I assume she plans on exploring where the anger comes from, and why she is the way she is. What causes it to resurface. Which I think is a positive thing.

[salarta]

Many people are cautious - and there's good reason to be. Marvel has a terrible track record across decades of how they see and treat her. Marvel also has a history of ignoring and removing important character elements over time. Sometimes giving those elements to other characters they consider more "deserving" than her.

Lorna being the second woman to join the X-Men has meant nothing to Marvel. Existing for 52 years has meant nothing to Marvel. It took over a decade before Lorna got to interact with any of her family again, amid at least one person at Marvel trying to insist she couldn't be part of that family. It took 44 years for her origin story to be told, while many other characters like Havok had theirs told decades earlier. It took 46 years for her to finally get to lead a team of her own (she had limited, temporary leader experience at times, but didn't get to actually lead a team as its intended leader until All-New X-Factor). It's been over 15 years since Marvel acknowledged any part of Lorna's time on Genosha, something they still haven't done and show no real signs of ever doing, with even the trauma of millions killed all around her disregarded by Marvel as if it never happened and she just shrugged it off like a bad hair day.

A few pages from a single issue of a team book is not enough to clear that all away. Trust and faith have been broken repeatedly. It's going to take way more to restore it.

For my view, I don't think X-Factor is anywhere near enough.