Lorna Dane: Polaris Appreciation 2021

[MaximoffTrash]

All New X-Factor #14. I definitely prefer Lorna’s “she’s my sister. I don’t hate her but I don’t really like her” characterization compared to being forced besties/sisters who love each other like they had been around each other a lot being shown in trial of magneto. Gonna keep the former as the my canon version of their relationship

I mean, the whole Magnus family dynamic in ToM is pretty much randomly generated to suit the plot, hopefully it won't serve as the new default for them.
Keep them separated until someone who know the whole deal comes around(which would be rare.) But I can do without another round of "Magneto crying in a corner and then they talk about how much he loved his kids"

[juan678]

How it ended up.

Thanks Jwatson

[salarta]

My views of Lorna and dating have changed as of tonight.

I've said before that my personal preference was Jean Grey, with Emma Frost as a runner-up, but that I was open or not open to various other pairings. Now I think Lorna just shouldn't be in a relationship with anyone for a while. Or else that she should be in relationships with multiple people at the same time.

The turning point for me tonight was realizing just how many pairing ideas I've seen thrown around over the past year. Jean, Emma, Cyclops, Gambit, Wolverine, Colossus, Exodus, Rachel, Daken, Iceman (yes, still), Kid Omega, and of course Havok. Plus very rarely Wanda and Pietro under the idea of them not being Magneto's kids. That makes 14 different possible match-ups thrown around.

But here's the thing. I think that in a typical situation, there wouldn't be quite so much chatter about pairing ideas, and the pool of suggestions would centralize on only a few. Pairing suggestions typically are born out of the idea that those relationships mesh with certain aspects of the character. Lois Lane meshes with the mild-mannered human reporter side of Clark Kent, Wonder Woman meshes with the powerful uplifting superhero side of Superman, etc.

Here's the question: what do each of these suggestions bring out about Lorna? Are all of these suggestions compatible with the same conception of Lorna? Aren't some of them inevitably in conflict with each other, suggesting different things about who Lorna is and where she fits among mutants/X-Men and the Marvel universe as a whole? How do you reconcile two interpretations of Lorna that go in directly opposing directions?

What I believe we come down to is a fundamental lack of understanding about Lorna.

Note I am not saying lack of substance. I believe there's plenty of substance to narrow down this pool if one takes a real look at her history and considers what actually serves the character, rather what's been done in the past to make her of service to other characters to her detriment. But a pool of possible suitors that puts the situation of Penelope from the Odyssey to shame suggests to me that who she really is hasn't been expressed clearly enough to readers yet. If readers don't know her well enough yet, then she's not ready as a character to be in another romantic relationship. Pursuing that avenue before readers understand her well enough to know what pairings work and which don't reduces her to a prize, where the goal ends up being moreso making arguments for which character she should be with and trying to make her fit that mold. That's no way to start off any pairing scenario.

So yeah, until the pool of potential suitors is winnowed down based on an awareness of who Lorna really is, I don't think she should be in any relationships. And frankly, on a final note, I think the fact there's such a wide pool shows there was no understanding of Lorna for the entire time she was dating Havok. Having him out of the picture shouldn't result in her seeming to be a possible match for virtually anyone in the Marvel universe.

[jmc247]

X-FACTOR EPIC COLLECTION: AFTERLIVES TPB
Volume #9 in the X-Factor Epic Collections
Written by J.M. DEMATTEIS, TODD DEZAGO, SCOTT LOBDELL, JOHN FRANCIS MOORE, KURT BUSIEK, FABIAN NICIEZA & MORE
Penciled by JAN DUURSEMA, BRYAN HITCH, PAUL BORGES, MAT BROOME, PAT BRODERICK, TONY DANIEL, STEVE EPTING & MORE
Cover by JAN DUURSEMA
Jamie Madrox is dead! As X-Factor struggles to cope with their first major loss, Alex Summers questions his role as leader. Will Havok quit just when the team needs him the most? Meanwhile, Polaris seeks vengeance on the person who hired Random to kill her — even as the bounty hunter joins Strong Guy and Wolfsbane on a road trip! Lorna follows Alex to Hawaii, but the island paradise soon becomes a nightmare — courtesy of Malice, Mister Sinister and the Nasty Boys! The techno-organic threat of the Phalanx unites X-Factor, X-Force and Excalibur! Strong Guy battles the Blob! Legion awakens from his coma! But when Lila Cheney is targeted, Guido puts his life on the line. Will X-Factor lose another member? Collecting X-FACTOR (1986) #101-111 and ANNUAL #9, SPIDER-MAN & X-FACTOR: SHADOWGAMES #1-3, X-FORCE #38, and EXCALIBUR (1988) #82.
496 PGS./Rated T …$44.99

JM's run is being re-released in trade this coming March. This run was Lorna's best of the 90s (PAD had a better X-Factor run overall, but JM had a much more interesting Lorna) and in many ways was a proto version of Austen's Lorna dealing with her feelings of rage about the persecution of mutants as well as the Magneto Protocols storyline where the UN attempts to capture her to use her as a weapon against Avalon and Magneto.

It had its faults certainly, but it was a good transition comic run for Lorna between Claremont/PAD and Genosha/Morrison/Austen.

Here's the question: what do each of these suggestions bring out about Lorna? Are all of these suggestions compatible with the same conception of Lorna? Aren't some of them inevitably in conflict with each other, suggesting different things about who Lorna is and where she fits among mutants/X-Men and the Marvel universe as a whole? How do you reconcile two interpretations of Lorna that go in directly opposing directions?

What I believe we come down to is a fundamental lack of understanding about Lorna.

Lorna has gone many years being written around the plot and writers own opinions and voice rather than having any coherent ordering principles at all based on the character's own history.

The character is treated as an empty vessel that writers can do whatever strikes their fancy and ignore what previous writers have done. This allows fans to do whatever they want with her in their own fanfic between her as a hard-nosed genocide survivor to a generic Xavierite playful everywoman.

Successful characters tend to have base widely accepted ordering principles on who they are and what they believe.

Runs that have ignored Lorna's history in order to write her and her relationships how they want to write them rather than work within the bounds of what came before while slowly moving her and her relationships in the direction the writers want have not done her a service.

While this year has been better to Lorna than 2020 the character has a huge way to go to be successful. That won't happen until there is basic agreement on what motivates her and how she views the world.

Anyway card.

[juan678]

[jmc247]

Yes, this is been bothering me since X-factor, I noticed she writes better with characters she cares more about but ToM was just all over the place, with little being acomplished and with some very bad character work all around. I am not sure all of this is her fault but yes, it definitely could have been a lot better.

I can accept and be happy with the happy ending due to it tying up the mutants hate Wanda plot and the family squabbling. But, in terms of accepting Wanda and Lorna as being ready to be Elsa and Anna after three issues together since learning they are related that is a no.

The series started with the Wanda and Lorna relationship where the series wanted them to be rather then starting them where they were pre-Axis and then moving them in the direction the story wanted. That was similar to what happened with Lorna and Mags.

[juan678]

[juan678]

[PsychicHobo]

You lost me at Dan slott….

[kcekada]

As much as I've always loved Jean in her green mini skirt (also a big fan of her Phoenix outfit), I don't like seeing Lorna in a skirt as Polaris -- seems out of character.

[jmc247]

I imagine her outfit will shift post X-Men and yes of late they have moved her away from more classic wear costumes for her. That is good and bad as the current outfit mostly works for the setting and I want her away from her space costume, but no it doesn't have any Lorna iconography to it.

Anyway, an X-Men #1 variant arrived for me.



My feeling is that the cool shades and 'tude won't last for Lorna probably beyond Duggan's run. It would be good if some of the cynicism and urban princess aspects survive, but I wouldn't wager money on it. Lorna having a tiny bit of her edge back in Duggan's run has been helpful as well. We will have to wait and see how much of that carries over to any of the other books to come this Winter and Spring.

The next gen (meaning post Xavier, Mags, etc) aspects of Lorna's relationships including with Jean and Laura work, but its been held back by a lack of knowledge where Lorna really stands visa via them and mutants.

Magneto has been a legitimate middle ground character the past decade and a half which has produced issues for Lorna, because Marvel likes making her a saint when Magneto is middle ground, but there shouldn't be an issue.