Lorna Dane: Polaris Appreciation 2021

[jmc247]

Lorna's everything is far too boring. It looks like something she could wear anywhere. And that's not something that makes sense for the Hellfire Club. She needs flash, accessories, SOMETHING. This is decidedly the event to go all out on. Go crazy, experiment, and be over the top.

Playing it safe is never a good bet, especially when you need to make an impression. The comments about Lorna’s dress you make could double for her character as a whole the past several years.

Some Examples:
Paris Fashion Week 2019
Christian Dior at Couture Fall 2007
Amit Aggarwal at India Couture Week 2019

Throw on a headpiece, a statement bit of jewelry, something extra! The dress itself can be simple with a bit of spice.. a bit of something. Our girl has had so many outfit variants over the years that you could mix all sorts of things and make a callback. I'm deeply irritated and I get it, it's likely a tall order for the artist to draw and come up with multiple styles of high fashion ensembles for all the characters, never mind make them play nice on a comic page. (I certainly can't draw to save my life.) But the hype over all of this leads to certain expectations. And mine are sorely disapointed. Again.

Interesting ideas.

[salarta]

Ironically, Marvel Super War just unveiled a new skin for Lorna that would have been a much better look for her at the gala than that thing the comics did.

When she's not saving the world, Polaris likes to take a break and venture into the world of fashion.

After the update on March 25th, Polaris' new "Magnetic Style" skin will be available!

Also comes paired with a great font for her name that could easily be used for as a title for a solo, mini or oneshot focused on her.

Marvel Strike Force posted the full update for Lorna.

Keep your watch, TV, and electronic devices away from this week's blog, as X-Factor's magnetic Controller is stopping by for a preview. Also worthy of attracting your attention are Blitzes starring two hard-hitting ladies of S.T.R.I.K.E. and events going down in the big city. Now, pull up a chair (preferably non-metallic) and let's dive in.

POLARIS
Repel enemies and attract victory with Polaris! Lorna Dane, a.k.a. "Polaris," grew up unaware that she was adopted and that her true father was the infamous leader of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, Magneto. Much like Magneto, Lorna possesses the Mutant gene, which grants her the ability to control magnetism. She uses this power to fly, create force-fields, and manipulate anything made of magnetic materials.

As a member of X-Factor, Polaris is a Controller with high Health, Resist, and Damage. She specializes in hindering enemy teams that rely on Regeneration for sustain by using her Ultimate ability to flip Regeneration to Bleed. Polaris also helps shield herself and allies from damage with Barrier, an ability that gets a boost on Alliance War Offense. You won't want to send your X-Factor team into battle without her, as she also provides increases to X-Factor Health and Focus.

Recruit the Mistress of Magnetism:

Everything I said before still applies. Glad to see first that Havok isn't mentioned at all, and second that it acknowledges Magneto being her dad.

And speaking of which, here's new fanart of Lorna and her dad together, drawn by mutantapologist.

She notes how she'd like fatherly Magneto content in canon, but since canon isn't giving it, she's drawing some for herself. Which is a good general philosophy. Fans know and care more about Lorna than anyone at Marvel.



Also a fanfic called Edge of Nineteen by szarvasoks I still need to read that includes Lorna x Jean.

[juan678]

new Cosplay Lorna

https://twitter.com/Graciecosplay/st...05816527204353



and



Thanks jmc247

[Soulsword323]

Lorna's dress is cute, and I adore the colors, but its too plain. They could have done a lot more to make it pop. When you look at Jean's, Storm's, and Magik's, the artists were able to incorporate their powers, and they should have for Polaris too. There was so much they could have done. Would have loved to see Lorna's energy hair from Dark Seduction return for this special occasion

.

[rhaenylis]

spoilers:

Malice has just infiltrated Krakoa

end of spoilers

[LordAllMIghty]

spoilers:

Malice has just infiltrated Krakoa

end of spoilers

If the Shadow King is there, I see no reason she couldn't be there too.

[salarta]

Another Lorna fan posted something that led me back to lorna_moose and old work she's done. Posting it now.



Here's a redesign concept that I think could have been an actual good Gala look. Flashy, uses her notable colors, retains the cape, takes her headpiece and modifies it into something neat while retaining its essence to be identifiable.



Just a bit of unrestrained summer fun.



And a bit of sisterly cosplay.


On a related note, earlier today I saw that someone wrote a fanfic of Lorna x Havok where they say the fic was inspired by X-Factor's "throwaway line" of Lorna drunk dialing Havok. I'm not in any way knocking the fan for doing what they wanna do, it's their fic, it's their fandom, they can do their thing. I bring it up because when I complained about that part of the X-Factor issue, several people dismissed my doing so with "Oh it's just a little joke, you're making a lot out of nothing." That it inspired fic proves it wasn't "just a little joke." Whatever the intent on X-Factor, its impact was to promote the pairing. Doesn't help that it also obscured past problems via "humor" in doing so.

[jmc247]

Link



R. Owens



Link

Interesting placement for the skull/s. I would have to see it a few more times in art, but it might work.

spoilers:

Malice has just infiltrated Krakoa

end of spoilers

There are lessons from the Malice years that I have long felt have not been entirely learned by Marvel.

First possession/brainwashing as a way of showing how bad ass Lorna could be if it wasn't plain uninteresting generic heroine Lorna in the drivers seat was the core theme of her Malice arc. That idea was continued by many other writers over the past ten years. The problem is always that in the end its not Lorna... its some other character who frankly doesn't have any of Lorna's heart and it doesn’t say anything about Lorna one way or the other.

I would say half of the reason for the success of the Austen years with Lorna (and it was a success even if he messed up many other things in his run) was combining some aspects of Malice which were popular with Lorna generally being a caring person with a heart of gold into the same character. Lorna without that typically falls into the trap of being a fairly replaceable and forgettable character.

[juan678]

Leah: Yeah, I’d say we didn’t so much argue about the format of the vote so much as discuss often and earnestly. A few days before the vote opened, I also warned my peers that I would be taking a heel-turn on social media regarding Polaris’ inclusion in the vote (which was my decision) just to get more attention for X-Factor while she was still on the team.

https://aiptcomics.com/2021/03/29/x-...e-anniversary/

[loke13]

Leah: Yeah, I’d say we didn’t so much argue about the format of the vote so much as discuss often and earnestly. A few days before the vote opened, I also warned my peers that I would be taking a heel-turn on social media regarding Polaris’ inclusion in the vote (which was my decision) just to get more attention for X-Factor while she was still on the team.

https://aiptcomics.com/2021/03/29/x-...e-anniversary/

It could be a similar thing to X-Force where Jean Grey is not officially on the team but still shows up in the book in a guest starring role

[salarta]

Article out today by Katie Liggera for Comfort Food Comics.

Polaris: Psychology, Power, and Personhood – Uncanny X-Men #49-50

I think it's a very interesting and insightful read. She raises a lot of great points and questions I never thought of before, such as how Lorna doesn't seem to show any urge to notify her foster parents about where she is. Lorna just going off with Iceman, a random stranger to her at the time, rather than a hospital or somewhere else known to be safe is another excellent point that stood out to me. Lots to analyze in Lorna's introductory issues.

[Phoenixx9]

Article out today by Katie Liggera for Comfort Food Comics.

Polaris: Psychology, Power, and Personhood – Uncanny X-Men #49-50

I think it's a very interesting and insightful read. She raises a lot of great points and questions I never thought of before, such as how Lorna doesn't seem to show any urge to notify her foster parents about where she is. Lorna just going off with Iceman, a random stranger to her at the time, rather than a hospital or somewhere else known to be safe is another excellent point that stood out to me. Lots to analyze in Lorna's introductory issues.

Lorna was also in a trance for much of her journey in those issues.

[Devaishwarya]

Ennnh.

The main issue I find with analysts who over-analyse these old comic book issues, especially, is that they comb through the panels and characterisations looking for subjective logic with a modern-day sensibility bolstered by modern-day knowledge. Completely hand-waving aside the Era in which they are written, by whom they are written, how they are written and for whom. And...the fact that this is pure, unadulterated fantasy.

I've read those silver? age comics and....they're generally a product of the times...both good and bad. Plot-wise, character-wise...they usually lacked any semblance of logic with regards to how the plot unfolds. For overall expediency and getting the story from point A to point B a lot of the "common sense" minutiae is usually left on the editing floor (that's still done today) and what occurs "in-between" panels is usually left up to the reader's inference.

Lorna goes off with Bobby because she is disoriented and he's the one who offered to help. (We the readers know who he is and that he has no ulterior motives) Yes, logically, Lorna could (should) ask a whole heap of questions before going off with Bobby but...for story's-sake, she has to take him on the same good faith, as we do. To focus on her questioning "who-where-why?" doesn't serve the plot which was to get her to the apartment so that Hank, and the reader, could surmise and then ultimately find out 1) she's a mutant and what kind. 2) She's Magneto's daughter and 3) He's still alive...the three most important plot beats in those two issues.

As for her seemingly instantaneous attachment to Bobby...again, plot expediency. Claremont did the very same thing (contrivance) in an almost exact plot scenario with Storm and Forge in UXM 186 after she loses her powers. Absolute Zero logic but...They're not writing a Mills and Boone romance novel. That's not going to appeal to their market demographic.

An interesting read yes, but overall, not very insightful, unless we were comparing how comic books were written back in the day with how they're written now.

[Phoenixx9]

Bobby was the one there and he stopped Lorna from getting hit by a car. Bobby wanted to help Lorna and she knew she needed help. It works for the story. Otherwise, the 2-issue story would have been 6 issues long. And Bobby needed to be involved since he is one of the X-Men and they had plans to keep Lorna with the Team. The Plot and Workings make sense.

[salarta]

It's important to keep in mind that, as she says toward the start of her article, "This exploration is meant as entertainment and a personal learning journey for myself, and anyone who would like to join me!" And: "Also, this is an analysis of these two X-Men issues only (seeing as how Lorna’s storyline and character traits are either explained and/or changed in future issues)."

I think there's a lot gained from this analysis, especially in the spirit of co-exploration as it's meant.