Dani Moonstar: Mirage Appreciation 2021

[Havok83]

So I wonder if Dani will be in Mighty Valkyries and pull double duty with New Mutants. I really hope so

[rf2044]

So I wonder if Dani will be in Mighty Valkyries and pull double duty with New Mutants. I really hope so

Screenshot 2021-03-31 164424.jpg

Dani with a prominent part in this issue [#4]. Looking forward to the finale in issue #5.

[rf2044]

Pfft - I can see you're being very respectful in your reply. So there was no way I was gonna think it was "argumentative" - we're all good.



I, personally, don't mind stereotypes too much. For example, I am from Spain. Every single time I saw El Aguila show up (primarily in Power Man & Iron Fist), I was jumping with joy. He's a character that's from Madrid (Spain) where a lot of my family is from (I'm from Spain, but not Madrid Spain). Despite the mask over the face that looks like something from Zorro, and that he had a blade (similar to what bull fighters use) - I loved it every time he showed up. Why? Did I think he was the best character ever? No. But he was from Spain, and despite some stereotype stuff about him - it did not insult me, or how I feel about my heritedge.

As a side note - I love Red Wolf, Shaman, Dani, and so on. As a matter of fact, way back (remember when Wizard Magazine was around?) - I pulled a group of people together to write in a shared Marvel Universe, with the idea, "What if Onslaught had been defeated without Heroes Reborn happening?" and called it Alt Marvel. And we each took books and continued them from the time of Onslaught. I took on writing Uncanny X-Men. What was one of the first things I did? Introduced a new Native American mutant named Warcry. So I love me some Native Americans.

As for not connecting what I meant - you quoted it later...



Right there. Not only when they depowered her - but before that when they gave her Valkyrie powers.
Because suddenly she became more about being a Valkyrie - even when she had her powers - than anything else. The idea that she was a Native American character got washed away (for me) during this time.
Mind you, I still liked Dani (when she had her powers and was a Valkyrie) - but she felt like a new character to me. Not only had she become a Valkyrie - but even her powers changed (where she'd see death all the time).
But as you mentioned, when they depowered her - and then that's all she had was being a Valkyrie - made what I was already sort of disliking what they did to her, just burn infinitely brighter.
Where as you take James Proudstar (Warpath) - he's not had anything crazy like that. He's always represented himself as a Native American. He's not gotten a power that so drastically changed who he was that I felt like he lost a bit of what he was representing.

Again - these are just my views and I don't expect anyone but myself to agree with them. So I never fear or worry or get offended if someone disagrees.

Awesome post / response -- appreciate the dialogue, Adam-X!

[Adam-X]

Awesome post / response -- appreciate the dialogue, Adam-X!

I dipped in this thread because I love Dani. (Hell, when NEW MUTANTS first came out, it was probably my favorite comic... I felt like I was a part of something new... these characters were destined for greatness - and they followed the "Giant Size X-Men" formula by being a diverse team - which made me love it even more!)

[TraneTrax]

Screenshot 2021-03-31 164424.jpg

Dani with a prominent part in this issue [#4]. Looking forward to the finale in issue #5.

That look may be my favorite Dani look. EXCEPT that heart shaped chest window. It is the gaping hideous flaw in an otherwise flawless design

Also, I will never get tired of seeing her on a winged horse

RCO022_1617195177.jpg

[rcaguy]

That look may be my favorite Dani look. EXCEPT that heart shaped chest window. It is the gaping hideous flaw in an otherwise flawless design

Emma/Illyana's influence on fashion design???

[rf2044]

I dipped in this thread because I love Dani. (Hell, when NEW MUTANTS first came out, it was probably my favorite comic... I felt like I was a part of something new... these characters were destined for greatness - and they followed the "Giant Size X-Men" formula by being a diverse team - which made me love it even more!)

Adam-X, your post is a great segue to the next question of the week. I'll break it down into a couple of components, just as conversation starters:


A: What was your first exposure to Dani Moonstar? Original NM run? X-Force? In one of the later New Mutants volumes?

B: What made her stand out to you initially, that made you a fan of the character?

C: What there a specific Dani moment / plot / comic that made her stand out to you?


I'll provide my answers after we get a few responses. Curious to hear what others have to say.

[Adam-X]

Adam-X, your post is a great segue to the next question of the week. I'll break it down into a couple of components, just as conversation starters:
A: What was your first exposure to Dani Moonstar? Original NM run? X-Force? In one of the later New Mutants volumes?
B: What made her stand out to you initially, that made you a fan of the character?
C: What there a specific Dani moment / plot / comic that made her stand out to you?
I'll provide my answers after we get a few responses. Curious to hear what others have to say.

A. New Mutants Graphic Novel/New Mutants #1 - I can't remember which one I read first, but they were roughly around the same time.
B. Honestly, all of the New Mutants stood out in the first 20 issues of New Mutants. It really felt like this was the next X-Men I was reading. Dani stood out due to my love of Native American characters, and her unique power.
C. She always seemed so ... human. She was vulnerable but also shown to be very strong - especially the first time (NM #3?) when Demon Bear appears.

[GeneTitan]

It's time for Dani to be on the X-Men. She's more than paid her dues and she's a dope character.

[Havok83]

It's time for Dani to be on the X-Men. She's more than paid her dues and she's a dope character.

She's been a member a few times now. Id love to see her on it again but I doubt she will be on the new team since she's a main character in Vita's current book

[rf2044]

A: What was your first exposure to Dani Moonstar? Original NM run? X-Force? In one of the later New Mutants volumes?

I first encountered Dani in the original New Mutants run, shortly after the series started. I was in grade school and slept over at a friend's house, and we spent the evening reading Marvel comics that he had. In particular, I was excited about Alpha Flight #1 and X-Men #175 [which was a cool Mastermind / Dark Phoenix story], and went to the comic store to buy some for myself. I was able to pick up Alpha Flight #3, Marvel Universe N-P, and a couple of others. New Mutants #2 caught my eye, because it had a cool looking team fighting a bunch of Sentinels.

detail.jpg

After that, I was motivated to buy more New Mutants books [since they were associated with the X-Men], and right off the bat the team seemed different. For one thing, most superhero teams seemed to have about 5 guys and 1 token girl. In New Mutants, the majority of the team were female -- and the team had a level of diversity I hadn't seen before [Brazil, Scotland, Vietnam, Native American, and only 1 standard American white guy character].





B: What made her stand out to you initially, that made you a fan of the character?

Full disclosure, at first I didn't like Dani much. She seemed too angry, and kind of insubordinate. In New Mutants #4, which takes place after Professor Xavier was possessed by a Brood and tried to kidnap Dani to make use of her illusion casting powers, and to use her as a host to lay eggs -- Dani overtly doesn't trust him, and with good reason [screenshot below]. She has a heated exchange with Xavier which at first I didn't like. How dare she -- this is Professor X, and he's beyond reproach!?!?

RCO008_1468938041.jpg

But in actuality, that issue made me begin to like her. She didn't give a crap that he was older, or in a position of authority, or that he was "Professor X" -- she called him out, and he responded by asking her not to treat him like an enemy. As a grade school kid, I'd never seen someone stand up to authority like that in comics. Dani went on to be the focal character [more or less] over the first 8 - 10 issues, so after that I was hooked. It didn't hurt that coincidentally, Dani was in the Marvel Universe N -P issue that I bought the first day I began collecting comics [her initial code name being, "Psyche"] -- so that kind of reinforced my affinity for her.

And it also didn't hurt that her power was really abstract, so she had to be tough in other ways since her power was only of indirect use in combat. That meant that she had to develop her character in other ways than just being the one who flies, or the one with super strength type of tropes. And Claremont did an outstanding job of taking the one on the team who seemed the most unlikely to be a leader, and crafting her into the one who became the obvious leader when the team was in the field.



C: What there a specific Dani moment / plot / comic that made her stand out to you?

I mention the moment above where she really went from just an annoying character initially to me to someone that had a lot of depth. But there were many others over the years. In no particular order, and over many different comic titles...

-- Demon Bear -- what an awesome Dani featurette, where she goes out to confront the demon alone. Totally cemented my fandom of the character.

-- Volume 3 issues 1 - 4 -- where Dani has lost her powers, but is still a total bad ass that earns her place back on the team despite being de-powered. She has an epic set of encounters with Legion.

bad ass4.2.jpg

-- Volume 3 issues 15 - 20 -- where Dani gets tortured by Loca, and shoots her with an arrow using her FEET, because she has a broken arm. Must read stuff that reinforces Dani's role as the "tough guy" / indominable backbone of the group, despite now having powers.

-- Utopia -- where Dani asks for a boon from Hela, and then uses her "uber valkyrie" power-up to take out Ares.

-- Age of X -- which takes place in a "pocket universe" created by Legion, where Dani leads a team of commandos. Very cool alternate universe version of Dani; she's drawn exceptionally well.

-- Volume 1 issue #41 -- a solo Dani story after she "quits" the team, where she defeats Death in a gunfight.

I could go on and on -- but Dani has been one of my favorite characters for as long as I've been collecting comics, almost from the beginning. Funny how that worked out.

[Adam-X]

A: What was your first exposure to Dani Moonstar? Original NM run? X-Force? In one of the later New Mutants volumes?
I first encountered Dani in the original New Mutants run, shortly after the series started. I was in grade school and slept over at a friend's house, and we spent the evening reading Marvel comics that he had. In particular, I was excited about Alpha Flight #1 and X-Men #175 [which was a cool Mastermind / Dark Phoenix story], and went to the comic store to buy some for myself. I was able to pick up Alpha Flight #3, Marvel Universe N-P, and a couple of others. New Mutants #2 caught my eye, because it had a cool looking team fighting a bunch of Sentinels.
detail.jpg
After that, I was motivated to buy more New Mutants books [since they were associated with the X-Men], and right off the bat the team seemed different. For one thing, most superhero teams seemed to have about 5 guys and 1 token girl. In New Mutants, the majority of the team were female -- and the team had a level of diversity I hadn't seen before [Brazil, Scotland, Vietnam, Native American, and only 1 standard American white guy character].
B: What made her stand out to you initially, that made you a fan of the character?
Full disclosure, at first I didn't like Dani much. She seemed too angry, and kind of insubordinate. In New Mutants #4, which takes place after Professor Xavier was possessed by a Brood and tried to kidnap Dani to make use of her illusion casting powers, and to use her as a host to lay eggs -- Dani overtly doesn't trust him [screenshot below. She has a heated exchange with Xavier which at first I didn't like. How dare she -- this is Professor X, and he's beyond reproach!?!?
RCO008_1468938041.jpg
But in actuality, that issue made me begin to like her. She didn't care that he was older, or in a position of authority, or that he was "Professor X" -- she called him out, and he responded by asking her not to treat him like an enemy. As a grade school kid, I'd never seen someone stand up to authority like that in comics. Dani went on to be the focal character [more or less] over the first 8 - 10 issues, so after that I was hooked. It didn't hurt that coincidentally, Dani was in the Marvel Universe N -P issue that I bought [her initial code name being, "Psyche"] -- so that kind of reinforced my affinity for her.
And it also didn't hurt that her power was really abstract, so she had to be tough in other ways since her power was only of indirect use in combat. That meant that she had to develop her character in other ways than just being the one who flies, or the one with super strength type of tropes. And Claremont did an outstanding job of taking the one on the team who seemed the most unlikely to be a leader, and crafting her into the one who became the obvious leader when the team was in the field.
C: What there a specific Dani moment / plot / comic that made her stand out to you?
I mention the moment above where she really went from just an annoying character initially to me to someone that had a lot of depth. But there were many others over the years. In no particular order, and over many different comic titles...
-- Demon Bear -- what an awesome Dani featurette, where she goes out to confront the demon alone. Totally cemented my fandom of the character.

I feel like volume 1 of New Mutants was lightning striking twice back then. It mirrored the "All New X-Men" (Giant Size X-Men/X-Men #94), by giving us a diverse group.

The group dynamics were incredible. Their powers were unique and different (well, other than Rahne, which is your standard "werewolf like powers" in terms of shifting from human to wolf/vice versa).

They showed their inexperience and still always managed to overcome.

They fought everything from Sentinels, to a guy named Axe... with an axe, to Selene in Nova Roma...

All of these stories were just so incredible.

And Dani, standing up for herself, was a large part of that. She always felt like the leader to me, even back then.

Though it was clear, it felt like they were shooting for Cannonball to be the leader.

[The Cool Thatguy]

It's time for Dani to be on the X-Men. She's more than paid her dues and she's a dope character.

Frankly, it's well past time for the main X-Men to be more than the same last couple of dozen guys it's been for years, plus the flavor of the month/pet character

Unlikely to happen, but past time.

[Havok83]

Frankly, it's well past time for the main X-Men to be more than the same last couple of dozen guys it's been for years, plus the flavor of the month/pet character

Unlikely to happen, but past time.

The last official volume of X-men was just that

[The Cool Thatguy]

The last official volume of X-men was just that

Rosenberg never happened. That was the agreement!