Dani Moonstar: Cheyenne Valkyrie Appreciation 2022

[Arachne]

Things have been a little slow around here, so here's a question / conversation starter for the group: Dani has been a staple in Marvel comics for four decades. She disappeared for a bit in the 90s, but otherwise has been a mainstay in various X-books, so she's got a long, illustrious history.

My question is -- if you could change anything from her backstory, what would it be?

There are two options that pop for me. The first is her path as a Valkyrie. It's made for some cool plot elements over the years, but it also led to her departure from the New Mutants [back in volume 1], and it has been used so sporadically that at times it's felt more like a gimmick than a core element for her. Plus her Valkyrie abilities seem to come and go, depending on who's writing -- so it's been used haphazardly. There's also a strange aspect of it when seen through the lens of her indigenous background -- is her core identity as an X-bad ass or as a Valkyrie? Now, don't get me wrong -- there have been some cool plots, and it gave her character a multi-layered dimension / some of her best costumes, but I wonder what Claremont was thinking when he originally set her down this path.

The second is having her depowered in the M-Day event. She was just getting her second wind as a featured character during her time as a teacher at the Xavier School in NM volume 2 and New X-Men, but when she lost her powers she was kicked out by Emma Frost and basically kicked to the curb, which sent her into a second exodus of not being prominently featured. It did give her a cool arc in NM volume 3, where she had to prove that she still belonged on the team despite not having powers.

But if I had to vote, I think I'd pick #2.

If she wasn't a Valkyrie, she probably wouldn't have been depowered, at least not for so long. Too bad they tied her death sense to it.

I would change Dani becoming a teacher, or at least modify the way it was portrayed. This job has pretty much trapped her in Young Adult story hell for so long. I firmly believe that she should either be (A) A mainstay A list X-men or (B) The leader of her own mutant school of thought. SO if she's going to continue to be a teacher, I think she should at least develop her own mutant teaching philosophy separate from Xavier's dream

The other change I would make...all of her romantic interests.

LOL I'm honestly feeling a bit nostalgic for Nate at the moment. Must be all the fan art.

I agree about teaching. It's an honourable profession, but it was used mostly to sideline her. I think that's the big thing I would change, too.

Rhane, Xian, Mist, Hela, Jennifer Kale, Pele and Mistress Death.

Not Rahne. She's right up there with Sam for worst love interest choice for Dani. Hela and Death would have too big of a power imbalance for my preferences. Who is Pele? I feel I should know...

Xi'an, Mist and Jennifer are acceptable. Though, right now, as I said, I'm missing Nate.

Basically anything to do with her departure from the original New Mutants until John Francis Moore's X-Force run, her whole reason for leaving was dumb and her whole X-Force plot line was badly done until JFM fixed it. Lots of powers confusion in there too.

I cannot disagree with this. I'd still bugs me how she got written out.

Okay, so in terms of suggestions for things we wish we could change from her backstory, we have some posters who would like to see her relationship situation change, and maybe changing the Valkyrie thing to prevent her from disappearing, and possibly her not being depowered?

Any other ideas different than those three summarized above?

Her teaching stint was mentioned, too.

[Arachne]

I think it's strange that a character who's been around for four decades has had the majority of her relationships occur off-panel. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't it basically:

• Flirting with James Proudstar in New Mutants, but it never going anywhere from there

• The FBI agent who was related to Donald Pierce, in New Mutants volume 2 / New X-Men?

• Making out a few times with Sam Guthrie, but it never progressing beyond that

• Nate Grey, with them finally kissing at the end of New Mutants volume 3, but most of the rest of their relationship being left to the imagination?

I know that there was a limited series where Dani / Nate indicated how close they were at one point, so a deeper romantic relationship was implied, but...

Somehow, this got missed while I was adding quotes. Oops. But, yeah, her relationships have all been off panel. I just read Age of X-man Omega for the first time, last night. It was... interesting. That wasn't the real Dani, just Nate's impression of her, or maybe a personification of the feelings he was repressing. Anyway, it said more about Nate than Dani.

Speaking of comics I only just read, did you guys know she was in the X-Men Unlimited Infinity comic in issues 60 and 61? It's a Hope story, so Dani didn't get any development, but she got quite a bit of panel time and wasn't out of character.

Is she even in the current New Mutants storyline? I've fallen a bit behind.

[BobbysWorld]

I would love to see both her mutant and Valkyrie powers explored in the context of the Altar and the Waiting Room if she ventured into them in physical form via the Astral plane. We still don’t know much about how either of those places work but imagine the Waiting Room as less of a room and more a kind of mutant version of the Greek Underworld that can be reached via back passages from Legion’s Altar, and where various adventures could be had with mutant souls awaiting resurrection….after all, Selene’s in there currently and what if she uses it as an opportunity to try and reshape that still young ‘realm’ to suit her own purposes?

I could see ways that while having a physical presence in those spaces, Dani’s psychic and Valkyrie powers could both work in interesting new ways, and if she ventured there because she had reason to think there were some kind of astral or psychic predators or threats that endangered the mutant souls and psyches present there….idk idk, just spitballing, but Dani Moonstar, Astral Defender of the Soul Refuge of Mutantkind….that could be a really interesting direction for her that she’d be UNIQUELY suited to on a number of levels.

[Arachne]

That's a really interesting idea. It would be great if she could get a mini focusing on that. I know, I know, wishful thinking.

It kind of, sort of, plays into what Claremont was doing in that anniversary special a while back, too. (Where she'll become the opposite of the Shadow King when she dies.)

Movie depiction notwithstanding, I just don't see it given how she's been portrayed in the comics. Didn't she definitively state that she was straight?

New Mutants vol. 2 #8.

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That doesn't mean she's not bi, of course. It strongly suggests she had never been attracted to a woman at that point, though. Dani strikes me as too self-aware not to know, and too in-your-face not to tell. Still, it could happen in the future.

[marhawkman]

Liking someone is not the same thing as burdening yourself in a relationship with someone.

"burden"? Interesting choice of words there...

[rf2044]

500th post! Not bad, for a fairly light year for Ms. Moonstar.

Screenshot 2022-12-06 110106.jpg

[Kingdom X]

I think it's strange that a character who's been around for four decades has had the majority of her relationships occur off-panel. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't it basically:

• Flirting with James Proudstar in New Mutants, but it never going anywhere from there

• The FBI agent who was related to Donald Pierce, in New Mutants volume 2 / New X-Men?

• Making out a few times with Sam Guthrie, but it never progressing beyond that

• Nate Grey, with them finally kissing at the end of New Mutants volume 3, but most of the rest of their relationship being left to the imagination?

I know that there was a limited series where Dani / Nate indicated how close they were at one point, so a deeper romantic relationship was implied, but...

Y’know what’s funny? I always figured that once James got a bit more focus in NM that they would bring back this flirtationship/ romance but it never happened.

[Arachne]

I'm not sure it would be as interesting now that the Romeo and Juliet aspect is gone. Although I'm sure a good writer could come up with something.

[Arachne]

I've been rereading Abnett & Lanning's run on New Mutants. Can't believe it was 10 years ago! I'd forgotten how badass Dani was in that run. The fight with Sugarman was surprisingly epic and last night I read the part where she cuts her way out of a monster in Hel. I'm up to the Blink story, now, and a little disappointed in David Lopez's style. He's good, but it's just a tad too comical for my taste. Overall, I think this is one of the best runs Dani had since Claremont. Certainly, nothing in the last 10 years had come close.

Opinions?

Ooh, I just went to check that I had Lopez's name right and saw that Breaking into Comics the Marvel Way #2 is on Marvel Unlimited now. There's a great, but seriously creepy, New Mutants story in it, and Dani plays a key role. Check it out if you can!

Edit: The story's by Hickman. I'd completely forgotten that.

[Arachne]

A question: What's the best run Dani's been in that wasn't written by Claremont?

Right now my answer is Abnett & Lanning. She's such a badass in that run, and gets plenty of panel time.

I know a lot will say Zeb Wells, but I really didn't like how little respect Sam had for Dani in that run and how they hooked up in spite of that. To be fair, Dani didn't really seem to respect Sam that much, either, at times. The whole relationship left a bad taste in my mouth.

[rf2044]

Her teaching stint was mentioned, too.

I struggle with that story arc being unimportant, in historical context. Dani was around through like the first 87 issues of New Mutants -- quite a run, from 1982 through 1990. Then, she chose to remain in Asgard and disappeared for several years, until being reintroduced as a "villain" in X-Force in the mid-90s. Then, she joined that team and was around until the book folded, at which point she disappeared for several more years.

New Mutants volume 2 -- where she became a teacher -- wasn't great, but at least it gave her a vehicle back into being worked back into the broader X-Men storyline. Really, she was the main character of Volume 2.

I readily acknowledge that it was strange that an 18, 19, or 20 year old like she was supposed to be would somehow be appointed to being a "teacher" working with kids just a few years younger than her -- but at least it got her back in print.

I also qualify that what NM v2 spun off into -- Young X-Men -- was of poor quality. But at least those two books got her out of the mothballs.

[rf2044]

A question: What's the best run Dani's been in that wasn't written by Claremont?

Right now my answer is Abnett & Lanning. She's such a badass in that run, and gets plenty of panel time.

I know a lot will say Zeb Wells, but I really didn't like how little respect Sam had for Dani in that run and how they hooked up in spite of that. To be fair, Dani didn't really seem to respect Sam that much, either, at times. The whole relationship left a bad taste in my mouth.

No question in my mind, it was New Mutants volume 3. That, and the first issues of New Mutants [up through Demon Bear] were where she was most prominently featured throughout her run.

In those first 18 issues of volume 1 -- and especially the first 10 or so -- Dani was essentially featured as the main character of the team. She was the focal point of many of those issues, and even in the ones that focused a little more on her teammates, she still played a prominent role. She was the most outspoken, the most stubborn, the best leader, and the biggest personality on the team. She was clearly Claremont's favorite of the initial team, and it showed.

In volume 3, her tour de force personality and capabilities were also on full display. From the first issue she appeared in [#2, at the very end] through the end, she had to cope with being depowered and proving herself as a valuable member of the team, she emerged as Cycops's hand-picked choice to lead, and she had some incredible moments -- like with Luca, Sugar Man, etc. My main two criticisms of volume 30 was how erratic the art was over the 50 issues, and how many of the issues were tie-ins to crossover story lines, which was a bit disruptive [but which is the new Marvel way].

bad ass.jpg

bad ass6.jpg

IMO, those were the times when Dani was used to her full potential by the respective writing teams, and she rocked it both times.

[Krakoa]

John Francis Moore's X-Force is an awesome Dani run!

[rf2044]

Just got caught up on a backlog of comic reading. Had several issues of New Mutants to catch up on.

Dani featured prominently in the Trails of Magik, but then doesn't appear for 3 of the last 4 issues [the lone exception being a flashback issue, commemorating the 40 year publication history of New Mutants].

And instead, top billing is given to a new character Ayala's trying to feature. They can't even devote enough page space to the existing characters, and we get a multi-issue arc headlined by a random character.

[Kingdom X]

Just got caught up on a backlog of comic reading. Had several issues of New Mutants to catch up on.

Dani featured prominently in the Trails of Magik, but then doesn't appear for 3 of the last 4 issues [the lone exception being a flashback issue, commemorating the 40 year publication history of New Mutants].

And instead, top billing is given to a new character Ayala's trying to feature. They can't even devote enough page space to the existing characters, and we get a multi-issue arc headlined by a random character.

Ayala’s last issue was 30 and the last 3 issues are all a spotlight for Escapade written by her creator.