Polaris/Lorna Dane: Queen of Mutants/Mistress of Magnetism Appreciation 2023

[salarta]

I feel like typing about the period that White's been senior editor of X-Men. It'll probably be a text-heavy, gloves on post (even if it doesn't look gloves on at a glance).

Jordan White jumped on board the X-Men franchise in the middle of X-Men Blue. There were already problems as I saw them with how Lorna was being used before White officially took over, but those problems got worse when White came along. The rest of Lorna's presence on X-Men Blue pretty much amounted to half-hearted Malice throwback and prop to build up Havok, and I quite honestly think Bunn didn't want to do it but had to.

The next couple years prior to Hickman were largely appearances that tried to "subtly" sneak in Havolaris bullshit. Things like Lorna remembering kissing Havok within Prisoner of X (but not remembering that she survived a genocide), or worrying about if he died. And a scene of Lorna and a brainwashed (or whatever it was) Magneto fighting.

When Hickman started running things, Lorna's few appearances continued in the vein of supporting character for men. Sounding board for Magneto to explain resurrection, sounding board for Cyclops to talk about his son, never anything for Lorna herself. She wasn't even included on the variant cover for X-women even though there was room for her, despite other characters like Dani Moonstar being on it. Lots of erasure on her overall history and value with the franchise. Also, Exodus got to be on the Quiet Council but not Lorna, and Lorna wasn't listed as an Omega mutant even though her father was. This matters because past comics established that Lorna was either equal to her father or had the potential to surpass him, which should have made her Omega too based on their own definition of Omega.

Havok immediately had a place on the flagship X-Men title. Lorna... didn't. She was kept out of the comics for 1 year before they announced she would be appearing... on X-Factor.

Not even as its leader. Or as an advisor/mentor while doing other things. Only as a team member on that one lone book. Interviews were not encouraging at all, either. The only thing brought up about her in them was her past relationship with Havok. Not even that Lorna and Rachel had previously worked together on Starjammers came up. By this point, it looked pretty obvious that White wanted Lorna to be treated like a washed up nobody character from 90s X-Factor whose only value came in supporting characters he respected more. It was also the point at which I started really pushing back against X-Factor coming up too much with Lorna, especially while her Genosha history keeps getting ignored. There was a clear attitude showing that Lorna's just an X-Factor character, not an X-Men franchise as a whole character, despite existing since 1968 and being the second woman to join the X-Men.

Treatment of Lorna within the stories didn't help. And I primarily blame White, because even if we say it was all Williams' doing, White still approved it. We ended up with Lorna randomly having a breakdown over Rockslide's death, even though she didn't know him and simultaneously kept getting treated like she didn't remember surviving a genocide where millions of people died all around her. The very first issue of X-Factor had Lorna claiming she didn't know who she was as her reason for being there, which always read like an excuse to ignore past work in doing random things with her. Stories got worse in terms of presenting her as if she was stupid, most notably Morrigan in Siryn's body outright calling her stupid as Lorna nonsensically confronted her without a plan. That mind control ad nauseum didn't even use the overused trope to any kind of good narrative effect. Then we ended up with Havok getting a forced mention for the billionth time with the "drunk text him" stuff, etc.

Then Trial of Magneto happened. Within the same issue of Rockslide's death before ToM, we had Magneto acting OOC verbally abusive to Lorna, and Lorna acting OOC in taking that OOC abuse. ToM ratcheted that up even higher by having Lorna OOC in accusing her father of killing Wanda and saying he was always a bad abusive dad that gets his family killed. There was a scene, singular, I've seen some point out of Lorna and Magneto standing together at the end of ToM. But it always came across to me as if the goal was to bend over backwards in forcing a rift between Lorna and her father. We'll get back to this. The only positive I'd give this period is the comics saying Lorna has a PhD, though it remains to be seen if this will be treated like an actually meaningful character development or just empty fluff substituting for actual character use. In retrospect, I also partly wonder if this was done to offset how she was being framed as "stupid" in X-Factor issues.

It was shortly before ToM that Lorna won the first fan vote for one member of the X-Men. I strongly suspect that White let Lorna be in the vote because he thought she would lose, and he could use that loss to justify his bias against the character. It also wasn't lost on me that they didn't think Havok needed to be put to a vote. And when Lorna won, White trotted out the excuse that she won because she had been a main cast character on Gifted.

Her usage in X-Men and Devil's Reign is actually the best she's been used in over a decade... though still a far cry from her potential and what she really needs. On X-Men, she got to show meaningful uses of her powers, she got to spend time with Jean as friends for the first time in decades, and surprisingly she actually got to go five seconds without a Havok mention forced into her stories. Devil's Reign also allowed her to have a unique philosophical viewpoint that played very well with Jean and Emma. However, she was only in half of the X-Men issues. Those issues didn't really touch on anything meaningful to her as a character. The Halloween issue would've been a perfect opportunity to bring up Genosha, for example, but she wasn't in it. Even the issue framed as focused on her not only didn't do anything with her history, it didn't even have her on the cover. Compare that to how Firestar got her own dedicated annual issue.

Also the coffee thing was an interesting quirk until it got heavily overused as a substitute for anything meaningful to her as a character. The prime example of why it's a problem now is how Lorna appeared on the Genosha issue of Marauders, and instead of any acknowledgment whatsoever to her experience there, all she said was that she didn't like being in a coffee desert. At this point, Lorna's Genosha history being ignored is undeniably deliberate, not an increasingly unlikely oversight. And the Marauders issue positioned the coffee gimmick as another obstacle to acknowledging what actually matters for her (Havolaris being the first obstacle, given Prisoner of X wasted a memory bubble on Lorna kissing Havok instead of remembering Genosha).

The first Hellfire Gala had another small issue of the dress and look drawn for Lorna really not fitting her at all. Out of all the designs, I think that one was the worst received. For my two cents on it, the design wouldn't have been bad if it was a random event in a random story, but it was bad as a supposed representation of the character for what was supposed to be the inception of the mutants' biggest social event ever. Over the ensuing year, some artists made tweaks that made it not as bad (e.g. her hair flowing freely, or adding gold). The second gala gave her an outfit much more fitting to her personality, history and powers, though it wasn't shown as much as the first one.

I said earlier that I'd get back to the forced rift between Lorna and Magneto. This is that part.

When Magneto died on X-Men Red, Storm got to be the exclusive torch bearer of his interests. Lorna didn't get to have any involvement or reaction at all until a whole year later, right before the latest Hellfire Gala. To me, what this says is the forced rift between Lorna and Magneto in X-Factor and Trial of Magneto happened to justify keeping Lorna out of events while Storm got to cover everything. To make this very clear, I am not saying Storm should've had nothing. Storm and Magneto did things together on Mars that gave Storm a perfect reason to take over from Magneto on those things. But since Magneto is Lorna's dad, there was no reason not to let Lorna be involved and have a reaction far sooner than a year later. It would've been an opportunity for Lorna and Storm to team up and work together positively in better hands.

Finally, we have the garbage that was the Unlimited comic. Heavily steeped in 80s and 90s nostalgia, heavier on the Havolaris trash than in the past. Still ignored Genosha and anything else meaningful post-90s. I see this as very much White going "screw it, I'm leaving soon, let's use this to push how I want people to think of this character." Whether Segura was completely in control of the script or had White (directly or indirectly) telling him where to go with it is inconsequential. White allowed it, meaning it did the things he wanted. I've said for several years that Lorna needs a mini or oneshot focused on her. I don't consider the Unlimited story as fitting that, because it didn't actually delve into who Lorna actually is and explore what really matters to her. It just trotted out some old nostalgic attitudes about her and tried to force them on everyone yet again.

We still have some time before White's out. The time between then and now will show if he's willing to actually let Lorna grow and move toward her real potential, or if he's too obsessed with his own biases and nostalgia. It can be a final impression of someone willing to do better by the characters under his purview or someone that wants to force outcomes that fit personal preferences. We'll just have to wait and see.

[Soulsword323]

Yeah, it definitely seems like Lorna will being have a presence in Duggan's X-Men again. Thrilled to hear that, and excited to see what that entails.

I wonder if it'll have something to do with what Monet and Forge saw. There was that woman who looked like Polaris on a asteroid I believe.

[Krakoa]

sometimes you write a 5-page manifesto about a character not being used the way you want (including falsehoods like Havok being a member of the main X-Men book by Hickman and not cameoing 2-3 times just like Polaris) and realize "maybe I should step away from the internet for a bit, this activity isn't healthy for me"

[CGAR]

Methinks you think too much.

I hightly doubt JDW thinks about Lorna at all.

And all those writers that write Lorna wrote because they wanted to at that point.

I think you're just going to have to deal with writers not wanting to write her like I have to deal with them not wanting to write Betsy anymore.

I really don't think editorial has this plan to keep her out of the books as much as you think they do.

[salarta]

Took you guys a couple days to pull this.

[CGAR]

People dont really come to the thread this often.

[UncannyLZ]

How JDW feels about or treated Polaris doesn’t matter anymore. He’s leaving the x office. It’s better to suggest writers who actually like Lorna and want to write her to Brevoort or hope that the writer(s) he brings into the X office want to write her. Winning the X vote and the character being a “X-Men” roster character instead of X-Factor has been great and she’s had solid momentum in the fandom and in universe. No, she hasn’t been the star of a series the way we’d like but her powers and personality have carried her during an era where she could’ve been shelved considering all characters were on the table. I really hope Duggan sticks the landing on Lorna’s return and rise with the resistance. If he does, This X-Men run could be the best she’s been written in a decade.

[GoingGreen]

Yeah, it definitely seems like Lorna will being have a presence in Duggan's X-Men again. Thrilled to hear that, and excited to see what that entails.

I wonder if it'll have something to do with what Monet and Forge saw. There was that woman who looked like Polaris on a asteroid I believe.

Yeah, what book/issue was that again? I've always wondered what ever happened to that.

And I'm in general agreement - I really don't think senior editors consider characters outside of the core few due to the business end and making sure the top sellers stay that way. Senior editors need to focus more on story, NOT characters. There is so much to keep track of, character is going to have to take the backburner to the overall storylines.

I still argue pushing the narrative that there's some mandate specifically against Polaris is a self-fulfilling prophecy. If I was a writer getting beaten up because I didn't portray exactly someone else's idea of a character... I would never want to write the character again,... and neither would my coworkers.

[jmc247]

Link

i wanna see more of this Lorna. More of her thinking and more introspection on the similarities and differences between Krakoa and Genosha.

Attachment 134041

Also Havok has his own thread and is starring in Dark X-Men next week.

While a poster here has correctly stated a great many times Hickman didn’t treat Lorna equally to the big names, but that said Hickman frankly treated her as a more important character then any big name writer has since Morrison. She even had a hybrid version with Emma in Powers of X. He also gave her the outline of the characters place visa via the X-Men.

House of X era ended up so far an uneven as a storyline for her due to not building upon House of X for her in a way that might have happened if she had appeared on Marauders as almost happened. That doesn’t mean there wasn’t good moments, but it has been hit or miss.

The events of Magneto’s death and the gala could turn that around we will see soon enough. The issue of why are you here and what is your place needs much more focus for the character. Hickman had a world view for Lorna which is more then can be said for any run after him or before post Austen. If they built on it… well it’s not over yet.

[Angleman70]

Hey guys, been reading a lot of your posts on Lorna’s supposed appearance coming (if that comes). It got me wondering how Lorna is going to be able to fight Orchis or even Sinister. From what I gather already is that the new sentinels are now magnetic proof. So I’m concerned as to how she will be able to get passed that. As we have seen before Editors of the x titles don’t care for Miss Dane nor do they care to get her as an omega level threat to the X-men’s enemies. It would be nice for her to use her powers in a new way that even Orchis or any other enemy would be shocked by. Any thoughts or ideas?

[jmc247]

Hey guys, been reading a lot of your posts on Lorna’s supposed appearance coming (if that comes). It got me wondering how Lorna is going to be able to fight Orchis or even Sinister. From what I gather already is that the new sentinels are now magnetic proof. So I’m concerned as to how she will be able to get passed that. As we have seen before Editors of the x titles don’t care for Miss Dane nor do they care to get her as an omega level threat to the X-men’s enemies. It would be nice for her to use her powers in a new way that even Orchis or any other enemy would be shocked by. Any thoughts or ideas?

I am not a fan of the classification system in general, but I also think not making Lorna on par with her father or Jean or Storm was a disrespect.

At the same time I think it would be a good call if they let her use her powers on a smaller scale, but in a more ruthless manner again. Her running a one woman X-Force like she was under Austen when she was eliminating Church of Humanity militiants would be a very good direction.

[GoingGreen]

Doctor Dane*

Jean just got killed by a dagger, being omega isn’t that big of a deal when writers can’t maintain how incomprehensibly powerful they are.

Polaris once dropped the Phoenix, the Hulk, Scarlet Witch, and a few dozen more crazy powerful folks in one swoop. She threw an island into space. She destroyed (at least one) Shi’ar warship the size of a city with one strike. She’s taken out Iceman. She and Storm stalemated when Polaris was under mind control. She nearly killed Vulcan on her own. And she has the potential to have three unique power sets (ems control, empathic bomb / hulk, and Pestilence abilities).

Realistically, they should’ve confirmed her omega status by now, alongside Legion and Proteus, the other legacies. But the lead x-writers didn’t put a lot of research on Lorna when relaunching. So I think it’s more a matter of time. And if it never happens? She’s bested 3 omegas already, so it’s not like she’s weak. I’m not that pressed.

[jmc247]

I would much prefer the Omega system simply go away. It’s a BS way for some to pump up their favorites and promote them over other characters.

Post Hickman I expect it to decline in use until it’s irrelevant again.

[Magnetic]

Polaris Testament will give us answers we desperately need.

[salarta]

Hey guys, been reading a lot of your posts on Lorna’s supposed appearance coming (if that comes). It got me wondering how Lorna is going to be able to fight Orchis or even Sinister. From what I gather already is that the new sentinels are now magnetic proof. So I’m concerned as to how she will be able to get passed that. As we have seen before Editors of the x titles don’t care for Miss Dane nor do they care to get her as an omega level threat to the X-men’s enemies. It would be nice for her to use her powers in a new way that even Orchis or any other enemy would be shocked by. Any thoughts or ideas?

This would be a perfect opportunity for the X-Men comics office to touch on Lorna's experience with Genosha by showing that she's thought for a long time how to combat such threats after she failed to do so on Genosha. They could even make an excuse for neglecting her Genosha history for so long with her saying she didn't want mutantkind's enemies to think about accounting for her in any real way. The meta "interview" with Orchis where they said they accounted for Lorna by accounting for Magneto could play well into a storyline focused on how thinking she's just a pale boob-having imitation of her father is a costly mistake.

More specifically, here's a few random ideas. Maybe Lorna learned how to make wormholes on her own and could transport them elsewhere, or make them attack each other. Maybe Lorna can affect their programming instead of their bodies. It's likely Orchis is thinking more about metal parts than about electromagnetic wavelengths. Perhaps one exists that Orchis isn't aware of, can't even detect let alone measure, but Lorna's tapped into it and can use it to take them down.

As for classification systems, they're always garbage. They only exist for people to insist their faves are superior to other characters by a purely subjective measure that they try to make sound objective. The only scenario in which such classifications might not be garbage is when they're made by a character in that universe, because then they're a reflection of that character's interests and biases, no mistaking them for something objective. But, as I've said before, if Marvel insists on a classification system and claiming it's "objective," then I'm going to expect them to adhere to their own rules. The most recent one violates its own rules in considering Magneto to be an Omega but not Lorna.