Danielle Moonstar/Mirage Appreciation 2023

[Arachne]

Happy New Year, Dani fans! Let's hope she gets more to do this year.

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[Arachne]

And because I couldn't decide on just three images:

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So what should we chat about? Her costume? Her love life? Those seem to be the perennial hot topics.

[norj]

I predict this the year where Dani kills the Demon Bear, devours its heart to claim its power and wears it's skin as a cloak. What are your predictions?

[Frontier]

Happy New Year to Dani and fans !

[Arachne]

Happy New Year, Frontier!

That's a tough one, norj. I'm trying not to get my hopes up.

That said, I'd like to see Hela's claims from the Chris Claremont Anniversary Special brought up again. "Life and death be the frame of creation... whilst light and shadow, the definition of its form. As thy name donotes, Moonstar, thou stand astride the boundaries of both... as their guardian -- if thou so choose." She also said that after Dani dies, she'll become the Shadow King's adversary. I don't want that to happen, of course, but I'd like to learn more about it.

[rf2044]

Happy New Year, everyone!

I'm actually going to kick things off with a DIFFERNT question than what Arachne listed above -- and one that's bound to be a bit more controversial: what are your thoughts about the upcoming New Mutants - Lethal Legion mini-series?

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Given the recent Sublime story arc -- excited? Not excited? Etc.

Here's a quote from the following article: "In an announcement by Marvel Entertainment New Mutants: Lethal Legion will apparently be a 5-issue miniseries, "...which will pit Escapade and the New Mutants against an all-new team of Super Villains called the Lethal Legion."

https://screenrant.com/new-mutants-g...lethal-legion/


So... now it's 'Escapade and the New Mutants?" Find it interesting that they get second billing, in a book with their name on the title?

[Arachne]

That's one of the main reasons I'm not getting my hopes up for this year. Charlie Jane Anders has won a lot of awards for her writing, but what I've seen is for young adults. Not my favorite reading material. I'm afraid she's going to focus mainly on the younger characters and shove the older ones into the background. I hope I'm wrong.

[Arachne]

Copying my last post from the old thread 'cause this is bugging me. Does anyone know when that Anniversary Special is supposed to take place in Dani's life?

I just remembered the Claremont Anniversary Special from 2 years ago. Dani was definitely the focus in that and it had some interesting implications for her as the future Champion of Life. (That's make a good thread title, tomorrow.) Hela calling her "daughter" was kind of sweet, too.

That said I still have no idea when it's supposed to take place. Dani starts at Xavier's school and doesn't know Gambit, but she shown using her psi arrows. Time travel was probably involved, but that doesn't explain much. I suppose it could take place right when she comes back from Asgard, but Brightwind was white not black...

[rf2044]

Copying my last post from the old thread 'cause this is bugging me. Does anyone know when that Anniversary Special is supposed to take place in Dani's life?

Well, she first got Brightwind in New Mutants Special Edition 1 (1985) -- and I believe that the anniversary special took place only shortly after Dani acquired Brightwind -- so that places that story somewhere in the mid-to-late 30s of issues for volume 1.

So really early on in her history, relatively speaking.

[Arachne]

Yeah, I was thinking that it's right after the War Children comic, since Hela's in that, too, and that's about the same time period. It's those psi arrows that mess everything up.

I wonder if she even remembers these events. Seems like the kind of thing that might be discussed after mutant resurrection became a thing. I think Dani's now the only New Mutant that hasn't died at some point in the last 40 years.

[rf2044]

Yeah, I was thinking that it's right after the War Children comic, since Hela's in that, too, and that's about the same time period. It's those psi arrows that mess everything up.

I wonder if she even remembers these events. Seems like the kind of thing that might be discussed after mutant resurrection became a thing. I think Dani's now the only New Mutant that hasn't died at some point in the last 40 years.

Yeah -- that's a good point. She didn't demonstrate that ability IIRC until she returned in X-Force, after she'd decided to remain in Asgard for an extended period of time.

It would be interesting to go back and read the anniversary special -- I feel like they had a reference noted early on in the issue indicating where it took place in the timeline, but I don't recall. I just know that my impression was that it was smack dab in the range of issues listed above, before she left the Xavier school due to an argument with then-new headmaster, Magneto.

It's also possible that it was just a continuity issue -- although that seems unlikely with Claremont, maybe he just "forgot" that she didn't have that ability at that point, since it is has become one of her main abilities for the majority of her history.

[Arachne]

It seems strange that he'd forget that when he never wrote her with those powers. The only "no-prize" I can think of is that somehow Dani came back from Asgard before Brightwind turned black. Wait, just checked, it says Dani's leader of the New Mutants and it starts at the school, so it had to be between Dani becoming a Valkyrie and the team leaving the school.

Good ending, though, even with the continuity mix up. Dani and Storm work will together. Note, this scene takes place post Seige Perilous, so time travel must be happening.

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[rf2044]

It seems strange that he'd forget that when he never wrote her with those powers. The only "no-prize" I can think of is that somehow Dani came back from Asgard before Brightwind turned black. Wait, just checked, it says Dani's leader of the New Mutants and it starts at the school, so it had to be between Dani becoming a Valkyrie and the team leaving the school.

Good ending, though, even with the continuity mix up. Dani and Storm work will together. Note, this scene takes place post Seige Perilous, so time travel must be happening.

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That's the only thing that makes sense to me -- he set the story when she was younger, somewhere in her second phase of New Mutants [i.e. post Demon Bear, post her first jaunt to Asgard].

But I just skimmed it, and it is definitely ambiguous about exactly when it takes place. The two clues I could find were how it described her day beginning like every other one, with her grooming Brightwind, and her multiple references to herself being a New Mutant.

So it totally seems in the ball park of where I originally thought, but she is clearly firing psychic arrows, which doesn't fit. And while obviously Claremont is the creator of this team and the main characters, I just think it was a minor slip-up that they had her using this power in her original New Mutants timeframe, which was well before she added that as a feat for how her powers could be used.

[Arachne]

I've got to agree. It made for a good ending, anyway. I love that panel where she kicks the Shadow King out of Gambit.

She looks pretty good in blue and black, too. So much better than the yellow and black.

[Arachne]

I found a Dani cameo I wasn't aware of.

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From Marvelous X-men #4. I'm not sure what to make of it. This rifts are supposed to be showing things that happened in the real world, but Nate appeared in at least one where he shouldn't have been. Either way, I'd like to know who "he" is. The only thing I can think of is the Demon Bear, if this takes place in an alerted early New Mutants vol.1, which might not be the intent.