The Mistress of Magnetism: LORNA DANE POLARIS Appreciation

[jmc247]

The thing is that if you put Polaris on a team with A-listers she will 1) be overshadowed or 2) if she is treated as their equal in prominence it might get some fans to think it's artificial pushing. Plus 3) I thought you said you liked Polaris being more morally ambiguous/different from the uber mainstream heroics of the A-list X-Men teams? If she is part of such a team how is that going to work out without her just constantly like disagreeing/complaining or even worse appearing to betray them?

I want Lorna to continue to matter in the grand scheme of the X-Men after 50 years as a character. Lorna works best as an independent operator who sometimes is an X-Man and sometimes something they might be opposed to, but stays in the main x-world not a self contained periphery doing things virtually unconnected to the main titles.

Lorna's longest run as an X-Man from 2003 to her being dumped in space happened because she had a very interesting storyline and interesting philosophical position coming off Genosha that drove conflict and produced drama that wasn't recycled nostalgia. Once they got away from that and fell back on recycled nostalgia and generic depictions for Lorna (see RAFOTSE) they booted her from the titles.

I never said I need Lorna as a core X-Man on the main titles at all times. 2000-2002 was one of her best years of the past 20 in terms of an interesting high profile story line which put her at the center of the x-world and she most decidedly was not an X-Man at that time though she worked with them at times.

[Havok83]

The thing is that if you put Polaris on a team with A-listers she will 1) be overshadowed or 2) if she is treated as their equal in prominence it might get some fans to think it's artificial pushing. Plus 3) I thought you said you liked Polaris being more morally ambiguous/different from the uber mainstream heroics of the A-list X-Men teams? If she is part of such a team how is that going to work out without her just constantly like disagreeing/complaining or even worse appearing to betray them?

1. She was on a team of A-listers in Milligan's run and I dont feel she was overshadowed. It wasnt the best run for her, but neither was it for anyone else. I felt everyone got treated equally, save Wolverine, whom didnt get an arc around him

2. so what? A writer shouldnt be scared to use her bc fans might think this. Again I think back to her mid 00s tenure and I dont recall this being an issue

[jmc247]

1. She was on a team of A-listers in Milligan's run and I dont feel she was overshadowed. It wasnt the best run for her, but neither was it for anyone else. I felt everyone got treated equally, save Wolverine, whom didnt get an arc around him

2. so what? A writer shouldnt be scared to use her bc fans might think this. Again I think back to her mid 00s tenure and I dont recall this being an issue

Early to mid 2000s Lorna did work quite well as part of the main x-books as at times a reoccurring character 2000-2002 the X-Men bumped into a fair bit and at times a mainline X-Man 2003 to the decision to send her to space because she had an Independent agenda and was interesting to read which in the end worked pretty well.

Casting her off to self contained satellite status is worse then a reoccurring involved in major affairs of the core titles. I would have preferred after Milligan's run for instance she stayed on Earth on the periphery of happening of the core titles until writers got back to her then booted into space for instance.

But, yes Lorna was in no way overshadowed on New X-Men and Uncanny X-Men in 2003-2005.

[AbnormallyNormal]

She wasn't really alongside Jean/Storm/Rogue/Kitty either. At best her main competition for prominence was Emma.

I don't want you guys to misunderstand me. I am all for what you say. I am just throwing out objections to test how you think they'd get handled.

Also I didn't get a response to the whole "Polaris has a somewhat different way of thinking and acting then the typical X-Man"

I think the best solution for Polaris post-BLUE is to be on another side team but to encounter and interact with the main squad and not be totally isolated. I don't think side team means "noone's heard of any of her teammates" either, that's an exaggeration. There are characters who fit Polaris's present level of prominence in the X-mythos and maybe can boost her up a bit punch above her weight a bit

I do have some concern about completely tossing her into the "deep end" as it were with the Likes of Jean/Storm/Rogue. That might not go over well for our gal.

FOR EXAMPLE. i would say Psylocke is a decent match for Polaris right now in terms of overall prominence. Is Psylocke a "nobody"? I don't think so. But she isn't the absolute center of fan focus either (like Polaris). That is what I'm talking about, put her with people who more match her "level".

Either that or she won't be the leader of the team that's for sure if some A-lister is there. And again, how do you combine her harder edge and militancy when that goes against what the average fan believes about A-listers. That's why her being on the same team with Jean/Storm/Rogue is problematic. Unless it's a very open minded writer giving them a new approach.

[Havok83]

FOR EXAMPLE. i would say Psylocke is a decent match for Polaris right now in terms of overall prominence. Is Psylocke a "nobody"? I don't think so. But she isn't the absolute center of fan focus either (like Polaris). That is what I'm talking about, put her with people who more match her "level".

Either that or she won't be the leader of the team that's for sure if some A-lister is there. And again, how do you combine her harder edge and militancy when that goes against what the average fan believes about A-listers. That's why her being on the same team with Jean/Storm/Rogue is problematic. Unless it's a very open minded writer giving them a new approach.

I dont think thats a problem. Im glad that Bunn made her leader but prior to this, I didnt see her as fit to be one. Im perfectly fine with her being a member where someone else calls the shots

I dont see her edge being problematic. If anything it helps keep things interesting as she offers a different perspective. Psylocke and Emma have both gone against the grain, yet writers didnt shy against putting her on squads with the likes of those women you mentioned. And IDA on her being militant. Thats not something she's really displayed in Blue and he very much can be a team player and fall in line

[jmc247]

I don't want you guys to misunderstand me. I am all for what you say. I am just throwing out objections to test how you think they'd get handled.

Lorna likes playing devil's advocate too, though typically does mean it when she does it.

I explained quite well how Lorna can have a relationship with Jean that works for both characters and their histories and actually helps both characters and their histories. Friends with a different point of view on issues that causes conflict would more then rebuild interest in them being together (it would make their friendship iconic) and they have been together on and on since the 60s.

Lorna should have relationships with the major x-women, but it doesn't mean they all be on good terms. In fact I don't see it working if they did try to push them to be BFF's like you imply.

Lorna's pushes fail when writers decide to fall back on bad nostalgia characterization for Lorna and can't separate it from good ideas.

In 2000-20005 what she did was exactly what I am referring to with Lorna having an independent agenda and being apart of big things and today aspiring writers have a much better guide post for how to get the characters views right with The Gifted writers doing a better job of summing it up her thinking then any comic writer of the past decade that is for sure. Lorna there was both a well written follower for most the season and when things got apocalypticly bad took matters into her own hands and stopped following Thunderbird.

Good things build onto themselves Alan Davis' work was built onto by Morrison which was built onto by Austen and onto Milligan and that in turn led to Lorna being in her first company wide crossover House of M which led her into being on WATXM and events last decade clearly propelled her storyline on The Gifted. Popular ideas build onto each other. Comic Lorna's main problem is how often they fall back on old bad nostalgia for the character or keep her self contained and not moving forward.

[Soulsword323]

Polaris wasn't overshadowed when she was working with Emma and Rogue. I think it just takes a good writer (mind you, Milligan's run wasn't mind-blowing, but it was serviceable. At the at the start at least when it pertains to Lorna). Magik was a character that went from hanging with the New Mutants to joining the big leagues and wasn't overshadowed. A writer just needs to take the time to see Lorna for who she is as an individual character, and not a plot device for other characters.

[jmc247]

Polaris wasn't overshadowed when she was working with Emma and Rogue. I think it just takes a good writer (mind you, Milligan's run wasn't mind-blowing, but it was serviceable. At the at the start at least when it pertains to Lorna). Magik was a character that went from hanging with the New Mutants to joining the big leagues and wasn't overshadowed. A writer just needs to take the time to see Lorna for who she is as an individual character, and not a plot device for other characters.

Austen's run may be hated by alot of hard core fans, but a great many of the good ideas for Lorna that continue to this day flow down from that run namely for five reasons; he built on what others were doing with her (namely he re-wrote his scripts with Lorna to take into account what happened under Morrison's pen), he looked at what worked and what didn't with Lorna and kept changing things to try to build upon what was working, he looked at all Lorna's old major relationships and tried to rebuild them along with building new ones, he questioned assumptions about past depictions and most importantly he did think of her as more then a plot device to service other characters stories.

Milligan's first arc with Lorna was good because he didn't veer too far from the Austen era template and really thought about what a genocide survivor might think about things. It went off the rails when it got too deep into the love triangle and loony Lorna stuff. After that it became just about servicing other characters stories for Lorna for many years.

Jean-Lorna as we have been talking about for instance is a win win for any writer that wants to further Jean's story, but they have to think about Lorna in the process at a level that many in the past didn't do or just passed her off as a character who never caught on.



The good news about The Gifted at least is its providing a template for fans of other characters even when they are writing Lorna to be able to see how Lorna interacting with their favorites could win for them and hopefully they will start to be invested enough to see how they could make it a win/win for Lorna too. Good ideas feed onto themselves, Esme and Lorna is an idea that lends itself to a relationship we are about to see I suspect get tried out.

[JasonEsta]

Put her on a team of A listers, push her, and that would be forced? No. She should be running a team more than Jean or Kitty right now..especially with the buzz she generated this year. I dont want her to be some boring pacifist on the Jean scale. Shes too impulsive to be that two dimensional.

Polaris was Princess in the House of M story..the story that changed Marvel for 8 years. She has been underused in almost every way possible. I'm curious to see how Magneto solves his Havok and Emma problem..because those two need a long break from the fake redemption gimmick writers love to indulge in .

[jmc247]

Put her on a team of A listers, push her, and that would be forced? No. She should be running a team more than Jean or Kitty right now..especially with the buzz she generated this year. I dont want her to be some boring pacifist on the Jean scale. Shes too impulsive to be that two dimensional.

Polaris was Princess in the House of M story..the story that changed Marvel for 8 years. She has been underused in almost every way possible. I'm curious to see how Magneto solves his Havok and Emma problem..because those two need a long break from the fake redemption gimmick writers love to indulge in .

Hard divorcing Lorna from mutant politics hurt her as well badly. She still is separate from it at this moment because lets just say personal reasons are massively the driving force behind her in this arc. Hopefully personal relationships can start to abate with time as the driving force behind the character. Lorna and mutant politics go hand in hand.

Jean represents and interesting worldview developed from Xavier's teachings. Jean is Lorna's oldest female friend, but Lorna represents a different world view and therein is where both characters can help one another while not overlapping in an uninspiring and uninteresting way.

The 1990s by in large tried way too hard to turn Lorna into the green haired Jean of X-Factor to keep her fans coming after the 05 left. The most successful moments with Lorna of that era were when mutant politics was at the forefront and writers were taking a bigger page from 1960s Lorna then they were Jean who had departed the title.

[JasonEsta]

Yes..they had Magneto mention Summers as a beacon for her to magically feel sorry for him but until then, she didnt speak of him and went on with her business alongside Magneto and Briar.

Jean under the Xavier tree has always seemed a little more soft..more naive...always playing the second chance game. If she was here during the Wanda Decimation, much like Lorna, I dont think she would of kept a grudge against Wanda. She just isnt like that..especially with how close theyve been before.

I was sure Lorna would be easy on Wanda too because of her personality and her potentially living with all of those House Of M memories where they lived together in Castle Magnus during their reign on top.

[LoganAlpha30X33]

Characters change over time so mutant politics shouldn't be Lorna's whole identity either...or her as anybody's girlfriend or daughter, but so far the latter of those two is dominating everything about her lately...and no the former shouldn't either I'm just saying...as for Jean she's been dead for the last several years anyway so they haven't been close in a bit though Lorna did go to see that she was back but I wouldn't expect a ton of interaction, especially if Blue doesn't have several more issues to go...

And jmc, personal relationships are the reason that she's even in Blue, so they're going to dominate her as long as she's in Blue with Magneto regardless of what either of us think...

[JasonEsta]

Several issues or not, Lorna wont be taking radical change in mindset or mindset unless shes handed off to some lazy writer.

[Havok83]

My hope is that Lorna makes an appearance in the Astonishing X-men annual. I doubt it but she and Alex are sometimes considered honorary O5 members. Even if she wont be in the meat of the story, I hope Jean reconnects with her there

[jmc247]

Several issues or not, Lorna wont be taking radical change in mindset or mindset unless shes handed off to some lazy writer.

Let’s just say I think The Gifted season 2 will continue its good work in regards to how she makes/comes to decisions.