A fair number mind you the longest term influence was ideas from his run (many of which were seeded by other writers he went full on with) and then were continued by other writers from The Gifted to WATXM the animated series. I mean Badlands basically was New X-Men 132 and Uncanny X-Men 443 merged.
The instability after the Genoshan genocide didn't produce fans so much as got general X-Men fans to look up and take notice of the character for the first time, the romantic soap opera is pretty much forgotten about outside of the iconic wedding moment which has been expropriated into Lorna wearing a certain helmet quite a few other places has had a lasting impact. Restarting the family connection obviously produced stories in various mediums to this day including X-Men Blue.
There are ideas that worked and ideas that didn't. Uncanny X-Men 443 and Lorna debating with Xavier in the ruins of Genosha was something that worked some things were tried as hard or harder and didn't.
I mean Austen wrote over ten issues of generic hero Lorna at the end of his run and they were some of best issues of Lorna as a generic hero Lorna that have ever been written mainly in his New X-Men run, great power feats, witty banter, etc., but fans didn't talk about it and it didn't sell as well as either his contentious soap issues nor his Purifier (wannabe) hunter early Lorna issues and they are basically forgotten about.
Regardless he tried several ways to champion the character in his two year run with her and was willing to further the good ideas of other writers even if they weren't his own.
Last edited by jmc247; 06-24-2018 at 02:48 PM.
All three are amazing, but this one if my favorite. I think the headpiece works on Lorna regardless, as I've said before, but I enjoy the one used here more so than the one we currently have. This is the very first one she had, and is more original, and unique to Lorna, as opposed to what she got in space, which just seemed like a riff on what Wanda typically wears.
I by in large agree with that, the space headgear was a bit too much a Wanda knock off and the outfit itself was so reduced to one color it hurt without even the various shades of green like Genosha.
I have seen various artists jazz up her space headgear and sort of combine it with her Genoshan headgear to make something a bit more unique. Not perfect, but an improvement.
By Ken Hunt
Season 2 of The Gifted I believe is apt to popularize Lorna wearing some very hall we say 'unique' clothes. It will be interesting to see the impact of that in the art that comes out. I have the feeling if they settle on a single standard outfit for Lorna it will happen after the baby.
This was a VERY good read, and such a well-articulated assessment, of that period's impact & subsequent influence. ThanX, JMC, your insight is always GREATLY appreciated. The tragedy of Genosha, and the reestablishing of her family connections, seem to have reverberated the longest & biggest. AND, been the most beneficial also, TBH. Wish the same could be said for her newfound attitude in combat, and with politics.
Still, I think she's in a pretty good place right now, and could be taken in many interesting directions. Plus, there's still time with Bunn & Blue yet, let's see what he's got left up his sleeve for her. If Mags does take a turn into darker territory, like many suspect, it puts her in quite the compelling position. And then there's Emma, will she try to protect her from her father, out of grudging respect for what she did during MotherVine?
What's everybody think, can it go either way?
Interesting. I almost got a very strong like "moral alignment theme" from these images. Like arranged top to bottom it's sort of Hero Neutral Villain.
I feel her original headpiece is more unique sure but to me that starts to get into the whole "it seems too fragile and ornate for practical battle".
I also think it works good in the setting it was introduced in, basically Polaris as a semi willing accomplice of "Evil". Likewise with that skull on her outfit of course. And the cape can be used in different situations but it can also be thought of generally as a way to emphasize her like 'grand stature' or something, to make her appear more intimidating.
Forget the old ways - Krakoa is god.
OBEY
GREAT art, too, BTW. Speaking of, I like how Marcus To showed the canonical difference in height, between Lorna & Emma in that pic. Polaris is supposedly 5'7"@115#, to Em's more voluptuous 5'10"@144#. For conteXt, Dazz is recorded as 5'8"@115#, Moonstar's 5'8"@125", Monet's 5'7"@125#, & Jean's 5'6"@115#.
First of all I love that picture of Lorna confronting Emma. Not because I want them to fight or anything but just it shows them both more treating each other as equals and not Emma like taking pity on "crazy Lorna" like in the mid 2000s.
As to your question about which side would Polaris take if Magneto and Emma do battle, I am not sure. I don'[t think they (editors) really deeply considered Lorna when they decided to make Magneto a "bad guy" again. Because it totally undoes what was being attempted between her and him.... it would be silly for Lorna to suddenly join the Brotherhood but I don't think she would fight her dad at this point either, they are getting along too well.
That face is ... curious to me. Perhaps colored it would appear better. But I love the rest of it. It brings to mind a contemporary re imagining of the character, in a more urban sort of setting (obviously like The Gifted) where Lorna is treated more of a person but who happens to be born a mutant. And she has to deal with and confront a society that doesn't appreciate this, while she herself actually embraces it. Sort of like she'll never just let them take away what makes her unique, she finds it beautiful. And that quote is very true.
Last edited by AbnormallyNormal; 06-24-2018 at 03:53 PM.
Forget the old ways - Krakoa is god.
OBEY
I think that it could go either way, I think that Lorna would follow and help Magneto up to a point and then there'd come a point and time, a line that she wouldn't cross that he readily would to accomplish his mission...after that point who knows...
Normally she probably wouldn't fight Magneto, but if the stakes were high enough she might have no other choice, and with Bunn likely ending his run of writing both or either in the near future the next writer might think differently and a big fight between the two could be used to spur whatever comes next for both...
I think the 3x3 alignment system is OK but it needs to be expanded and made more complex really.
As for Polaris being Chaotic Neutral on The Gifted. I would argue really more like Chaotic Good actually but that's my PoV regarding Hellfire I guess leaking out. Like to me, working within an oppressive society is not "Good" simply because you fear confrontation yknow? Just because a character gets involved in violence does not remove them from "Good" necessarily for me.
I do think that the same character's alignment can change as well over time and their experiences.
Forget the old ways - Krakoa is god.
OBEY
That is sort of central to Lorna's quote on the top of the page. I am not the fan of alignment systems for genre characters in general. That fan is also not saying what they think Lorna's alignment is in The Gifted or the comics and instead saying their favorite choice for the character.
Last edited by jmc247; 06-24-2018 at 07:52 PM.