The Mistress of Magnetism: LORNA DANE POLARIS Appreciation

[CJStriker]

Not that it'd ever happen, but I like Al Ewing. Thought his Ultimates was pretty unorthodoX, in both style & subject matter, as well as bein' quite ambitious in scope.

Al Ewing as of this point is one of My Favorite Writers in the Comic World right now, He GETS how the blend the cool with the over the top ideals a comic world should have, it just a sight to read what he writes. Just read some of his Ultimates or US Avengers, some great stuff in their for the classic and over the top way comic books should be written!

[salarta]

I think it can be agreed upon, that this is what we all want, as Polaris fans. I''m just not sure sometimes, if your approach is all that conducive to it. In fact, I fear it may be the eXact opposite, and have a more adverse effect. I know personally, I've found it quite off-putting, at times. Just not sure relentless negativity, is the way to go. As it can be a turn-off, and all ya end up doin', is gettin' tuned out. There's only so much people can take, before gettin' offended, and feelin' downright insulted. I say all this, with the utmost respect for your passion. Just suggesting, you might wanna try a more tactful way, of channeling it.

I can understand the feeling about negativity. Talking only about bad things that have happened can give a feeling of defeat that saps energy out of wanting to do much or be involved.

That's why I also talk about things I'd like to see happen. What Marvel could have done differently or better and should. And why I post things done or commissioned by fans, like the Giant-Size Zine made for LGBTQ organization Loft, or the Rhiannon Owens commission. Granted, most of that activity from me is on Tumblr and not on here because my primary focus is my social media where I have closer relationships and more visibility. But I still do some of it here. It may be more apparent when some more of the 50th anniversary stuff I have down the pipeline is ready for posting.

But frankly, it's not negativity for negativity sake. The intent is to draw attention to things that are wrong and push for them to be righted. There's a purpose behind it.

I shouldn't openly say some of what I'm about to say, but I feel like the benefits of saying it at least once outweigh the risks. I strongly believe Marvel completely ignores soft, friendly pie in the sky talk and only listens when people get ticked off enough at poor treatment to complain. Lorna went 40 years without an origin story; it was only after complaints that she finally got one. Lorna went 40 years without being a leader herself; she became leader of ANXF after complaints. People complained about Lorna not being confirmed as Magneto's daughter, and she got confirmed. People complained about how she was treated as a leader in ANXF #3-6, Peter David started fixing it in ANXF #7. I complained about Lorna reduced to "daughter of Magneto" on Blue, Bunn fixed that (though kept up the much worse problem of Havok, which is why I still complain and you don't see me saying "he was getting better and I wish he had more time with her").

By contrast, any time I was nice and friendly, things got worse for Lorna. I was gushing happy with her use during Secret Wars, Marvel decided to throw her into forced limbo for two years. I even outright said I was worried Marvel doing that for her was cause they were about to throw her into limbo, but I trusted Marvel not to do that and then it happened. I was upbeat and friendly about All-New X-Factor, she was treated like a member of a Gambit-led team from ANXF #3-6. I was positive and supportive of Bunn writing Lorna, he wrote her as a tool to boost Havok and Magneto's standing.

All of that said, I can see where you're coming from about needing to have more positive talk. I've said many times that balance is important for a lot of other things, and that applies just as much here. I could do with giving a little more positive. But I think the complaints are essential to Lorna's future, and I think not saying them or saying them "nicely" is read by Marvel as "Nobody cares enough about Lorna to demand more from us, let's focus on all these other people who care about their faves enough to push the issue."


I said a lot here, so I'll just post it and catch up on posts that came after I started.

[jmc247]

'cause she'd already been claimed by another, for use elsewhere?

Possibility as typically even if he didn’t want to write her Marvel would dump her off wherever Havok would go when he was around. Lorna on Genosha was only possible because Havok was in the Mutant X universe in the first place.

JMC can you name any names when it comes to your preferred writers for Lorna either as a solo or team ?

I know Soulsword wants a woman's PoV

I think it might be hard to find someone who is "nostalgic" for the Austen Era quite honestly. Not sure that's even a thing? We'll have to find out.

Frankly it was actually the Morrison and Austen era for the character and it’s not about being nostalgic for the era in general it’s about being able to separate good ideas from bad ones for the character. She needs a younger writer I feel or an older one whose views aren’t too fixed in time. The Gifted writers are most certainly playing in the general Morrison and Austen era sandbox with aspects of others eras certainly.

Though that isn’t because they are younger, it’s because they didn’t come in with too heavy preconceived views on the characters.

A lot of writers managed to get aspects of the Morrison/Austen era down. Liu got down casual Lorna’s voice and persona pretty well. DNA got down her political manipulator and casual side. Yost got down a lot of her warrior side.

PAD well that was interesting. I could write a lot about that, but suffice it to say there were similarities and differences. No comic writer since 2004 though got down the she stands for ordinary mutants and will champion them part.

[salarta]

On the note of positive things that Heroine Addict would like to see more of:




Assuming there isn't bad stuff I haven't seen, I'm really glad to see these panels.

When Piskor was announced to be doing this project, I was concerned about the year range being focused on. It's after the forced retcon on Lorna's parentage, but before Marvel undid the retcon in the 00s. The first picture handles the situation well. Mesmero calling her Magneto's daughter is neither confirming nor denying what she is, while noting it was key to her introduction to the Marvel universe.

The second picture is acknowledging that she was there for Krakoa, which is pretty important too.

[AbnormallyNormal]

He acknowledged Lorna's extreme power played a huge role in defeating Krakoa as well

However I am guessing that will basically be it for her in Grand Design

[CJStriker]

I can't remember if I saw this posted on here before, and I don't feel like looking through past pages to see if it was, so I'm gonna post it.

This is a piece by Rhiannon Owens that someone commissioned.

Very Dynamic with Allot Power behind the Yellow in the Power Blast, you can feel the energy coming off the artwork!

I love Retro/Original Classic Look allot and this one's Emerald Greens are do with express usage very well to help Polaris flow with how her power looks in the background, they work well together, very smart by the artist!

[Heroine Addict]

Al Ewing as of this point is one of My Favorite Writers in the Comic World right now, He GETS how the blend the cool with the over the top ideals a comic world should have, it just a sight to read what he writes. Just read some of his Ultimates or US Avengers, some great stuff in their for the classic and over the top way comic books should be written!

Agree, CJ. Al E.'s a man of BIG ideas, that are WILD & WONDERFUL!!

[Heroine Addict]

On the note of positive things that Heroine Addict would like to see more of...

Thank you for these, Salarta, they were good to see. And I agree, Krakoa was a GREAT moment for Polaris, that I'll always treasure.

... All of that said, I can see where you're coming from about needing to have more positive talk. I've said many times that balance is important for a lot of other things, and that applies just as much here. I could do with giving a little more positive. But I think the complaints are essential to Lorna's future, and I think not saying them or saying them "nicely" is read by Marvel as "Nobody cares enough about Lorna to demand more from us, let's focus on all these other people who care about their faves enough to push the issue." ...

You make a fair point, however, I would caution... constructive criticism doesn't = complaining "nicely", but it does > being hypercritical, with heaps of sarcasm.

I just think creators & TPTB might respond better to fans championing WHY a character should be used, as opposed to deriding how they've already been so, in the past. Just ask Ken Kneisel, a fan who reached out to Grant Morrison, and inspired him to use Emma Frost in his infamous New X-Men run:

CBR.com, Comic Book Urban Legends Revealed #140

... COMIC URBAN LEGEND: Grant Morrison got the idea to use Emma Frost in his New X-Men run from an online fan.

STATUS: True.

The other week, in a previous Comic Book Urban Legends Revealed installment, I discussed how Colossus was replaced by Emma Frost during Grant Morrison’s New X-Men run – despite his initial writing of Colossus into the comic proposal, Morrison was denied use by Marvel, who had just killed off Colossus. ...

... But amazingly, we have a record of where Morrison got the IDEA to pick Emma to be his choice to replace Colossus!

A few years back, on Grant Morrison’s website (which you can find here), there was this one cool section called Digital Ink, where people could then send in questions to Morrison and he would reply.

While fans were waiting for Morrison’s New X-Men run to begin, reader Ken Kneisel sent Morrison the following question:

I’ve been pissing myself wondering if you’ll be using Emma (White Queen) Frost during your run.

Since GenX is being cancelled, we’ve got this horribly powerful telepathic leather fetishist Daddy’s (poor little rich) girl who straddles the fence between right and wrong just lying around, begging for a certain Scottish genius writer to snatch her up. Please make my day and tell me you’ve got big plans for her.

Morrison replied to this with:

I had no plans at all for Emma Frost but now that you mention it, man…

Soon after that, though, he had to change his plans, so he decided that he WOULD add Emma to his cast (and she worked well), and on his website a couple of weeks after Ken’s original post, Ken wrote in again, and Morrison replied:

I do have you to thank for the fact that Emma is a major part of my new X-MEN team, however. Wait till you see what I’ve done with her. ...

... So to all those Emma fans out there, Ken is who you want to thank!...

[jmc247]

By Victoria O'Connell

[Heroine Addict]

WOW!!! Those are some AMAZing pieces of fan art, JMC, thanX for posting. I'm especially partial to the first 2, and am REALLY likin' that new costume design in the 2nd. It could maybe be simplified a bit, but the base concepts & colors, are damn SHARP. And pretty ideal, in that there's many nods, to her original look. Updated & functional, cool & modernized, it really works. And the more I look at it... the more I LIKE it!! 💚💚💚

[jmc247]

You make a fair point, however, I would caution... constructive criticism doesn't = complaining "nicely", but it does > being hypercritical, with heaps of sarcasm.

I just think creators & TPTB might respond better to fans championing WHY a character should be used, as opposed to deriding how they've already been so, in the past. Just ask Ken Kneisel, a fan who reached out to Grant Morrison, and inspired him to use Emma Frost in his infamous New X-Men run

I would say without winning over the writer on how the character might be used and helping the writer to understand the fulcrum of why the character matters one is setting themselves up for disappointment no matter what happens. Blue was case in point of that in stopping the title from having her accentuate one characters story just meant an immediate fallback to having her accentuate another character's story.

If one doesn't see the character and only sees the character by means of what they can do for others the goal should be to have them see the character and their worth while making it clear one isn't happy with the status quo. Which is what I most certainly tried to do with Bunn to get him to see how some things could be win-win, but it doesn't necessarily work and didn't there.

In terms of using characters to accentuate other characters its not always win-lose either. In the case of Lorna and Alex its almost always been that way because of established dynamics set up in 70s thru early 90s that only a select few writers like JM and Austen tried breaking to make something better of it.

Convincing Marvel how Jean and Lorna best friends with a philosophical disagreement could be a win-win idea to use Lorna for is something I took to every level of the x-titles. Otherwise their relationship is dead and buried only to be maybe remembered at special occasions or not in the case of Jean's own wedding.

I will say in the end Lorna's lot in the comics took a nose dive since 2004 because she stopped being for anything bigger then herself when she was divorced from mutant politics. Wanting to deal with your emotional issues, prove you can be a leader, help save Alex, help Alex try to be his father a Starjammer, etc. just didn't provide the character the necessary centering and the character fell back into the hole she has been in since the 70s of being a character without a central pathos and goal in life to aid writers in understanding why she matters and how she can be used well.

Lorna without a central focus and pathos can be written well at times or more often badly, but in the end writers as a whole don't tend to end up seeing why the character matters.

There is where The Gifted and what is is doing helps, but its up to fans to also make clear Lorna needs an agenda larger then herself she wants to accomplish or she falls into the same hole time and again.

The new Marvel.com summary was once true after all and we can each imagine what it would do in terms of the character to be true again.

[jmc247]

[Drey]

Thank you for these, Salarta, they were good to see. And I agree, Krakoa was a GREAT moment for Polaris, that I'll always treasure.



You make a fair point, however, I would caution... constructive criticism doesn't = complaining "nicely", but it does > being hypercritical, with heaps of sarcasm.

I just think creators & TPTB might respond better to fans championing WHY a character should be used, as opposed to deriding how they've already been so, in the past. Just ask Ken Kneisel, a fan who reached out to Grant Morrison, and inspired him to use Emma Frost in his infamous New X-Men run:

CBR.com, Comic Book Urban Legends Revealed #140

Heh, I remember Ken Kneisel way back during my years as a regular message board poster. Nice guy (to me anyway). I'm glad Emma ended up on New X-men.

[jmc247]

Ranking Magneto’s Top Five Most Powerful Children

2. Lorna Dane is the most like her father in that she has the same power set, though she’s not as powerful. She hasn’t trained with her powers quite as much but while she’s not as forceful as Magneto she has the benefit of being far more emotional and being able to impart a greater feeling of dread in her opponents when it comes time to use her powers. She’s had a rather convoluted back story for a long time, especially since her father had an affair with her mother and that’s where it ended in terms of their relationship. Magneto has obviously never been the father of the year type, and Lorna Dane’s tortured past has been just one more casualty that has proven this.

https://www.tvovermind.com/comics/ra...erful-children

Not sure I would necessarily agree in terms of the comic version where Magneto’s powers have been massively screwed up since Axis and he has been taking drugs to try to put a patch on the problem. It’s not working well given how screwed up his shields have been. Magneto is more skilled though not vastly more skilled post Genosha training.

Comic Lorna also could use some rebuilding of the whole ‘dread in her opponents’ as right now that is more of a mid last decade and The Gifted thing. I can think of a time or two she has instilled dread in her opponents since in the comics though it’s been more the exception rather then the rule.

[Heroine Addict]

@ JMC, sounds to me like what you're saying, in short... is she needs motivation, a reason for being, beyond just eXisting (so to speak). Why does she do what she does, what's her purpose? What eXceeds her introspect, and finding herself as it were, when it comes to bigger goals in/for (Mutants) the world at large? Succinctly, she needs a DEFINITIVE direction, that's her own & greater than her individual, personal plights. Whether they be with herself, her father (and former/soon-to-be-again sibs?), AleX, or what have you.