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I want to make a post about why I care about Polaris, because I don’t think I’ve done that yet, and even if I have, I want to do it again.

I first discovered Lorna in 2009, stumbling on her wikia page. There are a lot of shades to Lorna, she’s an extremely multifaceted character, no one personality actually defines her – even though many people try to make that the case. In my opinion, a real depiction of Lorna takes skill, a very talented writer to truly understand. Some of that is purely by accident, as a result of the various depictions given to her by writers over time. Some of it is not; her best writers give her variety and internal conflicts, and provide insight and empathy for Lorna while acknowledging what a powerful force she is and can be as the Mistress of Magnetism.

Many depictions end up failing to acknowledge the nature of her powers in some way or another. She’s young, but no longer a teen. She’s had decades our time, a decade her time of experience. Or, they fail to acknowledge that there’s depth and variety to her behavior and thoughts based on person, situation, what’s happening with her. She’s not a cut-and-dry one-note character.

But, this is supposed to be about what I see in her, and I need to actually explain what that means.

While her aesthetic was interesting, what really caught my eye about her as a character in the very beginning was the trauma she endured on Genosha. She spent this time by Magneto’s side, helping him maintain a nation by and for mutants, a place where her people could be free from hatred… and it was all destroyed around her.

It’s tragedy. Here’s a woman who wants to help people, who cares about their lives, who wants to make a difference, but when an onslaught comes, her best isn’t good enough. She can’t rescue the people around her even as they call to her for protection as a savior. But the physical nature of what happened, how little power she had to stop it, never really sank in. She laid under the ruins of Genosha (New X-Men #132) despite no doubt having power to free herself, haunted by the voices she failed to save and the thought that her father had died.

But then she adapted. It caused severe mental issues for her, ones that made her darker, harsher, more vicious, while also freeing her mind from a view that she needed to restrict herself. In fact, it could be argued that a mental perception that she needed to restrain her powers in case they went out of control was the very reason she failed to save anyone on Genosha.

This idea is fueled very well by X-Factor #243, her origin story written by Peter David, where her powers manifesting beyond her control killed her mother and stepfather. Subconscious issues.

The fact of the matter is, Lorna Dane is a survivor. She’s never died in the 616, she’s never truly quit fighting for mutant rights and people that need her, and even after the trauma she endured as a result of the Genoshan massacre and later losing her powers, she still managed to overcome.

At her best, when Polaris is truly her own woman, she’s witty, she’s sharp, she’s powerful and she means business. She can be harsh and deadly when necessary. Yet, she’s also gentle, caring and supportive. She can be playful and toy with people, she can provide a good morale boost or a sounding board when needed.

This might sound like “she can be anything,” but the truth is it all depends on circumstances. One of my favorite panels of All-New X-Factor (again by Peter David) was when Pietro talked about Lorna inspiring him to be a better person and a better father, because of everything she’s been through. She did that by serving as an example of fighting the good fight. Yet while out in space, coaxed Crystal from the background with lighthearted jabs and light coaching into becoming “The People’s Princess” while showing Luna some auntly affection.

As far as canon goes, I like to explain Marvel ignoring Lorna for decades as Lorna underestimating and limiting herself – and that Lorna, after all she’s been through, now knows better. At least in terms of conscious logic, anyway. Perhaps when Jean Grey became the Phoenix, some part of her feared losing control herself. Perhaps for the longest time, she chose to be an accessory and never a leader or a crusader in her own right because it meant it wasn’t her fault if something went wrong – she could lay it on Havok, or her father, or someone else.

But then Genosha came along and changed that.

I love Polaris because she’s a survivor who, when written well, has a wit, an edge and deep compassion that makes her at times nurturing, other times sorrowful, and still other times absolutely vicious. She is a powerhouse that flies under the radar and merely looks like something lesser and weaker than her father to the untrained eye. Her impact and power goes much farther than anyone knows, both in the Marvel universe and outside of it. When Lorna is Lorna, she’s a real force of nature, invisible and underestimated until the moment it needs to hit hard.

And of course, there’s the potential of her sister relationship with Wanda. I think it brings out the best in both characters, and fans see that too. They can be fun and playful, having a fun night out like in X-Factor #14. Or they can be fierce rivals, something Marvel has yet to consider. Or, as in Fantastic Force, they could be mad villains that can really tear it up, commanding power/space and reality as desired. There are so many potential layers they can play off each other.

Lorna doesn’t give up, not forever, and she doesn’t make it about her. She makes it about the greater cause, and she always has. She’s smart enough to see the variables and if not make them work for her, then do the best she can. Despite everything that’s happened to her, she’s still able to have hope and put herself on the front lines.

And those are all the things that make me love this character.

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therealgaygeekery:

What’s This? Is this something new? lol, no, but I wish.

A long time ago I tried my hand at being a comic book artist and while I got some freelance gigs here and there, some independent work, one of the last things I did was being an artist on a book called Pride High.

During this time in my life I was going through a series of things and none of the work was what I considered my best (my opinion) but I tried to stay true to my commitment until my abrupt departure in Issue 4. It was a tough decision and I left the comics world in a active way though always a fan of that book and all comics.

Why am I talking about this here? Because as someone once in the industry I have seen some things in the last few years that really bother the hell out of me and one of those things is the treatment of the X-Men.

I get they are part of a huge corporate machine and no one from their offices can publicly say they are trying to diminish the characters because of Fox owning the rights to produce mutants in general media. I am glad The Avengers finally got the push they needed, but at the cost of character development? How I hate that we can’t all just be real about why Wanda and Pietro’s origins were retconned. At least when they were the Whizzer’s and Miss America’s children they were still mutants. Anyway, I’m not going to beat the whole Marvel redux or DC’s New 52…I like certain things from both but oh so hate a lot as well…

I always wanted to work on the X-Men because the characters spoke to me as a kid. Maybe because I’m queer. Maybe because I’m biracial. Maybe because they were outsiders. There are many reasons. I think some characters have been greatly mishandled from the depowering of Rogue, the whole “Wanda’s Nuts” thing, forgetting certain characters were mutants or hinted at being mutants in their introductions and then to have it “quietly” swept under the rug…or when writer’s dismiss when some characters get an upgrade or develop new skills just to have another completely diminish them. Like Karma developing telepathic skills beyond her possession ability. Rarely seen but could be useful.

When I thought of the teams you see here and I had thought of…why must we always use the same mutants? Why do certain characters have to be morts?…a good writer can make even a mort seem like a great character. Now some of these ideas were before Avengers vs X-Men and Civil War, etc and there are some newer concepts that I liked. I think its funny that since I thought about these concepts both Namor, Northstar, Karma, and Cloak were X-Men and Polaris and Scarlet Witch’s counterparts were in Exiles together…but alas here were the thoughts:

X-Men: Worldbreakers: I liked Joss Whedon’s run on the X-Men and later when Cyclops recruited a team of very powerful mutants on Utopia and I thought, that would be a great concept. Mutants so powerful they could “break the world”…a team to handle the big threats. I also thought let’s get Cyclops away from the whole Jean/Emma thing. Another thing was to have Polaris and Scarlet Witch actually be on a team together. We get to almost always see Polaris and Quicksilver bonding but except for one issue of X-Factor, we never get to see Wanda and Polaris try to interact. I think that would be a great dynamic. A Namor/Storm pairing would be incredible as well. Legion was thought of because I wanted to get away from using the traditional X-Men psychics and I thought a Legion with more control would be a cool addition. I thought Wanda being in a book without Wonder Man or Vision would allow the character to grow and she would learn to appreciate her mutant heritage by bonding with her sister or even her and Namor sharing their thoughts on it. When I was thinking they needed a teleporter I thought of Cloak because his look is striking, he houses a powerful force inside him like the Phoenix and we finally get to see him without Dagger like she is always separated from him. It was time for Marvel to step up and give a male person of color a time to shine. Polaris was never one to be on the traditional X-Men lineup for a long period of time and I thought this would finally give her the “clout” to have the character treated with a whole different level of respect. Plus to finally have a place for her and Wanda to grow together. I like Namor’s “Phoenix” look 😛 Sue me, he looked hot lool. I liked Storm’s X-Force outfit as well. It gave her her edge back as well as maintaining her regalness.

The lineup: Cyclops, Storm, Namor, Cloak, Legion, Polaris, Scarlet Witch

X-Men: Street Team: A group to handle lower lining threats but powerful enough to deal with a major one if needed to and more public oriented. I liked that the Defenders were like the Avengers “B Team” and I thought the X-Men could use that as well. A group led by Wolverine, a group that included Justice the once Marvel Boy who is a powerful enough telekinetic to put him on par with Jean or X-Man. Kitty Pryde’s technical prowess and her ability to keep Wolverine in check. Quicksilver and Gambit’s interactions in the last version of X-Factor was fun and Pietro will feel a bit alienated by Wanda and Lorna’s growing connection. Too proud to say anything he’ll growse from afar but stays a part of the X-Men to keep an eye on them. And maybe some anger management. Does he really have to not be the son of Magneto to get some help? I mean come on. Frenzy would be the muscle and I would probably put her in the same strength class as the Thing or She-Hulk. Gambit is a constant thorn in Wolverine’s side but they work well together as does he and Kitty. I like Wolverine being on a team that’s more public to keep him in check because the whole “I’m a beserker” thing was being overdone. I like when he became headmaster of the school that he seemed more mature and more in control. He would have the same thing here too. I think another late addition would be a telepath or psychic. My thought was Danielle Moonstar with her Mirage abilities in tact or a reformed Empath from the Hellions.

The lineup: Wolverine, Kitty Pryde (with Lockheed), Gambit, Quicksilver, Frenzy, and Justice

X-Men: Stealth: a team to handle things quietly and discreetly, a lot of night missions but maintain the X-Men ethics. A more mature X-Force but just as potential dangerous. Powerful enough to handle threats that may be bigger but with enough “quiet” to do stealth missions. The Folding Circle, a team of villains (well sort of), from the New Warriors big heyday had two members I thought had more potential. Smiling Tiger and Midnight’s Fire. Now while they might not be considered mutants now, there was enough information to lead to that being hinted at. Midnight’s Fire sister was a mutant (well she was until they retconned that), the leader, the Left Hand was said to have stolen his daughter’s “latent mutant powers” that access the Darkforce leading the thought to be that the remaining members of the Folding Circle that were connected to the Universal Wellspring were also mutants but also mystical. I thought Midnight’s Fire was an untapped character with potential. I liked Catseye and I thought she was too “good” to be left with the Hellions. I thought her fur color would blend in better for stealthier missions. Karma would be great for her connections and giving her more telepathic abilities would keep the team informed throughout missions. I liked the idea of Namorita being a member of the X-Men and I think she would like it better than her cousin would at first. I liked her Kymeara incarnation and think the tone of her skin would be great for flying in night missions. Plus she is strong as hell 🙂 Northstar has Quicksilver’s speed but can join Namorita in missions that require flight. His greater light abilities could come in handy in a fight and he’s not afraid to get his hands dirty. Nightcrawler as leader would keep their ethics in check and it would give him a great role to grow as a character. I know everyone hated his Excalibur “Pirate Look” but I think the right artist could make that outfit sell and if not, their is his traditional look. Cypher would be there for his technical expertise, but not as “Douglock” or Warlock. I think his mutant nature would mutate the techno virus and make him similar to Douglock in power but retain his Doug Ramsey style. His character treatment in X-Factor and during the whole X-Force being sent to the future really showed what kind of potential he had as a character.

The lineup: Nightcrawler, Northstar, Catseye, Karma, Kymeara, Midnight’s Fire, and Cypher

Well, those are my thoughts, love them or hate them, but it’s my blog so I thought, what the hell? See ya later!

Damn, you had me REEEAAALLY hoping this was a surprise reveal that Lorna and Wanda were actually on a team together. I like your concept there, maybe if we’re lucky something similar to it will come out at some point.

I completely agree with your thoughts about Marvel not treating the X-Men (or Fantastic Four) well, and how terrible the forced retcon on Wanda and Pietro’s parentage is. My feelings about comics are more or less the same as well. I haven’t tried anything professionally, but the way corporate at these companies treats franchises creators pour so much love into is a huge turnoff to wanting to even try.

And by that, I don’t mean “There should be no oversight.” Creators absolutely need oversight, writers can make a lot of mistakes both technical and conceptually. Editors are needed to point out the flaws, and to tell a writer “No, that idea is stupid, don’t do it” before the writer might realize it themselves. Unfortunately, executive and editorial seem like they go beyond that role far too often.

I don’t really know you, this is the first time I’ve seen something of yours, but I hope things are going well in your life. 🙂