This is a list of “comics to read” made by @marvelentertainment. Like the Polaris overview on Marvel that I posted on Monday, this list has some good things and some bad things. The good and bad things are roughly the same as the good and bad of the overview.

The Bad

• Excludes New X-Men #132, where Lorna is pulled from the wreckage of Genosha as one of the survivors
• Excludes Uncanny X-Men #425-426, where Lorna is left at the altar and goes on a badass rampage (albeit going after the wrong target, Nurse Annie)
• If Marvel’s going to have other Havok-centric stories like Secret Empire and Shi’ar Empire on this list, then this story arc needs to be on it
• Excludes Uncanny X-Men #431, where Lorna reveals she learned Magneto IS her father, AND shows what she went through in surviving Genosha and as its princess
• Excludes Uncanny X-Men #442-443, where Lorna argues with Xavier about mutant rights

The Good

• Includes X-Men #49, her introductory issue from 1968, instead of acting like she had no history before X-Factor
• Includes Giant Size X-Men, where Lorna flung Krakoa into space after getting powered up by lightning from Storm
• Notes history with Malice and Zaladane, two villains who could bring interesting stories with Lorna IF Marvel were to put their best foot forward in writing Lorna
• Includes X-Men #182, where Lorna was Pestilence, one of Apocalypse’s horsemen
• Includes X-Factor #243, Lorna’s origin story (finally told after 44 years without one, which was a big step forward by modern Marvel)
• Includes All-New X-Factor, the first time she got to actually lead a team in her own right
• Excludes Lorna having her powers taken away by Zaladane, and material tied to that
• Uses her Mistress of Magnetism title

Varied Thoughts

I don’t know how else to write this, so this is what I came up with.

Marvel acknowledging Lorna’s history here really is a big deal. It’s a step forward from how Marvel excluded her from the X-Men franchise’s 50th anniversary in 2013 (but included Havok, of course).

The inclusion of Giant Size X-Men is also important. At one point, Marvel had tried to rewrite the scene as Jean launching Krakoa into space instead of Lorna. A key part of current Marvel doing better by Lorna and moving forward is undoing attempts by past Marvel to retcon her accomplishments.

As with the Polaris overview, this list is too Havok-oriented.

I can make a case for including the 90s X-Factor team. It was a step up from past poor depictions, she was involved there for a long time, and that team is one people know her from very well.

I can’t say the same for Shi’ar Empire. The only part of that relevant to Lorna was the few scenes she had with Crystal and Luna. The vast majority of it was a Havok story with Lorna as a supporting character for him. Unless the point of including it on this list is to prep Lorna for a lot more time with Crystal and/or Luna, or to prep for her doing more cosmic Marvel stuff, it really has no place on here compared to stuff that Marvel left out like New X-Men #132.

The summaries of stories and arcs on this list are very interesting and insightful, though. For example, under Malicious Intent:

But in a shocking twist, the evil mutant known as Malice was in control of Polaris the entire time, and was testing her abilities against the Marauders.

Confession: I bought and read through all of Lorna’s scenes in Uncanny X-Men #219 just now to make sure I wasn’t talking out of my ass as I say this. Until now, what I read was select pages and panels I found online.

Why does “The entire time” matter here? Cause at the end of the comic itself, Malice reveals she possessed Lorna when she dropped Havok off at the airport. She reveals the fight was a test to see if she could control Lorna. But she does NOT outright say she was in control the whole time.

In other words, Marvel’s doing what I said would be best for Lorna: revising her history instead of throwing it away. Saying Malice was in control the entire time means the worst parts of Lorna’s treatment in the issue can be taken as Malice misrepresenting her. That change means the Lorna that says she needs Alex to “kiss the bogeyman away” isn’t actually Lorna, it’s Malice playing a part and doing it poorly.

There’s also this summary for X-Factor:

With recruits including Strong Guy, Wolfsbane and Multiple Man, and Havok and Polaris as the team leaders

In actual use, Lorna was only ever a team leader on X-Factor when Havok wasn’t able to be leader. In ordinary dynamics, Lorna was more like Riker, second down the chain of command. So to say she was a co-leader alongside Havok is a stretch. But, this could be treated like precedent to give Lorna more team leadership opportunities in X-Men comics, something she’s had far too little of.

There are a few more spots where summaries suggest interesting things. For now, I’m gonna leave it at this, cause my post is long enough.

Polaris