Head shots in a large piece by craig rousseau.
I normally try to tag everyone I can if I’m the first person posting it, but that’s impossible here, so I’ll cherrypick a few to tag.
Tag: ororo munroe
Relationship Options for Polaris
When I talk about Polaris and her relationships, I normally talk about her family. The order tends to be Scarlet Witch, then Magneto, then Quicksilver, with the occasional other character.
I’ve decided to list some characters Lorna’s interacted with in the past that could lead to story opportunities. And, because Marvel can’t seem to give a damn about Polaris and use her at all, I’m going to talk about what could be done in her relationships with these characters. It’s not like there’s any risk that anyone at Marvel won’t write any of it due to me pointing it out.
It’s not an exhaustive list. Feel free to add other characters when reblogging if you wish.
Iceman (Bobby Drake)
Technically, this one may not count in the minds of some people. Bobby was the other potential love interest for Lorna in the love triangle with Havok way back in the late 60s, when Lorna was introduced.
Some people think the recent revelation of Bobby being gay means Lorna will never get to interact with him. I can absolutely see why some people think that. Lorna’s status as past love interest is the only way they’ve ever allowed her to interact with Bobby, e.g. Marjorie Liu’s arc. But, I think this presents a golden opportunity for Lorna to serve as young Bobby’s mentor and “older gal pal.”
She’s the only past love interest of Bobby’s that was there shortly after the time young Bobby was pulled from. She can provide fresh, unique insights into who Bobby was back then and who his present self had become, something nobody of the present or past O5 can do (most present cause they’re active elsewhere or dead). Same goes for Professor X. Teen Jean looks like an easy “replacement,” but she doesn’t have the kind of insights Lorna can bring.
Jean Grey
In the very beginning, Lorna and Jean had a slight dynamic where Jean was meeker and Lorna was more outspoken. As time went on, Marvel fleshed Jean out more, but started taking things away from Lorna. People started associating Jean more with Storm due to Claremont writing them heavily working together, then with Emma Frost via rivalry.
If Marvel really wanted to, they could have allowed Lorna to act as young Jean’s mentor. Like with Bobby, Lorna was there very shortly after the time teen Jean was taken from. Emma was only around at the time as a villain, and Storm showed up as a “dominant black goddess” type moreso than a “take-charge friend” type. Lorna’s the only woman from teen Jean’s time that knew her as a truly equal teammate, peer and friend. There is also, of course, commiserating over the Summers brothers. P.S. Madelyne Pryor.
Lastly, if we want to talk about the risk of teen Jean losing control like her older self… Lorna is the only one who can give Jean real insight. Emma’s never truly experienced that loss of control. Lorna’s lost it over and over and over, from Malice possessing her (akin to the Phoenix Force possessing Jean) to mind control. Emma may be able to “teach” Jean how to control herself, but only Lorna can help Jean understand on a personal, emotional level.
Apocalypse
Obviously, this comes from Lorna’s time as Pestilence. Apocalypse chose Lorna as one of his Horsemen. But it’s more important than some might think.
Apocalypse chose her. He had a choice between Polaris or Leper Queen, and her chose Lorna. Not only that, he chose Lorna in spite of multiple obstacles toward using her. He had to restore her powers, which required the use of Celestial technology. He had to abduct her while Havok was around to fight back. He had to brainwash her into serving his interests, which took time and effort when he could have picked someone more willing… if that’s all he wanted. With the resources he poured into her, Apocalypse picked Polaris as Pestilence for a reason that goes beyond simple convenience.
There’s also the anti-Apocalypse cult that was trying to kill Lorna – an abandoned story thread that had a lot of potential. Between those two possibilities, there’s absolutely no reason that Lorna couldn’t figure into stuff dealing with Apocalypse. She could’ve been in the recent Apocalypse event if Marvel cared about making use of opportunities.
Rachel Summers
Stuck out in space for five years our time, even Rachel raised the annoyance of their long absence from the X-Men books on the page. Rachel was present to witness how War of Kings affected the galaxy, she was there during Lorna’s Inhumans interaction, she was there when Lorna got tortured by Vulcan, and she was there while Lorna and the others were mind-controlled by Friendless.
Together, Lorna and Rachel could spearhead interactions with the Inhumans from the mutant side of the coin. Of course, Cullen Bunn’s statement about “big plans” for Havok makes me suspect he will fill that role instead despite not having the familial connections of Lorna or the Korvus and Shi’ar history of Rachel.
Crystalia Amaquelin & Luna Maximoff
By the same token as Rachel, Lorna helped Crystal in a diplomatic sense to become “The People’s Princess.” She also ribbed Crystal about marrying “Lord Ronan,” which could have been a subtle way of pushing for her and Pietro.
Meanwhile, Lorna got to have aunt-niece time with Luna, both out in space and at X-Factor’s office at Serval. Lorna could help Luna in understanding Pietro from a view other than Crystal or Pietro himself, while Luna could use her abilities to help Lorna sort through her own emotions and understand all the traumas and mind manipulation/alteration she’s endured throughout her life.
Gambit (Remy LeBeau)
Here’s one that’s both expected and unexpected, depending on who you are and how much you know. Lorna’s had a thing for Gambit at least since the Austen era (early 00s). She felt more open to express it when she was “crazy” and thus presented lowered inhibitions/self-limitations. In that case, it came in the form of a shapeshifting mutant stripper that made himself look like Gambit for Lorna’s bachelorette party.
Later, they were on the X-Factor team started by Serval and led by Lorna. Personally, I think Peter David dropped the ball on them from ANXF #2-6, but he was getting better and had some good scenes before Marvel abruptly canceled the comic.
In particular, they had a moment where Remy kissed Lorna. On some level, they have feelings for each other. They haven’t really been explored, and Gambit’s the only male character other than Iceman (who is no longer available for good and obvious reasons) that she’s had romantic overtures with.
A common thing pointed out between them is that they are both often depicted as the “lesser” of their significant others, and at times jobbed or abandoned when it’s convenient for their most common partners. Handled well, I think they could become a thing. Plus, they were both Horsemen of Apocalypse, so they have that in common.
Storm (Ororo Munroe)
In short, Lorna suffered a lot during the Claremont era as a trade-off to him promoting Storm. At some point, he seemed to think the book could only have one badass female with electrical powers and chose Storm. But, they didn’t start out that way.
In their very first interaction, Polaris and Storm worked together to hurtle Krakoa into space. Storm supercharged Lorna by sending lightning to her, and Lorna used that power to boost her magnetic abilities. In terms of powers, they could easily play off each other as allies. Storm’s powers tend to emphasize the open skies, bringing up winds, rains, snow, etc. Lorna’s powers being magnetic are more earth-based. And they both have electrical powers, just in different forms.
In the hands of a writer that cares, they could easily be two sides of the same coin; similar yet unique.
They also both have experience as royalty; Storm as Wakanda’s queen, Lorna as a Genoshan princess (and secretly standing in for Magneto while he was in bad health). They could be quite a pair in diplomatic terms.
Wolverine
Limited though they’ve been, there’s been a few interactions between Lorna and Wolverine. Their interactions tend to be with Lorna in a more dominant, clear-headed or potentially flirty position. Which kinda makes sense, if you consider she could control him via his metal if she wished.
They could also work pretty well as a romantic relationship, or as a simple battle partnership. Relationship-wise, Gambit has more of a debonair mystique approach with lots of intellect and class, while Wolverine would offer Lorna something closer to a “raw instincts” attitude. Gambit would bring out the charmer in Lorna, but Wolverine would bring out her dark and suggestive sides.
Nurse Annie
Nurse Annie is one of those many, many characters that’s introduced by a specific writer and then largely abandoned. Chuck Austen introduced her as a human nurse with a mutant son, and whose son mentally influenced Annie and Havok into entering in a relationship. This, of course, came with the consequence of Lorna getting left at the altar. Lorna and Annie then often got into moments where Lorna acted pretty damn abusive toward Annie, but this was also her post-Genosha dark phase.
More recently, Marjorie Liu had both Lorna and Annie in a story arc for Iceman about his past loves (before the reveal of him being gay)… but they never really interacted. Lorna and Annie were found frozen together and treated together in the hospital, but we never saw what, if anything, they talked about.
Aside from obviously commiserating about Havok, Lorna could go to Annie and apologize for her behavior. More importantly, I can see them building bridges by Annie becoming a medic supporting character to something featuring Lorna.
Honorable Mentions
Other characters that Lorna has interacted with and could build relationships with, but which I don’t have pictures to help make my case, include Emma Frost, Psylocke, and Rogue. Emma Frost was there during Lorna’s mental issues post-Genosha and knows what she’s been through. Psylocke restored Lorna’s powers by accident after the Shadow King incident by her psi blade going into Lorna’s head. Rogue has fought alongside Lorna on a few occasions, and headed up the team that rescued Lorna and the rest of the Starjammers out in space.
Conclusion
Across 48 years in comics, Polaris managed to build certain connections and associations even despite Marvel refusing to truly use and acknowledge her. “We only have so much panel space, we have to focus on the core characters” is no excuse, especially when Marvel creates entirely brand new characters to fill roles that Lorna could very easily fill and have much more to offer.
As always, feel free to add your own mentions in reblogs if you wish.
okay but hear me out: Ororo, Lorna, and Jean as those cool aunts who do brunch
- like I’m thinking mid/late 2000s, so they’re all in their late 30s (fudging all timelines here but w/e), and they were all inaugural Xavier students around the same time so they’re close
- once a month Ororo and Jean head down to the city and they drink various breakfast alcohols and gossip while looking fun and aloof and drawing the admiring glances of passersby
- they like how dramatic their different hair colors look when they’re in a group, and they like getting dressed up for brunch. as soon as Instagram pops up on the scene in late 2010 they are ALL OVER IT, and their group selfies are out of this world.
- Lorna is The Cool Aunt but otherwise unattached and fine with that; she’s bi and has had several good, solid relationships that ended when they needed to, and she is friends with all of her ex’s–except the ones who were terrible, but as a rule she figures that out and drops the bad ones within a month, so they barely count
- Jean is happily living that DINK lifestyle w/ Scott
- Ororo was totally convinced she was going to have a Lorna-style life, but then X2!Nightcrawler comes along and oh no he’s cute. an unplanned pregnancy and whirlwind wedding follow. Kurt cheerfully becomes Mr. Munroe; Ororo is like scary-good at being pregnant. she’s just so chill and competent, like how??
- every once in a while they end up talking politics. Lorna generates static electricity when she gets too aggravated.
- if someone is rude to the waitstaff while the ladies are in the restaurant, Lord help them. they might find that themselves accidentally stabbing their face with the fork while trying to eat. a freak rain storm drenches their open convertible. Jean can work that slightly-unscrew-the-salt-shaker trick from up to sixty feet away.
- 50% of the time they do #laughingwithsalad laughs. the other 50% they snort, slam the table, and literally can’t breathe
- Ororo is picky about eggs not being cooked for two long. and at one point their favorite place adds shakshouka to the menu and she just about falls out of her chair in delight
- they engage in none of the “oh now that I’m getting older and getting FAT I guess I’ll just have salad lol” banter. nope. it is a 100% positive lady-love space.
- sometimes Lorna orders lox, but she’s always vaguely embarrassed knowing that she’s doing so at a place that serves $15 cocktails and doesn’t make its own bagels. (she has her own favorite deli, of course, but for brunch they do fancy places)
- Jean is sort of an organic girl. like she’s not obnoxious about it or anything, but she often eats, like, yogurt with granola and local berries.
- one day someone suggests it would be funny to match their drinks to their hair colors, and they do it partly as a joke, but appletinis, Pina Coladas, and Bloody Marys are actually fucking delicious so it becomes a semi-standard
Fanfic alternate universes don’t need to obey timelines. 🙂
I like the static electricity bit for Lorna, and all three ladies flaunting their varying hair colors.
Also, congratulations, you just made me really want to see art of the three of them in a #laughingwithsalad photo op.
Your imagination is always so much better than mine, I am unashamedly jealous. Looking forward to more of these!
Recent activity has inspired me to want to make a post about a specific topic: Polaris and Storm. The above sequence of images represents my overall thoughts on their potential together. More details, some personal, some speculative, follow the cut.
In the very, very beginning, I was opposed to Storm. As I learned about Lorna, I also learned that almost all the reason she’s been shafted for decades and still hasn’t recovered comes down to Claremont’s efforts to build Storm up. While Storm had a prominent spot on the team, wielded electricity everywhere, represented a more free feminist attitude, Claremont took all that away from Lorna. He pushed her off the X-Men, replaced her original attitude with a more damsel in distress kind, would only bring her back when it meant villains using or abusing her (e.g. Malice, Zaladane). There was even a point where Claremont stripped Lorna of her powers completely to replace them with different ones, as if trying to dismantle everything she is.
Eventually, I snapped out of it and realized: there is absolutely nothing wrong with Storm. Bad things a writer does to one character do not mean the character that benefits is a bad character. Storm is an excellent character in her own right. The only problem she had was Claremont not having enough faith in her own unique value to feel like he could handle both Lorna and Storm on the same team.
Lorna and Storm have a lot of potential together. They are not “redundant”. In the hands of someone that cares about both characters, neither of them is “invading” each other’s “territory”, just as you can have both Iron Man and Captain America or Emma Frost and Jean Grey on the same team.
This is why I shared the pages and panels above. In that issue, Storm has the power, but not the ability to lift an island. Lorna can lift an island, but she needs more power. But, pairing their own unique gifts, they pull it off.
Each of them has certainly progressed in what they can do since those days. Lorna’s managed to lift whole oceans recently. That doesn’t mean they can’t help each other. Maybe in a fight, Storm could gather a cover of mist that Lorna could use to mount a surprise attack from behind with flying metal. Maybe Lorna can tap into electromagnetic waves to pick up location information/radio transmissions or nearby metal enemies/objects, and Storm can use her earth link to navigate terrain and hazards.
And that’s just powers. They’ve both been royalty. They both know what it’s like to grow up with oddly colored hair. Conversely, while Lorna’s seen the horror of prejudice in the Genoshan genocide, Ororo knows what it’s like to be judged by her race in addition to her mutation. (She may have something just as powerful as surviving the Genoshan massacre in her history; I don’t know her that well).
Lorna and Storm can support each other, build each other up, make up for any weaknesses between them. They have narrative elements both similar and unique to really draw upon.
They have a wealth of potential. The only limitations are the ones people choose to see. Even though Lorna was treated poorly in the past, future writers can do much better by her, and really make the most of Lorna, Storm and their relationship in ways that benefit both characters.
Thank you for bearing with my long spiel if you got this far. I hope for brighter things in the future. 🙂
…I’d read that team-up.
– House of M #4
As would we all. 🙂
I don’t see what’s the new thing about this. A thief? We already have a thief and that’s Storm. Why another story about thief? I’m glad Lorna said “Heh. Absolutely not” She’s not Storm. Glad this is not 616.
By contrast, I don’t see why it couldn’t be done.
There’s nothing that says being a thief has to be exclusive to one or a very small group of characters. Felicia’s a thief, Storm’s a thief, but so is Gambit.
To me, this is a lot like the argument that Lorna and Magneto both wielding magnetic powers is redundant and you can’t have both around or on the same book at the same time. Nobody seems to have a problem with it when super strength, psychic abilities, claws, etc come into the mix. It’s also a lot like some arguments people made that Lorna couldn’t be Magneto’s daughter because it would somehow take away from Wanda’s role as Magneto’s daughter.
If Lorna were to become a thief, it wouldn’t detract from Storm at all. She’s far too popular and mainstream for those things that define her to be lost to another character so easily. If anything, I’d say Lorna as a thief only makes things MORE interesting and presents MORE opportunity. For one, Lorna’s hardly had any experience as a thief, so Lorna could learn from Storm while Storm learns something from Lorna. For another, their approaches to thievery could be very different, especially where mutant powers are concerned. It presents an opportunity to emphasize how they differ.
Now, WOULD Lorna become a thief? That’s an entirely different question. I don’t know the answer to that, as I need to think about it more. But if it’s a question of “I called dibs,” I don’t subscribe to that philosophy. It’s unnecessarily limiting, and squanders a wealth of potential.
Nobody seems to have a problem seeing both Magneto and Polaris in the same book or team either (except you). Besides, they are father and daughter duh. Polaris as a thief is not going to happen (that would only make people to talk shit about her like you do. Yes, I read a lot of your hypocrisy comments. So that’s what you want I guess, but ain’t going to happen). You can only dream lol. She is not a queen of thief like Storm is. There would be no reason for Lorna to steal. She does not come from a low class people. She come from high class people and she’s going to steal what?? A piece of metal? AAAAJAJAJAJAJA que estupida oh estupido tu eres mijita/o.That’s not her characterization and I’m sure this is out of character.
Storm is not too far popular and she has a lot of fake ass fans. I mean A LOT of fake ass fans. Trust me I know. The x-men are no longer the same and Storm in mainstream like in movies are so weak and shit. Storm ain’t nothing when it comes to Magneto and Cyclops. Storm with the rest of the x-men are nothing more but a piece of cloth for Marvel to dry their ass with. At least Polaris gets to shine better than those who are so “popular” and “mainstream” pfft Polaris is popular and maybe you tying to make it look like she is not. You can fool yourself, but you ain’t fooling me. Storm is popular only to Chris Claremont because on line there are probably thousands different of avatars running by only ONE PERSON lol to like or reblog Storm. Storm became a shame characters when you see her drowning with the rest of the X-men. Storm’s cancellation book explain a lot.
I only want to make it clear that Polaris as a thief is not interesting and will never happen. You can only dream… sure pero no puedes hacer que esto pase porque tu no tienes el poder de joder a Polaris chico/chica. Despierta que estas en las nuves.
Nobody seems to have a problem seeing both Magneto and Polaris in the same book or team either (except you).
>(except you).
That is literally not what I said.
*skims rest of reply*
Oh, that’s why. Hi again. Bye again.
salarta 