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Polaris Standard Overview | Marvel

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I was recently informed that Polaris has received a major overhaul for her pages (now plural instead of singular) on Marvel.com.

For my two cents, the article not talking about Lorna’s post-Genosha trauma, and talking way too much about Havok, are problems.

However, everything else is a big step in the right direction.

Outright acknowledgment of Lorna’s mission to fight for mutant rights and against persecution. This is something Marvel was ignoring, so to see the company make that the opening blurb is a big deal.

I’d say the line about her father is important too, buuuuuuuut

It’s way more important that the connections section is showing her bro and sis as relatives. 🙂 Before people ask about Wiccan, this is only part of the list. On the site, you can scroll over to see Vision and Wiccan. It’s alphabetical order.

On that note?

It’s pretty damning that the Enemies subsection only has these two. It shows that Marvel uses Lorna so little as her own character, she doesn’t have any core enemies to highlight currently in use. Neither of these villains has been involved with her since like the 70s or 80s.

One weird thing though.

(No, not the Havok part. After what happened with X-Men Blue, fuck him)

The Allies section doesn’t really make much sense. She hasn’t really interacted much with Captain America. I don’t think she’s ever been around Falcon. She’s had more interaction with Wolverine, Iceman and Jean Grey than with Cyclops, so why’s he on here when those three aren’t?

If Marvel were doing well by Lorna, I’d like fandom fantasies take me places with ideas of Lorna being on an Avengers team or a core X-Men team with Cyclops or something. With Marvel’s recent track record, I think this is just nonsensical additions.

The curious part though is that X-Men is at the end of the Allies list. Compare that to Scarlet Witch, who has a whole separate Groups tab to show her affiliation with the Avengers. Lorna’s basically seen as outside the X-Men but working with them.

But one of the most important things to say about these new pages is what they say about Lorna’s character history that wasn’t being acknowledged before.

Marvel has finally acknowledged that she was part of Genosha and survived the genocide. It’s not the full story, it’s still missing the subsequent trauma, but Marvel doing this much is a very important first step.

It’s also one of very few times where Marvel admits to Lorna having a history dating back to the original 5 X-Men. This is huge because it opens the doorway to having that history explored some day.

Realistically, all the positive remarks I’ve made here probably have no real bearing on Marvel as a whole. This is probably a job assigned to an intern and they don’t care what the intern puts online as long as it’s not a bunch of hate speech.

But also realistically, even this much matters no matter what the full context is. Every little bit helps.

Polaris Standard Overview | Marvel

Here Are The Next Protests Against Trump’s Family Separation Policy

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plavapticica:

plavapticica:

plavapticica:

(as of June 19, 2018)

Rebagel

REMINDER: just because it asks you to RSVP does not mean you have to or should. I know I personally don’t need to be on another anti-government watch list. Be safe

Uhm also yeah the changes Trump made today do not negate the need for protest (6/20/18).

Here Are The Next Protests Against Trump’s Family Separation Policy

Is Polaris Still a Mutant or Not?

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Short story: Lorna is definitely a mutant

I needed to cover that right out of the gate because the wording of the title makes it sound like it’s uncertain and open to debate when it’s really not. She’s definitely a mutant.

Once you get past the clickbait-y title that could cause misunderstandings, this is a very good explainer of what happened. Cronin doesn’t just give the answer and leave it at that, he shows pages of how the loss of her powers affected her, which is perhaps the most important part of the article and that period for her.

Lorna’s time without her powers wasn’t just “lol she doesn’t have ‘em now so what.” It devastated her and really ripped up her sense of identity, and it led to some very painful moments for her (Lorna getting tortured while in space didn’t come up, but it had no bearing on the core question of the article either, so it makes sense it wouldn’t come up).

So as I said, overall good article. Worth reading if you haven’t seen the history yet. Only downside was the potential impressions made by the article title.

Also thought it was cool that Cronin’s friend Michael is a big enough fan for Cronin to write this article for him. Happy birthday, Michael!

This was passed to me by @lordtimeblogposts by the way.

Is Polaris Still a Mutant or Not?

Lorna Dane, Ororo Munroe, Kitty Pryde, Emma Frost, and Rachel Summers: Marvel, Treat the X-Women Better

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dipolarismoment:

…I have lots of unresolved issues about the X-Men.

Saw this on Twitter, but only now seeing here on Tumblr, cause Tumblr search results don’t let me see everything that’s been posted related to my search terms.

It’s a good write-up. 🙂

Lorna Dane, Ororo Munroe, Kitty Pryde, Emma Frost, and Rachel Summers: Marvel, Treat the X-Women Better

Marvel’s 15 Most Powerful Alpha-Level Mutants, Ranked

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Now this is an excellent write-up for Lorna. Here’s what it says.

Since Polaris was created by Arnold Drake and Don Heck in 1968’s X-Men #49,
Lorna Dane’s origins have been something of a mystery. Shortly after
her first appearance, Magneto, the X-Men’s ultimate rival, claimed that
she was his daughter. Although that fact was disputed for decades while
Polaris served with the X-Men and X-Factor, Polaris eventually confirmed
that Magneto was actually her biological father. Since her
electromagnetic powers are basically a less refined version of Magneto’s
abilities, that revelation wasn’t too surprising in retrospect.

During “Apocalypse: The Twelve,” Polaris was identified as an Alpha-Level mutant in 2000’s X-Men #97,
by Davis and Kavanagh. Although it’s never been confirmed, several
sources claim that her mastery of magnetism could be on par with
Magneto’s abilities. However, Polaris hasn’t had as much practice with
her abilities as her father since she’s spent a lot of time outside of
combat situations, with a different set of powers, without any powers or
possessed by a malicious spirit. Still, Polaris has managed to
accomplish some impressive feats with her abilities. After the mutant
nation Genosha was destroyed, Polaris maintained a massive magnetic
field that held the final recorded moments of millions of its residents
for months in 2001’s New X-Men #132, by Grant Morrison and Phil Jimenez.

It explains the murky history of her parentage and acknowledges what it is, unlike a previous CBR article from a different writer who tried to make it look like she’s not Magneto’s daughter.

It presents how she doesn’t have all the powerful moments she should by explaining she hasn’t had a chance to use them as much as she could and should, and lists all the scenarios contributing to that.

Most importantly, it acknowledges Genosha and what happened to her. It’s something that Marvel tends to pretend never happened, and it really needed this kind of highlight.

I also really like that there’s no mention of Havok at all. I’ve been pissed off lately over how much “she’s Havok’s ex-girlfriend” has been emphasized on X-Men Blue. It’s great to see an article manage to acknowledge she’s a character in her own right. It goes a long way toward showing that she’s more than just the ex of the only person Marvel has ever allowed her to have a relationship with in 50 years.

Marvel’s 15 Most Powerful Alpha-Level Mutants, Ranked

Some fairy tales may be 6000 years old

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gendernihilistanarchocommunist:

dwarven-beard-spores:

soufre-de-paris:

soufre-de-paris:

GUYS THIS IS AMAZING

SERIOUSLY

6000 YEARS

STORIES THAT ARE OLDER THAN CIVILIZATIONS

STORIES THAT WERE TOLD BY PEOPLE SPEAKING LANGUAGES WE NO LONGER KNOW

STORIES TOLD BY PEOPLE LOST TO THE VOID OF TIME

STORIES

GUYS LOOK AT THIS

OH MY GOD YOU GUYS

GUYYYYYSSSS

“Here’s how it worked: Fairy tales are transmitted through language, and the shoots and branches of the Indo-European language tree are well-defined, so the scientists could trace a tale’s history back up the tree—and thus back in time. If both Slavic languages and Celtic languages had a version of Jack and the Beanstalk (and the analysis revealed they might), for example, chances are the story can be traced back to the “last common ancestor.” That would be the Proto-Western-Indo-Europeans from whom both lineages split at least 6800 years ago. The approach mirrors how an evolutionary biologist might conclude that two species came from a common ancestor if their genes both contain the same mutation not found in other modern animals.” 

Here’s the link to all the types listed by category and number, if you wanna poke around. 

Some fairy tales may be 6000 years old

The Polaris Chronicles – Chapter 4 – salarta – X-Men (Comicverse) [Archive of Our Own]

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salarta:

Chapter 4:  Rebel

Summary:

Lorna Dane’s mutant powers reawaken through a painful device at Mesmero’s behest. When she comes out of it, she has a choice: remain a meek girl or save her heroes.

Author’s Note: This chapter is one I’m both most proud of and most worried about how it’ll be perceived given imagery and allusions used. It’s based primarily on X-Men #49, 50 and 51; her introductory issues. Here’s pics from my re-read to prep this chapter: https://imgur.com/a/xBTxGJO.

Keep reading

The Polaris Chronicles – Chapter 4 – salarta – X-Men (Comicverse) [Archive of Our Own]

The Polaris Chronicles – Chapter 4 – salarta – X-Men (Comicverse) [Archive of Our Own]

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Chapter 4:  Rebel

Summary:

Lorna Dane’s mutant powers reawaken through a painful device at Mesmero’s behest. When she comes out of it, she has a choice: remain a meek girl or save her heroes.

Author’s Note: This chapter is one I’m both most proud of and most worried about how it’ll be perceived given imagery and allusions used. It’s based primarily on X-Men #49, 50 and 51; her introductory issues. Here’s pics from my re-read to prep this chapter: https://imgur.com/a/xBTxGJO.

Crucifixion. Resurrection. A cross. The sight of this green teen girl splayed out on a techno-slab conjured images and themes long-admired by the majority of this country. The rulers. The humans. The bigots. It represented a tiny package of convenient morals to assuage hurt feelings in themselves while denying them in anyone they considered ‘the other’.

It did not represent Lorna Dane.

She screamed. Hair floating. Arms twitching. Magnetism fastened her wrists to the circles of her cross-beam, harder than any pair of handcuffs. For three seconds – three loooooooong seconds – she endured. Writhing, shaking, gnashing her teeth, clenching her eyes shut, she endured. Her heart thumped wildly to keep up with her ever-growing limits.

100 volts. 200 volts. 350. 450. 500. 1000. As the voltage climbed, it cleansed all traces of her old self. Her meek self. Her naive self. Her sheltered self, twelve hundred miles from home. Alone. All this power devoured her innocence as swiftly as remnants of her brown hair dye fizzled in puffs of dark smoke. Through it all, she uselessly tossed in her bonds for any give she could take.

Crackle! Crzzzz! The machines spit electric fire up and down a metal stake holding their captive. Even those who built this travesty mistook the machines themselves for this visual spectacle, but no. It came from the flesh and blood bound within. Every cell of Lorna Dane’s body hummed as the tech agitated their genetic cores. Microscale pokes and prods made the cells lash out. Their violence erupted in the shape of raw energy blasting all about her. Her whole world blossomed in emerald shades… and through that miasma, she saw her abductor.

Mesmero. With a giant M on his belt, a long cape and absurd helmet, it puzzled Lorna how this man in a joke of a costume could inflict such suffering on her for his so-called noble cause. How he could claim to be superior while watching her struggle with a joyous smirk.

“The genius that was bequeathed us by the magnificent Magneto shall bring forth from this feeble shell – a being powerful beyond all others! And our invincible leader!”

This ‘feeble shell’ glowered through her pain at the monster. That’s what he was. Not man. Not mutant. His lack of respect for a girl he claimed to prize second only to Magneto himself came through clear in his words. He did not see her for her. He saw her for what he wanted her to be. Another thing he could control. Another puppet to dance on his whims. An object he could use as he desired, under a righteous guise.

The genetic stimulator buzzed with its first signs of salvation. Its whining, crackling chorale built to a deafening crescendo, and finally… silence. Lorna breathed deep and heavy. Her sweat sizzled into clean vapor off her tired limbs. At last, freedom. Freedom to use these new powers for a bit of revenge.

Or so she thought. Then she saw them.

“Behold! She stands before us now – the omnipotent empress of all evil mutants! For within her runs the blood of he whose name is sacred unto us!”

The X-Men had failed. Her heroes, the team of rebellious youths who righted wrongs with their tremendous mutant gifts, fell before Mesmero and his men. They stood as slumped, pale imitations of themselves. Angel’s glorious feathery wings hung low. Cyclops cast his ruby red visor downward. The hulking Beast hardly seemed able to move much less fling cars.

But the worst of what Lorna saw? Jean Grey. The fiery redhead who so often showed how women could fight just fine among the boys, now stood quietly behind their leader.

Witnessing their defeat, Lorna had a choice. One playing in her mind as she listened to the villain of this moment spout off another trite line to massage his own ego.

“Yes – now may I reveal that she is – daughter of Magneto – and Queen of Mutants! Hail, glorious queen!”

Play the part. Be the queen. Or step aside, be her old naive self and watch her heroes die right in front of her. Perhaps before her time through gadget hell, she might have left it to the X-Men to save her. Not anymore. Mustering some courage, she stepped forward with her arms high. She took on a dark, menacing mien – an easy task for her after suffering through eternal seconds of agony. It burned fresh in muscle memory, so hot that when she gazed on her allies and looked into their dreadful eyes, she did her best to assuage their fears by contorting her fingers into a pair of devil horns.

The devil horns. So simple. So misunderstood. Like them. Like mutants everywhere. What the old guard mistook as some perverse allegiance to the devil, up and coming teens knew its true meaning: a ward against the evil eye. Resistance to toxic authority, to a tin man with an M on his belt and a big head who sought to possess her and failed.

It was a minor gesture. One she hoped the X-Men would notice. Even if they didn’t, she needed to keep up her act. Absorbing the ludicrous despot’s manner of speech, she concocted a few lines and rattled them off as best she could.

“Now I understand the strange stirrings within me that tortured my soul almost from my first conscious moment! For, my father’s blood, though unknown to me, could not be silenced! Yes – I know my calling now! I am your – queen!”

The X-Men trembled. Mesmero’s followers kneeled. They bought it. Every one of them believed every word. That moment, right then, she knew she had it. Her opening.

Power coursed through her veins. Electric might sparked over her arms, slammed into her chest, danced through her light minty hair – its color drained to a paler shade than when her ordeal began. Mere feet away, Beast’s Mini-Cerebro fumed. Overloaded wires. It couldn’t take her energy. Hotter, brighter, it only took seconds – three seconds – before the brand new device exploded. Blue shards flew everywhere.

Ever since they took her, Mesmero’s men described her in many different ways. An M-II weapon. A living goddess. Empress. Queen. From a simple girl living a simple life, to some kind of evil master unto herself, her captors clearly had high ambitions for how they could purge her innocence and use her for themselves.

Too bad she had other ideas, and it all came down to one thing: that damned cross. Her captors may have seen it as a symbol of rebirth, but Lorna felt something different. She felt her ancestors. She felt good Jewish men and women who lived, and loved, and suffered and died because they dared to defy Roman law. Because they sought to be more than what people told them to be. Because they were special, and they showed it.

For all their bluster, Mesmero and his men were no different. They simply thought they could keep the body and kill her soul.

They failed. She still lived, whole, and she would make them pay for what they did. As she unleashed waves of force on those who claimed to worship her, she took on a mantle all her own. One that belonged to her by birthright.

Rebel.

The Polaris Chronicles – Chapter 4 – salarta – X-Men (Comicverse) [Archive of Our Own]