X-Men spotlight month continues at MMM! and this week’s featured character is doubley appropriate as both an X-person and as the winner of Fwoosh’s latest Top Ten vote. Dig that crazy synergy with Polaris!
Last week’s poll re-cap: With 40% of the vote in one of the largest turnouts ina long while, Classic/First Appearance Dazzler was the most wanted version of the character for Marvel Legends. Outback Dazzler garnered a respectable 30%, but second place is still first loser.
Make My Marvel! – Polaris
Lorna Dane has the mutant ability to control magnetic fields. Her powers over metal are second only to those of her father, the mutant terrorist Magneto. Lorna’s biography is a convaluted and redundant one (even more so than most X-men, which is saying something), so I’ll try to get through it as succinctly as possible. Yeah, this is one of those times where I’m going to criticize, but only ‘cuz I love. Smoke ’em if you’ve got ’em.
Lorna’s mutant powers were latent until Mesmero and an android claiming to be Magneto altered her genetics so that she could tap into her abillities. Polaris willingly joined them after being conned into believing that Magneto was her real father, which later turned out to be true, but we’re not there yet. Iceman convinced Polaris otherwise and she turned on Mesmero and Magneto. She joined the X-Men briefly before leaving the team to pursue her education and explore her developing romance with Havok. The two later returned to battle the X-Men under the mental control of Eric the Red. It was not until much later that Professor Xavier was able to remove the influence from Polaris’ mind.
Polaris and Havok again sought civillian life, but were set upon by the Marauders. It was at this point that Lorna became possessed by the evil entity Malice. She remained possessed for several years before Malice’s influence became weak and the entity was destroyed by Mr. Sinister. Not long after, Polaris’ powers were stolen from her by the mutant priestess Zaladene, also claiming to be a long-lost relative of Lorna’s. As a result, Lorna’s secondary mutation developed. She gained invulnerability, super strength, and increased in height. She was butch, man. Her new powers were based on negative emotions, which the disembodied Shadow King used to gain access to the corporeal world. When the X-Men and X-Factor defeated the Shadow King, Lorna’s original powers returned.
When the new X-Factor was created, Polaris joined. This began the longest period of uninfluenced will in the character’s history. Polaris had an on again/off again romance with Havok during this time, until his "death" and the team’s disbanding. Polaris’ sanity began to unravel as she refused to believe that Havok was dead. Her search for her lost love was put on hold when she joined Magneto to aid in his rule of Genosha. When things fell apart and the island was later razed by Cassandra Nova’s massive sentinel, Lorna finally cracked.
She re-joined the X-men, completely out of her damn mind. She was willing to kill and now claimed to have proof that Magneto was indeed her biological father. When Havok backed out of a proposed marriage, Polaris turned on the team. Again, Professor X had to step in to repair her mind. It was during this period that Lorna began a romance with Iceman, only to dump him when the nurse Havok had dumped Lorna for left. Lorna, being one of the mutants to lose her powers on M-day, left the team AGAIN with Havok to find a way to regain her powers. Apocalypse, generous guy that he is, gave Polaris disease-based powers as the latest incarnation of his horseman, Pestilence. When the X-Men and New Avengers :broken record: freed Polaris from Apocalypse’s control :broken record:, Polaris’ original powers had returned. Polaris left the X-men in her personal quest to mop up Apocalypse’s followers. :repeatedly bangs head on desk:
Almost immediately, Polaris joined Havok’s new team of X-men just prior to their year-long journey into space in pursuit of the renegade Vulcan. When X-men returned to earth, Polaris and Havok, romantically reunited, left the team to aid the Shi’ar. :sound of gunshot:
The bottom line is that Polaris seems to be a character with a lot of potential, but one who noone knows what to do with. When she’s not being possessed, influenced, insane, stripped of her powers, or having her abillities drastically altered, Lorna’s been little more than the other Summers brother’s girlfriend. Hell, I’m half round the bend just from reciting her whacked out past. Hopefully some talented writer someday will get a feel for the character and things will finally click. Still waiting.
How to make it: The majority of Polaris’ costumes would require all new parts, though the modern outfit could make use of existing female ML parts from the chest down. The Pestilence version might make for a visually interesting BAF, though there are about umpteen thousand better choices for one of those spots. Accessories: Nothing appropriate comes to mind; maybe some of HML3 Marvel Girl’s energy blobs recast in clear green?
Which version of Polaris do you want for Marvel Legends?
First Appearance:
Malice:
X-Factor version 1:
X-Factor v.2:
X-Factor v.3:
X-Factor v.4:
X-Factor v.5:
Darkstalkers:
Pestilence:
Modern:
*Images courtesy of Comicvine & Uncannyxmen.net*
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