Polaris (comics)

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Polaris (Lorna Dane) is a Marvel Comics superhero, a member of the X-Men. Created by writer Arnold Drake and artist Jim Steranko, she first appeared in X-Men #49 (October 1968). She is the daughter of Magneto, alleged sister to Zaladane, and the half-sister of Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch.

A mutant, Polaris can control magnetism much like the X-Men’s adversary Magneto. She had a long-held suspicion that Magneto was her biological father, which was recently confirmed. Questions about her origins have been one source of mental instability for Polaris, which has complicated her long term relationship with the X-Man Havok.

Polaris has appeared semi-frequently in X-Men comic books throughout the years. She was a member of 1990s-era Pentagon-sponsored mutant team X-Factor.

[edit] Character history

[edit] Origin

Polaris was first encountered by the X-Men when she, as the innocent orphan civilian Lorna Dane (then dating Iceman), was kidnapped by Samuel "Starr" Saxon; the master roboticist whose brain patterns were later preserved in the Machinesmith. Saxon had constructed an android duplicate of Magneto, the mutant with great magnetic powers who was then believed to be dead and a small army of androids with strange powers called the Demi-Men. Saxon's plans were to use these androids as his means of accumulating vast wealth and power, while deceiving the world into believing them to be examples of evil mutants who had become objects of widespread fear. Saxon decided he needed a few mutants to lead his army so he recruited Mesmero. Saxon also acquired a "psyche-generator," which has some features in common with Charles Xavier's Cerebro machine.

Mesmero used the psyche-generator to summon mutants in North America with latent powers. The nearest such mutant with latent magnetic powers, Lorna Dane, found herself compelled to travel to San Francisco where Mesmero was. Mesmero and his androids captured her and brought her to their desert headquarters where they placed her inside a "genetic stimulator," which altered her genetic structure so as to allow her to exercise her previously latent powers.

When the X-Men attempted to rescue her, Magneto revealed himself as the leader of the group behind her abduction--and, more importantly, claimed to be Lorna's father. Despite the X-men's assertions that Magneto was evil, Lorna agreed to join his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Magneto's ruse did not succeed for long. Iceman provided evidence that convinced Lorna that her true parents had died in a plane crash years earlier. She then turned against Magneto and joined the X-Men. When the old and new X-Men together fought the island Krakoa, Lorna displayed her major power potential for the first time as she disrupted the Earth's magnetic field.

For a while, Iceman had a crush on her but Polaris didn't truly reciprocate the feelings. She did however, fall in love with her teammate Havok (Alex Summers, the brother of Cyclops). The two left the X-Men to pursue their mutual interest in geophysics. They moved to the Diablo mountain range in California.

[edit] Mind controlled

Polaris in her Shi'ar-designed outfit, while under the control of Erik the Red. Art by Dave Cockrum and Sam Grainger.

Lorna received her former costume, which is of Shi'ar design, when her mind came under the domination of the Shi'ar Intelligence agent Davan Shakari, also known as Erik the Red. It was he who gave Lorna the codename Polaris, in The X-Men #97 (1976). At the time Shakari served D'Ken, the now deposed emperor of the Shi'ar Galaxy. This was previous to the reign of D'Ken's sister Lilandra. Shakari kidnapped Alex Summers and Lorna and subjected them to a powerful form of mind control: they were turned against the X-Men and attempted to assassinate Xavier. A massive battle ensued at Kennedy International Airport with the duo battling the X-Men. Polaris was defeated by Storm but Shakari managed to escape with both her and Alex. Charles Xavier finally freed her from Shakari's control.

Lorna and Alex returned from time to time to assist the team. She remained in civilian life for a number of years. Polaris and Havok led a happy life. They settled down in New Mexico and completed their degrees until the Marauders ambushed her and Havok around the time of the Mutant Massacre. Lorna's mind was overtaken by an evil being known as Malice. Malice's energy matrix was very compatible with Lorna's powers and the two became grafted together, inseparable.

As Malice, Lorna led the Marauders for several years. After Mister Sinister was seemingly killed, Malice's hold over Polaris weakened and Lorna was able to place a phone call to the X-Men in Australia for help, but they arrived too late. Lorna was with her alleged half-sister Zaladane, a priestess for the Savage Land's Sun People. The X-Men arrived in time to witness Zala's getaway, but Havok managed to infiltrate her army in disguise while the X-Men followed. There the X-men had found that Zaladane had amassed an army of Savage Land natives who were being mentally controlled for her by Worm, one of the Savage Land Mutates. Zaladane revealed that she was in fact Lorna's sister and, using the Evolutionary's machinery, stripped Polaris of her magnetic powers and took them as her own. The process also managed to finally separate Lorna and Malice. Zaladane and her forces clashed with Ka-Zar and the X-Men who were trying to free Lorna. During the encounter, Polaris' secondary mutation kicked in. She grew in height (towering over Alex Summers), was invulnerable & had superhuman strength. Zaladane's army was released from Worm's control, and Lorna regained her freedom.

Having nowhere else to go, Lorna headed for Muir Island. On her way there her secondary mutation kicked in again (as was evident by her increased size). Upon examination even Moira Mactaggert was at a loss to explain Lorna's new mutation, although she did confirm that the only way Zaladane could have taken her powers away was if she were a biological sibling. Lorna was on hand to help Moria & Banshee defend Muir Island from the attacking Reavers (who were there looking for Wolverine).

At the time it was not clear that she drew her strength from being a nexus for negative emotional energies. Lorna's new status as a nexus however was perceived by the villainous Shadow King. The Shadow King used Polaris as a gateway to allow him access to the mortal realm from the astral plane, causing a world-wide increase in anger, hatred and violence in the process. Lorna was freed of his influence with the help of X-Factor and the X-Men during the Muir Island Saga. Upon the defeat of the Shadow King, Lorna's powers returned due to a combination of Zaladane's death a short time before and the neural-disruptive psionic blade of the X-Man Psylocke leaving no trace of her increased size, strength or emotion control powers.

[edit] X-Factor

During her time with X-Factor, Polaris changed costume frequently, and unlike the primarily green or purple costumes from the rest of her career, her X-Factor suits tended to be blue and yellow (as with this one, her third costume from her time with the group) or red and yellow. Art by Greg Luzniak.

She was then asked to join the newly formed X-Factor by Valerie Cooper, and tired of hiding out on Muir Island, she accepted. Lorna and Alex were set as its leaders. Her joining X-Factor offered her the chance to reunite with Alex, but their relationship remained largely unresolved. Since this time X-Factor has changed dramatically, and so has Polaris, growing stronger and more sure of herself, and more independent from Alex. They tried to maintain the relationship but they broke up and reconciled multiple times. Polaris became a mainstay of X-Factor and became the government's secret weapon against a possible attack from Magneto. Malice returned to bother her once more but Havok and Polaris, out of their love for each other, each tried to absorb her, preventing the other from being possessed. In the end, Malice perished at the hands of Mister Sinister.

X-Factor's atmosphere changed as renowned criminals Mystique and Sabretooth were forced by the government to join. Lorna began to question her place on the team and finally found her suspicions to be justified after Sabretooth ran amok almost killing the whole team.

When Havok finally revealed that his "terrorist" activities had been a front for his true undercover work, Lorna forgave him although she rejected him romantically. She also rejoined X-Factor only to watch as Havok was seemingly killed in the explosion of a faulty time machine constructed by the mutant from the future, Greystone.

Weeks later, Nightcrawler encountered Lorna in a church and she confided in him that she felt she was being followed and that she was sure Alex was still alive.

A group of Skrulls working with Apocalypse were indeed shadowing her and broke into her apartment to retrieve the headgear from Havok's original costume. Lorna then learned that she was one of "The Twelve"; a team of mutants destined to usher in a new golden age for mutantkind.

Polaris journeyed with the X-Men to Egypt to battle Apocalypse. During the encounter, Magneto, another member of The Twelve, discovered that he could use Lorna to tap into the Earth's magnetic field with incredible force effectively hiding his current reduced-power state.

[edit] Acolyte

After Apocalypse was defeated, Lorna returned to Genosha with Magneto to supply him with power and help him keep order. She believed she was doing it for the greater good, but also knew that she enjoyed the education in her powers that she was receiving. In the end, Magneto launched a full-scale assault on Carrion Cove, the last city opposing his rule, in order to gain access to technology that would restore his full abilities. Polaris attempted to stop him, but was defeated and left the country with the Avengers. She later sneaked back in with Quicksilver to help oppose Magneto's tyrannical rule.

Polaris later went to Genosha to help out Magneto and monitor him. When Sentinels destroyed Genosha, she was one of the few survivors. She was left emotionally scarred after witnessing the massacre while being unable to save them.

Polaris confronting Havok about leaving her at the altar on their wedding day. Art by Philip Tan.

[edit] Trauma

Later, some of the X-Men went to Genosha to survey what occurred there. They encountered a nude and unhinged Polaris in Genosha some time after its population was massacred by Cassandra Nova's Sentinels. When Polaris rejoined the X-Men, the extremely traumatic experience had left her with a darker, more ruthless personality, even killing some members of the Church of Humanity. Havok broke up with Polaris after they were about to be married, leaving her for the nurse Annie Ghazikhanian. Traumatized and humiliated, the unstable Polaris went berserk and commenced to go on a rampage that nearly resulted in her killing Alex. Juggernaut succeeded in knocking her out, though only temporarily. She remained this way until some psychic therapy with Professor Xavier. Polaris promised to do no more harm and she was accepted back to the X-Men.

Polaris also told the X-Men that she had discovered that Magneto was her true father after all. Before the destruction of Genosha, she had a blind genetic test performed and this demonstrated her real paternity.

Polaris in her X-Men ReLoad costume. Art by Salvador Larocca

Iceman later admitted to Polaris that he still had feelings for her and after some mild flirtation the two began a relationship. Since then, Alex and Lorna's other relationships have dwindled and feelings between them are once again unresolved. Havok has confessed to still loving her after Annie had left him.

[edit] Decimation and Blood of Apocalypse

In "X-Men" #177, it was revealed that Polaris had lost her powers on M-Day, but had avoided telling her teammates. When confronted by Valerie Cooper, who has knowledge of her power loss, Polaris claims that her power loss is psychological and she believes she is preventing herself from using them. Polaris eventually was forced by circumstance to accept that her powers were gone and admit the fact to the rest of the team - whereupon all the other members of her squad, except her would-be-paramours Iceman and Havok - had already guessed it. She then left the mansion with Havok to "search" for her lost powers, irrationally convinced they lay with an alien named Daap, a seeming twin to the deceased X-Statix member Doop, who she had seen on a recent mission in space. Daap soon crashed to Earth and kidnapped Polaris and the Leper Queen, the leader of the anti-mutant group known as the Sapien League.

Polaris revealed as Pestilence, Horseman of Apocalypse. Art by Salvador Larocca.

Apocalypse took them both, restrained the Leper Queen, and forcibly transformed Polaris into the new Pestilence. Seemingly mindwiped, she ingested viruses from the World Health Organization and was attempting to create a meta-plague. In the climatic battle between the X-Men, the Avengers, and Apocalypse, Wolverine discovered a choking Pestilence was Lorna. She was recovering in the X-Mansion when Gambit and Sunfire returned to take her away. She arose and refused to go with them. Polaris decided to leave that night to search for Apocalypse in Egypt. She went alone and was later hunted until Havok and the new Uncanny X-Men team saved her. Emma Frost has also noted that her powers seem to be mutating, and that Apocalypse fused unknown technology to Lorna's nervous system to replicate her lost magnetic powers.

[edit] Back with the X-Men

After being rescued from an anti-Apocalypse cult in Uncanny X-Men #475 by the new team, Polaris agreed to join Professor X, Darwin, Havok, Marvel Girl, Nightcrawler, and Warpath on their mission to stop Vulcan.

[edit] Powers and abilities

Polaris' mutant powers enable her to control magnetism, including manipulating metals which are susceptible to that force. She can also manipulate the Earth's magnetic field to allow herself to fly, generate magnetic energy pulses and create force-fields. She has bright green hair, the first indication of her mutation. At first, she dyed her hair brown to hide this. In recent comics she appears with her characteristic green hair.

Earlier in her history, Polaris lost her magnetism power, but gained the ability to absorb negative emotions from the environment and use it as strength, endurance, invulnerability and increased size. She also became more violent during this time, presumably because of the negative emotions she was storing within. Those around her also became more volatile and aggressive. Under the Shadow King's influence, the range of this effect was vastly increased, reaching at least from Scotland to Egypt.

Polaris was among the mutants depowered by Scarlet Witch during the House of M storyline, and as such no longer possesses her natural mutant powers. However, due to Apocalypse's recent manipulations, a strange technology was hardwired into her nervous system (as well as her skull and spine) which artificially replicated her natural magnetic abilities. The limits of her new techno-magnetic powers are unknown, but Lorna has said they are a resemblance of the power she used to possess, but they are more dangerous and harder for her to control. In Uncanny X-Men #476, she is referred to as one of the biggest threats of the current team by the opposing Shi'ar Imperial Shockers, robotic guards.

As the Horseman Pestilence, Lorna has shown the ability to ingest virulent diseases without harm, absorbing their traits, and according to Apocalypse is able to spread a "meta-plague" that will kill anyone who has not been inoculated with the virus' vaccine, the Blood of Apocalypse.

[edit] Alternate Universes

[edit] Age of Apocalypse

Polaris in this reality was one of the many prisoners in Sinister's Breeding Pens, and a victim of the Dark Beast's tests. She had been rendered nearly powerless because Rogue had permanently absorbed her powers when the two had a fallout prior to Rogue being taken to the X-Men. Prelate Scott Summers frees her, but she cannot recognize him, mistaking him for Magneto; whom she believes is her father.

[edit] Ultimate Polaris

Cover to Ultimate X-Men #61, featuring Lorna Dane (Polaris). Art by Stuart Immonen.

In the Ultimate Marvel continuity of Ultimate X-Men, Polaris is an attractive teenage mutant girl who is a member of the Academy of Tomorrow, a mutant peacekeeping squad led by Emma Frost. In this continuity, she is also the girlfriend of Havok but as a twist, she was also the ex-girlfriend of his brother Cyclops, whom Havok hates with a passion.

Polaris is framed for killing dozens of people with her powers during a rescue mission, and imprisoned in the Triskelion of the Ultimates with mutant terrorist Magneto. Magneto uses her to goad Havok into rescuing her, so that he can escape the maximum-security cell by swapping places with Mystique. In the end, Polaris' name is cleared, and she returns to the Academy of Tomorrow.

[edit] Appearances in other media

[edit] Television

• Polaris appeared in the animated television series X-Men episode Cold Comfort as a member of X-Factor. Polaris had been a member of the X-Men alongside her boyfriend Iceman, though they eventually left to pursue a normal life. However, Polaris left Iceman and became member of X-Factor and fell in love with Havok. She was later featured in the second part of the episode Phalanx Covenant, in which she aided Beast, Magneto, Forge, Warlock and Amelia Voght battle the extraterrestrial Phalanx Empire.

[edit] Video games

• While Polaris could only be glimpsed briefly in a corner of a cinematic, she appeared in X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse having been captured before the game began.

[edit] Bibliography

[edit] As Lorna Dane

• Captain America vol. 1 #174-175
• Giant Size X-Men #1
• The Incredible Hulk vol. 2 #150
• X-Men vol. 1 #49-52, 57-62, 65-66, 94
• X-Men: Hidden Years #1, 5-8, 10, 12-19, 21-22

[edit] As Polaris

• Alpha Flight vol. 1 #107
• Cable vol. 2 #76
• Classic X-Men #33
• Darkhawk #31
• Decimation: House of M - The Day After #1
• Defenders vol. 1 #62-65
• Doc Samson vol. 1 #1, 4
• Dr. Strange vol. 3 #69
• Excalibur vol. 1 #82
• Fantastic Four vol. 1 #368-369
• Fantastic Four: The Worlds Greatest Comic Magazine #3
• Incredible Hulk vol. 2 #390-392
• Magneto: Dark Seduction #1-4
• Marvel Super Heroes: Contest of Champions #1-3
• Marvel Team-Up vol. 1 #69
• New Mutants vol. 2 #11
• Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: X-Men 2004
• Rogue vol. 3 #1
• Special Edition X-Men #1
• Spider-Man/X-Factor: Shadowgames #1-3
• Uncanny X-Men #97, 119, 122, 125-129, 145-146, 158-159, 163, 173, 175, 218-219, 221-223, 232, 239-241, 243, 249-250, 253-255, 257-258, 269-270, 278, 295-296, 376-379, 418-426, 429-431, 433-434, 438-443, 475-476, 478-479, 481
• Uncanny X-Men Annual #15
• X-Factor Annual #6-8
• X-Factor vol. 1 #-1, 39, 69-130, 132-139, 141, 146, 148-149
• X-Force vol. 1 #16-18, 38
• X-Men vol. 1 #97, 104-105
• X-Men vol. 2 #14-16, 93-99, 132, 156-181
• X-Men: Black Sun #2-5
• X-Men: Deadly Genesis #3, 6
• X-Men: Prime
• X-Men Unlimited vol. 1 #6, 25

[edit] As Magnetrix

• X-Men: Hidden Years #3

[edit] As Pestilence

• X-Men vol. 2 182, 185-187

[edit] External links

• MDP: Polaris - Marvel Database Project
• UncannyXmen.net, Spotlight feature on Polaris
• Polaris biography at mutanthigh.com
• Polaris on the Marvel Universe Character Bio Wiki
• Ultimate Polaris on the Marvel Character Bio Wiki