brevoortformspring:

Different person from the anon.

As much as I’d love a Polaris solo and think it’d do amazing if handled right, I’ve seen enough to know Marvel won’t be ready for a Polaris solo for a decade or two.

I’m not saying the good things done for her lately have no value. Origin story, leading her own team, interacting with her brother and sister (as brief as it was), the Secret Wars cameos including an excellent House of M #3 for her, all of those and more have been great steps forward.

But for a Polaris solo to happen, she needs support and options.

As far as options, her brother and sister are now off-limits. That immediately kills a whole host of potential stories. Further, Marvel’s using the Terrigen Mists to make the most important parts of its universe too toxic for the X-Men franchise to be involved. That means Lorna is limited in where she can go and what she can do.

As far as support, I’ve seen Marvel’s lack of marketing for Lorna’s big moments over the past 6 years. Both Lorna’s origin story in X-Factor #243 and her girls’ day out with Wanda in All-New X-Factor #14 went unpromoted. Every Magnus family interaction in major Marvel events from 2010 until Secret Wars excluded her. This is just the most important and obvious bits, not going into finer details.

Any argument of “We have limited resources, we have to put them where they’re needed most” makes my point. If the second woman to join the X-Men getting her origin story told after over 40 years without one isn’t promotion-worthy, then that says current Marvel doesn’t value her much at all. If Marvel doesn’t value her, then it won’t support a book dedicated to her. If it won’t support a book dedicated to her, then it won’t launch one for her in the first place.

I think a Polaris solo with real promotion and all its options on the table would sell like crazy, and I think Secret Wars House of M proves that. I think the sudden discovery of Lorna by non-readers, learning a character as amazing as her has existed for over 40 years and they had no idea, would bring a big boost to sales all across Marvel - especially for family and any other characters closely associated with her.

Fans and potential readers have been ready for Lorna for at least two years now. But for a solo to happen, Marvel needs to be ready for her, and it’s not. Marvel hasn’t reached that point yet. I’ll appreciate the good things done for her while waiting for that day to come, though.