Polaris (Dr. Lorna Sally Dane) is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Arnold Drake and artist Jim Steranko, the character first appeared in The X-Men #49 (October 1968), though she is not called Polaris until The X-Men #97 (February 1976). Dane has also been a member of the X-Men and the X-Factor, in which she is frequently paired with her on-again off-again romantic interest Havok (Alex Summers).
Like the other X-Men, Lorna Dane belongs to the subspecies of humans called mutants, who are born with superhuman abilities. She can control magnetism in a manner similar to her father, Magneto, who served as the X-Men's main antagonist in early stories (The X-Men #1-11, published 1963–1965). Although it was speculated for decades, the fact that Magneto was her father was not revealed until a 2003 storyline, some 35 years after the character's debut.Austen, Chuck. Uncanny X-Men #421(2003). Marvel Comics. Many of Lorna's stories involve her mental instability and mental health issues, particularly her bipolar disorder, which is exacerbated by the repeated brainwashing episodes and other traumatic events. Lorna's mental health has also been a factor in storylines where she becomes evil or loses control of her abilities. The character has been known as Polaris, Malice, and Pestilence at various points in her history.
The character has been featured in various other Marvel-licensed products, including video games, animated television series, and merchandise. Lorna Dane made her live-action debut in The Gifted (2018), portrayed by Emma Dumont.
Publication history Lorna Dane debuted in The X-Men #49 (October 1968), created by writer Arnold Drake and artist Jim Steranko. Her powers manifest in The X-Men #50, and in issue #60 she joins the X-Men. Drake and Steranko's successors on the series, Roy Thomas and Neal Adams, introduced a romance between Lorna and Havok.
Together with Havok, the character has a brief appearance in Hulk #150 (April 1972). Polaris and Havok later appeared briefly as captives of the Secret Empire before being freed by Captain America and the X-Men in a storyline that ran from Captain America #173 -175 (May-July 1974). She then appeared in the 1975 Giant-Size X-Men #1, but in the next appearance of the X-Men, The X-Men #94 (August 1975), she quits the team. She and Havok return in The X-Men #97 (February 1976) as villains under the mental control of Erik the Red, with Lorna calling herself Polaris for the first time. Polaris and Havok are returned to normal by The X-Men #119 (March 1979), and became regular members of the X-Men's supporting cast.
Polaris joins the relaunched X-Factor in X-Factor #71 (October 1991) and remains with the group until the end of the series, X-Factor #149 (September 1998).
Lorna Dane continued to appear in The X-Men, now retitled The Uncanny X-Men, as well as a new series simply titled X-Men (no "The"). In The Uncanny X-Men #431 (November 2003) a DNA test proves that she is the daughter of Magneto. She had previously been revealed to be of this parentage in The X-Men #50 (her second appearance), but most saw this as being invalidated by the revelation in The X-Men #58 (July 1979) that the Magneto who claimed to be her father was a robot. She rejoins X-Factor in X-Factor Investigations and the 2014 All-New X-Factor.
She then appeared in the 2019 Captain Marvel, the 2020 X-Factor series, the 2020 X of Swords: Creation one-shot, the 2021 X-Men series, the 2021 X-Men Unlimited Infinity Comic series, the 2022 Marauders series, the 2023 Scarlet Witch series, the 2024 Fall of the House of X series, and the 2024 X-Factor series.
The new costume worn by Polaris in the Fall of the House of X (2024) series was designed by comic book artist Lukas Werneck. Marvel Comics requested a suit paying homage to Magneto.
Fictional character biography
Origin Lorna Dane met the original team of X-Men while still a student.X-Men #49. Marvel Comics. When the villain Mesmero used his "psyche-generator" to summon mutants in North America with latent powers,X-Men #50 Lorna found herself compelled to travel to San Francisco, where Mesmero was. There she encountered the X-Man Iceman, who broke her trance by causing her to slip on a patch of ice and then convinced her to come to his apartment. At the apartment, Lorna met the rest of the X-Men who soon learned that she had latent mutant powers. Mesmero and his android Demi-Men captured her and took her to their desert headquarters, with the X-Men in pursuit. The psyche-generator awakened her mutant powers and Mesmero named her "Queen of the Mutants".
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 is evil, Lorna could not bring herself to fight her own father. Iceman returns from meeting with her foster parents who told him that her birth parents had died in a plane crash years earlier. This information caused Lorna to turn against MagnetoX-Men #51-52 but it was later revealed that she had caused the accident and Magneto had her memories of it erased with the help of Mastermind.X-Factor #243, 2012 For a while, Iceman was attracted to her, but Lorna did not truly reciprocate his feelings.X-Men #52 She instead fell in love with their teammate Havok.X-Men #58, 1969
Unbeknownst to Lorna, the Magneto who claimed to be her father is revealed to be an android. Shortly after, Lorna was captured by Sentinels, but was rescued by the X-Men.X-Men #57-58 Lorna joined the X-Men and began living at Xavier's mansion.X-Men #60, 1969 Lorna aided Havok and the X-Men in repelling the alien Z'Nox's attempted invasion of Earth.X-Men #65
Lorna Dane's first "code name" was Magnetrix, but she quickly decided that she did not like this name. However, that did not keep Havok from continuing to use that name as a way to annoy and flirt with her.X-Men: The Hidden Years #3 (2000) The two leave the X-Men to pursue their mutual interest in geophysics.X-Men #94, 1975 They moved to the Diablo mountain range in California.X-Men #97, 1976
Lorna, with Havok, is later seen battling the Hulk.Incredible Hulk #150 When the old and new X-Men fought the mutant island Krakoa, Lorna displayed the full potential of her powers for the first time by disrupting the Earth's magnetic field, which sent Krakoa into deep space.Giant-Size X-Men #1 They then joined Moira MacTaggert at her facility for genetic research on Muir Island.X-Men #94
Mind controlled Lorna received a new costume 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 Erik the Red who gave Lorna the codename Polaris, which she has continued to use ever since. At the time, Shakari served D'Ken, then emperor of the Shi'ar Galaxy. Shakari kidnapped Alex Summers and Lorna, and subjected them to a powerful form of mind control. He turned them against the X-Men in an attempt to assassinate Professor Charles 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 Havok. Xavier eventually freed both Polaris and Havok from Shakari's control.X-Men #97 (1976)
Polaris and Havok remained inactive as members of the X-Men, though they did return from time to time to assist the team. With the X-Men, they battled Proteus on Muir Island.Uncanny X-Men #125-128 For the most part, Lorna and Alex remained in civilian life for a number of years, settling in New Mexico and completing their college degrees. They were forced to reluctantly help the X-Men in Arcade's Murderworld.Uncanny X-Men #145-146 Their new life was interrupted when the Marauders ambushed them around the time of the Mutant Massacre. Polaris' mind was overtaken by the psionic being known as Malice.Uncanny X-Men #219
Under Malice's control, Lorna attacked the X-Men as leader of the Marauders.Uncanny X-Men #221-222 Shortly thereafter, the Malice entity found that it had become permanently bonded to Lorna's body.Uncanny X-Men #239 She led the Marauders against the X-Men during Inferno.Uncanny X-Men #240-241, 243; X-Factor #39 After Mister Sinister was seemingly killed, Malice's hold over Lorna weakened. Temporarily regaining control of her own mind, Lorna was able to place a phone call to the X-Men in Australia for help, but they arrived too late. Lorna had been taken to be with her alleged half-sister Zaladane, a priestess for the Savage Land's Sun People.Uncanny X-Men #249 The X-Men arrived in time to witness Zaladane's getaway, though Havok managed to infiltrate her army in disguise while the X-Men followed. In the Savage Land, the X-Men 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 is in fact Lorna's sister and, using the High Evolutionary's machinery, stripped Lorna of her magnetic powers, taking them as her own. In addition, the process managed to finally separate Lorna from Malice. Zaladane and her forces clashed with Ka-Zar and the X-Men. During the encounter, Lorna's secondary mutation activated: she grew in height, became invulnerable, and gained superhuman strength. Zaladane's army was released from Worm's control, and Lorna finally regained her freedom.Uncanny X-Men #250
Having nowhere else to go, Lorna went to Moira MacTaggert's mutant research station on Muir Island. On her way there, her secondary mutation activated again, as evidenced by a sudden increase in height. At this time, she discovered that her new mutation also affects those around her, amplifying negative emotions such as anger and hate.Uncanny X-Men #253
Muir Island Upon examination, Dr. 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 had been a biological sibling.Uncanny X-Men #254 Shortly after her arrival, Lorna joined the Muir Island X-Men team formed by Moira and former X-Man Banshee.Uncanny X-Men #255 This team defended Muir Island from the attacking Reavers, who were hunting for Wolverine.Uncanny X-Men #257-258
Prior to this time, it had not been clear that Polaris was actually drawing strength from being a nexus for negative emotional energies. Polaris' 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 physical world from the astral plane, causing a worldwide increase in anger, hatred, and violence in the process.Uncanny X-Men #269 Polaris was freed of his influence with the help of X-Factor and the X-Men during the Muir Island Saga.X-Factor #69 Upon the defeat of the Shadow King, Polaris' magnetic powers return 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.Uncanny X-Men #278-280
X-Factor