POLARIS: Page 2 of 11

BIOGRAPHY - Page 2


When the senior members of the X-Men had troubles in the Savage Land, Xavier sent Havok and Lorna after them. There, they met Ka-Zar and Lorna realized that she had no codename with which to introduce herself. She came up with Magnetrix, but had to confess that it sounded ridiculous. Havok teased her with calling her by that name a few times, before she dropped it again. [X-Men: The Hidden Years #3, 6]

Shortly afterwards, the X-Men encountered a group called the Promise. They wanted to wait for the time after the final confrontation between humans and mutants and only stepped out of their cryogenic chambers every ten years to check on the world’s status and to recruit more members. In one of these occasions, they targeted Lorna and Alex, as they had not yet been fully “indoctrinated" by Xavier and could easier be influenced. Under control of the Promise, Lorna used her magnetic powers to fly for the first time, much to the surprise of her teammates. However, not all within the Promise agreed with the ways of leader, Thomas Messenger, and he was killed by Lucy Robinson, who also helped to free Lorna from the chamber that would have put her in suspended animation for at least ten years. [X-Men: The Hidden Years #18, 22]

Some time later, Havok left the team after accidentally injuring Iceman in a yet another fight over Lorna. When he did not return for months, Xavier sent Lorna after him to ask him to come back. On her way to the southwestern deserts of the United States, Lorna was noticed by the Hulk, who mistook her for his former lover, the green-haired Jarella. Once he saw his error, the Hulk felt deceived and grew angry. Before things became serious, Havok intervened and battled the Hulk, demonstrating a control over his abilities he never had before. Realizing that he could make it as a hero, Havok agreed to come back. [Incredible Hulk (2nd series) #150]

On their way back to rejoin the X-Men, the pair was captured by the Secret Empire. The X-Men did not investigate, as Xavier assumed that Lorna had not succeeded in making Alex return and, instead, had chosen to retire with her lover together. Only long weeks later, the X-Men became aware that more and more mutants were disappearing. Finally, they investigated and rescued their friends with the help of Captain America and the Falcon. [Captain America (1st series) #173-175]

Back with the X-Men, Alex and Lorna continued their training and went on many missions with their teammates. Eventually, the mutants encountered the mutant island, Krakoa, and ended up captured. Xavier recruited a new team of X-Men to rescue his students, but Krakoa seemed unbeatable. It was then that Lorna displayed her major power potential for the first time as Jean telepathically removed her inner mental blocks that kept her from accessing her full power. Lorna was then able to absorb the electric energy of Storm’s lighting as well as the raw energy blasts of Cyclops and Havok, building up such an

intense magnetic beam that she disrupted the Earth’s magnetic field around the island. When the gravimetrical forces kicked backed in, it had an effect like wet soap being squished through a hand and the island was hurled into space. [Giant-Size X-Men #1]

In the aftermath of that battle, Lorna and Havok left the X-Men to spend time alone together and to pursue their degrees in geophysics. [X-Men (1st series) #94] They moved to an isolated small cabin in New Mexico, and were rather happy with each other there. One day, though, someone knocked at the door and Lorna was surprised to see Erik the Red standing there. The disguise was now used by Shi’ar agent Davan Shakari, who took the two former X-Men by surprise and mind-controlled them into joining him. Their task was to prevent the meeting of Professor Xavier and Shi’ar Princess Lilandra and, in order to do so, Erik the Red used his pawns to battle their former teammates various times. Shakari was also the one who gave Lorna the codename Polaris. [X-Men (1st series) #97] In the end, the X-Men were able to defeated them, though, and Professor X was able to free Havok and Polaris from Erik the Red’s control.

While recovering from the ordeal, the couple stayed on Muir Island for some time [X-Men (1st series) #109] and later, when Phoenix arrived there too, believing the rest X-Men dead, Alex and Lorna helped her deal with the loss. [X-Men (1st series) #119]

It took a crisis for the X-Men to learn of each other being alive and reunite. Due to a malfunction in Muir Island’s security systems, the dangerous mutant Proteus had escaped and was in need of host bodies. He even tried to take over Polaris and, if he hadn’t been in an already weakened state, she wouldn’t have been able to keep him at bay with her magnetic powers. Proteus found other hosts, however, and eventually grew strong enough to reshape reality. It took the combined efforts of the X-Men and a great amount of luck to defeat him. [X-Men (1st series) #125-128]

Shortly after the X-Men departed from Scotland, Alex and Lorna too left Muir Island and went back to New Mexico to complete their degrees. For a time, Polaris and Havok led a happy life, only to be interrupted by the X-Men asking them to help, as they were blackmailed by Arcade into battling Dr. Doom. Only reluctantly, the couple followed their request and, immediately after they had helped to free the hostages from Arcade, they returned to New Mexico. [Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #145-146]

The next time one of the X-Men would drop by it was because of a pleasant surprise -- Corsair of the Starjammers turned out to be the father of Cyclops and Havok, and they had a brief family reunion. Lorna, of course, was happy for her man. [Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #158]

However, their idyllic existence was not to last as, months later, Polaris was ambushed by the Marauders while Havok was away visiting the X-Men. After destroying the cabin that had served as her and Alex's home, Sabretooth, Arclight and Scalphunter chased Lorna through the desert. Polaris knew that she had next to no chance, alone, with no shelter and outnumbered three on one. Still, she decided she wouldn’t go down without giving the Marauders the fight of their lives. Indded the Marauders were in for the bigger the surprise when the green-haired mutant actually managed to achieve the impossible, overpowering all three of the dangerous killers. Only -- it wasn’t Lorna anymore, but the psychic entity Malice, who had been ordered by Mr. Sinister to posses Polaris and, while making use of her body, assumed leadership of the Marauders. [Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #219]