Lost interest thanks to sabotage/exclusion of Polaris
Here’s one of the great ironies of Tom Brevoort going out of his way to keep Polaris out of Marvel and X-Men events: he’s kept me from developing an interest in characters he wants people to develop an interest in.
I was a HUGE fan of Polaris x Scarlet Witch possibilities. If the Axis forced retcon hadn’t severed their connection, I would’ve read the Scarlet Witch solo. Even then, if she had showed up for an issue or two, I would’ve read it.
If Marvel had used and promoted both Polaris and Enchantress for Axis, and other events, I would’ve been interested in seeing those two play off each other.
Same goes for Luminous. Instead of complaining about how she exists to try to replace Polaris, I would’ve been promoting what could be done between Polaris and Luminous.
These are just three characters out of many, many other characters at Marvel that I could have developed more of an interest in and bought content of.
I read the entire Magneto solo run solely on the premise that even if it didn’t have Lorna show up at some point, it was so focused on Magneto that it would at least inform me on his issues and how they might related to Polaris. I could have done the same thing for Scarlet Witch. I could have done the same thing for Enchantress. I could have done the same thing for Luminous.
In all three cases, I could’ve promoted things they were in, leading to fan interest, more fan involvement, more readers. And no, I don’t think I have some crazy powerful sway in public that other people don’t. I just know that every voice matters, and changing even just one person’s mind can have a powerful cascade effect.
But, Brevoort didn’t do that. I don’t blame Brevoort for Axis because I know Ike Perlmutter above him was the one behind that change, but I do rightfully blame Brevoort for everything else he’s done to undermine and exclude Polaris. I’ve lost interest in some of the very characters he wants to promote, all because he cares more about giving in to his hate for the character than taking advantage of Polaris’ potential and making the most of it.
Maybe I’ll develop an interest in these characters some day. But by all appearances, it’s going to take someone else at Marvel with a better creative and business philosophy than Brevoort’s.
