‘Mockingbird # 6-8’ Written by Chelsea Cain.
‘Mockingbird # 6-8’ Art by Kate Niemczyk; Sean Parsons; Rachelle Rosenberg; & & VC’s Joe Caramagna.
‘New Avengers # 13-14’ Written by Brian Michael Bendis.
‘New Avengers # 13’ Art by Mike Deodato; Howard Chaykin (for ‘Avengers 1959’ flashbacks); Rain Beredo; Edgar Delgado; & VC’s Joe Caramagna.
‘New Avengers # 14’ Art by Mike Deodato; Rain Beredo; & VC’s Joe Caramagna.
Collection Cover Art by Joëlle Jones & Rachelle Rosenberg.
SUMMARY:
Released in 2017 by Marvel Comics, this 130-page trade paperback completes Mockingbird’s short-lived solo series (2016’s Issues # 6-8), with additional reprints courtesy of 2011’s New Avengers # 13-14.
Set during the events of 2016’s Civil War II, Bobbi “Mockingbird” Morse seeks a respite out of town. Specifically, she seeks escape from her ex-husband’s (Clint “Hawkeye” Barton) high-profile murder trial for killing Dr. Bruce Banner. Intrigued by a ticket/boarding pass booked under her former married name for The Diamond Porpoise’s annual ‘Nerd Cruise,’ Bobbi accepts this anonymous invitation that promises secret information that she’ll want.
Along with her boyfriend, SHIELD agent Lance Hunter, and his pet corgi, Ka-Zar, now in tow, Bobbi seeks out intel vital to her ex-husband’s legal defense that her unknown benefactor seemingly has. Oddly enough, elements of the cruise’s theme pay homage to Hawkeye (and his current predicament). A subsequent shipboard homicide prompts Bobbi and Lance to be deputized to conduct a makeshift investigation – with several fellow guests/Marvel-friendly cosplayers as potential suspects.
Once the vessel is treading The Bermuda Triangle’s waters, Bobbi’s growing suspicions are confirmed. A long-awaited (and possibly final) showdown with a dreaded supernatural nemesis is evidently in the cards dealt to Mockingbird.
New Avengers roster: Luke Cage; Jessica Jones-Cage; Ms. Marvel (Carol Danvers); The Thing; Spider-Man; Iron Fist; Squirrel Girl; Dr. Strange; Wolverine; Mockingbird; & Victoria Hand, along with guest stars Hawkeye, Nick Fury, & Jessica Drew’s Spider Woman.
In New Avengers # 13, a comatose Bobbi is in intensive care after suffering an abdominal wound during an Avengers assignment gone awry paired with Benjamin “The Thing” Grimm. The team desperately interrogates an uncooperative witness to locate H.A.M.M.E.R.’s fugitive Superia. It’s possible only Superia’s illicit science has the means of saving Bobbi’s life.
Revelations from the Avengers 1959 era confirm the Nazis seemingly concocted their own Super-Soldier Serum (the Infinity Formula) to replicate Captain America’s powers. It’s the same formula that Nick Fury himself had been endowed with decades ago. In the present-day, once the smoke of an explosive showdown clears, Hawkeye and Nick Fury tensely argue Bobbi’s medical fate. Though the immediate effect is apparent, no one knows how the Infinity Formula will forever change Mockingbird.
New Avengers # 14 depicts a now-rejuvenated Mockingbird describing her insights on her life-and-death experience. In a set-up towards the Fear Itself arc, Spider-Man (now a Fantastic Four member) resigns his membership. His open mistrust of Victoria Hand (and her reciprocal anger) builds dissension amongst the team, as to Hand’s true allegiance.
Meanwhile, Sin (the Red Skull’s daughter) and her Nazi-affiliated robotic forces launch a destructive attack on New York City. Initially adrenalized by her new powers in battle, Mockingbird feels ashamed upon witnessing the loss of Avengers Tower. Bobbi admits a grim epiphany, as to why she thinks destiny has set up her ‘resurrection.’
Note: This title is also available digitally.
REVIEW (Beware of Spoilers):
On the surface, tag-teaming Chelsea Cain’s plotting with this wonderful art team (i.e. Joëlle Jones & Rachelle Rosenberg’s high-caliber covers) remains a creative gem. Including some fun thought process scenes (a bit like the BBC’s Sherlock TV series), the adult charm emanating from Cain’s witty take on Mockingbird is as endearing as her Volume 1.
Hence, having Cain concoct a spoofy Agatha Christie-like shipboard murder-mystery for Bobbi to sleuth makes good sense … initially. Up to Issue #7’s end, one might have hoped that Cain wasn’t resorting to a creative rabbit hole that Marvel had already sufficiently mined in Mockingbird & Hawkeye’s post Secret Invasion team-ups. Ruining a potentially solid and quirky series finale (i.e. perhaps Bobbi has another persistent, yet unexpected, stalker obsessed with her?), Cain opts to revisit 1986-87’s controversial West Coast Avengers # 18-23.
Exploiting the ghostly Phantom Rider’s sexual obsession with Mockingbird is a mighty blah twist for concluding Mockingbird’s well-deserved solo series. More specifically, having Bobbi now concede that her marriage ended due to consensual adultery with Phantom Rider makes no sense.
Cain’s retroactive ramifications essentially setting aside Bobbi’s abduction, brainwashing, and inferred rape by Phantom Rider years before makes for, at best, a bold yet utterly misguided plot twist. Had Cain depicted Bobbi instead copping to a different suppressed/off-screen extramarital fling with somebody else (not named Lincoln Slade/Phantom Rider) during her subsequent estrangement from Hawkeye, that at least would have been plausible.
It’s unfortunate that this series’ promise ends with a contrived soap opera nosedive to alter Mockingbird’s most notorious character arc. In retrospect, it would have made better sense for Marvel Comics to publish Mockingbird # 1-8 as a single volume. That way, readers could best enjoy Cain’s exuberant sense of spy humor in a more cohesive manner.
To boost this book’s otherwise ultra-slim page count, Marvel instead offers 2011’s New Avengers # 13-14 as compensation. Given the excellent artwork and Brian Michael Bendis’ intriguing yet humorless plotting, it’s a welcome tradeoff after the disappointing shortfall (including a tiresome Fight Club recurring gag) in Cain’s storytelling.
Overall, Mockingbird, Volume 2: My Feminist Agenda begins with amusing potential, but Cain’s whodunnit caper fizzles out. It’s then left to some suspenseful reprints (at most, they’re a prequel to Bobbi’s current phase) to make up the difference. Frankly, finding this book at the library makes the most practical sense.
ADDITIONAL CONTENT:
Each full-page Joëlle Jones & Rachelle Rosenberg cover precedes its issue (Mockingbird # 6-8). The same applies to New Avengers # 13-14 by cover artists Mike Deodato & Rain Beredo.
Writer Chelsea Cain includes a delightful news brief (“The Daily Blowhole”) from The Diamond Porpoise – including a Marvel in-joke as to the ship captain’s identity. Cain concludes her stint with a page-long and insightful ‘thank-you’ note to her fellow Mockingbird contributors. Also inserted is a comical page of Bobbi’s silhouetted yoga poses, courtesy of artist Manny Mederos.
Artists Kate Niemczyk and Joëlle Jones split the last page: Niemczyk’s Bobbi and Ka-Zar the Corgi concept sketches, along with three black-and-white cover sketches below from Jones.
BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING: 5½ Stars
