Mockingbird (Marvel Comics) Character Review
Mockingbird (Barbara "Bobbi" Morse) is a fictional Character, a superhero in the Marvel Comics Universe. More about Mockingbird (Marvel Comics) Character Review - keep reading !!
Fictional Character Biography
First appearances - The character who later becomes Mockingbird first appears in a short sequence in Astonishing Tales
#6 (June 1971) in which a frantic young brunette arrives at the English
country estate of Lord Kevin Plunder (who is also known as "Ka-Zar").
Encountering the butler she exclaims "Lord Kevin Plunder where is he? I
must speak with him! ‘tis a matter—of the fate of worlds!". In a brief
second appearance in the same issue the character claims "Lord Kevin
Plunder and I have never met—and yet I feel that I know him …!", "You
see, I can—can 'feel' people in my mind! And I know that unless I speak
with him—Lord Kevin will die!".
Whatever writer Gerry Conway’s original ideas were for this
character, subsequent creators developed her to such a degree that she
is unrecognisable as this earlier figure. In particular, no later story
makes reference to the psychic abilities that these quotes appear to
allude to.
After this story Roy Thomas
took over writing the Ka-Zar strip and in his first story the
as-yet-unnamed character makes another brief appearance. The butler at
Ka-Zar’s estate informs her that his employer is currently in the Savage Land. The girl then vows to "walk the Savage Land" for “[Ka-Zar’s] sake and the sake of the world”.
In Astonishing Tales #8 (Oct. 1971) Thomas is joined by co-writer Gary Friedrich and the character begins to develop—her hair color changes to blonde without explanation and her name is given as "Barbara". In this issue Ka-Zar comes upon the site of a plane crash in the Savage
Land and encounters a survivor. This man explains that he and his
fiancée Barbara flew to the Savage Land to seek Ka-Zar out. He mentions
that Barbara learned of Ka-Zar’s whereabouts from the butler at the
Plunder Estate, clearly indicating that Barbara is meant to be the same
character as the brunette from the previous two issues. Barbara is shown
later in the story; having parachuted from the plane before the crash
she is rescued by a group of World War 2 veterans who have been trapped
in the Savage Land for decades.
Gerry Conway briefly returned to co-write (with Roy Thomas) Barbara's
next appearance where she finally meets Ka-Zar and is reunited with her
fiancé (whose name is revealed as "Paul"). In the following issue (written by Thomas alone) Ka-Zar leads the two characters through the dangerous Savage Land. Astonishing Tales (June 1972) is a key early appearance for the character, due in part to Marvel’s decision to feature Man-Thing in this issue. At this point Man-Thing had made only one previous appearance, in the 1971 black-and-white magazine Savage Tales. A follow-up 7–page Man-Thing story by writer Len Wein and artist Neal Adams was commissioned for a version of Savage Tales #2 that was ultimately never published. Finally seeing print in Astonishing Tales #12 the sequence is presented as a flashback and an interlude between the main action of the book.
One of the characters in the Wein/Adams story is a blonde female
scientist called "Dr. Barbara Morse". Morse is working on a research
project in the Florida Everglades called Project: Gladiator, which is an
attempt to replicate the Super-Soldier serum which was used to create Captain America.
This is the same research which Ted Sallis had previously been working
on when a flawed serum transformed him into the Man-Thing. In the story
Morse is abducted by AIM thugs and is later liberated through the intervention of the Man-Thing.
Framing the flashback is a sequence of newer material by writer Roy Thomas and artist John Buscema
in which Barbara (now revealed to be "Dr. Barbara Morse" and thus the
character from the Wein/Adams Man-Thing story) and Paul (now "Dr. Paul
Allen") accompany Ka-Zar back to the United States and explain that they
sought him out so that he could help them deal with the problems
surrounding the appearance of the Man-Thing in Florida.
In the next issue the storyline is wrapped up and Paul reveals he is a double agent working for A.I.M. It is also revealed for the first time that Barbara has connections with S.H.I.E.L.D.; the spy agency asked her to pretend to love Allen to "learn what [she] could" about his activities with AIM. At the story’s end Paul dies at the
hands of the Man-Thing and Barbara expresses the hope that she can "go
back to just being a scientist again".
Bobbi Morse, Agent 19 of S.H.I.E.L.D - Mike Friedrich took over from Roy Thomas to become writer of Astonishing Tales
with #15 (Dec. 1972). He introduces a new status-quo in which Ka-Zar is
living in New York and "lady biologist" and S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Barbara
(who now prefers to be called "Bobbi") Morse is his constant companion.
Friedrich remained the writer of the various color Ka-Zar series for the next two years and for most of that period he continued to feature Morse as Ka-Zar’s
sidekick and occasional love interest. In these stories she is depicted
as a fully trained S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. Contemptuous of his jungle
origins, she is Ka-Zar’s escort to the city and modern life. Together
she and Ka-Zar tackle threats such as the Pusher, Gemini, Victorius, Gog, and the Plunderer. As the series progresses she begins to wear a regular costume of
tinted-glasses, a red one-piece, and boots. Her S.H.I.E.L.D. designation
of "Agent 19" is revealed and she and Ka-Zar finally kiss.
In 1974 the color Ka-Zar series left Astonishing Tales and was relaunched in the Ka-Zar, Lord of the Hidden Jungle
title. The strip is set once again in the Savage Land and Morse is
absent for the first story. She returns in the third issue—explaining
that Nick Fury had sent her on a S.H.I.E.L.D. assignment to look into "El Tigre", a subversive who is exploiting the energy crisis in South America. This leads her to reluctantly travel back to the Savage Land, where she
and Ka-Zar defeat El Tigre and his ally Man-God together.
The introduction of Shanna the She-Devil into Ka-Zar’s supporting cast changes Morse’s role in the stories of this period. Ka-Zar expresses
clear attraction to the more jungle-friendly Shanna from the outset and Morse is cast as the secondary love interest. This dynamic is most
notable in Morse’s lone appearance in the Ka-Zar strip in the
black-and-white magazine Savage Tales
(#8; Jan. 1975). Written by Gerry Conway, the story depicts Morse
leading Shanna and a group of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents into the Savage Land
where they work with Ka-Zar to neutralise a threat to world security.
During the course of the adventure Morse realises that Ka-Zar’s
affections lie with Shanna. This story, first published in late-1974, is the last in which Morse appears as a Ka-Zar supporting character.
Mockingbird and Hawkeye - The character next appeared in Gruenwald’s 1983 four-issue Hawkeye miniseries. Fully recovered from her injuries, Mockingbird investigates corruption at Cross Technological Enterprises,
where Clint Barton/Hawkeye works as security chief. Though the two
initially come into conflict with each other, they end up co-operating
to fight the villain Crossfire
and by the series end they are shown to be seriously romantically
involved, having eloped together to the Pocono Mountains and apparently
married.
The miniseries reveals how Morse originally became involved with S.H.I.E.L.D. recounting how she left her biology studies at Georgia Tech to follow her "favorite prof" Wilma Calvin on the government's Project: Gladiator. The research
project was partly sponsored by S.H.I.E.L.D. which led Morse to enroll
in their spy school and graduate at the top of her class. It is also
revealed that she spent six months convalescing in a private hospital
after the injuries she suffered in Marvel Team-Up #95.
Gruenwald was editor of the Avengers title in late 1983 when writer Roger Stern began to feature Hawkeye and Mockingbird as members of the series supporting cast. In a short period Mockingbird moves back into Avengers Mansion with Barton as he returns to active duty, she is formally introduced to the team as his wife, the Vision then proposes that Hawkeye and Mockingbird establish a second Avengers team on the west coast, and the two move out to Los Angeles.
Marvel NOW - As part of the Marvel NOW! event, Mockingbird appears as part of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s new Secret Avengers roster, making her debut appearance while helping Nick Fury, Jr. capture Taskmaster.
During the mission to obtain Taskmaster, Mockingbird used
S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Camo-Tech to disguise herself as Aloysius Thorndrake of
the Shadow Council.
Powers Abilities and Equipment (Mockingbird)
While she has no superpowers, Mockingbird is a trained S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who graduated at the top of her class and as such she can be expected to be proficient in several forms of
hand-to-hand combat and familiar with a wide range of weapons. The
character usually uses a pair of batons which can be combined to form a single bō-staff in combat, weapons with which she has great expertise.She also possesses a PhD in biology.
To cope with a mortal injury she sustained in a mission, Mockingbird
was injected with an experimental serum combining the Super Soldier
Serum that gave Captain America his strength and the Infinity Formula
that has retarded Nick Fury's aging. The obvious consequence of this was
that her injuries were healed, but Fury admitted his uncertainty about
the formula's long-term consequences on her biology. Thus far, however,
she has exhibited greatly enhanced physical strength and agility.
In Other Media (Film/Movie)
- Barbara and Clint's son Francis Barton is featured in the animated direct-to-video film Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow.
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