WHO'S GOT A SECRET IN SECRET INVASION? - Episode #2.1 – Mockingbird
by Bruce! MacIntosh
One thing's certain, Secret Invasion is full of surprises! The first issue was full of reveals as to who is a Skrull, and the second issue featured a battle for the ages – literally – between the current Avengers and a group that looked like some version of the team from the 1980s. One of the heroes who stepped off the crashed Skrull ship in the Savage Land was Bobbie Morse, aka Mockingbird. While the avian beauty shared a tearful reunion with her former husband, readers were left to ask: "Didn't you die 14 years ago?"

For a non-superpowered hero, Mockingbird was a character who enjoyed a bit of longevity and fan favor, before she was unceremoniously "offed" by that fiery fiend Mephisto in Avengers West Coast #100 (Nov 1993). Given her avian code name, her relationship to the Avenger's resident bowman, and her superior acrobatic ability, she might have been Marvel's answer to DC's Black Canary. The main difference was that Mock favored pirate boots and bare legs over Canary's fishnets. Oh – and while DC's songbird eventually acquired dubious super-ability of her sonic scream, Marvel's un-powered avian had to rely on her gymnastic abilities and martial arts skills, and a pair of versatile fighting staves.

Before she acquired a code name and costume, Bobbi Morse was an agent for the super-spy organization S.H.I.E.L.D. Her first (published) assignment was to find Tarzan-style character Ka-Zar in the mysterious Savage Land, a secret jungle oasis on the Antarctic continent. They squared off against the Man-Thing in Astonishing Tales #6 - #8, Jun – Oct 1971. This appearance must have proved popular, because she returned to the Savage Land the next year – still as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent – to help Ka-Zar against several other villains like the inimitable El Tigre (Astonishing Tales #12 - #13, Jun – Aug 1972, and Marvel's magazine-sized "barbarian" adventure title, Savage Tales #8, Jan 1975).

At the height of the Marvel Age, a female adventurer without some sort of superhero identity was something of a letdown, so Bobbi Morse briefly adopted the codename and costume of The Huntress, in the first and only issue of another black & white magazine, Marvel Super Action #1 (Jan 1976). (That issue featured one of the first appearances of the Punisher, before the title disappeared to be resurrected the following year as a standard-sized four-color comic reprinting early Avengers stories.)

Nick Fury, Director of the spy agency S.H.I.E.L.D., appointed Bobbi Morse to work as an undercover agent to expose some corrupt S.H.I.E.L.D agents. She adopted the Mockingbird identity and fought together with Spider-Man against rogue S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, Carl Delandan. (Marvel Team-Up #95). In the process, the normally stoic Fury scooped up the moribund figure Mockingbird and vowed to do the right thing by saving her.

Apparently, Mockingbird's longevity as a comic character was questionable at that time, and Marvel was not necessarily going to bring her back unless merited by fan reaction (and sales). In that issue's letters page, writer Mark Gruenwald explained Mockingbird's behind-the-scenes "origin story": "'Where did this Mockingbird come from?' some of you may be asking. After all, it isn't every day that a brand new super heroine is premiered in Marvel Team-Up. Well, the story behind her creation is this: When I had been writing the Spider-Woman book, one of my chief objectives was to build up a rogue's gallery that S-W could call her own. One of the several characters I conceived and designed was Mockingbird. Showing the sketch to Steven Grant, writer about town, he helped me work out her powers and weaponry. Well, I never got around to doing a Mockingbird story before I left Spider-Woman, so I put the ideal on the back burner.

"Time passed, and Steven was searching for something new and different to do in Team-Up He was toying with the idea some of us have had to revamp the Bobbi Morse character (of Ka-Zar and Super-Action fame). Somehow we got the notion to amalgamate the two concepts and make Bobbi Morse the Mockingbird. (Anyone venture a guess why we abandoned the 'Huntress' moniker?) All that was necessary was to change her hair and skin color since the original M.B. was going to be black. So that's the story behind the story. As for when and where Mocking bird will next appear, that's partially up to you readers. Let us know what you think of her, okay?"

The fan reaction must have been favorable, because Bobbi later returned in the Hawkeye four-issue mini-series (1984). After the MTU appearance and her injuries, Mockingbird resigned from S.H.I.E.L.D., and went to work investigating a company called Cross Technological Enterprises (CTE). There she quarreled with the security director – Hawkeye. Together, they learned that CTE was actually working for the criminal Crossfire to brainwash super heroes into killing each other. They teamed up to defeat Crossfire and the other villains Bombshell, Oddball and Silencer, and in the process fell hopelessly in bed and eloped.

Soon, Hawkeye took Bobbi home to meet his parents… er, teammates - the Avengers. (Avengers #243 May 1984.) The lovebirds hung around Avengers mansion for a few months - with Bobbi helping out in a few adventures - until the team's chairman, Vision decided to split the team between two coasts. (This had been one of the topics of discussion at the conclusion of that year's Marvel mega-event, Secret Wars.) Vision appointed Hawkeye as chairman of the new West Coast branch, and the group recruited Tigra, Wonderman and Iron Man (Jim Rhodes). He also encouraged the inclusion of Mockingbird, despite her lack of superpowers, armor or fur. (West Coast Avengers, v. 1 #1, Sep 1984.)

In a multiple-issue time traveling saga, Mockingbird was accidentally abandoned in 1876, where whe was abducted and drugged by the insane vigilante called the Phantom Rider (Lincoln Slade). In her drugged state, Slade convinced her that she loved him. She almost walked down the aisle with Slade, until that time's other Western heroes - Rawhide Kid and Two-Gun Kid - helped her regain her senses. Needless to say, Mockingbird was upset that she had been violated emotionally (and by implication – physically), so she went after the Phantom Rider. In the process, he slipped off a cliff and she allowed him to fall to his death rather than saving him.

At the conclusion of the adventure when the West Coast Avengers returned to their home time, Mockingbird claimed that the Phantom Rider had jumped to his death. However, his ghost appeared and revealed to the team that while she did not actually kill him – she caused his death by allowing him to fall. Distressed by his wife's (in)action, and the fact that an Avenger had allowed someone to die, Hawkeye split up with his wife. (West Coast Avengers, v.2 #18-23)

The spirit of the Phantom Rider returned to the 80s to taunt Bobbi, and caused her to slip off a cliff of her own. She managed to swing herself to safety, but never revealed the encounter to the rest of the team, lest her own duplicity about his original "death" be revealed. She attacked the Rider's Great-Great Grandson, Hamilton Slade, believing him to be the culprit who was now harassing her. (He professed his innocence, but as we learned in future issues he was indeed possessed by ancestor, Lincoln Slade.) (West Coast Avengers #31-32.)

After Hawkeye and the Scarlet Witch criticized Mockingbird's hair-trigger temper and her callousness for letting Phantom Rider die, she quit the team (West Coast Avengers #37). Moon Knight and Tigra followed her to form a splinter team, because they both favored a more "pro-active" (violent) approach to confronting the criminal element.

In an epic story that spanned all of Marvel's 1988 Summer Annuals, Mockingbird led her splinter group against the High Evolutionary in the Savage Land. The high points of Mockingbird's story was her reuniting with Ka-Zar and helping Dr. Bill Foster overcome the cancer that prevented him from ever returning as the unfortunately-dubbed Black Goliath. Foster was able to take a serum that restored his ability to grow to giant size without subsequently killing him. (West Coast Avengers Annual #3)

Mockingbird was again attacked by the ghost of the Phantom Rider, in West Coast Avengers #39. In the course of events, the WCA found out that it was the spirit of the second Phantom Rider who had drugged and used her. That spirit, and that of a previously-unknown first (good) Phantom Rider were "possessing" the modern-day Hamilton Slade. Unfortunately, Bobbi didn't care that the bad guy's ancestor was innocent – and flipped out (again), beating the guy senseless. He nevertheless forgave her, and the two reconciled when the first Phantom Rider grabbed the second version and flew off to eternity before his insane namesake could do any more damage to Bobbi or his modern ancestor. (West Coast Avengers #41.)

Mockingbird returned to the West Coast Avengers in a story line called "Vision Quest" where, due to her gullible and somewhat duplicitous nature, she caused the abduction and destruction of the Vision we had all come to know and love. (West Coast Avengers #43) This happened because Bobbi was approached by a putative S.H.I.E.L.D agent who told her that since Wanda and the Vision were in California, the spy agency wanted to keep tabs on them. Supposedly, their fear was to make sure nothing would happen again like the recently-concluded Avengers story where Vision had seized control of the world's Nuclear arsenals through their computers. Mockingbird was supposedly helping the government agents with a contingency plan to allow S.H.I.E.L.D. to infiltrate Avengers HQ in an emergency.

Mock was suckered, however. As a direct result of her actions, Viz was completely disassembled and his memory was erased. The agents and scientists who did this were actually being controlled by the time-traveler Immortus. (This is where we got the colorless – both in hue and temperament – Vision who didn't love Wanda and became a dead-beat dad.)

Following that incident, it was Clint who quit the team and Bobbi went after him in (West Coast Avengers #45), but the appointment by the government of the U.S. Agent to the West Coast team was just the catalyst for bringing the two lovers back together. The two were then present for the initial appearance of the Great Lakes Avengers, in West Coast Avengers #46.

After that, Bobbi took an extended leave of absence – not necessarily from the team, but almost from comics altogether. She took on the responsibility of mentoring and training the relative newcomers on the "North Coast Avengers" – headquartered in Michigan – such as Flatman. Consequently, while she was "away" in Detroit, several years passed where the character of Mockingbird barely appeared in comics, being effectively replaced by Spider-Woman as the team's resident female meta.

She did drop in to help the team defeat the Night Shift and Satannish in Avengers West Coast #78 and #79, and to get knocked out of action early in her first and only appearance in Marvel's big 1992 event, "Operation: Galactic Storm." Lamentably, throughout the early 90s Mockingbird was about as effective as a deodorant vendor at a comic convention.

The robotic villain Ultron-13 - whose original antecedent had been created by Hank Pym using the Vision's brain patterns - used Bobbi's thought patterns to create a mate, Alkhema. (Also dubbed War Toy, but wacky Marvel writers Roy and Dann Thomas. Avengers West Coast #90 - #91, Jan - Feb 1993.) The distaff android apparently absorbed some of Bobbi's ruthlessness, as the robotic villain desired to kill all humans – one at a time. (Unlike her creator, Ultron, who desired to destroy humanity en masse.)

Following that adventure, Clint and Bobbi realized that they still had the hots for each other, and reconciled. This finally put Mockingbird back in the thick of the Avengers West Cost, where she was finally shedding super villain attacks instead of tears.

Soon, Mockingbird revealed to the U.S. Agent that she was going to quit the West Coast Avengers so that she and Clint could start a family. Unfortunately, comics readers know that as soon as a character reveals they are "quitting the game" to pursue a personal life, they are going to pay the ultimate price.

The demon Satannish sought to avenge an earlier defeat at the hands of the Avengers West Coast, so he stole from Mephisto the souls of some of history's most evil murderers. He transformed the souls of Lizzie Borden, Josef Stalin, Lucretia Borgia, and Heinrich Himmler, into the super-villains named Axe of Violence, Coldsteel, Cyana and Zyklon, respectively. Satannish promised he would restore these scoundrels to life if they could seize and substitute their souls for those of the heroes.

Coldsteel and Zyklon captured Mockingbird, and brought her back to Satannish's realm. Playing into his plans, the Scarlet Witch transported the other West Coast Avengers to the demon's realm. The heroes were captured when Mephisto – who was hiding within Hawkeye – stole into Satannish's realm and demanded the return of the murderers' souls.

As Mephisto and Satannish battled, the souls of the "Lethal Legion" villains were destroyed. Mephisto demanded the replacement of the four souls he lost with those of the West Coast Avengers. As he aimed a soul-stealing blast at the heroes, Mockingbird jumped in front of the evil bolt – sacrificing herself for her teammates. She died and subsequently was condemned for eternity to Mephisto's hellish realm. (Avengers West Coast #100, Nov 1993)

Mockingbird was seen again in one story, but the events were hell on everyone involved. She fought alongside Patsy Walker (Hellcat), who had been sent to the realm of the demon Mephisto, after her husband Daimon Hellstrom (Son of Satan) had driven her mad after his return to the dark side. (Long, long story.)

Bobbi and Patsy were fighting an eternal battle in the underworld Arena of Tainted Souls, until the Grim Reaper resurrected the pair (along with others), imbued them with his loathing for the Avengers and set the infernal group against the living heroes. The Scarlet Witch was able to return the lost souls to their true personalities, whereupon they helped the Avengers defeat the Grim Reaper before returning to hell. Before completely fading, Mockingbird was able to warn her husband Hawkeye about Hellstrom's new plan. Hawkeye literally took his new team – The Thunderbots – to hell and back to recover Mockingbird's soul. Naturally, they were deceived by Hellstrom, and the Thunderbolts rescued Patsy – who was resurrected instead. (Thunderbolts 2000 Annual and Hellcat 3-issue miniseries, 2000)

Finally, Mockingbird sort of appeared this year in the House of M: Avengers four-issue alternate-reality series, as part of Luke Cage's Human Resistance Group. Cage's Avengers protected New York while avoiding the Mutants' ethnic cleansing of humans, but Mockingbird's contribution was essentially limited to being gun moll to that Universe's Hawkeye.

Only time will tell (that is, the next few issues of Secret Invasion) whether the Mockingbird who stepped off the Skrull ship is indeed human or is a dissembled Skrull. No matter what, I hope that writer Brian Michael Bendis makes her a capable and strong character, rather than returning her to the weepy and useless persona from which she suffered in the second half of the Avengers West Coast series. Heck, I'd even take the loose-cannon, hair-trigger temper Bobbie Morse Barton who lost control over the mere mention of - *shhhh* - the Phantom Rider. What about you – dear reader: Do you think this is the real Mockingbird, or another stinkin' Skrull trick?