Hello, Marvel Writers!
Just out of curiosity, have you ever seen an actual mockingbird? They’re very pretty birds about the size of the average man’s fist, and they have light brown-grey feathers. Each wing has a white band across it, and they hold their tails at about a forty-five degree angle most of the time. They have a beautiful song, when they’re not mimicking other bird calls, that is. They can be found from rural towns to big cities all across the country.
So when I learned that there was a Marvel super-heroine called Mockingbird, I was immediately put in mind of the talents of this particular little avian. Imagine my surprise when I found out that not only was she a ‘normal’ human, she was also farsighted and needed glasses!
Heck of an idea someone had to pair her off with the Marvel hero who has the sight of a Middle-earth elf! Hawkeye and she seemed to be as much of a match as Susan Storm and Reid Richards. They were definitely a more likeable pair than Jean Grey and Scott Summers, or at least they were to this reader.
And so we come back to the question that I asked in “Fletching and Nocking”: why have Mockingbird finish her split with Hawkeye?
Yes, the escapade in the West Coast Avengers comic line is definitely a cause for tension between them, although I think they could have handled it better than they did. And yet, after she is a prisoner of the alien Skrulls for several years, once she returns, Bobbi Morse shuts her husband completely out of her life with a divorce (after having a good cry first).
They are currently hinted to still love each other but they continue to avoid acting on that love. Despite this, when Hawkeye dated Spider-Woman, Mockingbird was shown to be rather embarrassed by the whole idea, the first time she’s shown any emotion over one of his ‘romances.’ Why not have her act on that embarrassment, and at least tell him off? He’d probably take it from her before he took it from anyone else he knows.
Why is Mockingbird avoiding Hawkeye like this? Wouldn’t it be more likely that all that time in captivity aboard the Skrull ships would make her miss him more than before? Say you were held prisoner on an alien ship for an untold number of years, away not only from the planet that you loved but the most important people on it, people who may get killed at some point soon in an alien invasion you were powerless to fight or stop.
Eventually you get rescued and, on seeing them safe, split off from them for most of the next twenty years (after a perfectly natural tearful reunion)?
That’s kind of heartless, depending on who you are. In other cases, it would be a sign of going crazy.
Right now it looks like Mockingbird has been avoiding Hawkeye and the Avengers. The last time they fought side by side was at least two years ago, and she never showed up in the entire Avengers vs. X-Men storyline. Not only that, she never thanked Hawkeye for getting her help before she was given the serum mixture that saved her life. It wasn’t his idea to give it to her, but he let Fury give the juice to her all the same, just to keep her alive. All that work and she doesn’t even say thank you?
And again, why give her superpowers? As I’ve said before, Mockingbird’s strength was the same as Hawkeye’s and the Winter Soldier’s. She was a normal human who fought powerful bad guys and won – rather recently, too – such as when she faced off against the Wrecking Crew singlehanded. No one was going to argue that she had no place on the team during that fight; she was as accepted by the Avengers before and after that, powers or not.
In that battle, she didn’t have powers. And that made her even more valuable than any other team member when push came to shove.
After all the hard knocks she’s taken lately, fellow writers, I would say it’s time to give Mockingbird a break. Let her spread her wings with the rest of the team, and fly beside her Hawk. The results may be surprisingly fruitful in plotlines.
Sincerely,
Mithril (A Troubled True Believer)
Thoughts on the Edge of Forever 