Rachelle Rosenberg

Mockingbird issues #6-8:
Bobbi Morse mysteriously gets sent a free ticket for a Nerd Cruise, so duh she's going to go. A vacation is just what she needs to distract from her ex-husband Hawkeye's trial for the murder of The Hulk. There is something nefarious going on on the cruise, of course. The secret source of Bobbi's cruise ticket, who claims he has information to exonerate Hawkeye, ends up dead and no one is around who can solve the murder except Bobbi. She's assisted by that sexy dork show more Lance Hunter, who is attending a corgi cruise on the same boat.

The New Avengers issues #13-14:
Bobbi Morse is gravely injured in battle, and the Avengers have two choices: watch her die or inject her with a version of the Infinity Formula, which will make her immortal but could have disastrous side-effects.

Aside from the obvious differences in representation of women, these two art and writing styles could not possibly be more different. Mockingbird is bright and colorful and funny. It's full of sight-gags and background jokes and silly infographics. Every character's face is clear and unique. Here's page 3, note the diverse and detailed background characters (they are nerds in cosplay of course), pro-Clint Barton paraphernalia, and how freaking gorgeous Bobbi looks:
https://pics.librarything.com/picsizes/d5/1e/d51e3127c64dacb636f63796f51434b4171...

The New Avengers is everything that kept me away from comics for most of my life. It looks like terrible video game CGI. All of the faces are half or all in shadow, the men's bodies are all weird muscle shadow, and the women are all boob. Because no one's face is visible their costumes (which they are always wearing) are the only way to tell who anyone is. Here's page 3, boobs-mcgee in the pink shirt is supposed to be Jessica Jones:
https://pics.librarything.com/picsizes/ee/a1/eea1693baf0cd0b636f67796f51434b4171...

I'm giving this volume five stars anyway, though, because Chelsea Cain, Kate Niemczyk, Rachelle Rosenberg, etc. deserve ten stars. show less

I'm still bitter that this series got cancelled because it's so good. It's smart, and snarky, and unapologetically feminist. Bobbi is THE BEST and I love that she's allowed to be the kick ass scientist Avenger instead of the former Mrs. Hawkeye.

This volume follows Bobbi on a nerd cruise looking for evidence to save Clint, who is on trial for the murder of Bruce Banner. So tangentially related to the whole Civil War II debacle, but it's not necessary to really know what's going on in the rest show more of the Marvel-verse to read this. Lance Hunter shows up again, as well as lots of corgis.

One of the things I love about this series is how funny it is. There are jokes hidden everywhere and I love finding them.

I was less enthusiastic about the re-prints of the two issues of the Avengers storyline where Bobbi gets the serumed since the greater storyline was incomplete and it was blatant padding to reach a higher page count. I really wish Marvel would stop that in their trades. It's really annoying. show less

I'm so sad Mockingbird only had 8 issues total because this second volume is even funnier than the first and the adventure is truly banana pants and involves a nerd cruise to the Bermuda Triangle. Need I say more? The volume also includes some issues of a broader Avengers arc that covers some of Bobbi's arc that led to her being Mockingbird but they lack in sparkle when compared to Cain's story arc.

Issue #13: Black Cat recruits Bailey and Tom to her side, and captures Patsy, Ian, and Jubilee in Bailey’s bag of holding. They escape and head home to regroup.
Issue #14: What remains of Patsy’s gang sneaks into Black Cat’s lair to destroy the magical claws she is using to brainwash everyone
Issue #15: Patsy has a cold and unfortunately it’s a magical one. Every time she sneezes it’s like casting a spell (pretty gross to read in a COVID world!). One sneeze summons America Chavez, show more another summons the giant tiger manifestation of Patsy’s childhood stuffie, and another disappears her apartment building
Issue #16: One of Patsy’s sneezes alerts her rival Hedy Wolfe to the situation, who apologizes for her previous behavior and introduces Patsy to her new boyfriend, The Devil. He says that Patsy must have caught the flu when she visited Hell recently. She talks through her feelings and decides to become a superhero again
Issue #17: Some of Black Cat’s straggling minions attack Patsy and friends at the mall, but just kidding! They’re normal teens only pretending to be villains.

I would have liked this better if I had read it right after volume 2, but it was still fun. All of the side characters are great, though it’s very hard to tell Jubilee and Bailey apart. The art was cute, and I love Williams’ style (and others do this too, I think) where any time a character is feeling a very strong emotion they are drawn as a little kid. Sweet! This was a fitting end to the series, though I would love to read more about Patsy Walker. show less