Hero Profile: Mockingbird

One of the reasons I like superheroes is that there are so many paths to the whole vigilante crime fighter thing. Sure, there are a few formulas. Potential heroes could have a loved one die tragically (Batman, Green Arrow, Storm), or be in a lab accident during a dangerous experiment (Hulk, Firestorm, the Flash 2 and 3), meeting a God (Beta Ray Bill, reboot Flash 1, New Thor), or have some sort of legacy they are trying to live up to (Black Panther, Black Knight, every Robin), those sorts of things. They are archetypes, so even though we’ve seen the setups a thousand times they haven’t gotten old. That being said, it is kind of nice to see those that meander a little before they set up their own superhero identity, those like Dr. Bobbi Morse.

So it's either being slashed or a concussion?
Tough call..

Biologist Dr. Barbara “Bobbi” Morse began her superhero career as the more or less sidekick of Marvel’s resident noble savage Ka-Zar. Don’t recognize the name? Think Tarzan but with a pet sabretooth tiger. So, yeah, Ka-Zar is a little more badass. She initially worked as a covert agent working for S.H.I.E.L.D. working to keep the evil science group A.I.M from getting their hands on the monstrous but benevolent Man-Thing and his incomplete replicated Super Soldier Serum. Despite claiming she wanted to just be a normal biologist again, she apparently instead went through some intensive S.H.I.E.L.D. training to be a field agent. She continued to work with Ka-Zar for several years. The two have an on again off again romance, but Bobbi is far from just the sidekick/love interest stereotype. She works hard to keep up with the noble savage, saving him as often as he saves her. This arrangement lasts until she was basically phased out by jungle lady Shanna the She-Devil. While this was the end of Dr. Bobbie Morse, Ka-Zar’s sidekick, it was the real beginning of Mockingbird.

Rather than moping about being replaced, Bobbi instead starts a new job investigating S.H.I.E.L.D. ferreting out corrupt officials in the international spy organization. Huh, finding the bad eggs in a group of spies, talk about a hostile work environment. First going by the codename Huntress, then almost immediately changing it to Mockingbird, (DC had first dibs on the name by an issue or two) Bobbi worked her tail feathers of finding corrupt officials. Oh my, even I groaned at that pun. Her first major confrontation was alongside Spider-man, she and the Web-Head took on a S.H.I.E.L.D. Branch Director named Carl Delanden. In the fight she was shot by agents who were following orders to subdue her at any cost. After Delanden was taken care of, Nick Fury exonerated Mockingbird and personally looked after her until she recovered.

Dr. Morse, talk with Talia al Ghul
about my thoughts about the amount
of cleavage you're showing.

Since then she’s worked alongside many of Marvel’s favorite heroes, like Captain America, Ant-man and Wasp, the Vision, and, particularly, Hawkeye. The two avian themed heroes initially got along like oil and water, but after working together to stop a villain by the name of Crossfire the two eloped. Keep in mind that this was in a miniseries, so less than ten issues. Damn, that was a fast turnaround. The two help found the West Coast branch of the Avengers. She was one a dozens of heroes that were replaced by Skrull infiltrators. The shapeshifting reptile kept everyone in the dark about Bobbi’s abduction for over a decade. Once she finally returned, she and Hawkeye divorced. Relationships between superheroes don’t ever seem to last that long. Like most of the greats, she’s retired, died, and been brought back again. Can’t keep a good bird down.

Mockingbird, for most of her career, had no superhuman powers. Instead, she was a gifted and intensely trained covert agent. She’s been trained by Captain America, Hawkeye, as well as Nick Fury himself. She’s a capable hand-to-hand fighter, and has had experience with most forms of firearms. Her preferred weapon is a pair of metal batons. These batons can be combined to form a single bo-staff that she’s very skilled with. Mockingbird is also rather intelligent, I mentioned her Ph.D. right? While she seems to rarely go by “Dr.” her skills and expertise in Biology should be apparent in one project she worked on years ago. She was part of Project: Gladiator, a research project that sought to recreate the Super Soldier Serum. While her original formula proved ineffective, she was later injected with a closer-to-original formula to help her recover from a serious injury. She how has super strength and agility, this coupled with her original S.H.I.E.L.D. training puts her on par with Captain America in terms of destructive force.

Heck of a pointy mask.

Bobbie is a somewhat underused character. Heck, up until the 2010’s she wasn’t used at all outside of the comics. She was sort of referenced in the 2007 film Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow. She herself doesn’t make an appearance, but her and Hawkeye’s son Francis “Hawkeye” Bartlet worked alongside the offspring of various other Avengers to stop Ultron. So yeah, not in much until really, really recently.

She appeared in The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. Initially portrayed as S.H.I.E.L.D. special agent Hawkeye’s chauffer, she takes his place after Hawkeye is wrongfully imprisoned. She joins Hawkeye, Captain America, and Black Panther when the three Avengers went out to track down the rogue Black Widow and HYDRA. During the confrontation, she and Hawkeye are separated, where she is apparently replaced by a Skrull. The real Bobbi Morse is held captive by the Skrull for the last half of season one and beginning of season two, before she, Captain America, and several other captives escape a Skrull Warship.

Live action Bobbi Morse. Might not be
a doctor this time around but she's one
smart cookie.

Bobbi Morse joined the cast of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. in their second season. I stopped watching the show partway through season one, so I personally haven’t seen her, but the synopsis suggests that they portray her as a skilled and intelligent S.H.I.E.L.D Agent. Good job writers.

My understanding of Mockingbird is another character that 100% comes from Avengers: EMH. Since that show did it’s best to match the comic book stories the show is based off of, I can assume that this version is an accurate adaptation of the character. She’s a flirtatious and headstrong character that does her best to see a mission through. One of the best examples of this was in the episode “Widow’s Sting.” After she and Hawkeye were captured by HYDRA, she almost instantly sets up a strong report with their captors. She almost convinces a HYDRA goon to loosen her shackles, which would have been helpful, but said good was stopped by his superior, the Grim Reaper. In the later episode “Prisoner of War” she’s shown to have taken her kidnapping much like Captain America, she’s been badly bruised but nowhere near broken. It’s more or less thanks to her, and the begrudging help of the villainous HYDRA agent Viper, that Captain America and the other captives escaped the Skrull. She’s a character that doesn’t take her very serious job too seriously. A combination of brains, brawn, and no small amount of skill, Mockingbird is much more like a bird of prey. She’s the marvelous Mockingbird. Next time, the Queen of the Inhuman’s Medusa. No, she doesn’t have snake for hair, but her hair is far from normal.

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mockingbird_%28Marvel_Comics%29

 http://marvel.wikia.com/Barbara_Morse_%28Earth-12131%29

 http://marvel.wikia.com/Barbara_Morse_%28Earth-8096%29

 http://marvel.wikia.com/Barbara_Morse_%28Earth-199999%29

Hero Profile: The Lady Sif

Sorry about not posting earlier. Me, time management, not on speaking terms and all that. I hope to make up for that by showing you the greatest swordsperson of Asgard. The Lady Sif. She slices, she dices, and yet still can’t get Thor’s attention. That’s number 2 on her priority list after defending Asgard, and it’s amazing how often she can accomplish task number 1, but not 2.

I'm just going to lie down and play dead.
Safer that way.

The Lady Sif was born in Asgard centuries ago. She is the sister of Asgard’s all-seeing guardian Heimdall. She was friends with Thor and his other brother Balder since childhood, but she and Loki have never seen eye to eye. As a matter of fact, as a sort of really dickish “here’s for liking my brother” prank, he shaved her bald, and when he was forced to replace the hair he’d cut off, he did so not with the blonde hair she originally had but black hair somehow made by dwarves. Who knew the God of Mischief could be so petty? What's that, everyone knew that so trusting him to make amends was stupid? Huh, who'd a thunk it.Though somehow I don’t think Sif noticed, unless Thor made a comment about it. She’s very self-conscious about what the Thunderer thinks. She showed signs of being a master swordsperson at an early age and has had about ten centuries of practice. So, yeah, best swordfighter bar none. She, Thor, and their mutual friends the Warriors Three went on many adventures over the millennia, battling Frost Giants, Elves, and all manner of Norse monsters. Sif was pretty hopelessly in love with Thor by the time the age of Vikings came round, and while the Norse tale depicts the two as eventually tying the knot, it would appear the Marvel-verse’s version was kind of friendzoned. Apparently the Vikings were more observant than their Thunder God.  

She was separated from Thor for a few years when the son of Odin was banished to Earth for being, well, a spoiled prince. I said it before in Thor’s profile, but seriously Odin you never thought to try this sooner? The All-father needs to work on his parenting skills. Sif was delighted (secretly, the woman is incredibly stoic) with Thor’s return, but less than thrilled when he brought his girlfriend Jane Foster home to meet the folks. What does a badass, nigh immortal, swordswoman have to do to get noticed? I bet she wondered. Things fall apart between Thor and Jane when she failed some test Odin came up with to test her worth. Sif and Thor seem to reignite their attraction to each other while battling an incredibly powerful monster known as the Unknown. Viking God’s man, crazy folks.

Bow before the Lady Sif. Unless you
don't fear her blade.

Sif has remained Thor’s most loyal friend and companion throughout the years, despite their romance fizzling out, again. A woman’s work is never done. She’s appeared sporadically throughout Thor’s run, fighting Asgardian monsters, trying to understand why Thor loves Earth so much, and having a few flings here and there. It’s clear her type is “Guys who lift Thor’s Hammer” having been romantically involved with two other “worthy” wielders. Her biggest personal story line comes in the “Thor’s Reign” arc. In it, Thor has taken the throne of Asgard after his father’s death. Torn between the two worlds he loves, Thor decides to move Asgard to Earth and set up shop like the good old days. Unfortunately, in his usual “I know what’s best” manner Thor becomes something of a tyrannical dictator, marries one of his most persistent foes the Enchantress, and has a son named Magni. Sif, disgusted by what Thor had become, leaves. Many, many monsters probably met their end as Sif vented her frustration about the whole situation. Years later she and Magni cross paths and Sif convinces the young Asgardian that despite his father’s noblest intentions, Thor has betrayed everything that he loves and needs to be stopped.  I guess it’s heavily hinted at that she still has feelings for Thor, but it’s most likely a “love who he was, not what he’s become” sort of thing. Magni does revolt under Sif’s advice, and after his death, Thor learns the error of his ways and resents the timeline.

Despite having to adjust to a new world, battling forces she could never really comprehend, despite losing the love of the person she held most precious, and despite even Ragnarok (Norse Doomsday) itself Sif remains an eternal guardian of Asgard. She’s always sharpening her blade, ready to fight.

Duck when she throws her sword, drop to you stomach a moment
later, because it comes back like a boomerang. Physics be damned!

Sif has the standard Asgardian abilities. An incredibly strong, durable body that is very resistant to injury. She’s faster, stronger, and more agile that even most Asgardians. Which, I remind you, is several cuts above your average human. She is incredibly long lived, only appearing to be in her late twenties/early thirties despite having lived at least ten centuries. She is an expert swordfighter, with century’s worth of experience. She is a proficient fighter without her blade, as well. She can create bridges between dimensions, an ability she shares with her brother, Hiemdall. At times it’s depicted as something she does on her own, and other times it seems she needs her sword to “cleave” a path for her and others.

Sif has appeared a handful of times in various Marvel media, always alongside Thor.

She appeared a few times in The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. She was a largely silent character until season 2. Her biggest appearance was in the episode “The Ballad of Beta Ray Bill,” in it, she and Thor assist an alien super warrior, and first person other than Thor to lift Mjolnir, named Beta Ray Bill. Bill is attempting to shepherd his people from the wreckage of their home world. It was destroyed by the Asgardian dark God Surtur. Initially distrustful of Bill, Sif does being to trust the alien warrior, even offering to travel with him to help defend his people after they escape Surtur. Bill declines, the battle is his sort of thing. Sif admits that her interaction with Bill has given her a better understanding of Mortals, and implies she’d help Thor on Earth if he ever needed her. Good Gal Sif.

She slices, she dices, and she buries the dead.
The Lady Sif does it all.

She has appeared in both Thor 1, 2, and in Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D played by actress Jaimie Alexander. She’s more or less the same as her comic book character. A fierce Warrior, loyal friend, and secret-to-no-one-but-Thor in love with Thor. She fights valiantly in the first movie, destroying many Frost Giants on their home turf, and the only one besides Thor to land a blow on the nearly indestructible Destroyer. In movie two she is still fiercely loyal to Thor, willing to go against the Orders of Odin to ensure Thor, Jane, and Loki could get out of Asgard to face their new enemy Malekith the Accursed. My biggest qualm with the Thor movies is that the secondary characters aren’t given much to do, even when a perfect situation presents itself. For example, when Sif and the Warriors Three go to Hiemdall and ask for transport to Earth, Hiemdall pulls the “I can’t do it for you,” while leaving his sword in the Rainbow Bridge’s control pedestal. You can’t tell me that that entire scene wasn’t perfect for Sif and Hiemdall to have a sibling moment. It wouldn’t have to be long, an exchange like “Please brother, for me?” followed by, “Can’t do it,” argue for a moment, then Hiemdall pull the walk away and let them through bit, and finish with Hiemdall saying something along the lines of, “Mother and Father expect you for dinner tomorrow, don’t disappoint them” as a way of wishing luck. Perfect? No, but it would have developed two interesting secondary characters beyond what was presented in the movie. If you’re thinking “But Michael, maybe they wanted to down play the sibling thing because Idris Elba is black and Jaimie Alexander is white.” To which I counter, “Do you think extraterrestrial gods necessarily follow the same rules about skin pigments as we do?” I’m just saying that those two, and the Warriors Three could have been developed more.

Even though Sif is a rather underused character, the stuff that I’ve seen with her is very good. She defiantly follows the “soldier first, person second” character archetype. Her own hopes and desires are often benched for what is best for Asgard, and what’s best for Thor. And while even all these years later she still doesn’t quite understand Thor’s thing for Earth, she does try to better understand it, and improve herself accordingly. I think that’s what I really like Sif, she isn’t static. She’s constantly trying to change and grow as a character. That’s a step above Peter Parker, who is still hung up about his uncle’s death and chancing Mary Jane almost fifty years later. Way to go Sif, you’re a step above the Web-Head. She’s Asgard’s stoic, slicing, soldier, Sif. Next time, Bobbi Morse, the persistent Mockingbird.  

 http://marvel-movies.wikia.com/wiki/Sif

 http://marvel.wikia.com/Sif_%28Earth-616%29

 http://es.losvengadoreslosheroes.wikia.com/wiki/Archivo:Sif.jpg

 http://www.comicvine.com/forums/battles-7/machamp-vs-sif-1479764/

Hero Profile: Wasp

Superpowers come in all shapes and sizes. Some are very scientific, being based on advanced technology or genetic augmentation/mutation. Others are more mystical, being derived from ancient spells or rituals. Some are incredibly useful like super strength or flight. Some are downright dangerous, like being able to manipulate reality or time. And still others are just kind of weird. Like the ability to command squirrels or shrink and grow. Despite having one of the strangest combination of powers, Wasp has proven to be a force to be reckoned with. But more on that in a second.

She's like Tinkerbell, if Tinkerbell
was awesome.

Janet Van Dyne was a New Jersey socialite before becoming a superhero. Her main interests involved spending her father’s money and parties. She was not the most responsible young woman, but still possessed a good heart. Things started changing when she went with her father Vernon to visit a colleague of his named Dr. Hank Pym. Dr. Van Dyne was working on an interdimensional communication device and hoped Hank would be able to help. Hank declined, believing he couldn’t aid Dr. Van Dyne. And while the science talk bored Janet to tears, she found Hank to be…interesting. There was an almost immediate attraction between Janet and Hank, but while Janet was eager to see where things went, Hank did his best to ignore it.

A short time later, Dr. Van Dyne finished his communication device. Though like Dr. Erdel in the DC-verse, he actually made something far more interesting, a teleportation device. He plucked a creature known as a Kosmos from its home dimension and plopped it into his lab. The creature, unfortunately, claimed to be the greatest criminal on its world, killed him, and set about conquering ours. Janet finds the body, grief stricken and terrified she runs to Hank in the hopes that’d he’d known something to help her. Thankfully for Janet, Hank Pym was also the superhero Ant-man, and was more than willing to help Janet get a little payback. Hank does some tinkering with her DNA to give her insectoid wings and a supply of his Pym Particle capsules to help her shrink and grow. The two insect themed heroes stop the giant alien monster and decide to work together from then on.

Gambling can be dangerous,
who knew?

Their next really big adventure occurred when the rogue Asgardian Loki tried to force a confrontation between the Hulk and his brother Thor. He used an illusion to trick the Hulk into destroying a set of railroad tracks, and then diverted a radio distress call to Thor. His hope was the strength of the Hulk would finally best his brother. Unfortunately for Loki’s plot, Iron Man and Ant-man and Wasp also picked up the signal. The five heroes clashed, but then decided it was better idea to combine their efforts and kick the crap out of Loki. Afterwards, Hank proposed forming a superhero team, and Wasp dubbed it the Avengers. Huh, funny how these two were left out of the movie right?

Over the years Janet has grown immensely. Since her initial appearance she’s become the main financial contributor and Chairperson of the Avengers, battled a number of alien incursions, and even sacrificed herself to save the world. Don’t worry, she comes back.

I suppose I should readdress the elephant in the room of the Pym/Van Dyne spousal abuse. In the 1980’s Hank Pym, now going by the codename Yellowjacket, had a nervous breakdown. He made a series of costly blunders that made him worried that he was going to be kicked out of the Avengers. So, he did what any half crazed scientist would do, build a robot army that only he could defeat to boost his image. Janet found out just as he was about to unleash the machines, tried to stop him, and was knocked unconscious for her efforts. The Avengers stopped Pym’s robots, Hank was arrested and Janet divorced him. Over the years the two have somewhat reconciled, becoming friends again but I seriously doubt that a romance will be revived again, even thirty five years later. I give Janet props for being a “one and done” person with Hank striking her, and I also give her props for forgiving him (but not forgetting) down the line. Like I said in my Ant-man: my two cents post, this was less spousal abuse and more like teammate abuse, but it is still a huge violation of trust. The experience was a big bit of character development for both Janet and Hank. For Janet, it was her chance to be her own hero without being defined by her relationship to Hank. And for Hank, it gave him time to reevaluate himself and what being a superhero means to him. That’s less of a silver lining and more of a less grey lining, but hey, it’s better than nothing.

Would you believe me if I told you she is a fashion designer?

Janet’s powers were initially very technological but have shifted to the more biological as time went on. In her initial appearances she needed the Pym Particle Pills to shrink and grow, and a pair of wrist mounted airguns to shoot. The only “power” she really had were the tiny wings that grew when she shrunk down. Having been exposed to the Pym Particles for several decades, however, altered Janet’s genetic makeup and gave her the power to shrink and grow at will. She’s also been developed the ability to shoot burst of bio-electric energy which she’s dubbed her Stingers. She can fly at speeds approaching 40 mph. Somehow, shrinking down increases her strength. Something about condensing a 5’4” woman into a few centimeters apparently makes mini-fists pack a wallop. Janet has been trained by Captain America to fight, and by Hank Pym to fight with her size altering powers. SO normal sized or itty bitty, she knows how to kick butt. She’s also one of the most intuitive members of the Avengers, being the first to realize that a chemical accident had caused Hank Pym to have a schizophrenic break, and the first to figure out that Iron Man was Tony Stark.

Wasp has only appeared in a handful of Marvel media, for some reason. Probably the whole weird powers thing. Who knows?

Her biggest appearance was in The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. She’s one of the founding members of the Avengers, like in the comics, and is the only one of the original five who remains with the team for the entire course of the show. She’s peppy and a little flighty, but for the most part when people underestimate her things go badly for them. It’s interesting to note that in the second season Hank Pym suffers a psychological break becoming the very aggressive Yellowjacket. During his initial rampage, where for some reason no one realizes it’s him, Janet is the only character that isn’t blasted or throw about by him. Way to dodge that bullet, writers. Overall, I’d say she is comic relief done right. She does funny things, cracks jokes when it’s appropriate or not, and just does her best to alleviate tense situations. This doesn’t stop her from being heroic, or from having dramatic or intense moments. If Jar Jar Binks had been half the comic relief character Janet is the prequel Star Wars… would still suck but would have been significantly more tolerable.

Latest costume design. I don't get the pin head look...

She also appeared in the direct to DVD Ultimate Avengers. It’s essentially the live action Avengers, a newly revived Captain America leading a superhero team against a Chitari invasion. The main difference being that Ant-man and Wasp are in and Hawkeye and Black Widow are out. It was an enjoyable movie, check it out.

According to my research, which in all honesty consisted of looking at the Wikipedia and IMDB pages, Janet Van Dyne is not going to appear in the Ant-man movie that will be out later this year. However, Evangeline Lilly (who you may remember from the last two Hobbit films as Tauriel) is listed as a Hope Van Dyne, whom I’ll assume is the daughter of Janet and will probably share a few characteristics in common. While I would have preferred to see the original bug duo at the forefront of this picture, it is an adaptation that I can at least accept.

My knowledge of Wasp manly comes from The Avengers TV show and from that alone I can say I really do like the character. She’s one of the superheroes that does actually love and enjoy the superhero thing. Like She-Hulk and Rescue, she was a character that was initially created to be a female sidekick, but has since gone far beyond that little pigeon hole. I think one of the best examples of her impact on the overall Marvel-verse is with her ex-husband Hank Pym. After the Secret Invasion story arc where Wasp is apparently killed, Hank takes up her mantel becoming the new Wasp. The man that gave her the powers and the drive to be a real superhero decided that the world needs a Wasp more than it needs a Yellowjacket, or whatever his codename was at the time. Seriously the guy has like ten. From flighty party girl to flighty superhero, this little Wasp packs a wallop. Next time, the greatest swordswoman in about a thousand years, Sif takes center stage.

 http://marvel.wikia.com/Janet_van_Dyne_%28Earth-616%29

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wasp_%28comics%29

 http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/avengersearthsmightiestheroes/images/8/8a/Wasp_going_after_Whirlwind.png/revision/latest?cb=20120520195335

 http://www.comicvine.com/wasp/4005-1502/