Yes, I have been hoovering up graphic novels like mad while I have this trial membership. It’s been great. But move over Thor, Patsy, Jessica, and Red Sonja, I have a new fictional girl crush – Bobbi Morse, Mockingbird.
She starts off looking like Battle Barbie, but she is a paragon of science, smarts, sarcasm, and kicking. She still looks like Battle Barbie at the end what with the long blond hair and blue eyes, but I’m ok with that.
When Bobbi was little, she wanted to be a superhero and tried everything to develop super powers. None of it worked. Now she’s a hard working S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and spy with a Ph.D. in biochemistry and an unfortunate medical condition.
She does have a feminist agenda and isn’t afraid to point out the inequalities faced by women in the superhero business, and the general unfairness that as a society we have a hard time talking about tampons*.
In addition to the feminism, there are also, corgis, hot guys with abs, Howard the Duck, and paper dolls. There are teamups, but it always feels like the guys are mostly along for the ride. One of my complaints with Black Widow Vol. 2: Tightly Tangled Web was that teamups made Natasha seem less competent. Bobbi works with what’s around her, and sometimes that’s other people.
The art in Mockingbird is clean and clever. Sometimes it’s tightly focused, and other times it’s almost like a Richard Scarry book. Can you find Hulk sitting on the toilet? The details are rich.
I think that the two Mockingbird volumes are going to have to join my physical collection. I’m sad that the series was cancelled**. It’s well written, gorgeous, smart, and funny.
*I hate tampons. The Diva Cup is where it’s at and I’m really annoyed I didn’t know about it until 2 years ago. What’s your favorite way to deal with menstruation?
**I had read the run was cancelled, but then I read a letter from Chelsea Cain saying it was always intended to be an eight issue run.