Mockingbird #4 Review and *SPOILERS* - Marvel Mondays

Sea Lab 2016

Written By: Chelsea Cain
Art By: Kate Niemczyk, Sean Parsons, Rachelle Rosenberg, Joe Caramagna

Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: June 29, 2016

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

To my absolute surprise, I think Mockingbird at this point is the best Marvel Comics book that I read for our crazy Marvel Mondays that we started doing over here in Weird Science land and I'm happy as hell that no one called dibs on this book and I ended up just taking it on a whim.  With this series only having four issues out now, it was really easy to catch up on what Bobbi Morse has been up to and goddamn am I happy that I did because not only did it allow me to appreciate this issue more than when I first read it, (because I'm backwards as hell and read this issue first for some reason) but it allowed me to have such a great time in finding out how unique this series is from not only the excellent art, but the perfect way that Chelsea Cain writes the character as well, not to mention the hilarious dialog that I can only describe as a cross between Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the Gilmore Girls, but that's only because of the limited brainpower that I have to make those comparisons because in actuality, it's so much more than that and somewhere down the road I know that I'll be saying how such and such book is trying to sound like Mockingbird because like I already said...... It's unique and I can't wait to see where this series goes.  Okay, now that I hopefully got you on board and gushed allover this book, let's check out what Agent 19 is up to this issue. 

Explain It!:

Our issue begins with Bobbi investigating the sudden death of antelopes that we've been hearing about in the background of this series since the beginning and after taking a blood sample, we find out that these animals have the same virus that Bobbi must have contracted herself during a period that isn't presented in this comic....... and goddamn that drove me crazy because while I'm not sure if I missed something during my catch up to this series, I've come to the conclusion that this virus that Bobbi has contracted, which is the same that is killing animals across the world, is something that we haven't seen yet and we'll just have to wait and see where that plot line goes..... I may be wrong of course, but that's what I'm going with and with that, Mockingbird takes her adventures and her quest to find out more about this pathogen to a T.I.M. lab located under the sea, where these A.I.M. wanna-bes are testing out this pathogen in order to try and weaponize it.  Luckily.......... or not so luckily depending on how you feel about running into your ex's, it turns out that Hawkeye is also in this facility.

As it turns out though, it seems that Hawkeye has run into a bit of trouble in completely his mission to discover what T.I.M. is up to because he's been captured and if it wasn't for Mockingbird showing up for her own unsanctioned mission, Clint would have been sliced and diced by these science loving weirdos because apparently Clint came into this facility through a contaminated area of the ocean and they want to find out how it affected him......... The weirdest part though is that we never go back to this plot point so we're left wondering if we'll ever find out if Clint was affected or not and since I don't read solicits normally, I have no idea if he'll even return in this series.  After Clint is rescued by Bobbi releasing a neurotoxin into the air, this book gets downright hilarious as we find out that during Clint and Bobbi's marriage that she was secretly exposing him to this as a way to build up immunity......... so she could determine if it was safe for her to use on herself.......... Which also leads to great cutaways, where we see Clint and Bobbi's time in couple's therapy, where we learn that Bobbi wasn't exactly the most open or giving spouse.  

In the end, T.I.M. finally realizing that there's been a security breach, decides to flood the facility and since our heroes can't get to a mini-sub in time, Bobbi decides to test this virus within her to see how powerful it really is and gives Clint her scuba gear, while she allows herself to be drowned.  Apparently, this virus is strong as hell and actually activates a mutant gene within her to allow telekinetic ability so that she can shut down the flooding, thus saving her life......... But then I have to ask myself about how this fits into her weekly medical sessions at SHIELD, where in the first issue it appeared she had abilities along these lines because of her exposure to the Super Soldier Serum and the Infinity Formula........... but even with these discrepancies that I have, it all adds to the fun of trying to unravel this Puzzle Box story arc that we have here and I can't wait to see how Chelsea Cain brings everything to a head.  As our issue closes, we find out that Clint has a vial of the pathogen hidden somewhere in his BVDs and it's up to Bobbi to get it........ she sure does a lot of fishing around though.  Ha ha.  

That's it for this issue of Mockingbird and this series has been a complete joy to read and even though I'm not certain about where Chelsea Cain is taking this character or this story arc, I have to say that I'm intrigued and can't wait to find out because not only has she created a mystery surrounding our hero in what she's actually dealing with since she was injected with Super Soldier/Infinity cocktail, but she's created a great flow of dialog that is just a pleasure to read and cracks me up every issue.  Yeah, this story seems a little light compared to previous issues in this series, but it was still enjoyable as hell and it was fun seeing Bobbi kind of rattled when confronted by her ex Clint Barton and having those old feelings stir around....... or whatever people feel when they break up and still care about one another........ I don't know what that's like personally, but I can imagine....... maybe.  Really though, it's a fun story with great art and everyone who enjoys fun comics should be reading this book.

Bits and Pieces:

Now that I'm on the Mockingbird trolley, I have to say that this series is absolute joy to read and maybe it's because I don't run in a lot of Marvel circles, but I don't know why I'm not hearing more people talk about this book because it's so well done.  We've got great art and dialog throughout and I can't wait to find out more about this mysterious arc..... and now that I've read the entire series, I'm in the opinion that none of you out there should be able to wait either.  Get on this already and get some Mockingbird fun in your lives...... You won't regret it.

8/10