COMIC BOOK REVIEW - Mockingbird: I Can Explain
Alright, I’m back with another review for you guys. I wanted to read something new, and about a character, I’d not read before, so naturally, it was easier to look in the Marvel world, rather than DC. A character that I’ve heard about before, but not encountered in my reading previously was Mockingbird, aka, Bobbi Morse. I don’t know if she’s appeared in the MCU or its surrounding media, but I was pretty excited to learn about a new character and their hopefully epic backstory!
‘I Can Explain’ is essentially, one long monologue, narrated by our titular character, Mockingbird. She introduces us to herself and we’re immediately told about the fact that she is under constant watch from S.H.I.E.L.D. and has to attend medical checkups since her blood now contains a combination of Super-Soldier Serum and Infinity Formula, something I can only assume has been derived from the “Infinity Stones”. She received this cocktail involuntarily from Nick Fury, following her death. Comics. Complicated I know. What she begins to discover is that the serum she was given is now starting to give her superpowers, or so she believes. During the novel, we also get to see a lot more of her life outside of this particular mission. There’s one where she rescues a British agent named Lance Hunter, who seems to be her boyfriend. There’s also another one where she comes to what seems like a hostage situation and ends up being just a young girl who’s developed metahuman powers and is struggling to control them. She discovers more and more about her powers and then on a mission to a secret underwater villain base, she finds the virus that she believes has infected her, giving her the psychic powers. Cue a run-in with Hawkeye, her ex-husband, and you get some major comedy and action. We finally cut to present day, where Bobbi learns that S.H.I.E.L.D. has been using the blood samples they’ve been taking on dead cadavers who have now come back to life as zombies. Naturally, she’s not gonna let this fly and with the help of Howard the Duck and Miles Morales, she’s able to find the antiviral. Can Bobbi use it in time to stop the zombie hoard? And just what is up with these psychic powers?
Remember how I’ve said on many occasions that Marvel comes up with these novels that don’t have particularly intricate plots but are super satisfying to read? Well ‘I Can Explain’ is definitely one of them. It’s funny because a part of me thinks that novels that have the internal dialogue running can either be really good or really crap depending on the character. Bobbi Morse; she’s frikkin’ hilarious and I loved the internal monologue. For one, it’s clear that she doesn’t take herself too seriously, but at the same time doesn’t underestimate her abilities either. Another thing that I appreciated was that she’s clearly smart and often finds herself having to tell people that. The entire novel essentially acts as a character study and I guess as a novel to start a series, the writers had the right idea.
The artwork was actually quite apt for the character in that it didn’t seem too serious and reminded me of some of the Bat-Family webtoons I’ve been seeing on the internet. The covers were exciting and dynamic and it was tough picking one for this review. Overall, I really enjoyed this novel, and I’m still trying to figure out why. But one thing’s for sure. I can’t wait to read more!
Favourite Panel:
Ahaha! She makes a fairly good point though, right?
Favourite Character:
Oh man, Mockingbird is awesome! I wanna read more already!
Rating:
Story Arc: 10/20
Character Development: 12/20
Artwork: 13/20
Enjoyability: 14.5/20
Re-readability: 12.5/20
Overall: 62/100
Level: Beginner