Sunday, June 30, 2013

Black Canary and Mockingbird



These two characters are so close to one another, it's almost like an Earth One-Earth Two situation.  They've got similar tastes in hairstyles, fighting disciplines, outfits and men.  I'm sure they would have plenty to talk about while kicking butt and taking names.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've always figured Mark Gruenwald just really, really wished he worked at DC. Mockingbird = Black Canary, Quasar = Green Lantern (remember also the "Buried Alien" appearance), and of course, the Squadron Supreme = the Justice League.

Neil Robertson said...

You left out one other similarity of the two women: They took the names of birds as their sobriquets.

Ross said...

True!

X7 said...

Mockingbird was originally called the Huntress in her first appearance, btw. can't imagine why they changed her name, lol.

and Roy Thomas invented the Squadron.

pblfsda said...

Also, Mockingbird debuted in a B&W magazine in the mid-70's after having been a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent in "Astonishing Tales" and "Ka-Zar". And Quasar had been a supporting character in Captain America in the late 70's as a Marvel Boy update. He was later nudged into being a Captain Marvel replacement in the 80's.

So, Gruenwald didn't create any of these characters, but he might have steered them towards functioning more like DC counterparts.

Diabolu Frank said...

Yeah, it was always weird that Marvel's #1 behind the scenes guy of the 80s & 90s (wasn't he even EIC for five minutes?) was so transparently fixated on replicating the DC Universe. Meanwhile, at DC, the Champions of Angor-related characters drifted further and further away from their intended usage as analogues.

Secret Invasion was a badly executed decent idea, and the single worst part was the nonsensical resurrection of Bobbi Morse. They visited her soul in Hell ferkrissakes. Double back and have her be a Skrull after all, then give Kate Bishop the name. It makes a lot more sense for her than it ever did for Bobbi, anyway.

Mr. Acer said...

Another combo Red-Rum 18 on deviantart used for his New Amalgam Comics project. These two were combined to make "Black Bird", a former agent of Task Force S (Task Force X/SHIELD).

RP Dare said...

@Anonymous: actually, the Squadron WAS created to be a rip-off of the JLA; sort of an "in-joke" to the readers by Roy Thomas. Fun stuff; always loved all versions of the Squadron Supreme/Sinister.

Anonymous said...

Mark was a huge JLA fan and specifically redesigned Bobbi Morse's Huntress into Mockingbird as a love interest for Hawkeye.

I'd love to see a JLA based team of Marvel characters: Crystal and Quicksilver (WW and Flash), Quasar (GL), Lyra (MM), Wonder Man (Superman), Moon Knight (Batman) and Namorita (Aquaman). Could be a hoot.

Gregg

Anonymous said...

Whoops that should be Lyja -- the Human Torch's ex-wife...

Gregg

Anonymous said...

I've long had the suspicion that others behind the scenes at Marvel actually disliked Mockingbird, or at least making her Hawkeye's wife, and that was why their marriage was wrecked and Mockingbird later killed. Does anybody know what the deal was?

Carycomic said...

Jealousy that none of them didn't think of it, first?

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