New Avengers: The Reunion #1

In the first issue of a new miniseries, writer Jim McCann makes good on the promise of his Dark Reign: New Nation short, combining compelling emotional drama with Avengers action and Dark Reign intrigue. Bobbi Morse, the Avenger Mockingbird, struggles with a pretty clear case of post-traumatic stress disorder following years captivity on the Skrull homeworld. In the real world, PTSD often leads to estrangement from loved ones and substance abuse as the victim struggles to live in a world that no longer feels safe. In the Marvel universe, PSTD leads to estrangement and fights with hordes of mad scientists in banana-yellow jumpsuits.

It's a story that works neatly on two levels. On the outside, Mockingbird is working to expose a vast conspiracy while her husband (maybe) Ronin (a.k.a. Hawkeye a.k.a. Clint Baron) tags along. During her captivity, Bobbie managed to get her hands on intelligence the aliens had gathered in preparation for their invasion, revealing that the governments and spy services of Marvel Earth were riddled with double agents. This dovetails neatly with the events of Dark Reign and the revelations over in Secret Warriors. A former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent herself, it's hinted that Mockingbird is in contact with other spies - possibly other former Skrull captives - who are pooling their resources to root out the traitors.

On the inside, Mockingbird is something of a mess. It doesn't take captivity on a world full of shape-changers or an evil conspiracy in the spy service you work for to give a person trust issues, but it certainly drives the metaphor home. As Bobbi fights to save the world, she's running away from her marriage to Clint, which may or may not have been nullified by her death certificate, and her friendships with her fellow Avengers. As Clint tries, repeatedly, to talk Bobbi into bringing their fellow Avengers in on the mission, he's being Hawkeye, the Avengers' cheerleader-in-chief since 1965, but he's also a worried husband trying to convince his wife that it's okay to share her burdens with the people who love her.

- JC