Welcome to Comic Comparisons, where a couple of characters and concepts are brought together to highlight their strengths and growth. Today we’ll be comparing Agents of Atlas to Agents of SHIELD… Just kidding! But man that would be fun. Instead we’ll be comparing two leading ladies from some of Marvel’s earliest series: Patricia “Patsy (Trish)” Walker a.k.a Hellcat and Barbara “Bobbi” Morse better known as Mockingbird.
Hellcat and Mockingbird Beginnings
Most people probably know Trish Walker, the former child star, turned radio host, turned adrenaline junky from Marvel Netflix series Jessica Jones. But most probably don’t know about Patsy Walker. In the golden age of comics, Patsy is the star of a teen romantic-comedy comic competing with the Archie series. She has a good run for the better part of twenty years, even cameoing in the Fantastic Four wedding. But by the seventies, Patsy follows the trends in superhero comics, becoming Hellcat. Fun fact, the Patsy Walker comics within the Marvel Universe are written and published by Patsy’s mom.
Bobbi Morse was originally a spy version of Jane to Ka-Zar’s Tarzan. After that relationship ends, she keeps appearing time and again as a SHIELD agent. Pretty soon she gets so popular, Bobbi becomes the superhero Mockingbird. She even hooks up with Hawkeye for their own crazy adventures.
These two get to be in the spotlight a couple of times, but not usually on their own. The next few decades for these characters are full of break-ups, supernatural forces, and going to Hell and back (literally for Patsy). Eventually these two headline in their own series.
General Bios
Patsy is an ascended superhero fan who wants to step out of her early years due to her overbearing mother. The struggle with her past yet needing to finance herself through it are a reoccurring theme with Patsy. Of course some of the biggest highlights in her Hellcat career aren’t great. For example Patsy’s marriage to the half-demon Hellstorm tragically ended after fully experiencing his demonic essence. The despair she went through was so great, she committed suicide out of lost will.
This being comics where popularity is like a GoFundMe, Patsy got back in the game. But while these experiences can still haunt her, Patsy’s willing to accept her past and the relationships she has to become a better person and hero. She found nice places as a personal investigator for She-Hulk while trying to help people with their finances.
Then there’s Bobbi who’s driven to live life to the fullest as ethically as possible. Her time as a SHIELD agent and a biologist gave Bobbi a lot of crazy adventures. These include partnerships with people she hooks up with at certain points including Ka-Zar, Hawkeye, and Spider-Man. However not everything is as smooth. How does time traveling to the Old West go wrong; getting drugged and groomed by the Phantom Rider for one. Then there’s trying to find somewhere to settle down in. Sure going to and from the Avengers has its perks, but most of the time she’s mentoring scientists in the background.
Hope for the Future of the Marvel Heroines
So many possibilities to display a character, maybe even as part of a team while highlighting characters that bounce off each other. Sigh… no one’s taking the time.
But remember the ink’s not dry yet. Thanks for coming to the end remember to like, comment, share, and look between the panels.
